Ministry of the Word to Ahmedabad

 And Jehovah went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them on the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might go by day and by night. Exodus 13:21

The first time we visited Gujarat was in 2014 from 11 to 12 Nov in Ahmedabad where we met a brother who loved Br. Watchman Nee’s writings and later through him and other translators, BXL 1,2,3 Rhema booklets were translated into Gujarati. In fact, two brothers who translated the ministry books into Gujarati died in the past few years. Later, a seeking sister came into contact with us and she helped in checking and finalizing the three Rhema booklets. After nine years, the ministry books in Gujarati were finally printed. These Gujarati booklets along with English and Hindi ministry books were used for introducing the ministry to the Christian leaders and seekers in some select cities of Gujarat. It was done so in coordination with the brothers in churches in Maharashtra from 18 to 23 September.

The churches in Maharashtra have picked up the burden to propagate in Gujarat. In fact, they have been regularly visiting a couple of cities. This time, in coordination with the literature service, we visited those cities again with a few other new cities, to introduce and distribute the ministry literature in Gujarati, Hindi, and English. We indeed enjoyed the Lord's timely speaking Jehovah went before us by day in a pillar of cloud to lead us on the way! (Exodus 13:21a)

Through the brothers serving in the free distribution, a contact in Ahmedabad became the beachhead for the introduction and distribution of the ministry literature in the city. The District Superintendent of the Methodist church organized a session for the ministry books introduction which was attended by the Christian leaders of the mainline churches in Ahmedabad; Methodist, Church of North India, Salvation Army, and Christian and Missionary Alliance of Br. A.B. Simpson. A brother and I coordinated to introduce the ministry books. In introducing the Holy Bible Recovery Version, I specifically used Ephesians 1:5 on sonship versus adoption to highlight the accuracy of the translation, and Genesis 2:7 on "breath of life, Heb. neshamah"  to highlight the need for footnotes to help under the meaning of the phrase or word. In introducing the ministry books, I used "Seeking God's Will" from Message for Building Up New Believers to help readers understand the need for reading good ministry books. 

Translator and Distributor

Two other prayer burdens for our ministry journey to Gujarat were to find a proper Gujarati translator and a local distributor in Gujarat. The Lord answered our prayers and granted us both! As we were fellowshipping with a Pastor, he mentioned a couple of names who might be interested in meeting us. In fact, one brother who was the manager of an ISPCK in Ahmedabad came. As I personally fellowshipped with him about the ministry books, he, after consulting with his superior placed an order for the ministry books in Hindi and English.  This was a surprise to me because my concept was that the Christians in Gujarat mostly prefer Gujarati books which we do not have yet due to lack of translators. However, it turned out that there were a good number of Hindi and English speakers too. Therefore, the door was opened for the ministry to be made available in Ahmedabad!

Through this brother, as I enquired about a Gujarati translation work, another brother was introduced. Upon fellowshipping with him for a while, I had the peace within that he was the person to engage in Gujarati translation service,. Therefore, I called up my coordinating brother in Gurugram office and let him do the talk for translation service. After this, it was confirmed that he and his team would work on the ministry books translation. This was how the Lord answered our prayers.

In this city too, we met three families, a Malayali and two Gujarati. Both of them have opened their homes for our visit. One gave us dinner and the other lunch while we were there. We also spent time fellowshipping with them on the truth and a brother shared his testimony of how the Lord saved him and led him from Catholic to the church life.

I personally was so thankful to the Lord for His specific leading in this city. I even told the brothers that my burden was accomplished in the first city itself! Anyhow, we still had other cities to visit.

Lord, bless the translation service into Gujarati, the distribution of the ministry books in Gujarat, and the shepherding of the seeking family for Your testimony in Ahmedabad!