Ministry of the Word to Malda, West Bengal

Malda, one of the cities in West Bengal, popped up in one of the meetings we had with a brother in Bokaro. We thought that he had a good contact here, therefore, we planned to visit this city for the distribution of the ministry literature in Bengali. But as we planned and was about to come, he could not be contacted and we were left with no contact. A serving brother tried his best to find seeking contacts in Malda but to no avail. Since we already planned our trip to this city, I was told to find some contacts somehow. That being the case, I searched for "Christians in Malda" on Google. As I Google searched, one contact via facebook gained my attention. So I called the number right away. It so happened that it was the same person contacted by another person, but he backed down to meet with us citing his busy schedule. When as I spoke to him, he finally agreed to meet on the same day we arrive Malda after his Bible studies, about 8:30 pm. By the way, we arrived Malda at about 7:30 pm. Besides, on his suggestion I also booked a hotel room online.

The moment we arrived Malda, we went straight to our hotel room. Once we settled down and was ready, I called the contact I got over the net the day before. He turned up and met us. We did our best to introduce the ministry to him. Though he did not show much interest in it, he touched something of the Lord and changed his mind after meeting with us. As we fellowshipped a while and prayed, he gave us an impromptu invitation to join with him the next day to his group of leaders meeting some 25 kms away from the city. We readily agreed to it. At our first meeting, he did not show any interest in the ministry literature as he claimed to be already very occupied  

The next day, we went along with him to his leaders meeting. On his request, we shared the word of God for an hour. I specifically ministered the word on the need to grow in life unto full maturity by feeding on the gutless milk of the word. I began with 1 Timothy 2:4, and connected the need for the coming to the full knowleged of the truth with Romans 8:29, "conformed to the image of His (Firstborn) Son" and Ephesians 4:13 "the full grown man". I emphasized the need for "eating Jesus" using the relevant verses in John 6:32, 33, 35, 41, 48, 50, 51, 57, 58, 63 along with Matthew 4:4, and 2 Timothy 3:16, 17. Initially, I was not sure what to minister, but when the time came, the Lord just released the word, verse by verse. Then the 300 set of free BXL 1,2,3 in Bengali were all distributed to the 30 leaders who attended the meeting. Though the key brother was not very interest in the printed books, he became a channel through whom these books could be distributed.

Later, on our way back, we went for sight seeing to three historical sites and took an afternoon nap. Though, the key brother said he was too busy to meet us again, at the last minute he agreed to come and meet us again at our hotel room. When he did come, he finally asked to see the ministry books we brought. Though he still insisted that he did not have time to read, as we introduce the ministry books, he got interested and expressed his desire to get some books. In fact, he literally asked for some books, Messages for Building Up New Believers, and Song of Songs. Deep within me, I felt the burden to give him three books, The Normal Christian Church Life, The Genuine Ground of Oneness, and The Orthodoxy of the Church, as he shared his understanding of the local churches meeting at homes and the need for oneness among the believers today. Finally, when he left, he thanked us for the gifts. The one who said he was not interested in books as "he reads only the word of God directly and that he has no time for books" finally ended up receiving seven ministry books that can help him see the Lord’s heart's desire as revealed in the Bible concerning the Christian life and the church life. Praise the Lord that the Lord indeed has His way of distributing His ministry among His chosen remnants.

After one day visit to Malda city not knowing, the Lord has accomplished His purpose again! 

May the Lord open the eyes of His chosen ones to hunger and thirst for the word of God and receive help from the ministry of the word.

Lord, gain Your remnants in Malda unto the raising up of Your testimony one day!