Blessed Children

Behold, children are the heritage of Jehovah,
The fruit of the womb a reward. Psa. 127:3 - 

This verse has been fulfilled in our family life right from the day God blessed us with our first daughter, thereby we named her Bliss. Then followed by Amana and Christy,  as a continuation of the Lord's blessing in truth, the high peak truth, the truth the ministry of the word has blessed us with, and the reality of the word,  who is Christ. That's how the names were derived.

Few days ago my wife sent me on WhatsApp a snapshot of Amana's scorecard in CONQUEST IQ Olympiad with grade A, the highest in the grading category, where he scored centum in almost all the subjects tested. The very sight of it humbled me as I deemed myself unworthy for it. I am not being proud as a father, but what impressed me deeply was the grace of God bestowed upon me and my wife and our family. I never considered that we deserve this much, but the Lord has been more than gracious. My innate reaction was, I prayed, thanking the Lord for His mercy and reconsecrated my life so that I, in no way be a stumbling block to our children but be a proper shepherd and guardian to the Lord’s children.

As the children grows they have been developing a sign of excellency in their academic career. The parent-teacher meeting called once in a month or two were mostly filled with the teachers' appreciation of our kids' performances at school. Not just once, but almost all the time. And I don't think they were just trying to please us, the parent, but I reckon it as genuine, as I know my wife has been keeping track of their studies on a daily basis. So whenever I witnessed the good news of our children's performance, I always complemented my wife for her labor besides acknowledging the Lord’s blessing. On top of that, we daily prayed for our children and also taught them to pray for the Lord's wisdom, knowledge, understanding and blessing. Perhaps, this is the Lord's answer to our daily prayer.

Later, in our night prayer, my wife and I thanked the Lord together for His blessing. We also prayed that we would represent God properly as God-man parent, shepherding the children He has blessed us with. I even personally prayed that none of my sins or failures or shortcomings be passed on to our children. But that the blood of Christ would cover me and grace us and bless our family for His testimony and purpose on this earth.

Children are indeed the heritage of Jehovah.

Thank you Lord, for the children.

An Experience at Doon

Despite Doon being within an easy reach from Delhi, the past decade of my stay in the capital region did not beckon me even once to pay a visit for whatever reason. One thing I follow in life is following the leading of the Lord. Thus far, the Lord had never led, but this time.

In Dehradun, we were lodged in a guest room of a small Christian "ashram" as they call it. On day one itself, we were invited to a meeting of some 40 Christian leaders where we introduced the ministry books. Many of them were very interested and received the free Rhema books, not just for themselves but also for their congregation, and some purchased the title books. 

There, in the meeting, one of the Christian leaders whom they addressed as "father" caught my attention and he too was keen to talk to me. Perhaps, we have this innate biological connection of being from the same state. The short while conversation was sufficient to be more brotherly-friendly as he and I agreed to meet up for more fellowship. Later he did attempt to meet me twice but in both cases I was busy. Somehow I was invited to attend an annual function in his campus where he is the "father" in charge, an official and religious position and responsibility. The following day he invited us for dinner and also for sharing the word of God with his Bible students, staffs and serving ones. As we visited his campus, he led us straight to the chapel and the Lord burdned me to share the word on loving the Lord with personal testimony. After dinner, I had more fellowship on the ground of oneness and the practice of the church life. Just before we left, I gifted him the New Testament Recovery Version.

Last Lord's day we were invited to minister the word of God at Masihi Mandli(Christian  Church), a pioneer church in the city since 1939 where we ministered on the Christian Life. In the evening we were invited to minister at Doon Bible College Chapel by the Principal where we, three brothers, shared our testimonies of salvation to the theological students and introduced and distributed the ministry books. Later, the Principal hosted a dinner for us.

We also visited all the leading Bible colleges and the main Christian groups and spent considerable time fellowshipping and introducing the ministry books to the Principals and Pastors. One significant experience was the time of fellowship with the Principal of New Theological College who paid heed to whatever we had to introduce. Besides, he showed interest in the ministry literature and said he would consult the librarian and place order later. Once I discovered that he is a PhD and is a  professor of Old Testament Bible, I took no time to introduce the Recovery Version using Exodus 31 on the builder of the Tabernacle with footnotes. He was impressed and nodded in agreement of the profound revelation in the notes. I gave a word to send him the Life-Study of Genesis and Exodus, and encouraged him to purchase and study the Life-Study of the Bible.

My main burden in visiting this city, Doon or Dehradun, is for nothing less than the spreading and ministering of the ministry of the word. My heart is burdened to find out seekers who would stand for the Lord's testimony in Dehradun.

May the Lord gain His testimony in Dehradun.

Mussoorie

My first time to visit this famous Hill station, Mussoorie, well known for its altitude, cold weather, and educational center. Our sole objective of being in this city was for the distribution of the ministry of the word. Not knowing any, we just came with a  burden to meet the Christian leaders and introduce the ministry literature.

The first one we met was a leader of an age old church from the British time. He received us well and offered to introduce more Christian leaders in town. He himself bought a series of the New Believers Series by brother Watchman Nee and received free Rhema literature. The next person we met was a leader of a Methodist Church, who was so open to us and the ministry of the word. As we introduced the ministry literature to him, he immediately decided to get all the Hindi books. As we met him again later, post lunch on his insistence, he opened up furthermore and we fellowshipped at length on various crucial truths of the Bible including, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the economy of God, the Bible itself, a Christian life and the church. He was so interested in the ministry that he purchased all the books we had in our possession, and even ordered for what we did not have. He accepted us as his own brothers in the Lord and was so happy that we met. Deep with, my innate feeling was that this brother has a deep hunger and thirst for the word of God. Perhaps, even as he will enjoy the ministry of the word one day, he might as well take the stand for the Lord's testimony in this city. May the Lord work in Him and gain His testimony in Mussoorie!

This city is thinly populated yet a tourist destination, specially famous for its peak called Landour at 7500 feet above sea level. We hiked the mountain in search of "churches" only to find two of them locked and empty with no one to meet. They were built during the British rule too. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the physical beauty of the landscape surrounding the buildings, an aerial view of the snow clad Himalayas. Though we intend to meet more, even as many Christian leaders as possible, we met one more who was old in age and cold towards anything new. We therefore concluded that the one who welcomed us and paid the price to purchase all the ministry literature was the one reserved by the Lord for His testimony. This city also hosts training for the bureaucrats of the country, and here we are distributing the high peak truth in this city for the benefit of our fellow citizens. 

Mussoorie for Christ and the Church!

Bezalel

Exo. 31:21b  Bezalel  Exo. 35:30;  36:1, 8;  37:1;  38:22;  39:2;  1 Chron. 2:20; 2 Chron. 1:5

Bezalel was a master builder, a leader in God’s building. His name means in the shadow of God, indicating that as a master builder, Bezalel was a man under the shadow of God’s grace (cf. 1 Cor. 3:10a; 2 Cor. 12:9). Uri, the name of Bezalel’s father, means light of Jehovah, and Hur, the name of Bezalel’s grandfather, means free, noble, white (signifying clean and pure). These three names indicate what kind of persons the builders of God’s dwelling place should be.

In serving the Lord, all God’s children are and must be Bezalel. As the name signifies, Bezalel, must be under the shadow of God’s grace. Without being under the Lord's covering grace one cannot go on serving the Lord. For the attack of the enemy is severe against those serving the Lord.

Mathew 16:18 "I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." In the New Testament, we are today's builders of the church. What the Lord prophesied on the building of the church is very significant. He simply did not say that He will build the church, but also that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against the builded church.

Note from the Recovery Version:
Gates of Hades refers to Satan’s authority or power of darkness (Col. 1:13; Acts 26:18), which cannot prevail against the genuine church built by Christ upon this revelation concerning Him as the rock, with stones such as Peter, a transformed human being. This word of the Lord’s indicates also that Satan’s power of darkness will attack the church. Hence, there is spiritual warfare between Satan’s power, which is his kingdom, and the church, which is God’s Kingdom.

Today, as we serve the Lord in whatever way or whichever capacity, the gates of Hades will not be silent, rather, with all the evil forces of darkness it will attack the building work, especially the builders, if possible. And I have been experiencing the same in my service to the Lord.

This time the attack was very fierce before I set out for the recent ministry journey that I am undertaking at the moment. From my family side there was a conscious care for my cousin brother who could not attend to the office works because of his health and past habit. And the concern of my wife in my absence if things did not go well. Besides, the current economic crisis India is embroiled in, due to demonetisation of Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes. Though our money is in the banks with our saving accounts but not withdrawable due to cash crunch at all banks and long queues of cashless clients at ATMs. On top of this, an official need to defend and confirm the truth against the false allegation of some unknown writer which was reported to be in printing and the need to stop such false accusations. Literally I was tossed in dilemma for at least a day. At one time, deciding to cancel the literature tour, and at other time, going for it as planned. But finally, after serious prayer and consideration I decided to go ahead as planned, trusting in the Lord's covering grace.

As I went ahead as planned against all odds, the Lord indeed blessed the decision as we have been experiencing now in our ministry literature journey.

Few days ago as I met the Principal of the largest Bible college in town and introduced the ministry of the word to him, I also read the Bible portion from Exodus concerning Bezalel, Uri and Hur and expounded it with spiritual revelation. I myself have been experiencing the same, the need for the covering of the Lord's grace as a serving one.

All serving ones of the Lord are Bezalel and must be under the Lord's covering grace. Otherwise, there is no way to build up the church and no way to go on in our service to the Lord.

Lord, keep me ever in Your covering grace. Amen. 

Greek Finally

Almost three years the Lord has been gracing us to learn Greek, mostly grammar and vocabulary. Since the course began, by the Lord's mercy, I have done my best to attend all the classes and completed all the exercises. Besides studying as much as I could, the Lord graced me to score above 90% except the last exam at 89.5%, which if a question to be adjusted was to be taken into account, my score would be 90% score. In fact, this last exam with the least score was mainly because I was too busy travelling for the distribution of the ministry of the word, I hardly get time to study. But I did my best to find time and did my best. At least once, I got the grace of scoring 100%. Though number is not the deciding factor of how much I have learned, it does speak volume. For scorecard was earned through studies and hardwork.

When my teachers asked each one to comment about the course my comments were:

Online Classes
The faithfulness and burden of the servings ones motivates and encourages me to do my best to get into the lessons and assignments, study the vocabularies, take the quizzes and exams. Though I did not understand much at the first briefing, the studying that followed helped me a lot. 

Generally, I go through the lessons at least five times, both online and using printed books, made my own notes, and did a lot of practices on the tables and vocabularies, mostly memorization. I did not deem myself qualified to take the quizzes or exams until I felt I have thoroughly learned enough, so I put a base number as "minimum five times" going through the whole lessons to qualify me to take the tests.

The questions in each class on crucial point(s) caught my attention on the key points of the lessons. They were very helpful.

Assignments
It helps me in the practical application of what was learned in the lessons. In most of the cases, it was the assignment that made me really understand the lessons, without this would be a mere theory. Some of the assignments were quite lengthy and difficult for a first timer, but it was worth the labor. And the answer keys to the assignments added much to the proper understanding of the lessons. In many cases, I did not get it right, but the answer keys served as a self-help teaching tool. 

Quizzes and Exams
These are the main motivating factors that help me to study hard. I dared not take those until I was 100% sure I had studied enough to be able to answer all the questions.

Comments
To be frank enough, I have nothing to say of what I don't like, I like them all. And I don't know what better ways than these will there be. I had been a student for 20 years till my Master's Degree, and I never studied in this way. If all my classes were this way, I feel I could have done much better in my academic score as a student then.

As serving ones, family man and also holding various responsibilities, the way the Greek classes were conducted, the time duration for the studies, assignments, quizzes and exams were just perfect.

This is no exaggeration, nor "trying to please my teachers", I mean what I said.

I only regret that I might not have met the expectation of my teachers.

Overall, I feel really blessed to be a student of my "Father tongue" and reckon it as God's grace and a dream come true.  My main concern now is "do I really learn it well?" as expected or as I should. Hope I do so...

Lord, have mercy on me and grace me.
Thank you, dear serving ones.

Even after all these years of learning I still feel I am still a naive. Greek is still Greek to me. But when I delved into the word, on the Greek text, I did discover that I did learn something. Praise the Lord for that. But I still feel I should learn more, and be more equipped in my "Father tongue."

There were times I had to study while on a literature tour. Sometimes in the bus, in the train, and at guest house. I have written at least three exams while on a literature tour. To me, time, place and circumstance cannot hinder my heart to learn. Where there is a will, there is always a way. I think I proved it. I hardly miss any class except once when I was in Goa for a distribution tour as I could not get proper internet access, and never missed any assignment or exam. All were done on time, at least at the eleventh hour.

I know not why my teacher thinks I can teach Greek. He surprisingly offered me a role of "staff" after the final exam which I was more than obliged to accept it, not to teach but to learn more. Last week as we had the final class I still feel I am a young learner. Approximately three years of learning is not too long. I felt the same now even after the course as when I first began to learn. Greek is still Greek and I must keep learning. Though I will still be in touch with Greek, at least as a staff, I will ever still be a learner. My attitude is the same as when I began then, and now even as I finished the course. 

Greek finally will still be Greek.

Challenging Decisions

Of late, the Lord is leading me to learn to carry out official responsibility with challenges poised before me. Generally, I always take a safer route and would rather give up on challenging tasks rather than risk it in fear of failure. But these days I have been learning to be more bold in making decisions with the view to learn and explore new heights in my service the Lord has sovereignly assigned to me. Recently few big decisions were before me and the Lord graced me to face it head on.

The first big decision was printing fourteen new Hindi titles of one thousand copies each. Never did I make such a big decision in one go. But because of the need and urgency for spreading the truth and a plan to visit various North Indian cities for the ministry journey, in fellowship with my fellow serving ones, I decided to go ahead. The printing was done and distribution began. Though I made a deal with the printer to pay later, meanwhile contemplating on how the printed books could be sold soon and pay off the printer, the Lord opened a door through a leading Christian Hindi literature publisher and distributor.

One day the Lord gave me a strong burden to meet the manager of this publisher. On that morning though I had to rush for Christian Expo, I was held back in my spirit to pray first with the serving ones for the Lord's leading for the day. When I met the said manager, in fellowship we struck a deal for 700 copies of 14 Hindi titles to be distributed through them. 70% job done and the remaining 30% for our distribution! Besides, through all my travelling the remaining books are finding ways to be distributed.

Another decision was on participating in a Christian Expo with a considerable investment in terms of money and manpower. From business point of view, it sure must be a no-no, as the investment would not be gained back through the exhibition. Nevertheless, with the burden of exhibition of the ministry books, exposure to the Christian community and gaining seekers, I took the decision to go ahead. And the Lord indeed led some genuine seekers to us for our future contact and lead for propagation in NCR.

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Another decision was on printing of 50 title books of 50 copies each on Print on Demand with the view of upcoming distribution in different parts of India. It took me over two weeks to make the decision as it involved huge investment. If I had not gone ahead we would have no way to intensify the distribution. I finally called the shot for the sake of meeting the basic need of making the ministry of the word available to fellow Christians. After the printing, the fifty copies were divided up to different slots for distribution all over India.

Yet one more risk was on participating in a Sangai Festival 2016 at Imphal, a secular event. After I made the decision to participate, I kind-of changed my mind and called to cancel it, taking into consideration the present economic situation after demonetisation and the on-going economic blockade in Manipur. But the cancellation did not transpire and  we had to go ahead with it. At the last minute all things were done, and another risk taken, at least, for the exhibition of the ministry of the word and contacting people for the gospel.

These challenges taught me lessons of life, both spiritually and officially. May the Lord be my wisdom and discernment in functioning according to the measure He measured to me. Amen.

Christian Expo, Delhi

As a part of reaching out to the Christian community, as the ministry literature servings ones, we participated in the World Christian Expo at YMCA New Delhi. Our main burden was for the exhibition of the ministry of the word, and hoped that Christians can have a taste of the ministry. Our motto has ever been, "The Ministry of the Word for All!" 

Besides, by such participation, we have a good exposure to our fellow Christian brethren. Though it was planned for a big event, the turn out of the crowd was not as expected. Coincidentally, the day the Expo began was the day our Prime Minister announced the demonetisation of Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes. The aftermath was, the entire nation was shell shocked and economic crisis creeps as cash crunch crashed every Indian. Suddenly our currency which normally were saved in 500s and 1000s became mere pieces of paper. All ATM and Banks were running out of cash and we cannot withdraw even our own money saved in the bank. This incident affected the exhibition so much. But we thanked the Lord for all things.

Despite the economic turmoil, the Lord brought some genuine seekers for fellowship in our stall. Some from Gurgaon, Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida and even Faridabad. The Lord prepared a ground work for His further move in NCR(National Capital Region).

Besides, two very seeking sisters visited our stall and upon further fellowship they opened up their real condition and consented to fellowship with the church in Delhi. The following Lord’s day they attended the meeting with the saints.

To me, personally, it was a good experience of first hand handling all the practical arrangement. From planning to execution to accomplishment, it was indeed a blessed experience. I enjoyed the exhibition despite the negligible sales. I treasure the life lessons more than the workload and business per se.

Moreover, our relationship with some Christian leaders were sweetened and strengthened. We also got to attend a Publisher's Meet where new things were learned for the distribution of the ministry of the word.

Despite all the physical setback in terms of business or profitability I graded the overall experience as "PASS" considering the positive aspects of making the ministry of the word available to the seekers and Christians in general.

May the Lord gain those who came in touch with the ministry. Amen.