A Visit to Hong Kong

In our plan to go home to Taiwan during the children's summer vacation, we planned to go churching and sightseeing to Malaysia and Singapore, but nothing worked out from our side though the churches there are ready to receive us. We really did not have peace to schedule our flight for some reasons. Finally, when we realized that it was not the proper time for now, we changed our plan and informed our brothers. But we were led to visit Hong Kong instead, and got a flight ticket that gave us enough hours of transit to visit some saints and enjoy a city tour.

As soon as we arrived the city, we were taken to the training center and met the trainees who came to our locality for the two weeks propagation recently. This trip was more of a family trip in nature and our interest was more inclined to our children. The brothers who took care of us knew exactly what our children would enjoy. So be it food, or places of visit, all were in line with our children's interest. As parent, we, my wife and I, just joined ourselves to what our children enjoyed and loved. It was fun and real family time. This had been due from my side as a father. Back home, I hardly get time to spend with my children. Now, the Lord has granted me amply time to spend with them, blend with them and enjoy being with them. It was indeed a great family time, driving around the city of Hong Kong. We also visited the Peak, the highest altitude of the city where the president used to reside. It was a beautiful peak overlooking the sky scrapper, surrounded by scenic beauty with lush greens all around, a beautiful deep blue water beneath, and a backwater from the south pacific ocean teeming with ships. An enjoyable family trip indeed. 

I have heard about Hong Kong and have seen in videos this commercial city booming in business. This was the first time I could visit in person. Besides the city being a business city, I was especially thankful to the Lord that He has the church in Hong Kong as the testimony to the mammon loving world. Though I did not yet attend any church meeting, from what I heard, the church had gone through tough times against opposers and turmoils, and came out gloriously. And a number of brothers who have been very much useful to the Lord today grew up in the church in this city. What a grace to be able to visit such a church! Perhaps, one day I will be able to join the meeting and fellowship with the saints.

As we depart for our destination city from Hong Kong airport, I was simply in awe to what the Lord just arranged for us. I had no word enough to thank the Lord and the brothers who took care of us. Once we landed in Taipei, I texted the brothers of my gratitude. Praise the Lord! 

Blending by Painting

These days the Lord has been blending us together in all possible ways, either by gospel preaching or shepherding or fellowship or even by doing some physical work. It was one Saturday after our prayer meeting that the matter of paining our meeting hall came up. Some saints felt that we need to present ourselves in the most dignified way spiritually with a proper God-man living and also with a proper ambience of the meeting hall. Since our last painting was a few years ago, the painting of the meeting hall was definitely due and needed. In past, we simply used to hire painters to do the painting and paid them off. But this time, not merely to save money but also to exercise ourselves in physical activities and be blended all the while grasping every opportunity for blending. Thus, the decision was made in one accord.

I personally was very glad to see the saints working together in one accord. Whoever was available came together. Though I myself could not participate as I had to finish my official works before I leave for Taiwan for over three weeks. 

The painting began the day we were scheduled to depart. It was indeed a beautiful sight to see what the Lord has been doing in the church in Gurugram. We are a score and a half who are regular in the meeting and a hundred or so who are all in contact. The church life we have been enjoying is very sweet and shepherding. The fellowship and blending among us is very intimate and dearer by the week. Praise the Lord for the church life! Praise the Lord for the blending even by painting.

By the way, this painting reminds me of the illustration of an anointing by the Holy Spirit. I pray that the Spirit may anoint each member day by day, and layer after layer, until we are fully immersed in the paint, the Spirit, and be fully one with the Spirit. This is also the only way to be one in the Lord and one in His Body. For oneness is only of the divine life and divine nature transmitted through the anointing Spirit.

More blending, more painting, more anointing, and more oneness! 

Community Gospel: God's Appointment

As we would be out of station for a couple of weeks, I had the burden to visit some families, therefore, we did visit two families, as a family. As we visited the families, we confirmed the visitations were of God's appointments.

In the first family we visited, a sister's younger sister was present in our midst. I realised it was of the Lord that she came co-incidentally. In fact, it was the Lord's sovereignty. On hearing her heart out of all the hardship she had been through, the Lord burdened me to preach the gospel to her. She was so seeking and was like a lamb; she received the Lord. Perhaps, all the many difficulties she had been through in her life had prepared her heart to be softened. At the right time, she heard the gospel, believed into the Lord, and prayed to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as her Saviour. We also fellowshipped on the Samaritan Woman in John 4 concerning the real need of man; the Lord Jesus is the one and only one who can satisfy the thirst of man. Our visit turned out to be a day of salvation to her. Our sister testified that the Lord had arranged all these for her sister's salvation.

Later, we met another brother's family. This brother is a believer already but his wife has harbored her parental rituals and beliefs dearly and strongly that she would not commend the new found faith of her husband. Nevertheless, she was very kind to us. 

My personal burden was just to pay a casual visit and introduce my wife to my brother's wife. But as we sat down to talk, she was so interested that the meeting went on and on. In between our conversation switched to God by her own queries. That gave me the ground to preach the gospel and shared living testimonies of my own salvation with that of my family. We were glad that she opened up.

In between, she also asked about my relationship with my wife as today's generation is going through marital turmoil even in a conservation society of India. I replied in the affirmation and elaborated how the Lord Jesus has blessed our marriage life. Then I turned our conversation to a gospel for her. To enjoy a blissful marriage life, Christ must be the head, center, and reality of the marriage life. For this, first, she must believe and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as her Saviour that she and her husband can also have a mutual love, joy, and peace in Christ Jesus.

The meeting that was supposed to be a mere introduction of my wife to my brother's wife became an ice-breaking meeting between our families, especially our wives. In fact, my burden was for the gospel altogether through the way of friendship first. The Lord honored our prayer and our burden and is establishing our relationship for her salvation.

Today, the brother called to thank for the time last night. It was a surprise that we enjoyed our meeting for over two hours. Meanwhile, our children too enjoyed their time with new families.  

Now we pray for the full salvation of the two sisters we met and preached the gospel to; our sister's sister and our brother's wife. Besides, we also pray that the Lord would grant His full salvation to the two families for the testimony in Gurugram.

Shepherding New Ones

John 21:15 Then when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Feed My lambs.21:16  He said to him again a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Shepherd My sheep.21:17  He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? Peter was grieved that He said to him the third time, Do you love Me? And he said to Him, Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You. Jesus said to him, Feed My sheep.

The Lord has reserved many of His chosen ones in every locality. I have been graced by the Lord to be able to meet all these new ones and shepherd them. Many of these ones are word of mouth introduction by the new ones themselves. They all came for fellowship and were blessed with the Lord's speaking. Their testimonies about the fellowship on the word of God goes to other seekers, who in turn came for fellowship. In this way, many have been introduced to the ministry of the word.

Two days ago a brother who is very well educated and is presently working with one of the top MNCs in Gurugram came for fellowship. He was introduced by a sister who received so much shepherding through the ministry of the word, who was introduced by another sister, and that sister, in turn, was introduced by another sister whom the Lord has been gracing me to shepherd. Shepherding the new ones with the proper and healthy teaching has a chain reaction. One-on-one tender care and shepherding leads to word of mouth introduction. By this way, many seekers have been introduced to the ministry and are coming into the church life.

Two days ago a brother came and we enjoyed fellowshipping on the word of God till midnight. Out of his seeking heart, he did ask questions. And every question gave me an opportunity to minister the word with relevant Bible verses. He got supplied and I got supplied too, that's how the word of God is so refreshing, both to the minister and to the ministered. Save for the time, we could have continued until past midnight. He was so satisfied with the fellowship and we are looking forward to meeting up again soon.

Today afternoon too, two new sisters were introduced to us. They are from South Africa visiting India but happened to stay in a guest house owned by one of our new ones to whom we preached the gospel a few weeks ago. Our fellowship began with the meaning of the word "Christian." I expounded this word with Acts 11:26; 26:28,1 Peter 4:16, and Philippians 1:21. Then, one sister shared her testimony of coming into the church life with a sharing from today's morning revival, Christ as the reality of the bronze serpent in Number 21:8-9 and John 3:14. The two new ones enjoyed the fellowship and decided to join us this coming Lord's day. May they become seeds for the Lord's recovery in South Africa.

In this way, the Lord knows where His sheep are, and He brings them to us in due time. To me, it is such a blessing to be able to shepherd. In shepherding I am being shepherded! These new ones have to be continually shepherded until they become shepherd themselves.

Anyone who loves the Lord will shepherd. Anyone who is being shepherded will love the Lord. 

Lord, shepherd me continually, You are my Shepherd!

A Mango Tree

When we first shifted to the address we are in now in DLF 1 ten years ago, we sowed two mango seeds on our front lawn. The two seeds grew to become a tree in few years time. One of the trees was uprooted during a rainy season. The other stood tall and kept growing. This year it began to blossom and ultimately bore fruits abundantly.

The tree is as young as my first daughter. It was sown in the same years when she was born. Somehow she got a mysterious connection with the mango tree. When it began to blossom and bore fruits, my family members were so excited. Because it is the first fruit tree that bore fruits that we can hope to partake of. Even my wife connects this to our spiritual condition in the church in Gurugram. We have not been bearing solid fruits for many years. Perhaps, this tree is a sign of our beginning to bear fruits after many years. Well, may or may not be. Only God knows. Definitely, we can learn from nature that if any living things grow normally it should bear fruit in due time. So it should be the same with our spiritual life.

When a sandstorm struck our city at the beginning of this month, the mango tree could not stand the test of time: Strom and heavy rain just blew the tree from its trunk and the two main branched that bore many fruits succumb to the merciless blows and lashes of the hurricane. And alas, all the lovely mangos with its branches dropped dead on our empty lawn. So sad... My daughter who has an emotional connection with the tree could not help but weep for days... 

In fact, I was sent photos of the blown off branches when I was on my way back home from my recent training tour to Pune. The first thought that struck me was: Do not be superstitious. Because my wife had one time prophesied in the meeting, symbolically connecting the mango tree with the bearing of spiritual fruits henceforth. The Lord's speaking to me was not to give heed to a human natural interpretation of things. Its prone to be error-laden at best, and the devil could as well inject his poisonous thoughts with the natural incidents at worst; tempting us to not believe in the Lord's promises and deeds. 

Bearing fruits is by spiritual laws; it is of the Lord's blessings and also according to spiritual growth. Though analogy can be drawn from natural laws, the two does not fully conform to one another. What applies to the natural may or may not apply to the spiritual, nor vice versa. One should never allow natural incidents to necessary match with the spiritual one.

Despite the mango tree incident, we still continue to pray and labor in gospel preaching for the increase of the church in Gurugram. Mango tree or no tree, the gospel must be preached and bring in much increase for the church.

Training at Pune

The serving ones training at Pune this month was unique to me. Especially because, apart from the Lord's speaking and fellowship on the Lord's move in India, I also got to witness with my own eyes the faithfulness of the Lord in caring for His children. Three meetings with three brothers were very remarkable.

The first one was a brother, whom I termed it, "a prodigal son," who left his home for more than a decade. But now have returned back to the church and also to his family. When I met him, I was awestruck. It was like a miracle. Because I used to coordinate with his father for the literature distribution and I remembered how he lovingly and desperately shared about his son's situation. I also remembered what I told him that one day the Lord would bring his son back like in Luke 15, the prodigal son. I literally could witness the fulfillment of what I spoke a decade ago. God is faithful!

Another brother was also of a similar case. He had to leave the church life because of his family condition. When I realized that he left the church life a few years ago, I felt very sad. I blamed in on the religious Christianity that has plagued many children of God. But when I met him this time, I was glad to learn of him of how he has been praying and waiting on the Lord that his whole family would be recovered. He is very much in the Lord and the truth he has learned in the Lord's recovery has been preserving him. He has a burden too that one day, the Lord will fully recover his whole family.

Finally, the most memorable part was a friend and a brother, who I have been in fellowship with over the phone, for years altogether. I got to spend time with him daily during break time for fellowship, for prayer and pursuing the ministry together. This time of fellowship was very precious. We hardly could meet face to face, nor fellowship, pray and blend except in times like this. The training was not merely for word of God but also for the walk with God with the brothers. Praise the Lord!

Besides all these, I could witness the Lord's move in a very practicaly way in India. I was impressed by the matter of material offerings the Lord has led us through, the saints in India. When a report was given about the offering for the blending center in Chennai, it just blew my mind away. My fallen natural concept about money has been renewed ever since. The Lord indeed worked in many saints in India. We truly are witnessing the breaking and poruing out for the Lord's interest.

All these experiences are the real subjective training as a serving one. Praise the Lord!

Community Gospel

According to Indian standard, the community God has placed us is a posh area in comparison to many other communities in Gurgaon. We have been here for the past ten years now. Though we have been praying a lot for this community for the Lord to save some local families, we have not really been able to break through. I don't know how to express the feeling within me: Should I be ashamed or should I still hope for the Lord to do something? I would rather choose the latter.  So we keep praying for the residents of our community, DLF-1.

We have done at least three rounds of door knocking for the gospel preaching and attempted various other ways to preach the gospel. But, till date we have nothing concrete to count. The Lord does give us some good family friends, to my count, five of them, all locals and well to do materialistically. Indirectly I have shared the gospel to them. They all know that I am a Christian and I am involved in Christian ministry.  But this is just the tip of an iceberg. They have to be brought into the full salvation of Christ, and this is my prayer burden.

Of late, through some sisters in the church, we began to contact some other old friends. So far we have met two of them. The meeting with them was very interesting. Both of them are well to do single women owning properties and business in the community itself. The two of them are independent, carefree, and strong ladies. Both have a strong religious background but at the time are seeking for God; though they profess to find Him in their own sight. The meeting and conversation with them was very interesting.

To the first one, I preached the gospel by beginning with the thirst and hunger mankind have for God, in general, and explaining the spirit of man. After a detail explanation of the mystery of human life, she was open and I led her to pray to receive the Lord. Though she had her own preconceived notion about sin, still she could not deny the fact that she was a sinner too, besides all mankind. As I preached the word she was convicted of some of her past life and had a reaction that made her express her feeling. I was glad that she was convicted and she was also open for fellowship. We are now looking forward to more followu up on her and pray that she be fully saved and be gained by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Another lady was into some kind of psychological-cum-spiritual profession using "supernatural power to heal." I was well informed of an expected reaction even before we met, but we prayed and gave ourselves to the Lord to lead. Interestingly, our conversation soon entered into God and His plan in creating man. This gave me an opportunity to preach the gospel, Beginning with the plan of God, the fall of man, Christ's redemption, and man's salvation, consummating in the prayer to receive the Lord, I wasted no time, but preach the gospel. To my surprise, she was so excited and she felt very blessed that she could pray in her house, Our visitation for prayer and fellowship on the word of God was so timely. She even narrated of how she anticipated this as she was pre-informed by some of this day. Later, as I suggested for a Bible study she immediately responded with much enthusiasm. Instead of waiting for a set date, I felt to start right away, so we studied the gospel of Matthew 1:21-23. on the name Jesus and Emmanuel. That was a great gospel: Jesus, Jehovah God becoming our Saviour and Emmanuel, God with us. The Lord was so sovereign in leading us to visit this seeker, preach, pray and study the Bible with her. We now praying and looking forward to the continual shepherding of the new ones.

Lord, save, shepherd and establish such seekers for Your testimony in our community, DLF-1!