Sunday, 30 September 2018

Ministry of the Word Journey: Darjeeling, West Bengal

Darjeeling, North Bengal
The only Christian bookstore placed order for the books in sets. On the Lord's day, some seekers and pastors came to see the ministry books and they all placed order for the books.

A Seeking Sister in Darjeeling


The Lord brought a sister who loves the Lord so much and has been so desperate to know many "mysteries" in the Bible. She was so excited to learn that many of her questions are actually answered in the ministry books and in the Bible, Recovery Version. She immediately placed order for a set and desperately longed for the New Testament, Recovery Version. We also introduced the online ministry books and online LSM radio program for her pursuit of the truths. 

Ministry of the Word Journey: Majitar and Namchi, Sikkim

Majitar, Sikkim
A brother who is a Rhema contact and has been so much blessed by his reading of BXL 1 invited us for lunch fellowship. On learning about the ministry books, he placed order for the books in sets with the NT Recovery Version.

Namchi, Sikkim
A pastor who loves Watchman Nee's books took the initiative to call up all the pastors in the city to come to visit us in our lodging place. Many leading Christian pastors in the city came to visit us. As we introduced the ministry books, majority of them placed order for the ministry books in sets. The Lord also led us to a brother who is a school principal, a politician, and an artist who also placed order for the ministry books in sets. 


Ministry of the Word Journey: Gangtok, Sikkim

Gangtok, Sikkim
In Gangtok, we were accommodated in the guest house of a brother who loves and enjoys the ministry books by Watchman Nee. He is a retired IAS officer and Ex-Chief Secretary of Sikkim. As we introduced the ministry books and the Holy Bible Recovery Version, he was so impressed with the accuracy of the translation. As I was introducing the accuracy of translation using Ephesians 1:5, on "adoption versus sonship" and declared boldly that God did not adopt us but we were born of God as sons of God in life and in nature. His innate response was, "I got a goose bump!" He then placed a purchase order for the entire set of all books by brother Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. In addition, he also asked for an extra 100 copies each of Messages for Building Up the New Believers 3 Vols for all the pastors serving with him in his 55 “branch churches”. We also met the other leading pastors in Gangtok who purchased the ministry books in sets.

House Churches in Gangtok
The Lord sovereignly led us to a brother who has some light on the church as the Body of Christ and who also dissolved his congregation of one man speaking meeting of about 100 families into 15 small groups which he called "house churches". Their meeting pattern is with the view of making everyone function, simply following the Spirit's leading, without any preset pattern. We also spent an evening meeting in one of his “house churches” in Gangtok where we ministered on Calling Upon the Lord's Name and led all the believers to call on the Lord. He purchased the ministry books in sets and the NT Recovery Version.

Campus Distribution in Gangtok
We distributed Rhema bookmarks in a medical college and Nepali Mystery of Human Life in a Govt. College. A seeking sister in her final year came to fellowship with us as she saw us distributing tracts in the students' cafeteria. She was so happy to meet us and expressed her feeling and desire to serve the Lord full time. We encouraged her to pursue the truths and gifted her Life Lessons and Rhema booklets, besides giving her an "assignment" of reading the Bible and praying everyday as a preparation for her if the Lord would so lead her to come for the full-time training. 

Ministry of the Word Journey: West Bengal

A brother and his family moved to this state after he received a burden from the Lord for his own people, the Bengali speaking people. Since he moved he has been seeking for fellowship and prayer. In fact, he has called up again and again and asked when he could be visited. His fellowship became a leading in the Body to visit him, and also to meet other Christian leaders and groups for the introduction of the ministry books.

My stay with the brother's family gave me a better understanding of the real situation and need of the brother and also the Lord's move there. Through our time together, the Lord had confirmed that He has been training and perfecting my brother to live and walk by faith. Despite the hardship for a while, He has been faithfully supplying all his needs in time. His function in the Body as ones who could proofread the Bengali translation works was also manifested. Now, brother has picked up the burden for Bengali literature service which is also the urgent need for the Lord's move in West Bengal.

Barasat 
The brother had arranged a special time of fellowship and introduction of the ministry books with the Christian leaders serving in this area. When I was taken first to the meeting place I was a little concerned as to how to begin the fellowship because the Bengali speaking leaders look very intellectual and thoughtful. Deep within I was praying and asking the Lord how to begin the meeting. When the time came to start the meeting, I felt best to give a testimony of how the Lord saved me and called me to serve. With my personal testimony of experiencing Christ, their hearts were opened up for further fellowship. Then, I introduced the ministry books to them. With every books, I introduced I also shared the crucial truths contained in the book. In that way, I could also release my burden of ministering the truth on Christ and the church.

Kolkata

My being there on Saturday was so timely. The Lord opened the door for the introduction of the ministry of the word in Kolkata Christian Leaders' Fellowship where I was given the opportunity to introduce the ministry books with few words of explanation on the importance of Christian literature. I used the incident in Acts 8 on the need for proper interpretation of the word as an example of the importance of the ministry books.

Acts 8:31 And he said, How could I unless someone guides me? And he entreated Philip to come up and sit with him.

The president of the organisation was so impressed with the ministry books that he placed an order for the entire set. He invited us to his office where He even prayed over and blessed the books that the ministry books will be a blessing to the people of Kolkata. Another set of books was also handed over to a pastor of the biggest Christian group as a sample for them to see and place an order.

Basirhat

Near the border of India and Bangladesh, a group of Bengali speaking believers have been prepared by the Lord for His testimony. On a Lord’s day, we enjoyed the Lord's day meeting where all the saints shared from their experiences and enjoyments of Christ. We fellowshipped with them the unit of salvation – household, as many of the saints’ family members are yet to be saved, in addition to exhorting them to inculcate a daily habit of coming to the Lord through the word and in prayer.

This is also the hometown of a brother who serves in West Bengal. After the Lord's day meeting we went to visit his family. To the family, I released my burden on the need for household salvation and also the urgency of prayer and coming to the word of God daily. Besides, I was also asked by the brother to minister the truth concerning baptism as some of the family members were not yet baptised. Though not intended, our visit became an opportunity to minister the word to the family. May the Lord recover the entire family and also raise up the Lampstand in Basirhat!

Ministry of the Word Journey: Agartala

Agartala has been in my heart for a few years now since the Lord recovered Hsi testimonies in different villages of Tripura. Only this time the Lord opened the door for me to visit the city mostly with the twofold burden of introducing the ministry books to the Christian leaders and also to recover the seeking ones for the Lord's testimony to be raised up in the capital city of Agartala.

The Lord blessed the three days visit to Agartala. I simply followed the local brother who has been serving the Lord there. I stayed with his family and enjoyed his hospitality. I did not know much about this brother until this time when we could have a face to face and personal fellowship with him. As a local brother, he knew many of the Christian leaders. We could meet most of the main Christian leaders in the city and within the vicinity of the city. Most of the leaders were very interested in the ministry literature and placed order for the entire set (37 selected titles of Watchman Nee in English, 20 selected titles of Witness Lee in English, and 20 selected titles of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee in Hindi). Through this, some genuine seekers and lovers of the Lord Jesus Christ were manifested for further fellowship and home meetings.


The only Christian bookstore in the city placed order for the entire set. Through the distribution visit, the Lord opened the hearts and homes of an Engineer, Advocate, Scientist, Government Officers, for home meetings. 

What impressed me most in all the visit was the Lord's perfect timing and His anointing. To my surprise, many of the Christian leaders and Christian school principals placed order for all the set of books we introduced. The response was much beyond my expectation. Besides, the Lord also manifested some seeking families who loved the ministry books and were also opened for the further home meeting. In fact, we had the first home meeting in the city in the home of a sister who also invited three of her neighbouring families. We ministered the word on The Mystery of Human Life and Calling Upon the Name of the Lord. And the following week another home meeting was established in the home of an Engineer who we met on the road and through few minutes of fellowship was attracted towards the ministry. Another memorable encounter was the visit to an Advocate who further introduced us to a Scientist who is now a businessman. They both were so seeking for the truth that our time of fellowship for half an hour was sufficient to get closer to them. As they read the ministry books, I believe the Lord will gain them for His testimony in Agartala.

My brother serving in Agartala was so glad that I could visit; his eyes were indeed opened to see the harvest is plenty and ripe. He also testified of how much the Lord revived him and opened His eyes to see the urgency of shepherding the seeking families. In fact,  he used the word "magical" to describe what the Lord did in three days of my visit to the capital city. My departing word to the brother is, to faithfully continue the work of shepherding the new ones the Lord has manifested, and that if the Lord leads me in the future I would visit again to participate in the Lord's Table Meeting; meaning I would visit again for the raising up fo the Lord's testimony or after it was raised up, to participate in the church life.

Lord, raise up Your Lampstand in Agartala!

Sister in Christ


Friday, 31 August 2018