Copyright Agreement

As a serving one in the literature service, there was a need for me to get a copyright agreement between our main publisher LSM, and all our translators sign the copyright agreement. The matter was first brought up many years ago when brother Robin Fenwick was still alive and serving in India. The work was initiated but was never executed. Last year, in one of the literature fellowships, it was brought to notice the need for carrying out this exercise. 

I took that as a challenge and an opportunity to learn how to do things properly especially in legal matters. I started looking at the draft that was given to me. I did research online on copyright laws of India and a few other intellectual property laws with the many rights that exist in the publication work. Then, I came up with a draft and presented it to the brothers. LSM then consulted their intellectual property lawyers and gave me a go-ahead in this regard. 

First, I created an online data entry form for all the serving ones to fill online. Then, I sent a mail to all the translators for signing the copyright form. Meanwhile, I consulted two lawyers and personally went to the court to find out the practical detail of making the copyright agreement legally valid. 

The first batch of signed copyright agreements came in. Then, I need to follow up with many others who did not respond on time. I personally checked the documents one by one, page by page, and made sure that things were done properly. Then I realized that the Bible translators need to sign an agreement on their Bible translation work. The entire process was redone again for the New Testament Bible translation team. 

Still, there were some who did not read the email properly or who did not follow the instruction given to them in signing this copyright agreement. Those were identified, and I had to contact them and asked them to do their works properly. I ended up visiting the court here in Gurugram four times until all the copyright agreements were signed, stamped, and notarized. 

Then these documents have to be cross-checked one by one, page by page again, then scanned, and checked again, and finally organized properly and submitted to LSM. 

During this process of four months, a few important points were followed strictly:

Do it right. Do not take a shortcut. The longest and difficult ways are often not the easy way, but it's always worth the price in the end. 

Be faithful and diligent in all the works assigned to you or to your responsibilities. In minute and material matters, one's faithfulness and quality of work is tested.

Pray and look to the Lord for all things, and experience His grace all the way long.

I had a sense of joy and satisfaction after the fifty translators have signed their copyright agreement. In the process, I learned my spiritual lessons, and officially my responsibilities have also been carried out in the best possible way.  It was on 3rd March 2021 that the final scanned PDF copies were sent to LSM. And the reply I received from the brothers reminds me of the word in Matthew 25:21, 23. 

His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful over a few things; I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master.  

Faithful in Shepherding

It was Saturday afternoon after our prayer meeting that the church had arranged for two hours of gospel preaching and shepherding. I had a gap of two weeks in contacting the new ones as I was out of station. That day, I decided to meet the new ones by all means. I could not bear not meeting with these ones for too long.

First, I met a brother who came back from his hometown after the pandemic. I have been in touch for prayer with this brother over the phone. With his new job and in a new place, I went to cherish him. Then I met a brother who runs a small hotel, who has been struggling financially, and for whom I had taken the initiative to help him financially and spiritually. We had a short time of fellowship together at his hotel over a cup of coffee. I was there to cherish him in his present need and also to nourish him with prayer and supply of the word of God. Then, I went to meet a family who is also struggling in their family matter. This being Hindi speaking family I could only converse with them on trivial issues; a day-to-day matter. I am yet to attain the level of Hindi language as to minister to them. I prayed with them and they also prayed. In all these cases, the one thing that drove me to visit them all is, "I must be faithful in shepherding the new ones." 

Besides, I also received a call from a brother concerning his family situation. The Lord graced me the patient to pay heed to all he had to say, and the Lord also graced to shepherd him according to the instant leading the Lord gave me at that moment. 

Then, I came back to have an online monthly Zoom prayer meeting with my Christian classmates during my Master's degree; we fellowshipped and prayed together for about an hour, all online. Then, I had my late dinner and still prayed with my family members as usual.  

Shepherding requires simple care and concern for the ones under shepherding. Faithfulness is required to carry out this consistently. I pray that I may continually find grace in the eyes of God so as to be ever faithful in shepherding.

Jamshedpur: Ministry of the Word Literature Journey

Just for a day, we came to this city to meet some seeking believers. Since we did not know who these ones were, nor did we have any base yet to meet people, we ended up in a decent hotel in the city. From there we invited all the ones on our contact list to come and visit us at the hotel. One by one, seekers came and we introduced the ministry literature to them. For the whole day, we spend time in the same hotel, and thankfully the hotel management was kind enough to let us stay the whole day. Of course, we ordered tea and snacks, and lunch to compensate for the usage of the hotel

One other reason for our visit to the city is to shepherd a sister who has been a secret believer for many years due to her family background. She has been shepherded by some sisters over the phone and the ministry books were introduced to her too. She hailed from a  strong religious background and wanted to keep her faith in the Lord just between herself and the Lord and with a few other believers. Professionally, she is a high-ranking officer in the government. As we met her, she was so happy to fellowship with her fellow believers in the Body of Christ.

The first question she asked us was, how to know the will of God? I took that question as an opportunity to minister the word of God to her. So I expounded on the four ways of knowing God's will. The Word of God, the Holy Spirit, the Fellowship of the Body, and the Circumstantial Evidence. I ministered on the line of these four points with my subjective experiences, and also referred her to the ministry book where she can read the message by herself later. I also complimented my sharing with my own testimonies of following the leading of the Lord. Then we fellowship on the practice of calling upon the Lord's name and pray-reading His word. Incidentally, I had two booklets by the same title and presented them to her. Other brothers also followed suit and shared their testimonies as well. It was a sweet coordination in fellowship.

It was indeed a joy to fellowship with seeking believers and minister the word of God. The fellowship was so sweet and we could have gone on and on. But we had to leave for Ranchi as another meeting was already fixed for us to attend. Overall, I believe the Lord will gain this sister and other seeking believers for His testimony in Tatanagar. As a follow-up, on her consent, I have been sending her ministry portion day by day, for daily reading and pursuit, along with few others, with the burden of shepherding.

May the Lord gain her and also gain the local believers who would one day stand for His testimony in Tatanagar!

Ranchi: Ministry of the Word Literature Journey

In the capital city of Jharkhand, a brother and his family have been actively propagating the ministry for the Lord's testimony. He has two contacts specially reserved for the Lord's testimony. One of them is his neighbor and the other, his colleague in the office.

We have had two sittings with his house owner's family. This family loves the Lord and is very impressed by the ministry of the word. Though he has been one of the elders of a spiritual-seeking Christian group, the truth he enjoyed of the ministry is far deeper and sweeter than the monotonous ritualistic and religious preaching in the group he has been attending. The Lord had used the pandemic to force him to attend a regular meeting with the brother's family who is also his tenant. Many online meetings were conducted wherein his family even finished going through the life-study of Revelation, attended the video training, and some meetings online with the church in New Delhi. But for the pandemic, he would have never had the opportunity to taste the ministry or enjoy the church life, at least online. 

Now, the Lord has done some works in him and he became more seeking and more inquisitive to know more about the ministry; how it functions, locally, nationally, and internationally. He began to enquire on many practical details of the Lord's move. The answer to all these practical questions is simple, "the Lord's leading, the Lord's provision, and the Lord's ministry, for the Lord's testimony."

On our first meeting, the Lord gave me the burden to minister on How to Meet, to help them get out of the concept of the Christian religious way of meeting. 

What then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 1 Corinthians 14:26

I released my burden on how one has to be in spirit and follow the Lord's leading in singing, praising, speaking, prayer, and any activities in the meeting. The main purpose of the meeting is for the purpose of building up one another that in turn builds up the church, the Body of Christ.  Then, my brothers followed me in strengthening the burden on the meeting, as we have the burden and vision that his family would one day be bearing the Lord's testimony in Ranchi.

The second meeting was when he invited us for a dinner love feast, the night before we left the city. I had the burden to minister on the Lord's salvation, what I freshly enjoyed from the life-study of Philippians. Christ is the salvation of God; salvation is a Person, Christ.

Luke 2:25-29And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been divinely communicated to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the little child Jesus for them to do according to the custom of the law concerning Him, He received Him into his arms and blessed God and said, Now You release Your slave, Master, according to Your word, in peace; For my eyes have seen Your salvation.

Luke 19:9 And Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham. 

Salvation is a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is now the life-giving Spirit who dwells in our spirit. We were saved from eternal perdition but we still need to work out our salvation day by day. Though being saved eternally, we need to exercise our spirit daily by the operation of the indwelling God to work out our daily salvation. 

Philippians 2:12-13 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much rather in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; For it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.

After releasing my burden, other brothers followed suit, ministering on the same burden. Then we all prayed together. Thus, ending the journey for this time. The following daily early morning I left for home.

The second meeting was with another brother who loves the word of God. To him we ministered on the truth concerning gaining God, especially through hardship and suffering, using the life of Job. His wife has been battling a stroke attack and the family was in a downward trend outwardly. But the Lord used even such to deal with our brother and humbled him to be more open to Him and to the brothers for a dearer fellowship. This brother's family is another potential family for the Lord's testimony in Ranchi.

Besides, we also met with another family whose family has been enjoying the ministry for years now. To them, our focus was on the children, who are growing up, ministering them in a way of testifying on loving the Lord when they were still young.

On the Lord's day, after the Lord's day meeting, the Lord burdened me to minister to the young people on the "Nazarite Vow" from Numbers 6 emphasizing the matter of consecration, especially for the young people. They all enjoyed the truth and the ministry of the word with subjective experiences. There were five young people who received the ministry. I believe they will one day become the pillars for the Lord's testimony in Ranchi. 

May the Lord raise up His testimony in Ranchi soon!

Khunti: Ministry of the Word Literature Journey

Raipur: Ministry of the Word Literature Journey

The fellowship we had in Raipur was more of a shepherding for the saints who have been meeting as the church there. We only had one night of fellowship as two other brothers were there for two days already. What impressed me most was the seeking heart of the saints, especially the sisters, and their longing to fellowship with the fellow members of the Body of Christ.

It was already late night when we arrived at the meeting hall. The first thing we did was feasting with the saints as it was dinner time. After dinner, the saints did not want to go home, rather they all wanted to stay back and have more fellowship. They all decided to stay in the meeting hall for the night for the sake of fellowship. When the saints gathered after dinner for fellowship, a brother started off with the burden on the church life using a picture of Mary-Martha-Lazarus in the gospel of  John 11. The saints in Raipur are in the ratio of 1:2 of brothers and sisters as in the case with Lazarus: Mary and Martha. This was such an encouragement to them as the sisters have been worrying about the lack of brothers for the church-life.

The spiritual significance of these three persons are noteworthy. Mary, a lover of the Lord who sat at the Lord's feet to listen to the Lord and fellowship with Him on the word; Martha, a lover of the Lord in practical services, and Lazarus, a lover of the Lord who was a testimony of the resurrection. This comprises the church-life in a practical way. All three characteristics are important and all these three components must be in the church-life. Loving the Lord like Mary, serving the Lord like Martha, and be a testimony of the Lord's resurrection like Lazarus.

Then I followed my brother's burden by bringing out Romans 16 on the greetings of Paul to the church in Rome, where he addressed a good number of sisters as they played important role in the ministry. 

I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a deaconess of the church which is in Cenchrea, Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, Greet Mary, one who has labored much for you.  Romans 16:1,3,6

Acts 12:12 mentioned the prayer at the house of sister Mary.

And when he became aware of this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, who was surnamed Mark, where there was a considerable number assembled together and praying.

This signifies the sister's function in taking the lead in the practical church-life, not taking the lead in the church's administration which is ordained by God for the brothers. The sisters have to function in all practical matters, else the church-life will be poor and unhealthy. One of the key points is the sisters' gathering together to pray for the saints, the brothers, and many other practical matters, and avoid any busy-bodies or gossips. 

In all these practical fellowships, the sisters in Raipur were very encouraged as they all testified of the new light they received through the fellowship. May the Lord continue to grace them to go on in the church-life. And may the Lord also gain more brothers for the church-life in Raipur!

Korba: Brotherly Visit

Shepherding is the key to recover a backslidden brother. The Lord Jesus recovered Peter by simply shepehrding him. And His charge to Peter was to simply shepherd the flock of God if he indeed loved Him. The same is true with every believer today. The soltuion to some backslidden, dishearted, and discouraged brothers is to simply shepherd them with the love of Christ.  

As the Lord has been shepherding me, He also burdened me to shepherd some brothers who I have been shepherding within my capacity.  This time, as we were on a trip to Chattisgarh, I deemed it fit to visit a brother and his family in Korba. We have been in fellowship and prayer over the phone, therefore, visiting them would further strengthen our fellowship and relationship in Christ. 

Our fellowship began as we were picked up from the railway station. We fellowshipped as we drove to the brother's home who came to pick us up. Then, the moment we reach his home, his father engaged us in clarifying some of his doubts he had been harboring since the time his son shifted to Raipur leaving his government job for the sake of the Lord's testimony. Many doubts he had were poured out one by one. 

We looked to the Lord deep within to address his questions. The Lord indeed graced us to answer, question by question, on truth, life, practice, church, and other spiritual and human matters. The fellowship went all the way till midnight when we felt to take a break, prayed, and took rest for the day. The next day, our fellowship began at the breakfast table which went on till lunch and further continued till the father and son dropped us and saw us off at the railway station.

Besides the sweet fellowship, we also enjoyed the sweet hospitality the brother's family gave us. I believe, the Lord's testimony began from one's family life at home and then further spreads to other areas; from the center to the circumference. Without a proper family life, I am very doubtful of one being useful in the Lord's hand. "Charity begins from home," is the world-famous dictum; and I modify this as, "Sanctify, testimony, and ministry begins from home!"

After the fellowship, the brother confirmed to me the positive feeling from his parent after our visit and fellowship. My only fellowship to him is, to simply live out Christ and that his life would be a living testimony, and warned him never to preach nor try to convince his parent in any way other than his own living testimony. The word of St. Augustine rang forth, "Preach the gospel always, if necessary, use words."

I believe the Lord would fully shepherd my dear brother, recover his full enjoyment of Christ, and restore his earthly profession, and also restore his function in the Body to be a pillar for the Lord's testimony one day. 

May the Lord recover and restore my brother and his family even to the raising up of His testimony in Korba!