Fellowship with the Saints in Lamka, CCPur

As a brother in Christ, the saints in the church in Lamka arranged an evening meeting where a brother from Aizawl and I fellowshipped with the saints. The church life is full of fellowship and blending for the building up of the Body of Christ.

After two brothers shared briefly on how the Lord raised up the church in Lamka as well as in Aizawl, I was given the time to fellowship on whatever burden the Lord burdened me with. In fact, in my morning Bible reading on Exodus, the Lord told me to share the practical experiences of the sanctification of the serving priests.

“And this is what you shall do to them to sanctify them to serve Me as priests: take one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish,” (Exodus 29:1, RecVer)

Footnotes from the Recovery Version 

To be qualified to serve God as priests, Aaron and his sons had to be sanctified, to be set apart by being marked out. The mark that set apart, sanctified, Aaron and his sons to be the priests was the filling of their hands with the offerings, signifying the filling of the believers with the riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8) through their subjective experience of Him as the reality of the offerings (Heb. 10:5-10). The steps in sanctifying Aaron and his sons included the washing away of their uncleanness (v. 4), the covering of their nakedness by the priestly garments (vv. 5-9), the dealing with their sinful nature through the sin offering (vv. 10-14), and the feeding of God with the burnt offering (vv. 15-18) and God and the priests with the peace offering (vv. 19-28). This was not merely a consecration or ordination of Aaron and his sons.

“Then you shall slaughter the ram and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the lobe of the right ear of his sons and on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the rest of the blood on and around the altar.” (Exodus 29:20, RecVer)

To serve God as priests, our hearing (ears), our working (hands), and our walking (feet) must be cleansed and sanctified by Christ’s redeeming blood. We must learn how to listen to the word of God (cf. 21:2-6; Isa. 50:4-5; Luke 10:38-42), to do what is required by Him, and to walk according to His way in serving Him. In Lev. 14:14 the same procedure was used in the cleansing of a leper, indicating that in the eyes of God we sinners who have been ordained to be His priests are unclean, like lepers.

Based on these truths, I ministered on the practical steps to be sanctified to serve the living God as priests. In the washing by the word of God, I released my burden on helping the saints to love the word and read it daily to be reconstituted with the truths. In fact, I challenged them to take a pledge before the Lord to read through the Bible at least once in a year, to which many saints said amen. Then, I shared on the need to not trust our self and natural man and the need to be covered with Christ as our clothing, then I shared on the need to deal with our flesh by taking Christ as the sin offering, meal offering, and peace offering. Finally, I also gave examples and practical help how our ears need to be cleansed, filtering all worldly noises but listening to the word of God; how our hands need to be cleansed by working righteously, especially in money matters, of not bribing nor borrowing but being clean, faithful, and righteous; and how our daily living should be proper before God and man, in morality and being a living testimony of Jesus.

Having ministered thus, I also showed the way how we can be practically cleansed. The truths may be high but the ways are simple; being revived everyday through prayer, calling upon the Lord’s name, morning revival, and the enjoyment of the word of God; and by being in the church life in fellowship with the saints.

The Lord anointed the ministry of the word and the saints responded after the speaking by sharing the portions they were convicted of and enlightened by. Many of them offered prayer for grace to be sanctified and, indeed, serve as priest.

May the Lord's hand follow His words, and may He bless the saints in the church in Lamka to be a glorious golden lampstand.

Reunion with My Classmates

While in Lamka, one of my classmates, in fact, my good friend at school took the initiative to invite a few other classmates to get-together on 22 Dec 2021. I just went as invited, not knowing what to share.

Seven of my high classmates who were in town turned up for the reunion. They all wanted me to share on how I became who I am today. Since they all wanted to know what kind of ministry I am involved in, which church I belong to, and how I came to serve the Lord, I looked to the Lord inwardly and shared whatever was needed to help them understand what I felt may help them understand.

My classmates' request opened the door for me to testify of what the Lord has been doing in my life. His wise and sovereign hands in my life was shared as a living message to my friends. In between there were intersections to comment on what I had been through. I am glad they got the message through the testimony itself. Praise the Lord!

We had photo sessions and on their request I prayed for all of them, especially, the family of the one who took the initiative to reunite. 

May the Lord work in all my classmates, as most of them are Christians, that they may love the Lord and that they may also grow in life unto full maturity.

Three Hundred Miles

After my burden was released at Aizawl, I was planning to leave for Lamka-CCPur to visit the saints. A brother from Aizawl insisted that he would come along and drive me from Aizawl to Lamka. I felt good about the proposal and amen his fellowship.

We set off for the journey at 5:20 AM on 21 Dec 2021 from Thuampui, Aizawl. We drove about 15 hours on the state highway to arrive our destination Lamka at about 9 PM on the same day. It was, indeed, a long long drive over the mountains and hills, and ditches and valleys. The beautiful landscapes all along the road entertained me; I could see the beauty of God’s creation and often wondered why many natural resources were left untapped. Here and there, I took photo shots and marveled at the greatness of God, the Creator.

Though the road was dusty as extension work on the highway has been underway, I appreciated the government of India's effort to build a four lane highway. This should have been done decades ago, any way, now the work is in progress. 

The excavation work on the hills and mountains were indeed great, though we had to be blocked a couple of times due to road block from the excavation. Due to such work, we took more time than usual and could not reach our destination in time. 

In fact, the saints were waiting for us to welcome us even as a brother had prepared a Lamb feast for lovefeast dinner. Due to our delay, we could not have meal together with the saints as planned; they left before we arrived. Nonetheless, we enjoyed our Lamb meal with our host's family, my first time to feast on Lamb's meat, followed by a short while fellowship and prayer, and off to sleep.

It was indeed a wonderful three hundred miles journey; enjoying God’s creation and His presence all along. Praise God for the safe journey and the adventurous 15 hours' road drive!

A Time with a Brother

One of the brothers who has completed his full time training and finished his Master's degree from abroad came to fellowship with me about his personal matters. I had to take a time out after a lovefeast dinner at another brother's home to listen to this brother what he had to say. One important principle in helping the saints is to listen to what they have to say and even listen to what they did not say or intend to say. In this way, discerning the actual condition of the saint, one can render necessary help through fellowship.

The Lord is the Lord and I did not dare to direct him in any way. I could only fellowship in general and lead him to look to the Lord until he is clear about what the Lord’s plan is for him. In a way of fellowship I shared how I sought and found the Lord’s will in my life, and thereby, obeyed it through His grace. Some keys points in determining the Lord’s practical leading are:

• Peace and Life Within
• The Word of God 
• Circumstances
• Fellowship in the Body

After our fellowship and prayer, he became clear about not going abroad again for further studies, giving time upto the end of this year for a final confirmation for his friendship matter, and seeking the Lord’s will in his service.

Through fellowship, the Lord cleared up many confusions, and we both enjoyed a brotherly fellowship. 

May the Lord lead my brother and give him a clear sky on all the matters he brought to fellowship. And may He be gained to be a useful and faithful vessel to the Lord.

Introduction of the Holy Bible Recovery Version

Two whole days, 18 and 20 Dec, I spent with the brothers in Aizawl to meet with the key Christian leaders in Mizoram whose head quarters are located in Aizawl. A brother who has been serving as a distributor for the ministry books in Mizoram had made all the necessary appointments.

As Christian brothers, we were welcomed wherever we went and whomever we met. We met with the leaders of the following Christian groups:

• Salvation Army
• Baptist
• Presbyterian 
• Pentecostal
• Holy Church 

The Lord gave me the timely word to speak to all the Christian leaders I met. As I introduced the Recovery Version, the anointing of the Spirit was richly felt; He gave the proper utterance, the right verses to quote, and the striking footnotes to show. All Christian leaders we met were so impressed by the two significant features of the Recovery Version; accuracy in translation from the original Hebrew and Greek and the 15,000 extensive footnotes that serves as study notes. Along with the English Bible, I also introduced the upcoming Mizo New Testament Recovery Version. One manager of a Baptist book room purchased 100 Holy Bible, Recovery Version, 50 leather-bound and 50 hardbound. Other Christian leaders have promised to bring it to their committee meeting for the final order.

The Mizo Bible has resulted in the gospelization of the entire Mizo population. The Mizo Recovery Version will result in the churchization of the Mizos. Only the Lord can do this through His living Word. 

May the Lord bless the Mizo speaking Christians with His timely and living Word.

Home Meeting at My Classmate's Home

One of my high school classmates has become the first woman to clear Mizoram Police Service and now has been posted as the second-in-command of the Mizoram Armed Police. She has been revived by the Lord a few years ago and since then she has been an ardent lover of the Lord Jesus Christ.

While I was in Aizawl, she invited me over to her home for dinner. There I went along with three saints to fellowship with her and some of her Christian partners. Initially, I was only on a listening mode to listen to what she had to say or her friends she invited had to say. After listening to them, I had the leading within to share my portion as well.

I shared on the leading by the Lord’s presence with His pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night; the leading by the Spirit during normal times signified by the day and the leading by the Word of God during hard times and dark nights signified by night. This led me further to testify on my own experiences of Christ in my academic career, God’s calling, marriage, and serving in the ministry.

We had a wonderful time together, feasting on Mizo cuisine, and also prayed for the whole family. I also gifted my classmate with The Orthodoxy of the Church, Raising Up the Next Generation for the Church Life, and a couple of Rhema Set 1 in Mizo.

I introduced her to a sister in Aizawl for the follow-up shepherding, and the Christian partnership team she was associated with, to a brother in the church life.

I have the faith that the Lord’s hand would follow his speaking and pray that she and her whole household would be shepherded into the church life in Aizawl.

Lord, bless my classmates' family along with her friends.

Fellowship with the Saints in Aizawl

On the Lord's day, 19 Dec 2021, I attended the Lord's Table Meeting at Aizawl. It was such a blessed time to fellowship with the saints by partaking of the same bread and wine. It reminded me of the first time I broke the bread with the saints in 2007. It was their first meeting after being recovered into the fellowship of the Body of Christ. Since then, they have been in fellowship with the whole Body in the Lord’s recovery. Looking back, it has indeed been the faithfulness of the Lord that has preserved His testimony in Aizawl. The saints have thus been constituted with the truths and have grown so much in life. 

After the bread breaking meeting, the saints gathered together for a time of fellowship on the word of God. Though it was meant for the young people, the saints also attended the fellowship. The main burden the Lord gave me to release was on "the presence of the Lord" using verses from Exodus on Moses' conversation with God.

“Now therefore if I have found favor in Your sight, please let me know now Your ways, that I may know You, so that I may continue to find favor in Your sight. Consider also that this nation is Your people. And He said, My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest. And he said to Him, If Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.” (Exodus 33:13-15, RecVer)

The burden released was on the need to be in the presence of the Lord all the time. As Christians, we need to seek the perfect will of the Lord in every matter great or small. For the young people, they must consecrate their life to the Lord; their academic career, future job, and even marriage. I released the burden with my own testimony in my studies, in serving the Lord, in my marriage, and in my recent ministry journey to Madhya Pradesh and North East India. 

I had the peace from the Lord to encourage the saints to pray for the upcoming proofreading work of the New Testament Recovery Version Bible in Mizo, and to read through the Holy Bible at least once in a year and also read through the Mizo New Testament with the footnotes after it is printed.

Later, some saints testified of how the Lord has spoken to them through the fellowship. This was indeed their timely need. 

In a similar manner, the fellowship with two brothers' family at their homes for a dinner also resulted in enjoying the Lord’s timely speaking. 

When we are one with the Lord, He speaks His word in the most timely way. We should always be exercised to be one with the Lord in our living and let the Lord live in and through us.