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.

Mizo Proofreading Preparation

Since the recovery of the church life in Aizawl, the Lord has been blessing the church in a marvelous way. Though the saints have been struggling spiritually and physically, the Lord has been faithful to supply all their needs and grace them on and on. Three sister have been consecrated to serve the lord full-time in the literature service, especially in the translation of the New Testament Recovery Version into Mizo. By the Lord's mercy, the translation has been completed and checking has been going on. The final proofreading work is due on January 2022. It is for this that I came to Aizawl to do the preparatory work.

On the 17th Dec after the prayer and fellowship with the core team for the proofreading work, I inspected all the work that needed to be done. We have done 90% of the work needed and a few things have to be finalized, which the serving one will accomplish them in the following days. By far, I am satisfied with the coordination and preparation.

In the evening we had dinner lovefeast for the volunteers. Then I had a time of fellowship with all those who registered for the proofreading work in Mizo. Three specific points the Lord burdened me to fellowship with them were:

Vision: Everyone need to have a clear vision of the need for the New Testament Recovery Version in Mizo which is for the sake of the Lord's move among the Mizo speaking people. When the Mizo Bible first came, it was for the evangelization or gospel preaching to the Mizos. Now, that most of them have become Christians, there is a need for growth and building of the believers with the proper and healthy teaching of the word of God. For this, there is a need for the accurately translated and properly interpreted word of God, the Recovery Version can meet this need.

Consecration: Having seen the vision, there is a need for the serving ones to consecrate themselves to carry out the vision. The children of Israel consecrated themselves for the building of the temple in Jerusalem because they knew it was for God's purpose and God also gave them a willing heart. Therefore, I called upon the saints to consecrate for the Lord's work and even pay the price to meet the Lord's need. This consecrate requires minimum two weeks of their time and be one with the serving ones to carry out the work.

Coordination: Finally, to practically carry out the Lord's work, there is a need for coordination. Otherwise the vision seen nor the consecration would yield no result. All the detail instructions have to be carried out as instructed just as the children of Israel built the temple as Jehovah instructed them.

After releasing these burdens, I gave time for any clarification, should there be any. Following this, I encouraged a leading brother and the translators to share words of encouragement, and then we concluded it with prayer.

May the Lord bless the proofreading exercise and bring out the New Testament Recovery Version in Mizo.

Brothers Fellowship In Shillong

For over a year, I have been praying with some brothers in the church in Shillong. The Lord has been faithful to begin to answer the prayers for the saints. This time, He arranged a time of fellowship with all the brothers in Shillong. Though the fellowship was planned I really did not know what to speak, how to lead, and what the burden of the fellowship should be. But I simply trusted in the Lord's presence who is the leading.

Once all the brothers came together, the Lord led me to begin the fellowship by prayer and hymns singing. We first sang Hymn 904.  Stanza four described best the very purpose of our visit to the brothers and the fellowship we had with them.

I dwell with the King for His work,

The work, it is His and not mine;

He plans and prepares it for me

And fills me with power divine.

So duty is changed to delight,

And prayer into praise as I sing;

I dwell with my King for His work

And work in the strength of my King.

Then, as we were about to finish the singing, the Lord led me to pray-read Bible verse together with all the brothers. So we pray-read Ephesians 4:

  1 I beseech you therefore, I, the prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,

  2 With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing one another in love,

  3 Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.

Then, we fellowshipped on the need to keep the oneness by being filled with God who is the oneness. The practical way to be filled with God is by being filled with the word who is spirit and life. And further ministered on John 17, the oneness in the name of God, through the word of God, and in the glory of God. We also encouraged the brothers to receive help from the ministry which can enable them to enjoy the word and build them up together.

Then, there were responses from the brothers about their enjoyment of the fellowship. I was very encouraged to hear the brothers' sharing on how much they have been helped by the fellowship and the ministry. Deep within me, I had the confirmation that the Lord has accomplished the very purpose for which they brought us to Shillong. Finally, we enjoyed singing together Hymn 1081 on John 17 which was followed by lovefeast dinner.

The burden this time has been released and the goal accomplished. Now, the Lord will work in the brothers and gain them all for His testimony!

Lord, bless the church in Shillong!