Ministry of the Word to Kargil

Kargil is famous for the Kargil War fought between India and Pakistan, which was also known as the Kargil conflict or Operation Vijay, an armed conflict fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir then, and elsewhere along the Line of Control(LoC).  Now, this region is a part of the Ladakh Union Territory.

Initially, we never had a plan to visit Kargil. But in one of our meetings with a brother, we mentioned our travel itinerary from Srinagar to Leh, then he suggested that we could stop by Kargil in between. Then, the burden was received, contact was made, and finally, we actually visited this important town in India.

In Kargil, a doctor-brother and his wife received us into their home and treated us with a brotherly lovefeast. We had a good time of fellowship with the couple and also with another family who came to the town with a burden to serve the Lord with their professions. Both families have sacrificed their comfortable lives and paid the price to go to this city out of a burden from the Lord. We learned from them that there were hardly any local believers in the entire region. And many Christians have a burden for the gospel in this area and many prayers have been offered to God. 

One beautiful thing in this area is that all the believers, though from various denominations, backgrounds, and doctrines, they have no way but to unite as one. All minor differences have to be put away to serve the Lord and take the stand for the Lord together. This was amazing! 

As we introduced the ministry literature to our host, he showed interest in all the books we brought there. He therefore placed order for the entire set of English ministry books with the Holy Bible Recovery Version. This was a good opening for the seed of the ministry to be sown in virgin soil. The Lord led us to such a place so that He can gain His chosen ones and raise up His testimony even in this important town.

Generally, there would be no vehicle plying in the afternoon to Leh, our next destination, as the last vehicle to leave Kargil for Leh was before 3 PM. But the Lord knew that we had to be in Leh the next day morning, which means we have to travel by all means the same day as it took over five hours on road. We did not rush nor panic but committed our time and ourselves to the Lord. We comfortably had enough time to spend with the two families, in fellowship and prayer. When we satisfactorily completed our visit to Kargil, the Lord arranged a vehicle just in time for us to move to Leh. We worship the Lord for His ways!

Lord, save the people of Kargil and raise up Your testimony in Kargil!

Ministry of the Word to Srinagar

After a time with the brothers in Anantnag, we journeyed to Srinagar. The beautiful scenery along the highway was so mesmerizing. I could not withhold my phone from taking phoes and videos all along. God's beautiful creation is so wonderful! The creation itself is a testimony of the Creator, God. These beautufil landscapes surely did not come into being and could barely be explained by the so-called "Bing Bang Theory" of man's mere imagination. With such wonder beyond human imagination, only the fools will indeed deny that God indeed is the Creator of all and that He does exist.

This time too, we had no clue as to whom we should meet, where we should stay, or what we should do in Srinagar. We just came with the burden of the distribution of the ministry literature. But the Lord gave us the right person to contact just as we planned to visit the city. A serving brother welcomed us to his Srinagar home and treated us with a delicious South Indian meal as he himself have migrated to the city some fifteen years ago from the South. This brother led us to different people and also made arrangements for our stay. We had a time introducing the ministry to this brother and gifted him with some books including the New Testament Recovery Version. 

He also met another brother whom we met in our past visit, who has been appreciating the depth of the minsitry so much. To him, based on his fellowship, we shared the truth concerning the inner man and the need to strengthen the inner man by contacting the Lord and by growing in the divine life. 

Besides, we also met a brother who has been displaying books and selling Christian books to key Christian churches. He came to meet us before we left the city and showed much interest in the ministry books. He even texted me testifying that a book he read made him realize some of his "sins" for which he also repented. To this brother, we handed over a good number of the ministry books for him to distribtue and sell.

This beautiful city has the same fate as that of the previous city we visited.  Despite the difficulty in laboring for the gospel in this city, there have been many brothers and sisters praying for the salvation of the people of this city in particular and the state in general. Though we could not see like in other cities of India, believers teeming the city, nonetheless many prayers have been offered. The prayers of the saints will bear forth fruits one day. We were blessed to share a part in the Lord's move to Srinagar.

May the Lord raise up the church in Srinagar soon with His chosen people.

Ministry of the Word to Anantnag

 Anantnag, a city of living streams is teeming with greens and a fresh supply of living streams from the mountains. As far as we were told, there are hardly any local believers in this city. And even if there were so, they must have been secret believers due to social stigma and the fear of religious fanatics. Nevertheless, the Lord is the Lord of all and He has His secret way of saving His chosen ones. He knows best.

We were welcomed by a serving brother warmly with much brotherly love. Though his house was a simple ancient house with barely two rooms, his heart for hospitality was exemplary. He could have given excuses for not having enough facilities for hospitality but he acted on the contrary. I personally learned a very important lesson from him and his attitude; giving hospitality is of the heart not necessarily of the facilities one has.  He served us with whatever he had in his possession; a simple meal served with love. What better meal can you expect?  

During the night, we had a time of fellowship with this brother and another medical doctor, a serving brother too. As the truth concerning the Holy Spirit baptism was brought up, after listening to the testimony of a brother who himself testified of his experiences of being filled with the Holy Spirit outwardly and how his life changed since then, I also shared the two aspects of the Holy Spirit filling in John 20 and Acts 2. After sharing such truth with all Bible references, the brother who seems to echo his point on the Holy Spirit indirectly pointing us to being silent in this important truth of the Holy Spirit was comforted as he would disagree with believers who do not believe in the Holy Spirit's baptism. He then realized that the ministry has expounded all the major truths in the Bible profoundly. Then, we introduced the ministry books to them and they bought some selected books of their choice for their study. 

Our host has also been a translator of Punjabi. Therefore, we requested him to try to translate the ministry books. Perhaps, the Lord brought us to the city to prepare the ground for his move to Punjab as well. Besides, these two families have been meeting non-denominationally as "the church in Anantnag" based on the truth we shared when we first visited them a few years ago. This time, we further strengthened the truth concerning the church ground and the oneness of the Body of Christ. I do believe the seed that we have sown will bear forth fruits one day.

We also visited a brother who was serving as an administrator of a hospital. He also was interested in the ministry books which we brought. As he inquired about our next destination, he also encouraged us to visit Kargil on our way to Leh from Srinagar. Therefore, the Lord used him to guide us to a new city that we did not plan before.

These brothers have been doing their best to serve in a difficult land. The Lord has been blessing them in their professional careers and the Lord will give them visible fruits one day.

Lord, bless your testimony in Anantnag!

Ministry of the Word to Basholi

Basholi, about five hours journey from Jammu towards the border of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, was a city we intended to skip for its long distance, but because it was already arranged we honored the Lord's sovereignty and simply followed the leading though we were physically tired. The Lord continued to grace us on to this city as well.

As soon as we arrived, we were taken to a special meeting arranged by a pastor at his house where some fifty believers had gathered. We faithfully ministered the word on the similar line of God's eternal purpose in creating man and how a Christian can grow in the Christian life with practical help on breathing, drinking, and eating the Lord daily. 

After the meeting, we were also taken by the pastor himself for a time of sightseeing to the beautiful lake and a hanging bridge over the lake. This pastor had become so friendly to us and shared some of his experiences in serving the Lord. He preached the gospel mostly among the unbelievers at his available time as he is also a government servant in a hospital. He professed to have gifts of healing and prophecy where he showed me some of his recorded prophesy in terms of prediction and fulfillment with a testimony of healing of some people. 

I personally believe he has a genuine burden for the gospel and all the gifts and prophecies in terms of prediction he adheres to are due to influence from other Christian workers. My burden for him is that he can dive deeper into the word of God and be constituted with the riches of the ministry. Therefore, I introduced the Hindi literature which he placed an order for and took all the books I introduced to him. 

Out of the burden for the ministry, he also has trained his family well. Especially, his eldest daughter, to serve with him in leading in singing and translating for us when we ministered the word. All his children, three of them, two sisters and a brother, seem to be properly eductaed. But his burden was that all his children would serve the Lord along with him. He was least bothered by the earthly profession of his children though they were excellent in their studies. He preferred that all education he help his children gain was all for the ministry in God's service. Moreover, he does not want to meddle with those who are already believers. So, he focussed on non-believers as his burden was for the gospel of salvation mostly. He also inquire if we could be invited by him in the coming days, to which we replied in the affirmative and asked him to pray about it. 

After a day and a night in the city, we left for our next destination.

May the Lord raise up His testimony in Basholi!

Ministry of the Word to Jammu

When I first landed in this city for the distribution trip, a brother picked me up from the Airport. This brother has been pastoring a small congregation. When we were fellowshipping over breakfast, he brought out certain points concerning his view on salvation, that salvation can be lost. I differed with the erroneous teaching and presented to him using the pure word of God that salvation by God is eternal and helped to understand the difference between eternal life and a reward for Christians. Though he quoted some Bible verses to prove his points I pointed out to him that the verses he quoted were taken out of context. Then he was so glad to receive my fellowship and thanked me for the truth on the assurance and security of salvation. Though I personally wanted to meet him again, our schedules did not match, so we could not meet up again. Perhaps, his function was to receive us and lead us to our next destination.

On the 27th of June, we were welcomed by the biggest Christian group in the city of Jammu. A special meeting was arranged for us by the group. After being welcomed by the committee members and formerly welcomed with garlanding in the meeting, we ministered the word. Like other places, the Spirit's leading was to minister on the basics of the Christian life. When my turn came, my burden was to help the believers to daily exercise by breathing, drinking, and eating the Lord. I did so by quoting relevant Bible verses. The entire congregation was so much in hunger for the word of God; they drew out of my being rivers of living water. They enjoyed the flow of life within as I continued to minister faithfully and boldly as the Lord led so. 

After the meeting, we had a time of the ministry books distribution and exhibition where a young pastor ordered the entire set of ministry books in English. Later the entire committee members took us for a dinner love feast and we were dropped off to our hotel.

It was rather amazing that so many groups of Christian have sprung up in the city of Jammu, mostly among the local Dogras. Positively, the number of believers multiplied but negatively the number of Christian denominations also multiplied. Nonetheless, the gospel is spreading. Praise the Lord!

We were also invited to a city near Jammu where we were requested to minister the word in a newly established church meeting. There too, we did our best to minister the word and had a time of dinner love feast at a believer's home.

After all these meetings, we were wondering how the Lord led us to all these people. We simply trusted the Lord and His word that one day, the seed we have sown will bear forth fruits, a thirty-fold, a sixty-fold, and even a hundred-fold.

Lord, gain Your heart's desire in Jammu and raise up Your testimony in Jammu city soon! 

Ministry of the Word to Katra

In the city of a famous goddess shrine on a mountain top, we witnessed the multiplication of the believers in general among all the Christian groups. Despite the strict religious atmosphere engulfing the city, the Spirit's move too was intensified amidst the cloudy situation. We truly witnessed in this city Katra that God is a living and moving God. No forces one earth can ever stop Him! The stronger the opposition, the stronger the Lord's move.

We were brought by a brother to this city to visit a Christian group. Though our main purpose was for the distribution of the ministry literature, the situation turned out that we came here for the ministr of the word. When we were welcomed warmly and given the time to minster the word, my brother went first to expound the eternal plan of God. When my turn came, I intended to follow up on the same burden, but the Lord led me to minister somthing I myself found it to be a little strange. The burden the Lord gave me was to minister on 'Baptism".

Therfore, I denied my own feelng and followed the Lord's inward leading to minister the truth concerning baptism. Using all the relevant Bible verses, I ministered on the need for believing and baptism by giving seven crucial of Bible verses to prove the seven significants points of baptism. After I released the burden the Lord imparted to me, I discovered that the believers themselves were in great need of this truth concerning baptism. When the pastor of the group asked how many understood the message and how many wanted to take water baptsim, a good number of hands were raised up. I was surprised to see that the Lord knew their urgent need and led me to minister on baptism.

There were a coupl of pastors who joined the meeting too. They themselves testified that they never heard of baptism being expounded in such a  rich way. They themselves were cleared of the truth concerning baptism. The Lord knew the best and He met the timely need of the believers. Hallelujah!

This ciyt was just a day visit and we left for the next city, Jammu, after we had lunch with our host in Katra. I do believe that one day the Lord will raise up His testimony in Katra.

Lord. raise up your testimony in Katra soon!

Ministry of the Word to Udhampur

As we arrived at the house of the brother who hosted us for the meetings in the church he is shepherding, he initially wanted to have an ice-breaking fellowship where he wanted to clarify certain points concerning the ministry we represent. Looking to the Lord inwardly, with an exercised spirit, we answered all his queries to his satisfaction where he felt peaceful and joyful. Besides, at his request, I personally shared my testimony of how the Lord saved and called me to serve Him full-time. All these initial fellowships were indeed a good starter. Our relationship henceforth was established. And on the following Lord's day, he requested us to minister to his congregation for two sessions.

In two sessions, a brother and I coordinated to minister the word concerning God's eternal plan, expounding some basic Bible verses to help the believers understand what their lives are meant for: to receive God, contain God, express God, and represent God! We also ministered the need for growth in life by the inward life supply and spreading of the Lord's divine life from the spirit into the soul, and finally into the body as well. We also ministered on some basic God-man life exercises of calling upon the Lord's name, reading and pray-reading His word, and the need to spend time with the Lord. We also ministered on the assurance, security, and joy of salvation to help the belivers clear about their salvation itself.  Of course, after the ministering of the word, we also had a time of distributing the ministry literature and displaying them to the believers for their further pursuit of the truth.

The Lord richly anointed us and blessed the ministry of His word. The bishop, the pastor, and the believers were all overjoyed by the rich ministry of the word. The bishop and pastor themselves commented on how much they themselves were supplied with the Lord's speaking and further reported that the believers too enjoyed the Lord's speaking.  The bishop has also enquired if there could be a time in the future again for a revisit and more shepherding. We left the matter to the Lord to lead us in His time.

Just before we left the city, we also introduced the literature to the bishop and he took the entire set of Hindi ministry books along with an order for the Holy Bible Recovery Version and 10 copies of the HWMR God's Economy in Faith. In fact, I gift him my English HWMR copy as he was interested to study the truth.

The Lord has blessed our two nights and one day stay in the city. We have, by His mercy and grace, faithfully ministered the word as we were led to do so. We do believe that the seed of the ministry of the word sown into the hearts of the believers in this city will one day bear forth fruits unto the recovery of His testimony. Awaiting to witness that day, soon to be... 

Lord, recover Your testimony in Udhampur!