Time with the Lord

Taste and see that Jehovah is good; Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Ps 34:8

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine. Draw me; we will run after you — The king has brought me into his chambers — We will be glad and rejoice in you; We will extol your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you. SS 1:2, 4

The church is built up only by Christ Himself as the Builder and the building material. Therefore today, if we have to build up the church it must be "Not I but Christ." The way to build up the church is by experiencing and enjoying Christ in all His riches. 

As types in the Old Testament, God used David to prepare the materials, the land, and the person to build up the temple in Jerusalem; then, Solomon, as the builder prepared by David his father built the temple with the material his father had prepared in advance and in abundance. David and Solomon, on the positive aspects, typify Christ in His incarnation, human living, affliction, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. The two combined together brought forth the temple of God in Jerusalem. In the fulfillment and application today, the church can be built up only by the experiences and enjoyment of the unsearchable riches of Christ. Therefore, the key to building up the church is by gaining Christ and enjoying Him to the uttermost through all situations.

Daily, we all must taste and see that Jehovah is good. It is only through our enjoyment of the goodness of the Lord that we can build up the church. The Lord can be tasted by having a personal, affectionate, intimate, and spiritual relationship with Him day by day. For this, there is a need to "kiss the Lord and have a personal and spiritual relationship with Him by spiritually letting Him kiss you with the kisses of His mouth." All the truths in the Bible are for the believers' experience and enjoyment of Him.

These days, I have been so impressed by this truth and the practical way to build up the church. In fact, the Lord even burdened me to spend more time with Him in prayer. In this personal time with the Lord, I simply am absorbing Him, fellowshipping with Him, praying to Him, and also praying together with Him whatever He burdened me with. My appreciation for the Lord and spending time with Him has very much been strengthened. Now I would not miss tasting the Lord in my personal time with Him. 

As the Lord has been gracing me I have been spending at least an hour daily just to spend time with my precious and dear Lord Jesus Christ. I would not trade this prayer time for anything in the world. I trust the Lord will grace me to not miss my time with Him daily. This is in addition to my time spent daily reading and studying the word, and my time spent pursuing the truth with other saints. In this way of personal, affectionate, intimate, and spiritual time with the Lord, I am being filled with the Lord and I am gaining Him day by day, bit by bit, through which experiences of Christ, I can build up the church.

This fresh burden I prophesied in the church meeting last Lord's day. The same burden, I have ministered to a group of believers meeting online. O, what a sweet and wonderful way to build the church as the Body of Christ! So affectionate, so intimate, and so enjoyable!

Lord, kiss me with the kisses of Your mouth! 

Taste and see that Jehovah is good!

Life and Gifts

I visited a brother and his family last week at their home. Initially, I had no intention of ministering anything, I just went there to visit after many weeks gap. Though I decided not to speak anything, as we were in their living room, the sister asked if I had any word of God for them from the Bible. In fact, she was ready with her Bible, waiting for me to minister the word.

Then I exercised to minister what the Lord had ministered to me recently on the matter of growth in life versus the gifts God has given to His children. From the life of Solomon, we read his good beginning when he asked for wisdom and God gave him wisdom and understanding and riches as well. But the gifts he received were not accompanied by the dealing of the natural man and he failed terribly. We compared Solomon's life with that of Joseph who could control himself and ran away from the temptation of the flesh, which ultimately led him to reign in life.

This truth of the need for growth in life was so timely for me and the brother and sister with whom I ministered to. I was supplied by the Lord's speaking through me, and the brothers and sisters were also so supplied. They were even so convicted that they testified to not pray blindly for anything but to seek wisdom and discernment from the Lord in doing anything. They also have been preaching the gospel, taking tuition for poor children, and trying their best to do something for the Lord according to their good human concept. But I warned them that the gift they may have from the Lord can even be misused if it is not accompanied by growth in life. Many Christians are doing the Lord's work today with genuine gifts, but how many of these ones are truly growing in life unto maturity?

One day we all have to stand before the Lord and be judged by Him. On that day, we should not be claiming that we did this and that in the Lord's name. But the Lord might say that He did not know us at all. There is a great danger of serving the Lord according to self-will and not being recognized by the Lord. 

Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he who does the will of My Father who is in the heavens. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, was it not in Your name that we prophesied, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name did many works of power? And then I will declare to them: I never knew you. Depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness. Mt 7:21-23

I have been praying for this family since I met them first. I trust the Lord in His will and work that He would shepherd my brother and sister into the church life and that they would see and take a stand for the testimony of Jesus in this city. I cease to do anything to achieve my burden, but I learn to fully leave the matter of gaining people to the Lord that in His time and in His way He will do what He needs to do. I simply cooperate with Him in shepherding and ministering what He wants me to minister.

The same experience is with the meeting with a group of brothers and sisters from Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday evening. Last week the same message ministered online as well as to the brother and sister in Gurugram. Though I had a set of messages from a book that I intend to minister, the Lord did not lead me to minister those but gave me the instant word instead. The message was,  "Life versus Gifts."

Lord, make me a man of life with gifts from You for You. Amen.

Money Matters

Money is so tangible and so usable that it attracts the greed and lust of a man like a massive magnet. In its attraction, many times man has to go against his logic and conscience as he is blinded by its lure. Money makes man cares for it and attracted whoever would fall prey to its lure. This is no exception even among believers in God today.

Recently, I had a bitter taste of what money can do to people. Having said this, I look to the Lord for grace so that I should not fall prey to the lure of money. I must use them righteously with what the Lord has given to me and should not greed for more beyond what the Lord has allotted to me. Handling money is a big matter and one who can handle it well has grown a little more mature.

I have done my best, by the Lord's mercy, not to be a debtor to anyone. I made sure that whatever I owe to others I must pay it back on time. I had been a recipient of a friend's cow milk for almost a year. I made sure that at the beginning of every month I pay my the due for the previous month and cleared all dues. If allowed I would prefer an advanced payment too which I did but had to revert back as the recipient also would not receive in advance. Now that the milk supply has stopped, I was happy to clear the bill for the previous supply of milk and close the account, once and for all.

The love of money has been in the blood of the fallen human race. In my dealing with some of the local people here in Gurugram, I discovered this tendency of people loving money too much and even to the point that their conscience and inner senses were all shut up. Recently I had an experience with four Hindi-speaking people with whom I had to deal with money matters. 

To a cobbler, out of pity, I gave money in advance for buying shoe polish, a brush, and other items for shoe care. Though I gave extra, he tried not to return the balance owed to me. In fact, I had already given an extra amount for what I actually ordered, but my advance payment became an issue with him and he was not willing to return the excess amount. The love of money just gripped him.

In the past weeks, we had an incessant downpour of rain in the city which led to the leakage of the house we live in. My neighbor's house has water dripping from the ceiling which source is the leakage in the rooftop from the cracks of the building. Since my house owner asked for help, I consulted some known people and fixed the problem. Meanwhile, I also discovered some other problems and fixed all of those too. What I had paid for first should rightfully be paid back by the house owner. But I would not insist that he pay it. I would rather prefer that he ask and pay for it and not wait for me to tell him to pay. Since the work was done on his request for another tenant, I only help in finding a solution to the issue, the owner should responsibly ask and clear the bill. But I would not even tell this to the owner for him to pay. Even when I have the right I would rather be silent and deal with money matters myself and through this others may learn to deal with money matters in a righteous way.

Lord, save me from the love of money and give me the wisdom to use it wisely.

Baptism of a Sister

When the Christian community, in general, was celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, as the church in Gurugram we chose to preach the gospel of Jesus Chrisdt so the He can actually be born into the hearts of many, so that the real meaning of the birth of Christ be accomplished. 

A brother and I went to preach the gospel in the shopping plaza nearby the meeting hall. As I gave out gospel tracts to people and preached to whoever would pay heed to the gospel, I saw a tough-looking man talking on the phone standing near his car parked outside a shopping plaza. Initially I tought he must be avoided as his visage did not appeal to be someone who would listen to the gospel. But deep within, I had the leading to preach to him. So I decided to wait until he would finish his phone conversation. Meanwhile, I turned to other passersby and preached the gospel. When I was done and I turned to see if he was done with his phone call yet. To my surprise, he had just finished his call when I was done with the other people. 

Then I approaced him by first giving him the tract and told him it is about God and the meaning of human life. His innate response was very surprising to me. He said, "My wife would be interested in this. Please wait for her to come." Therefore, I decided to wait and meanwhile preached the gospel to him as we waited for his wife.

A few minutes later, his wife and a couple of girls also came after purchasing a cake, and I preached to him and his wife again. In brief, I went through the crucial points of God's purpose in creating man, the fall of man, the redemption accomplished by Christ, and how to receive the Lord Jesus Chrsit as a personal Saviour. We exchanged phone numbers with the hope that we would meet up sometime. That day was 25 December of 2021.

Seven months later, I received a surpirse call from the sister inquiring if I was a Pastor and that she would like to come and meet me. I was busy then and informed her when I would be available. A week past and no information. Then I received a call again on one Wednesday afternoon requesting if they could meet me but I had an online meeting at 7:00 pm so I was not available again. A week passed by again. Then, I messaged her if they were coming. Then a week after they finally came.

The man I met first, his wife, and their son came on a Saturday evening and brought along a good number of eggs from their poultry farm seeking prayer of blessing for their business initially. As we talked, I realsied that the Lord brought them as he loves them. So I felt good to preach the gospel in a thorough way again. Meanwhile a sister in the church and a few others also joined us. In turn, we read through The Mystery of Human Life in English, and key by key, I explained the significance of all that we we read. And finally led them to pray the sinners' prayer to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their God and Savior.

I also invited them to join the church meeting on the Lord's day, which they obliged and the following day, the sister and her son joined the meeting. Since then, the Lord has been working in this family especially on the sister first. On the same day, after the Lord's day meeting, as they invited, a good number of saints went to visit their farmhouse. The next week, I had the burden to visit them at their home and paid them a visit with another sister on a Friday afternoon as no brother was available to come along with me. Since then, a regular home meeting had started at their home weekly.  Then a few weeks later, the sister decided to be baptsied on the 1st of October. She along with her husband and son came to the meeting for her water baptism which the church had conducted. A brother and I baptized her.   

Praise the Lord for the baptsim of a sister! May she continue to grow in grace and in the Lord unto full maturity. May this also lead to her hosueshold savlation.

India: Appreciation of the New Testament Recovery Version

Last month, a brother from the publisher of the books we have been translating and distributing wrote to us, the serving ones in the minsitry of the word in India, to write a report on the distribution and the appreciation of the New Testament Recovery Version in India that were recently released, printed, and distributed in Malayalam, Mizo, Tamil, and Telugu. Initially, I thought to request to postpone this article as the distribution just began and the Mizo speaking saints had not yet receive the printed copies yet then though they already receive the Gospel of Matthew a few years ago, in fellowship with my coordinationg brother, we felt good to not change anything. So, as I considered before the Lord the points to write. The Lord gave me the burden to call up the leading brothers who oversee the churches speaking these languages. Therefore, I called up one by one, and got their feedback. Besides, I also requested them to collect testimonies of some saints who were so blessed by these Bibles. When I received the feedback and comments, I compsoed an article and compiled all the comments together. After checking with my coordinating brother again, some changes were made, and finally I submitted the article before the due date. On 16th Sept 2022 the article was published online.

A Report from India on the Distribution and the Appreciation of the New Testament Recovery Version in Malayalam, Mizo, Tamil, and Telugu (lsm.org) 

The article that was submitted is below:

In answer to the Body’s prayer and the supply from the Lord through the Body, the printed copies of the New Testament Recovery Version in Malayalam, Mizo, Tamil, and Telugu are now available! We praise and thank the Lord for His sovereignty and blessing over the entire project.

The distribution of these Bibles is now being carried out. Initially, to the saints in the Lord’s recovery speaking these languages and then, to the saints in various Christian groups. As soon as the printed copies were available, the saints started purchasing them for themselves, and some, for others for distribution within their relatives and friends’ circle. With the burden to help the readers to get the maximum benefit, we have started a weekly presentation for each language group highlighting the changes, with a view to preparing the readers to receive the New Testament Recovery Version with an open heart.  

Preparation of the Readers

The translation teams in fellowship and coordination with the leading brothers in the churches speaking these languages are preparing a PowerPoint presentation every week on the crucial changes from the existing translations. For example, new words and phrases used are being explained in relation to the original Greek text, and the proper interpretation based on the English Recovery Version. This presentation is being carried out weekly online and is open to all the saints speaking that language.

Reading Schedule

The saints are now pursuing the New Testament Recovery Version with the footnotes daily following the reading schedule prepared for two years.

Participation in Distribution

All the saints in these four languages are also encouraged to participate in introducing and distributing the Recovery Version to their relatives and friends. As much as it was through the supply from the Body that these New Testaments were made available, so much more the introduction and distribution be through the function of the Body.

Plan for Distribution

Besides email, phone calls, and social media promotion of the Recovery Version to all our Christian contacts, personal visits to the Christian leaders, bookstores, and Bible colleges have begun. One-on-one introduction has been very effective while pointing out some key verses and footnotes as a foretaste to the riches contained in this New Testament.

For Mizo in Mizoram, where almost the entire population embraces the Christian faith, we felt it best to conduct a formal meeting inviting all the prominent Christian leaders of various Christian groups and seekers for a day of the Mizo New Testament Recovery Version Introduction on 8^th September 2022 at Aizawl, Mizoram. Following this, a day or two of visiting the ones who could not make it to the meeting is also planned so as to ensure our best efforts to reach out to all the Christian groups making known the availability and benefits of the Recovery Version.

Testimonies from Readers

And when Philip ran up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, Do you really know the things that you are reading? And he said, How could I unless someone guides me? Acts 8:30-31a

And they read in the book, in the law of God, interpreting and giving the sense, so that they understood the reading. Nehemiah 8:8

Many Christians have been reading the Bible, yet to understand the reading, interpreting and giving the sense, there surely is a need for someone to guide them. The Recovery Version serves as a wonderful study aid in interpreting and giving sense to the word of God. Many readers have testified the blessings they have received from the studying of this New Testament, particularly as a study aid to understanding the scriptures better with the interpretation of crucial verses, phrases, and words based on spiritual revelation. Below are some testimonies from the readers.

“I am reading the Telugu New Testament Recovery Version for more than a month now. This version is undoubtedly an indescribable gift to the Telugu speaking seekers of the Lord in and through His living Word. This translation is the Lord's marvelous work for the building up of His Body in this century. The language used for the translation of the text as well as the footnotes is quite simple for the readers to understand the new words used and the structure of the verses.  One unique feature of the Telugu Recovery Version is the footnotes that unlock the unsearchable riches of the Lord. May our dear and precious Lord use this Telugu Recovery Version to recover the lost, misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misaimed truths in the Word of God.”  IB

“I have been reading Telugu New Testament Recovery Version with great joy, because it gives light, life supply, and understanding of the Word of God. I am able to see the riches in the Word, which I never saw in my entire Christian life. Although there are many changes with new words, the language used is very simple and footnotes are so helpful to understand the new words, which are different from the old version.  Weekly Telugu Recovery Version presentation meetings also are a great help to me, where brothers are explaining the new words or change of sequence in the verses according to the Greek text. Through such an explanation I am able to understand fully the reason for every change and we realize what light or revelation we missed in the previous version. So, I really treasure this Bible. Praise and thank the Lord for this wonderful gift, the properly translated, interpreted, and explained word of God in my language.” RK

“The footnotes in Matthew 1:3, 5 concerning the five women and the explanation in Mathew 6:6 concerning the private room are really wonderful! I have never seen these before. In Matthew 1:12, just as for the first coming of Lord Jesus, there was a need for some to come onto the right ground, there is now a need for some to come onto the right ground (the ground of the church) for His second coming. In Matthew 5, the explanation of the difference between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of heavens is marvelous!”  DA

Comments on the Tamil New Testament Recovery Version

From a Bible translator (PR), conversant with Greek and Hebrew, who took the lead in the latest revision of the most popular existing version of the Tamil Bible. 

1.       Improvement in accuracy is noticed in several places compared to the already available versions of the Bible. 

2.      It is good to see that the already existing Tamil translation for common theological terms such as Faith, Grace, Heaven, Prophets, Father, Son, Salvation, Baptism, Fasting, Altar are retained in this version. 

3.      The verse restructuring or re-ordering done wherever required, has enhanced the accuracy. 

4.      Good to see that slangs and obsolete words used in other versions have been replaced with more commonly used words. 

5.      So far in all the places I have read, grammar mistakes have been corrected well. 

6.      It is good to see that the rendering of some proper names which are not consistent with Old Testament in the existing translation have been made consistent in the Recovery Version.

7.      It is good to see words like Sanhedrin, Synagogue, Sabbath and several others have been transliterated, giving the unique meaning. The footnotes adequately explain their meaning.

 

Compared to all previous Tamil versions, this Recovery Version is truer (nearer) to the Greek Text. When read with the footnotes, it gives new insight into the Scripture, and believers can enjoy the Word more.  In summary, this is sincere hard work done with zeal for the Word of God. Their labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Cor. 15:58)

“Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ!

I got this Tamil New Testament Recovery Version on 07.07.2022. I have no words to express my joy. This Bible is the greatest work in this century, and a precious gift from above.

Whenever I read this Bible, I feel that I am brought into the presence of the Lord. After receiving this Bible, I am always reading and keeping this in my hand and never feel like keeping it aside.

The first verse Mathew 1:1 starts with the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. After reading the footnote of this verse, I was excited to read that the New Testament is all about Jesus Christ. For 25 years I had a longing to study the Bible. God, through this Bible with its footnotes and cross references, fulfilled my longing.

My past experience is that when I read the verses from my earlier version of the Bible, I couldn't understand much. But the Recovery Version Bible helps me understand the truth in each verse and gives me additional facts and information. Also, while reading this Bible, I am able to touch God and know God in a deeper way.

The footnotes help me to clearly understand God's economy. Also, the Footnotes are clarifying all my questions and are an effective tool in studying the Bible. The outline of Matthew helped me to have a bird’s eye view of the entire Gospel of Matthew.

I thank the Lord for this wonderful Bible. I thank the Lord for this ministry, for the translation work and all the faithful serving ones who labored for the release of this Bible.”  GS

“The footnote in Matthew 24:14 on the gospel of the kingdom is a new revelation to me. I was saved by grace, so I only knew and care for the gospel of grace. But when I read this footnote, it speaks about the meaning of the gospel of grace and the gospel of the kingdom in a clear way, which is so wonderful.” LBM

“Mizo Recovery Version Matthew 16:18 footnote explains the Lord’s building of His church on the day of Pentecost and how it can only be fulfilled through the Lord’s recovery, in which the building of the genuine church is being accomplished. This really opened my eyes.” CST

“The Mizo New Testament Recovery Version helps me to understand God’s word clearly, especially concerning the nature of the kingdom people in Matthew 5, 6, and 7 with its footnotes, which portion I never understood from the reading of the existing versions. Other versions translate Matthew 5:3 as "poor in heart, for theirs is the heaven", but in the Recovery Version, "poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens" and its footnote clearly explains what the kingdom of the heavens is and not merely heaven as in other versions.” LSZ

“In Matthew 13:31-32, most existing versions in Mizo say, ‘and becomes wood,’ which does not give any meaning at all, but the Recovery Version says, "and becomes a tree" and explains what that means in the footnote.” FK

“Coming from a Pentecostal background, I was taught that the baptism by fire mentioned in Mattew 3:11 is the same as the baptism by the Spirit. Though I had my doubts about this interpretation I wasn't clear until I read the footnote of this verse in the Malayalam New Testament Recovery Version. Now I really understand the difference between the two.” AR

“In Matthew 1:11, the deportation to Babylon, the existing version renders a meaning of voluntarily going to Babylon, but the new Recovery Version translates the word accurately. Today when I read this version, I have total assurance and peace that this translation is accurate or closest to the original text. It gives tremendous confidence to one who loves to study the Bible in his native language!” GM

Overall, the saints’ reception of the New Testament Recovery Version has been very encouraging. We trust the Lord that the availability of the interpreted word will uplift the level of truth in this country and pave the way for the Lord to move further and faster in a fuller way.  

Please pray for the Lord to bless the ongoing distribution of the New Testament Recovery Version in India, and for the readers of these Bibles to be brought into the full knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4).

Fellowship with Saints in Northeast

Whenever the Lord leads me to visit the North East, there has always been His special anointing and blessing to flow out the divine life in a way of ministering the word and fellowshipping with the saints. I never prepared any message as such, but everything was instantaneous and the flow of life just went on and on. I have nothing personally in all that I fellowship or ministered to the saints, it was all that the Lord burdened me to minister.

Imphal
A brother picked me up at the Airport and took me to his house. There, we had a wonderful time of fellowship together. I was glad especially that he has been recovered from over a two years gap in enjoying the fellowship with the saints. Whatever he went through was also the Lord's dealing on him to gain him so that he can be made a pillar to bear the Lord's testimony. In fact, for his marriage, he invited me to minter the word. Based on that invitation, all the other visits were initiated one by one, and all fall into place. In addition to ministering the word in his wedding meeting, I could also fellowship with his in-laws' family on many practical aspects of the Christian life and the church life.  In all these, no preplanned or prepared messages, but I simply followed the Lord's anointing within me and spoke what the Lord led me to speak. In all the fellowship, we had prayers and the saints' responses too, all were richly supplied by the Lord.

In my Aunty's family, I had a time of fellowship and updated them about the Lord's move in India, and the plan for the upcoming ministry journey to Nagaland.  There, I encourage a young brother to join the full-time training, FTTND. May the Lord lead him so.

In the Lord's table meeting at Imphal, the brothers requested me and another brother to minister on the significance of the church and the practice of the God-ordained way. I fellowship at length on the seven aspects of the church as revealed in the book of Ephesians. A good number of stains have responded to the points they touched concerning the church and nullified many wrong concepts they had previously about the church. I also had a wonderful time of fellowship with the responsible brothers in Imphal on the need for constitution with the truth, shepherding the saints, and loving one another. They had been through some situation concerning a young brother who came back from the training without completing his course. This became a lesson for them to learn on the matter of shepherding; not to condemn the young and weak saints but to shepherd them. In another fellowship with the brothers, I was so encouraged by the testimony of the brothers facing persecution because they wanted to take the stand for the church life. 

Ngarian
As we stay for a night in Ngarian, a brother invited us to minister to the saints whatever the Lord led us to. I ministered on the Nazaraiter vow and linked with Samuel's life as a Nazarite, priest, prophet, judge, and man of prayer. The saints were so supplied with His timely speaking as many echoed the same after the meeting.

Lamka
In Lamka, when the saints gathered together I repeated the burden on the significance of the church in the book of Ephesians. My fellow brother fellowshipped on the need to run the Christian race. In the night, the leading brother had a time of fellowship with us concerning one of the full-time serving ones. It was manifested that the Lord wanted to move further in Manipur and that brother could be useful for propagation in different localities and not stick just to one. This matter was brought for fellowship with other North East brothers and the matter was thoroughly fellowshipped. In all these, we could see the Lord's leading for His move.

Aizawl
On the Lord's day, as arranged by the saints, we ministered on "Loving the Lord" and the need to keep our love towards the Lord fresh and continue to love the Lord with the best love. I also touched upon the time when the Lord's table was established for the first time in 2007 and now for 15 years what the Lord has been doing in Mizoram. Many saints could see the history of the church itself as a testimony to what the Lord has been doing progressively in Aizawl locality and Mizoram as a whole.  In all these fellowships, we truly enjoyed the Lord's supply of grace and His wisdom in many matters.

Praise the Lord for His move in North East! Praise the Lord for His timely speaking to the saints in all these localities where He led us to visit and fellowship.

Family Fellowship

Last month on the 29th of August, I flew back home and enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship my beloved mom and dad. The Lord had arranged a situation in which I could visit home. I treasured the time with mom and dad especially. Though I intend to spend time with my brothers and sisters as well, time did not permit it. Of course, we did have family gatherig and general time spent together. But a sweet and intimate fellowship I enjoyed with my beloved mom and dad. Deep within me, I felt that this could be my rare opportunity to spend time with them. Therefore, I allowed them to open up fully, speak up, and fellowship whatever they wanted to fellowship. I also shared whatever I felt good to share with them. Since I could rarely vist them, I had the burden to gift them a moneraty gift of Rs.10,000 for their pocket money. I did this in fellowship with my wife. It was such a joy to see them happy when they see me and spend time with me. I felt this is the best way I could honor them as my parent; praying for them, praying with them, fellowshipping with them, and making them happy and joyful with my presence.

With Mom and Dad, 30th Aug 2022

With Mom, Dad & Brother, 30th Aug 2022

With Dad, I could also visit my stepmom in Chandel. We had a good time of family fellowship there too. My burden was to visit her and make her feel comfortable that I cared for her too including my stepbrother. In fact, I also visited my stepbrother in Imphal and gave him a piece of advice concerning his academic career and spiritual nourishment. 

This time too, I could visit my elder sister's family members in Leikun and Chandel. After 20 years, I met them again. Though they may have their own weaknesses, as I have been praying for them, I introduced them to the saints in the church in Chandel and even encouraged them to meet together regularly for prayer, fellowship, and for the Lord's table meeting. I believe this is the answers to the prayers we have been praying for them for many years. I do believe the Lord will recover them from all their physical weaknesses, shepherd and blend them into the Body life. I have also updated my visit to my own sister and dad and other family members too. This was needed as in the past, due to my sister's marriage to their family, many problems had occurred, even to the extent of causing enmity between their family and our family for dcecades. Now is the time for peace, forgiveness, and full revocery into church life.

At Imphal, we also had a time of lovefeast at my younger sister's home. I had a time of fellowship with my brother-in-law concerning the Lord's move in North East and how we need to participate in the Lord's move and cooperate with the saints in the Body for the Lord's testimony.

In fact, the Lord also gave me time to visit the land that He led us to purchase in 2007. Now, a brother has done Banana cultivation in most part of the land. After 15 years, the land value has shot up multiple times. Now that road connection and water supply  have been done, a couple of people have enquired if we could sell to them. Since it was brought with fellowship and prayer, the usage or sales or whatever will be done so with fellowship and prayer.

I know not when such a family time we will get again, but I do know that when the Lord gave me the opportunity I must utilize it to the maximum. No matter what, my prayer has always been for the family's testimony. Serving the Lord as the entire household as Joshua proclaimed.

And if it seems wrong in your sight to serve Jehovah, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve, either the gods from across the River, whom your fathers served, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.  Joshua 24:15