June

Oct 20, 2023 by LMAsia

Bangladesh

Gospel Propagation in Dhaka

The gospel work in northern Dhaka primarily focuses on “warm door” gospel. Some of the brothers are attending university. Although most of the students on campus are Muslim, there are a few foreign students who have become gospel candidates for the saints. The brothers have made friends with some of these foreign students (from North Korea and Bhutan) at school, inviting them over for meals to deepen their relationship for the purpose of sharing the gospel.

Among the saints, there is a sister who is a doctor and frequently shares the gospel with her patients. If she encounters someone who is simple-hearted and thirsty for the Lord, the saints continue to contact and shepherd them. In March, a patient came into contact with the gospel because she sought medical help. The saints shared the Bible with her, and she had a deep hunger for the Lord’s word, reading the Bible every day. Subsequently, the saints established home meetings with her, reading the Shepherding Materials three to four times a week. During the home meetings on the phone, she also invited her husband and sister to join. Finally, in early June, both she and her husband were baptized. Their four-year-old daughter is also joyful and has learned to call on the Lord’s name and sing children’s hymns.

The gospel work in southern Dhaka mainly takes place on university campuses. Since public universities are relatively open and accessible, the saints would contact students on campuses and visit them in their dormitories, gaining a few more open contacts. Through repeated visits, the saints become friends with these gospel contacts, taking every opportunity in their conversations to share the content of the gospel. They also invite them to their homes and continue to pray for these gospel contacts in order to establish gospel home meetings. Thank the Lord, one student agreed to read the Bible with the saints after coming over for a meal. May the Lord continue to work in the hearts of these gospel contacts, one by one, that they may be saved.

Bread-breaking Meeting in Dhaka

Starting from mid-February this year, through fellowship and earnest seeking before the Lord, the saints changed the time of the bread-breaking meeting on Lord’s day evening to Friday morning. This adjustment allowed more saints to have time to participate in the bread-breaking meeting because the weekend in Bangladesh falls on Friday and Saturday. The saints also invited the gospel contacts they regularly contact and shepherd to join them on Fridays. As a result, the attendance of the bread-breaking meeting increased from an average of five to seven people to an average of around fifteen people. Praise the Lord! May the Lord strengthen His work in Bangladesh and continue to bring breakthroughs in the propagation here.

Sri Lanka

Churches in the Eastern and Northern Region

There are eight local churches in the Tamil-speaking regions of Sri Lanka, which include Jaffna, Mannar, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Vavuniya, Kilinochchi, Puthukkudi-yiruppu, and Ella. In January, a four-day young people’s conference was held in Batticaloa, with thirty young people and ten serving ones participated. During the conference, the young people not only received the truth but also had practical exercise. They were encouraged to read the New Testament Recovery Version with footnotes at least once in two years and to be the sowers of the seed of gospel. During time of the outdoor blending, six young people were baptized by the seaside.

From March 6th to 7th, there was perfecting meeting for sisters in the Tamil-speaking region. Thirty-five sisters from five localities attended the meeting and one of them was baptized during the conference.

From March 13th to 17th, a four-day coworkers’ perfecting training was held in Kandy, focusing on the messages of the December Semiannual Training in 2022 and also the exercise and practice of the God-ordained way. During the training, the brothers practiced PSRP as a way for them to be constituted with the truth and got into small groups in order to study the practice of the new way-begetting, nourishing, teaching, and building up. The coworkers gained much more and all were willing to continue to practice the new way for the increase of the churches.

Saints from Overseas Participating in the Propagation

In April, three gospel teams of full-time trainees came to Sri Lanka for propagation. Trainees from Taiwan went to Kurunegala, and trainees from Hong Kong went to Batticaloa and Mannar. Many local saints were encouraged by the coming of the trainees and participated in the gospel preaching.

In Kurunegala, local saints of all ages, from young people to the elderly, made the plan to travel with a light luggage, and slept on the floor in the rental house. Every morning, saints gathered together to pursue the messages from the Rhema booklets. And they practiced how to preach the Mystery of Human Life by speaking to each other. After praying in groups, the saints went out to preach the gospel on the streets or to knock on doors in the nearby neighborhoods. People’s hearts were open. Many were willing to stop and listen to the saints’ preaching and give their contact information. Although there were some rejections, the saints faithfully followed the burden within. Each one of them could testify that the Lord truly helped those who have proper aggressiveness. Some people contacted two, three, or even five open contacts in one day. Each day, they all came back with a joyful air after a full day of laboring in the Lord.

There was a two-day young people’s training and the corporate Lord’s table meeting with the saints from the neighboring churches by the end of the propagation. The visiting trainees encouraged young people to pursue the Lord’s word actively and continually, to consecrate to attend the full-time training, and to live a life of preaching the gospel. During the sharing time, some of the young people testified that they were encouraged by the testimonies of the trainees. Some desired to consecrate two years to attend the training, and some were willing to offer their time to go out to preach the gospel. During the corporate Lord’s table meeting, the saints were blended together in the Lord. Saints enjoyed the blending very much. A beautiful and glorious picture was presented in that meeting. Many saints offered their experience during the propagation throughout the past one month by prophesying during meeting to supply one another.

In Batticaloa, the saints also attempted to preach on campuses in the university. According to the regulations of the national universities, outsiders would need an approval from the university to contact the students on campus. Thanks be to God for His governing in the situation. Through recommendations, the saints were able to obtain permission from the administrator of the university by way of cultural exchange. In the morning from Monday to Friday, two or three local saints coordinated with the trainees would go on to the campus to contact the students. Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism are the religion majority, and Christian is in the minority on campus. Most of the students were friendly and open to foreigners. The saints shared The Mystery of Human Life with them and helped them to call on the name of the Lord and pray to God with a simple faith.

During the two-week propagation, the teams in Batticaloa and Mannar gained more than two hundred names that were willing to have further contact and baptized five students. In May, the local saints continued to contact the open ones and invited them to read the Bible together, which soon lead the beginning of a Bible study group on campus. They began with the book of John and read one chapter per week. There are over thirty students participating once a month, and about fifteen students consistently attending each week. During this time, these students were invited to the Lord’s table meetings and the love feasts in the saints’ homes to experience the church life. In September, the saints saw the need of one on one shepherding, so they began home meetings online. Hopefully by shepherding, the students will gain a thorough understanding of God’s economy. May the Lord continue to preserve the open ones, sustain their seeking hearts, and make them remaining fruit for the Lord’s move in Sri Lanka.