November
Nepal
Spreading the Gospel through Vital Prayers
Since this April, the brothers have been coming together daily to pray for the church, the gospel, and shepherding, asking the Lord to raise up key persons and key families for the church. Through their praying in one accord, the Lord has begun to move.
A graduate student had been reading the Bible with the saints for some time. At a gospel home meeting, he read Matthew 3 and asked, “What value does baptism have for me?” The brothers shared John 3:5 with him: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” After seeing the preciousness of being born again, he peacefully entered into the kingdom of God!
Because of the daily watchful prayer, a brother who runs a tea shop began to have a burden for the gospel. He started reaching out to customers, asking if they had ever heard of Jesus. When he encountered someone open, he would write down their names and bring them to the prayer group, continuing to pray with the brothers and follow up together. One day, two young women came to his shop. In their conversation he found out they were lifelong friends who had attended Catholic school and were eager to seek God. That day, they called on the name of the Lord and experienced Him as the fresh living Spirit. They began attending weekday PSRP, neighborhood group meetings, youth gatherings, and Lord’s table meetings. After more than a month, both of them joyfully got baptized into the Body and were saved. They also began inviting their relatives and friends to join the gatherings and enjoy the Lord together.
In the district where this tea shop brother meets, there are about 10 to 11 saints gathering, but very few sisters. The brothers had been praying for more sisters to be gained by the Lord. Amazingly, a female gospel friend attended a Lord’s table meeting—someone who had heard the gospel a few years ago but didn’t receive it at the time. Recently, she encountered difficulties and began seeking God’s salvation. Although she had visited several Christian groups, she still found no peace. At a loss, she suddenly remembered a sister who had knocked on her door three years ago and mentioned there was a meeting hall nearby. So, she came with her mother and daughter to a Lord’s table meeting. The saints joyfully prayed for them and visited their home afterward. On the first visit, the saints preached the gospel and exercised the authority of the Lord to cast out demons. The woman was very open and not only believed and was baptized herself, but her mother was also saved and baptized. That same week, the saints fellowshipped with them about terminating their past—removing the idols from their home. The mother and daughter testified that after their baptism and termination of the past, they were filled daily with peace and joy!
The saints continued praying and meeting in their home. The sister also had a strong burden for the salvation of her family. During one home meeting, the saints preached the gospel to her daughter, hoping the whole family would be saved. Their home is on the ground floor of a metal-sheeted building, with windows usually open. During the gospel sharing, a neighbor was drawn in, listening from outside as the saints prayed and sang hymns. The saints invited her in and found out she had been to many Christian groups but didn’t understand the truth about baptism. They shared the truth with her and encouraged her to believe and be baptized for salvation. Though she faced some opposition from her family, she was firm in her decision and was baptized that same week. The following week, she brought her son to a home meeting, and the week after, he too was baptized and entered into God’s kingdom.
Thank the Lord! To bear clusters of fruit in this way is clearly not man’s doing but the Lord of the harvest sending workers to reap what He has already ripened. As we cooperate with the Lord’s move on earth in the Body through prayer, He advances the gospel and gains more key people and families to be His testimony on the earth.
Pakistan
National College Training
From July 22 to 27, we held a national college students’ training in Murree, a place known for its beautiful environment and pleasant climate. A total of 20 students from three different cities attended. This was also the first time local young working saints participated in the coordination and service.
The burden of this training was to help the students pursue the truth and kindle the fire of gospel so that they could preach the gospel on their campuses. In terms of the truth, we covered the messages from the Memorial Day conference and the Life-Study of Romans, with the goal of getting into the Bible through the Life-Studies. We also went through the book The Bridge and Channel of God, which deeply touched the students. In the final meeting, each one consecrated themselves, expressing a desire to spend more time pursuing Christ and cooperating with God’s move by preaching the gospel to their friends and classmates.
The training not only focused on the truth and the gospel but also aimed to help the students build up a habit of exercising their spirit in daily life. Each day, the students prayed over and recited two Bible verses with companions and practiced both personal and corporate prayer in order to live in the mingled spirit. We saw that everyone was very open, actively practiced what they learned, and gained real enjoyment. After the training, they eagerly participated in the church life and had morning revival with companions. By enjoying the Lord’s word, they were strengthened to go out weekly to contact people and preach the gospel. May the Lord gain these college students so they may be open and cooperate with Him in the church life in various places, becoming a channel for His move in Pakistan.
September Brothers’ Training
From September 15 to 17, a three-day national brothers’ training was held in both Islamabad and Lahore, with a total of 42 local brothers attending—double the number from last year. Among them were three new ones and six brothers being shepherded by the saints who are not yet meeting regularly with us. The subject of the training was “The Ministry of the New Testament” (taken from the Elder Training, Book One). For many of the brothers, this was a brand-new revelation. One brother shared:
“I’ve been in the church for many years, but I’ve never heard messages like these before. This is all new to me, and I think I’ll need time to digest it—but I’m completely convinced.”
May the Lord strengthen all the brothers who attended to continue spending time in the truth, be constituted with the ministry, become propagators of the New Testament ministry, and cooperate with the Lord of the building up of His Body.
Here are a few testimonies from the brothers:
“I really treasured the message from Ephesians 4, where it says that the gifted ones are given to perfect the saints, and through these perfected saints, the Body of Christ is built up for the work of the ministry. I saw that without people, God’s work on the earth cannot be accomplished. I also saw that there is only one ministry on the earth today. Throughout the entire Bible, there is only one ministry—one work—and this unique ministry is for the building up of the Body of Christ.”— Brother J
“I was touched by how John in the beginning of his recommending ministry. He forsook the old religious way of the Old Testament—he didn’t eat the priests’ food in the temple or wear priestly robes. Instead, he went into the wilderness, eating locusts and wild honey, and wearing a garment of camel’s hair. Through John, the earthly ministry of Jesus was introduced, initiating the entire New Testament ministry. I saw that if we want to participate in the New Testament ministry today, we must reject the old religious ways. Here, many pastors are heavily bound by religious concepts and depend on others for food or material needs. We must forsake these things to have a share in and enter into the New Testament ministry.”— Brother S
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
