The Lord’s Move to Asia (January 2013)

Aug 15, 2013 by LMAsia

Myanmar

Praise the Lord! A Blending Conference was held in Matupi, Myanmar, from December 14 to 16, 2012. A total of 910 saints came together from 39 churches in Myanmar. (Currently there are 1,897 saints in 41 churches.)

The conference had eight sessions. The atmosphere in the meetings was that of rejoicing as the saints exercised to sing and pray. In the first six sessions, the speaking brothers covered messages from the recent Thanksgiving Conference on Prayer and the Lord’s Move. At the end of each message, saints from various regions came up to share their enjoyment. In the remaining two sessions, two different local brothers shared in each session to give a strengthening word. In the last session, all the saints were free to share their enjoyment from the entire conference. The trainees from the Full-time Training in Yangon, as well as the young people and children from Matupi, also sang a few hymns to the saints throughout the weekend.

This was the first time that the National Blending Conference was held in Matupi, Chin state. More and more saints are now living in Matupi and its surrounding areas. By the conference being held there, more saints can participate in it. Compared with the conference held in Yangon last year, the number of the local saints who attended this year’s conference more than doubled. Two languages were spoken during the conference—Burmese (English to Burmese) and its translation into the Matu dialect for some of the older saints.

Matupi is located in the northwestern part of Myanmar. The region is made up of high hills and deep valleys at an altitude of 3,560 feet. To get there from Yangon, the saints had to take a bus for 10 hours, followed by another 12-hour car ride. Since November was the rainy season, bridges were washed away in a few places, so the saints had to cross streams and small rivers by car. Some saints paid an even higher price as they had to take a boat ride and walked for 4 to 7 days before getting to the conference. Although transportation was inconvenient, the saints were eager to come. Some saints had been meeting in their respective localities for a number of years, but never had the opportunity to attend a conference until this time.

The whole Matupi region is poor. There was no running water and electricity was not dependable. The conference was held in a rented city assembly hall, and electricity for the lighting and AV system came from a generator. At night the temperature was below 10 degrees Celsius, and yet there was no heat. Nevertheless, the saints were all rejoicing for the opportunity to fellowship and blend with one other.

We felt that the Lord ushered us into a genuine burden to pray for His will to be done for the carrying out of what is on His heart. May the Lord continue to gain the saints in Myanmar to be part of His army to bind the enemy, turn the age and bring in His kingdom. May 2013 be a year of prayer for His unhindered move in Myanmar and over the whole earth!

 

Sri Lanka

The Raising up of the Golden Lampstand in Kurunegala

For many years there had been a few saints in Kurunegala, but since there was no church there, the saints would attend the Lord’s Table meeting of and receive nourishment from the church in Kandy, spending three hours on public transportation each time. Beginning from last year the churches in Sri Lanka began to have the burden to labor and raise up a golden lampstand in this city. Since October 4, 2012, the saints from the various local churches went in groups to the city of Kurunegala for a one-month intensified propagation there. A full-time serving couple also moved to Kurunegala to strengthen the three families there as well as to preach the gospel in coordination with the saints. Praise the Lord! Through the saints’ labor in one accord, a young working couple was baptized on October 30.

On November 3, thirty-five saints from the churches in Colombo, Kandy, and Polonnaruwa, including the new ones from Kurunegala, attended a perfecting training for new believers. The goal of the training was to lay a good foundation in the aspects of vision, truth and practice. Then on November 4, a total of forty-five saints from different localities came together to break bread, testifying to the establishing of the golden lampstand in Kurunegala.

One brother Huang serving in the United States also came to Kurunegala on November 3 to coordinate for the perfecting training after giving acupuncture classes in Colombo. Not only did he share a word in the meetings, but he also led the saints to pray and visit people in a practical way. Through acupuncture treatments, Brother Huang also contacted many unbelieving family members of the saints and preached the gospel to them. As a result, many believed in the Lord and were willingly baptized. We thank the Lord for His arrangement and supply in the Body to strengthen the testimony in Sri Lanka.

Visitation and Propagation by the Overseas Saints

On November 19, a couple from New Taipei City, Taiwan, came to blend with the saints in Colombo for two weeks. Both had passed through the middle-age training. Although their English wasn’t very good, they were eager to learn with an exercised spirit. They had morning revival with us in English every morning at 6:10, joined the corporate Bible or ministry reading in the morning and the corporate prayer time at three o’clock in the afternoon. After that, they either prepared for the small group meetings or went out to contact people. They were in Colombo for three days, and then went on to visit the churches in Kurunegala, Kandy, and Nuwara Eliya to blend and fellowship with the saints there. They also coordinated with the saints in praying desperately and in contacting people for the gospel meeting held in Colombo. After the two-week corporate God-man living with the saints here, this couple expressed their willingness to answer the Lord’s call to migrate to Sri Lanka, if the Lord so leads, for the labor here. By their being here, the Lord also blessed the church. On December 2 a brother who had just been saved for four months invited a couple for the Lord’s Table meeting. This couple received the Lord and got baptized after the meeting.

From December 9 to 14, seventeen saints from six localities in Malaysia came to visit and blend with us after attending and helping with a perfecting meeting in Chennai, India. Through much fellowship the saints from Malaysia saw that the Lord’s present move was indeed fast and they were willing to visit again and hold perfecting meetings here next year. A single working sister was so full of burden that she was willing to use her vacation days to come and coordinate in the campus and young-adult work. Likewise, the local saints received much strengthening and enlightening in such fellowship concerning the gospel and the young people and children’s work and were encouraged to go on in various areas of labor.

Registration of the Church in Colombo and the Renting of the Meeting Hall

The serving brothers have been considering the registration of the Church in Colombo as a corporation with the government and discussed related matters with a law firm. There is still the need to gather and present all the necessary documents before continuing the registration process through the lawyers. Current lease for the meeting hall of the church in Colombo will expire this April. We will renew the lease and are considering purchasing a meeting hall.

Prayer Items:

1. For the Lord to raise up saints who will shepherd the new ones into a habit of enjoying the Lord through daily morning revival.
2. For the Lord to release the saints to participate in the corporate prayer meetings for the Lord’s move here.
3. For the Lord to raise up saints who will coordinate in the carrying out of the God-ordained way for the gaining of young people on the campuses in Colombo.
4. For the Lord to hasten the literature work and the translation of the Recovery Version of the Bible into Sinhalese.
5. For a smooth process of the registration of the church in Colombo and for the needs related to the purchase of a meeting hall to be met.

 

Two-Week Trip to Sri Lanka

“Yet those who wait on Jehovah will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and will not faint; they will walk and will not become weary.” ~ Isa. 40:31

From November 19 to December 4, 2012, we went to Sri Lanka for two weeks of propagating and visiting churches. Regardless of the limitation of language, the all-fitting life in us was able to conquer any environment. In these two weeks we traveled from Colombo to Kurunegala, Nuwara Eliya and Kandy, and then returned to Taiwan from Colombo. The saints welcomed us warmly everywhere we went, and we blended with the saints in each locality and went out to visit people with them. The day before we returned to Taiwan, a couple that attended the meeting for the first time got saved and baptized!

Although our trip to Sri Lanka was short, it was full of enjoyment and was worthwhile. May there be more middle-age saints who would answer the Lord’s call to go abroad for short-term propagations as God’s soaring eagles to preach the gospel and plant church trees.

Brother and Sister Lin