March
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is located in Western Asia at the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf, bordering Saudi Arabia to the south and west and Oman to the east. UAE consists of 7 emirates/states with a total population of 9.8 million, of which 11.48% are locals and 88.52% expatriates from around 200 countries. Standard Arabic is the official language used; however, as a result of the high immigration rate, other foreign languages such as English, Hindi, Farsi, Urdu, and Malayalam are often spoken in the country. The Christian population is 0.88 million, roughly 9% of the total population. Open preaching of faith other than Islam is prohibited. But Christian denominations and free groups are allowed to gather for worship in government-designated areas.
In spite of the limitations in the environment, the saints rejoice in the Lord, growing in life and function, and faithfully practicing the God-ordained way. The first church was raised up in Abu Dhabi in 1995. Since then through the work of the Spirit and the migration of the saints, the Lord raised up churches in Sharjah, Al Ain, Dubai, Ajman, Ruwais and Fujairah successively. Currently there are 393 saints in the churches in UAE, with 279 meeting regularly during the week. As the number of families in the churches increases, the number of children has proportionally increased as well. The brothers have felt the need to start the work among the children and young people in a more solid way and with the coordination of all the churches. There has been a positive response from the saints to join the service in coordination.
The combined Lord’s Table meeting of the churches is held quarterly while the International Blending Conference (IBC) is held every three years. In 2019 the IBC was held in Dubai from Nov. 29-30. A total of 305 saints from the churches in UAE, the neighboring GCC countries (Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain), and other countries such as the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Lebanon, Hong Kong, and USA attended.
The subject of the conference was “The One New Man Fulfilling God’s Purpose in Creating Man”. The messages showed us that the eternal purpose of God is to have a corporate man to express Him and represent Him; this was God’s purpose in creating man. On the cross Christ created the one new man while terminating the old man and all the negative things in the universe. The goal of the Lord’s recovery is to bring forth the one new man. For the practical existence of the one new man, we need to take Christ as our person and our old person must be put away. We also need to have genuine prayers which respond to Christ’s heavenly ministry. Moreover, there is a desperate need for us to be the stewards of the grace of God to dispense God into man, so that we may practice the church life in the consciousness of the new man.
During the time of sharing, the saints enthusiastically responded to the burden of the messages. A time was also given for each locality of UAE and the countries of GCC to give a presentation on how the churches are progressing in carrying out the God-ordained way. The saints then prayed for each locality and country. Many saints testified after the conference that their view concerning the Lord’s move on earth was broadened. Everyone was strengthened and encouraged.
Prayer burdens:
1. Pray for the raising up of the churches in the remaining 2 Emirates (Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah), which do have any churches.
2. Pray for the proper aggressiveness of the churches in practicing the new way.
3. Pray for the forming of more districts in the churches to intensify the shepherding and perfecting work.
4. Pray for a proper direction in the work among the children and young people.
India
National Trainings for the Young People, College Students and Young Adults
From December 22-25, 2019, 488 saints from 78 localities in India came together for the National College Training held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The main burden of the training was to enter into the messages of the Crystallization-study of Numbers (2). Besides the speaking sessions, there were grouping sessions where students got into the outlines with the message abstracts in groups and prepared for the testing. Other burdens were also released in the training, such as encouraging the students to become seeds on their college campuses and to join the Full-time Training upon graduation.
Simultaneously there were trainings for the young people and for the young working saints. The young people used Lesson Book, Level 2: The Triune God—the Triune God and the Person and Work of Christ as the training material. The young working saints got into the messages from 2019 Thanksgiving Conference on Knowing and Experiencing the All-inclusive, Extensive Christ. May the Lord stir up the young ones’ desire to pursue Him through these words and release many to join the Full-time Training in the coming days to fight for His interest in India!
Video Trainings
Brother Lee once said, “It is a fact of history in the Lord’s recovery that any church which follows the ministry is strong and blessed.” (Life-study of First Timothy, message 8). Video Trainings of the Crystallization-study of Deuteronomy are still going on in various localities in India in different languages. The following are testimonies from some churches that already finished the video training.
The Churches in North India－from February 8-9 and 15-16, 2020, 161 saints from 9 localities of 6 different States in North India came together for the Video Training. The training was conducted in both English and Hindi languages. The atmosphere of the Video Training was uplifted by the saints staying together over 2 weekends to study and pursue these messages corporately. Many saints testified that this up-to-date speaking of the Lord not only strengthened them but uplifted their desire to pursue the truth and follow the ministry of the word so that they could be ready to enter and possess the all-inclusive Christ as typified by the good land for the building up of the temple and the city!
The Church in Chennai－On 3 consecutive Saturdays (February 8, 15, and 22), 123 saints from Chennai came together in three big districts for the Video Training in both English and Tamil languages. Many saints testified that they never saw that the book of Deuteronomy was a book about Christ. They were enlightened to see that in order to enter into the good land, the young generation needs to respect and be reconstituted with the word of God. Some saints were touched that our God is a loving and gracious God. He has the system of grace and the system of government for Him to give all that He is to us as grace through His righteous government. We need to love God, obey His commandments, and walk in His ways, so that we may inherit the good land as our possession in full.
Chennai Land Acquisition Project
This year the Lord faithfully fulfilled the Chennai land acquisition project. The registration for the land was done in January, 2020, and the sale deed was received in February. The land is located at Pallavaram area in Chennai, close to the Chennai Airport and two suburban railway stations and situated adjacent to a 200 feet radial road in a developing area. The total land size is 48,352 square feet (1.11 acre) in more or less a rectangular shape.
We have heard numerous heart-touching testimonies of how the saints experienced the grace of God bountifully by pouring out upon the Lord Jesus. A brother couldn’t sleep after the burden for the land offering was shared in the meeting that night. He started to pray and the Lord reminded him of a small piece of land which he purchased as an investment for his daughter’s medical school’s admission fees. He was subdued by the Lord’s love in his prayer. The next day he handed over his land document to the church. A brother who is a tea vendor barely meets the daily needs of his family with his income. But he still faithfully separated a specific amount from every sell of tea for the land. He offered well beyond his measure. Many more testimonies are yet to be told. As the footnote of Matt. 26:8 says, “To those who love Him in such a way He is altogether lovely and worthy of their offering. What they have poured upon Him is not a waste but a fragrant testimony of His sweetness.”
Upon acquiring the land the saints would like to start the construction work of the building as soon as possible. The proposed building size will be with around 1000 seating capacity in the main meeting hall, in conjunction with multi-purpose functional rooms with movable partitions. There will also be adequate accommodation capacity within the building. May the Lord continue to bless and meet all the financial needs for the sake of His move in this country.
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