January

Jan 31, 2023 by LMAsia

2022 LMA Conference

The 2022 LMA Conference was held online on October 26. A total of 570 saints from 27 countries participated. There were three sessions, covering two messages and the propagation updates from various countries.

The subject of the first message was “Propagating Aggressively in Unfavorable Environment”. In the patterns of Paul and John we see that we should not be bothered by the opposition and restriction in the environment. Instead, we should turn to the Lord to see a clearer view of His economy. We should not complain that the place where we are is not a good place. Wherever we go, we should have an enterprising spirit to work on the barren land and turn it into a place that is as flourishing as Lebanon. We should not allow any circumstance to quench our burden for the Lord’s work. As long as we are clear that the burden is from the Lord, we should charge forward without any fear. We should not excuse ourselves, but should have an aggressive, bold, and daring spirit to carry out the Lord’s commission. As what Brother Lee said, “The secret to my work is that I do not know what difficulty is. I only know to give myself to work. I do not care for the result; I only care to labor diligently…. I do not care about the circumstances; I only care to work…. As long as we work, there will be the result.”

The subject of the second message was “Perfecting the Saints for the Building up Issuing in the Manifestation of Christ”. The Body of Christ is not an organization but an organism of the Triune God. The way to build up this organism is by the perfecting of the saints, that all the saints may be able to directly build up the Body of Christ. In order to perfect the saints, the gifted persons first need to nourish them with the life supply for their growth in life. Second, the gifted persons need to equip the saints with proper skills so that they can do what the gifted persons do. The joints supplying and the parts functioning cause the growth of the Body, in the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, unto the building up of the Body itself in love. Paul is an example of laboring to perfect the saints. We have to do the same kind of perfecting work that Paul did, so that the organic building of the Body of Christ will be realized and practiced among us and the manifestation of Christ will be issued in.

Following the two messages, the brothers from Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Timor Leste, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkey, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, India, the GCC countries, and Rhema distribution presented briefly their propagation updates and their needs for prayer. We saw how the saints in various countries labored faithfully under restrictions, broke through difficulties, spread the gospel, shepherded people, and perfected others to function. The pandemic also opened the door for the electronic ministry book distribution. Not only was the downloading of the Rhema e-books increased significantly, but many seekers also participated in the online seminars. Some were even baptized and brought into the church life. The translation work in various languages is also being carried out in full swing in various countries to meet the great need of shepherding.

At present in the 48 countries in Asia, there are 12 countries that do not have the testimony of the Lord’s recovery. Over the past few years, some saints received the burden and migrated to Azerbaijan in West Asia, Tajikistan in Central Asia, and Timor-Leste in Southeast Asia, either working, studying, or serving there. They preach the gospel and contact the seekers on the one hand and build up the church life on the other, with the view that the Lord’s testimony would be raised up in these countries. The remaining nine countries that do not have the testimony of the Lord’s recovery are Afghanistan, Bhutan, Iraq, Maldives, North Korea, Palestine, Syria, Turkmenistan, and Yemen. Please pray that the Lord will continually open the door for the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom and for the raising up of His testimony. May the Lord strengthen His work in all the countries in Asia for the organic building up and the spread of His Body.

Pray burdens:

1. Pray that the Lord will raise up burdened saints to participate in the propagation.

2. Pray for more saints to be raised up and perfected for coordination in the church services.

3. Pray for the Lord’s testimony to spread in Asia.

Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste is located in the eastern half of Timor Island in Southeast Asia, about 400 kilometers north of Australia. It is a small emerging country that has just been established for 20 years. Due to wars before and after the founding of the nation, there is an urgent need of infrastructure development. Unemployment and poverty are common problems that people face. However, as the country is rich in oil and natural resources, it still has potential for economic development in the future.

The four languages spoken in Timor-Leste are Tetum, Portuguese, English and Indonesian. Tetum is the official language which is spoken by almost all local people. Portuguese is also an official language, yet it is only used by a small number of professionals, elites or government officials. It is said that only about 5% of the population use Portuguese. English is more widely spoken, and people with higher education can pretty much speak English. Being close to Indonesia geographically and deeply influenced by its cultural and historical background, most East Timorese can speak Indonesian even though it is not an official language.

According to the 2020 statistics, Timor-Leste has a population of about 1.32 million. More than 90% of the population believes in Catholicism. Catholic churches are everywhere, and nuns are often seen walking on the streets. Some churches broadcast hymns every Sunday morning at seven o’clock, followed by the pastor’s sermon. The locals usually dress casually. But everyone who goes to the church on the Lord’s day is neatly dressed, with men wearing shirts and women wearing long skirts. Christians make up about 2.6% of the population.

Currently there are 21 saints in the capital Dili. Half of them are Tetum or Indonesian-speaking saints and half are Chinese-speaking. Due to different living habits and work types, saints of different languages groups do not have much chance to meet each other. When they come together for meetings and fellowship, the need for translation is tremendous. Although the church is not established yet, the saints pursue the Holy Word for Morning Revivals and the Recovery Version in various languages during the week and come together to supply each other on the Lord’s Day. In the Lord’s table meeting, the major language used is Indonesian. After reading the Indonesian weekly newsletter together, the saints prophesy based on that week’s pursuing schedule of the seven annual feasts, which follows that of the churces in Indonesia. The average Lord’s Day attendance is 11. There is an online prayer meeting on Tuesday. The small group meeting is held in the evening on Lord’s day with about 14 saints, including a gospel friend, and they get into the first volume of the “Shepherding Materials”—“The High Gospel”.

In terms of the gospel, the saints mainly contact warm doors. Several saints visit the families and neighbors of the saints during the week and contact the people they encounter in everyday lives, inviting them to their homes for home meetings. Starting by establishing friendships with the gospel contacts, the saints gradually preach the gospel to them.

The serving brothers are very burdened for the establishment of the church. A brother has prepared a piece of land on which to build a meeting hall. The construction work which started in early October last year is expected to be completed by the end of this January. The brothers hope that after the construction is completed, the saints will have more opportunities to come together for prayer and blending and be built up together to be Lord’s testimony in Dili.

In the second half of last year, two families migrated here from overseas to coordinate with the saints in the church life. They have been learning Indonesian in order to have more fellowship with the saints. They also plan to learn Tetum for the gospel to the locals. The following is a brother’s testimony: “Leaving the church life which I was used to and coming to a new place, the Lord’s words have been extremely precious to me and shining with the divine light. After coming to Timor-Leste, the word of the ministry which were once two-dimensional to me suddenly became three-dimensional. The first half of John 1:14 became my reality: ‘the Word became flesh and tabernacle among us…, full of grace and reality.’ I thank the Lord that during our days serving abroad, we have living and fresh experiences every day. Although we haven’t been here for that long, the Lord has caused us to experience His rich grace and brought us through many difficult circumstances. May the Lord gain His testimony in Timor-Leste and raise up a shining golden lampstand soon. Amen.”