OL3 Olympic Games Gospel Trip (Part II)

The coordinating ones overseeing the Gospel trips are very encouraged by what has happened in Dieppe and Rouen. From the very beginning of fellowshipping, the saints in the UK have picked up the burden for both cities. When has this ever happened before? Saints in the UK were praying each week for these two cities in France and giving themselves to come and blend with the small church in Dieppe which is fully French! Very few of these ones from the UK can manage French! It shows such a heart for what the Lord wants:  A blended Body! We are so encouraged that it is already evident that there is new life flowing into the church life in Dieppe. Blending works! There is also a couple in the church life that have shared their burden to migrate to Dieppe. The Lord needs to raise up another such couple to migrate to Dieppe. How the blessing flows when we follow the Lamb to move where He is going!

The saints in the UK have also given themselves to labor to raise the church in Rouen. Again, we must say that only in the Body would saints in another country give their prayers, time, energy and continual travel to France to raise up a church that is not in their own country or in their own language. We must thank our Lord and praise Him for all He is doing! We believe the Lord will abundantly bless this move in His Body!

Today in Rouen we tabled at a shopping mall for the first time. We noticed that there was a larger number of local people coming to the table and not that many tourists. The Lord answered our prayers regarding having more contact with the residents of Rouen. Many today accepted the invitation to the harvest meeting.

One man stopped at the table and received a Bible, afterwards he asked for the guitar and sang gospel songs in French for approximately 30 minutes and at the same time he encouraged people to get a Bible. It was very touching. 

A young couple was walking by when the young man recognized the table and told us that he received a Bible in Dieppe yesterday and then the young girl rushed to the table to get her own Bible They were so happy leaving together with a Bible.
 

One team member in Dieppe talked for a while with a young person who was very interested and open. His dad had taken him to church before, so he had some knowledge of Christianity. Our team member read a verse and footnote with him, and eventually moved on to the MHL tract. They read the prayer at the end and called on the Lord together, and he walked away looking really happy and excited. He also scanned the QR code so he could order a Bible.

 

A local sister joined us today. She met a young couple who seemed really open. She was sharing with them, and by the end of the conversation, the young woman wanted to be baptized. The young man had been baptized before but after hearing about the significance of baptism, he wanted to be baptized again. The young man wants to come to the church meeting on Wednesday, and although the young woman couldn’t join on Wednesday, she and the local sister are working out a time to meet up for further fellowship.

At one point what appeared to be two moms, and a lot of kids came by our table and were curious about the Bibles. After hearing that they were free, one of the moms asked for some and started passing them out to the kids as she received them. We gave them maybe 6 or 7 in total. The mom seemed very happy and even danced a little jig as she walked away.

We had a combined Dieppe - Rouen gospel meeting. Two new people came, and it was a good time with them and they both seemed receptive. Brother Christian gave a message on God’s economy and security of salvation.

 

Prayer Burden
Pray that the Lord would release the proper shepherding for each new one!

Today we saw groups of many types of people willingly receiving Bibles, from desirous young people to older ones wanting Bibles. We saw big smiles from the recipients and a few who were interested in following up with us. One man in particular, his face lit up with joy as we spoke with him as a brother in the Lord. May the Lord gain a base of saints to stand as the church in Lille.
 

A young woman was very responsive when offered a Bible. I showed her John 3:16 and we read the footnotes. Then I explained the « wire diagram » and she was willing to pray the prayer in the MHL and to call upon the name of the Lord. It turned out that she had recently moved to Lille from one of the French-speaking Pacific Islands and seemed to be interested in finding a church to meet with. May she be drawn to meet with the saints in Lille!

We had dinner with a brother that we met on a previous gospel trip. A couple of us gave our testimonies on receiving the Lord, and we had fellowship about the wonders of receiving the very God Himself, with His life and person into us. Then we read the first chapter in the Basic Elements of the Christian Life, BXL-2,  “A Time with the Lord”, which introduces pray-reading as the way to feed on the Lord and receive Him as our food and enjoyment. Then we sang Hymn 811, “My heart is hungry, my spirit doth thirst; I come to Thee, Lord, to seek Thy supply”. It seemed like a cherishing and nourishing time with this new one and we all seemed to be impressed again with this life practice.

 

Tonight, we had a dinner appointment with a sister that we met during the Torch Relay 8 distribution. We have been consistently reading through the, BXL, booklets with her and each time she has shared her precious experiences of the Lord related to each chapter in the BXL booklet. We read together the first Chapter 1 of BXL-3, “Two Principles of Living - The Principle of Life”.

We had time with a young sister who we met on a previous gospel trip. We read Chapter three in BXL-1, “The Precious Blood of Christ”. Both during and after the reading we shared our experiences and realizations about the problems of separation from God, guilt in our conscience, and accusations from Satan. This sister echoed her experience of feeling "down" especially when she is alone and appreciated the portion that exposed how to discern speaking that was from Satan. We sang "God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:7)

Today a sister and I had an appointment with a young woman who had just moved to Lille. Around 8 years ago, she started reading Bible on her own. The Lord led her to us, to take a further step in her relationship with God. She read the first three chapters of, BXL, and the Bible on her own. She deeply appreciated the high truths. She promised to make her way to the special meeting on Lord’s Day as well!  May the Lord blend her with the Body and grant her a good foundation of a normal Christian life! 

We had a home meeting with a sister who was baptized at a sister’s house about a month ago. It was very sweet to hear more of her story of how she met the Lord Jesus. She is so happy to be with all of us. We read together the 2nd chapter in BXL-1, “The Assurance, Security and Joy of Salvation” and we had a wonderful time with much exercise of our spirit and remaining in the joy of our salvation. 

 

 A sister and I, together with a previous new one, enjoyed the song "Je suis le pain vivant" (I am the living bread), and read Chapter 5 in BXL-1, "The Key to Experiencing Christ - The Human Spirit". We shared some practical experiences about practicing of the dividing of our soul and our spirit (Hebrews 4:12), and to pray simple prayers about turning to and exercising our spirit. She was very open and said she will practice what we just read together. She has a good appetite for the pure Word. May she gain much enlightenment from the interpreted word.

There were seven new ones who joined the gathering on Lord’s Day afternoon. A brother shared about the church in God's eternal purpose. One of the ones had arrived a little late and missed the first part of the speaking. At the end of the time in the groups, this one asked about what was spoken in the beginning part that she had missed. I was so touched with the hunger in her for the Word and the truth concerning the church in God's purpose:  She didn't want to miss any part of what was spoken! May the Lord really reveal the vision of the church to all these ones and gain them to be part of the local expression in Lille of the universal church.
I never had experienced the joy of baptism like today. Today, when a young woman who I met just a few days ago, told me with certainly she wanted to get baptized with no delay, I was so touched by her simple love towards the Lord. I had much prayer for her on our way to her baptism, commanding the Lord to keep her willingness for baptism. Praise the Lord for His protection, she was baptized with great delight! She was called by the Lord several months ago, and she had an emerging desire in her to find a church and get baptized. And today, she found it! The Lord found her through His Body! May the Lord keep her nourished in the Body, increase Himself in her day by day, and grant her a controlling vision for His eternal purpose!

 

Prayer Burden
Pray that the Lord would release divine appointments, to bring in these 25-40 for His building and give the wisdom on how to take care of the younger ones!

May the Lord really reveal the vision of the church to all these ones and gain them to be part of the church in Lille.

 

We met several Portuguese-speaking people in Luxembourg. One man, from Luxembourg but of Portuguese background, showed much interest in what we were sharing with him so a brother showed him a video on the MHL and the man kept nodding as he watched. Afterward, he received the MHL tract, prayed the prayer at the end, and left us calling on the Lord. Another Portuguese man took a Bible and exchanged contact information with us so we could send him the link to our WhatsApp channel. Later, he messaged us to remind us to send him the link. He also mentioned that he will try to come to the seminar and is open to having coffee one afternoon.

 

A couple who are friends of the local family in Mertzig have attended many events since the OL 1 gospel trip. This week, we have seen a lot of them. The couple have been to their third Lord’s day meeting, and the husband also attended a seminar. Both the husband and wife are very open to the saints and have developed personal contact with a number of the team members over WhatsApp. We attempted to visit the husband at his work but missed him. Regardless, they appreciate being cared for by the saints in many ways.

 

At a barbecue, we met a young man for the first time. Before leaving, he shook everyone’s hand to say goodbye. A few days later, we met him at a cafe where he offered to pay for our coffee. Our main burden for this time was to speak about the seminar topic on the church. Afterwards, he gave us a tour of the American cemetery as he said he was very grateful to the American military for having saved Europe in the last world war.

 

A young person, introduced to us by someone who met the saints from OL2, attended our seminar for the second time. She shared that she has been enjoying reading the Bible with the saints and brought her Recovery Version with her. During the seminar, she was responsive to the message and actively participated in the fellowship. The next day, we met with her again and had the opportunity to hear her testimony and how she turned to the Lord.

A man who was contacted during OL2 came to the seminar on Thursday. The topic was "What is the church?" and we discussed the seven aspects of the church as revealed in Ephesians. During the group time, he shared that his favorite aspect of the church was the new man. He also joined us for our gospel trip conclusion BBQ on the Lord's day, during which we read the three verses that contained the two spirits: John 3:6; 4:24; Rom. 8:16. The French Bible he had did not have God's Spirit capitalized in one of the verses and a brother pointed it out to him. He said, “Two spirits in the same verse, yes, God's Spirit and our spirit!” When the brother showed him 1 Cor. 6:17, he was amazed. He highlighted these verses in his French Bible and told the brother that he would read the footnotes.

Prayer Burden
Pray that that the saints would have the wisdom in shepherding the new ones! And that these new ones would have consistent time with the saints. May the Lord have His lampstand in Mertzig!

 

Prayer Burden

Pray that all those who have applied to serve full-time in France would get their visas approved in a timely manner. By mid-October these ones will join with the Lord for His shepherding care for all the ones saved and baptized since the beginning of the Torch Relay Gospel Trips which began in May and continuing with the Olympic gospel trips which are currently going on.  

 

Pray that there would be open hearts to hear and respond to the Lord's call to migrate.

Giving

Saints who are burdened to give for the Bible distribution and other expenses can give through LME by following instructions at lordsmove.org/offerings.html. Designate offerings for “Paris Olympics.”

Archived Reports

Read all the past gospel reports here.