Shepherding Trips Report

We are full of thanksgiving and praise to our Lord Jesus Christ for all that He did during the recent gospel trips. Over seven hundred saints from 36 countries joined with local saints for the furtherance of the gospel in French-speaking Europe. Based on the 3 years of prayer of a small group echoing His heart to open the French to the gospel and the prayers of the saints and the churches all over the earth the Lord was able to move in such a marvelous way. He brought the prayers and coordination of the churches in Europe into a place with no borders! It became the move of His Body and in His Body!

 

Our plan is to send out “Shepherding Trips Reports” so that the saints see the further developments in the cities where we labored and would continue to pray. It is through prayer that the Lord can raise up churches.

 

Gospel teams from mid-April through September, tilled the soil and sowed the seeds of the gospel into the seeking ones in Lille. There were 5,246 Bibles distributed and 663 people that exchanged contact information. We are now caring for about 20 new ones each week. In Lille, we only have 3-4 households, so 20 new ones are all that we can currently care for. These households consist of ones that have moved to Lille recently and a couple who have rented an apartment as “short-term" shepherds. These families meet one on one during the day with new ones and in the homes around the dinner table in the evenings. Shepherding ones from abroad have really strengthened our time of prayer and fellowship together. These shepherding ones will spend 2-3 months here. During our shepherding times, we are reading through the three "Basic Elements of the Christian Life” books. Our view and goal in going through these books chapter by chapter is to lay a solid foundation of life and truth. From this base, we look to the Lord to raise up a solid and healthy church in Lille.

 

In addition to spending time with our hungry new ones, we visit saints living in the area surrounding Lille. May the Lord gather all these dear ones and bless our times with them!

There are scheduled meetings every day of the week; some days there are two gatherings, other days four gatherings. We have found that our new ones are very hungry and often linger for several hours after our gatherings!

 

As we serve together, we have times of prayer and we are reading through a ministry book together. Our next step is to little by little bring those who are ready into group meetings.

 

As we move forward, we are increasingly aware of how much we need the participation of the migrating saints. Their constitution and experience of the church life will be a crucial help in establishing a strong foundation for the church in Lille. Together we can join together and care for all these seeking ones. Our time in Lille has been wonderful, busy and so life-giving!

 

 

Thank you, Lord, for preparing many open seekers in Geneva and moving a young couple to Geneva this year!

 

At present, we have five new ones with whom we have regular appointments and 2 new ones regularly joining a group meeting. We have another 15 that like to stay connected with us frequently. Seeing that God has been working in Geneva this year, the burden of prayer amongst the local saints has been raised up since mid-October.

 

May the Lord continue His work in Geneva through much and thorough prayers and fellowships and raise up a shining golden lampstand in Geneva, Switzerland for the carrying out His Divine Economy!

 

 

Currently, three families in Nanterre are hosting 2 weekly Bible studies to maintain the shepherding of new ones. There are 10 new ones who are regular in attending these Bible studies. There are consistently 6-7 new ones in every Bible study. The pursuing materials for these meetings are the Gospel of John and Epistle to Romans.

 

Some of these new ones were agnostic, while others came from Christian families. They are attracted by the day-by-day, house-to-house church life. Five amongst these ones were baptized by knowing the truth from reading the footnotes regarding baptism. Four have attended Lord’s Table Meeting at least once.

 

In addition to these two weekly Bible studies, two brothers are actively having one-on-one appointments with new ones to meet their needs, address questions, and feed them with the ministry book entitled “Life Lessons”. 

 

We are also receiving 3 "short term" shepherding ones from the US to join us in our labor. Thank the Lord for those who are coming on the shepherding trips!

 

 

A few of the saints who served in Rouen during the recent Olympic Gospel trips returned to Rouen to visit new ones gained during the Gospel Trips. Our plan is to keep a rotation of "short term" shepherding saints living in a rented place so that the new ones will have continual care, and we can establish regular weekly meetings in Rouen.

 

Last Saturday we had the first home gathering in Rouen since the beginning of September.    We had five new ones and seven saints (two from London, two from Dieppe, and three from Paris). This regular Saturday gathering will continue weekly into 2025, as saints from Dieppe, Paris, and all over the world continue to visit Rouen for the shepherding of new ones and the home gatherings.

 

In total, we are shepherding about 15 - 20 warm contacts in Rouen as well as a handful in Dieppe who are open to further contact and follow-up.

 

The saints recently met an older couple in Rouen who love the Lord, disagree with denominationalism, and host a meeting with up to 30 young people. We believe this was a divine appointment. Our hope is that the Lord would gain this couple for His testimony in Rouen.

 

 

The Lord is arranging the way for the church life to be raised up in Toulouse! There is a couple from Paris purchasing an apartment to move here. The husband has been in Toulouse during September and October. We currently have a rental place for the saints from Spain and Germany coming to spend a few weeks in Toulouse. A locality in North America is burdened to rent a "long term" place for saints who come on shepherding trips to have a place to stay.  Then, Toulouse will have another open home.  The team in the Iberian Peninsula is planning to come in November for 3 months. There is a sister, her mother, and her daughter who have lived in Toulouse for a number of years. The saints say that their being in Toulouse has been a great spiritual encouragement to these dear sisters of three generations.

 

Currently there are 4 new brothers and 6 new sisters that are active in having appointments and are regularly coming to the rented houses for meals and fellowship. We have ones who are having real personal experiences with the Lord, reading the Recovery Version on their own, already feeling related to the saints, and all are getting increasingly more attached to the saints.

 

In addition to these, there are 7 other young and middle-aged new sisters that are open to being contacted and are having appointments. One new sister remarked that since knowing us she feels closer to the Lord and the Lord closer to her. Two of the new sisters will attend the Iberian Peninsula Conference in December. Our desire is to have a meeting that these ones will consider as “their” meeting. Currently, our new ones are even bringing their friends!
During the recent Olympic Gospel trip in the beginning of September, a new one-a mature believer was contacted. He is very generous and has a new apartment and is providing hospitality for a couple who is in Toulouse waiting to move into their apartment.

   
Last Friday, one of the young new brothers invited 15 of his friends to our Lord’s Day meeting. This was wonderful but we did not have a place to receive so many.  The new brother with the new apartment then offered to let us meet in his new apartment but he did not have enough chairs nor a way to provide food for so many.   By the Lord’s sovereignty, we had saints come to Toulouse that weekend, so we rented a car, purchased 20 folding chairs, and the sisters prepared a great meal.  A few of the guests were believers. The new brother was so happy his place could be used for the Lord!  The guests did not expect a Christian meeting, but being the Lord’s Day, we felt to release a word on “The Complete Salvation of God”.  Many of them took a Recovery Version Bible with gratitude. Some happily gave us their contact information. A new couple, who are dear believers, were very open and thanked us profusely when they departed. What a wonderful experience of the Body in function! We feel this new brother whose apartment we used will be a key saint in the lampstand in Toulouse. He has read Brother Nee`s and Brother Lee`s books. The couple who is staying with him is shepherding him with nightly readings of the Life-studies. 

We had dinner with two new brothers, each brought a friend to dinner, and both got saved! After dinner we shared the Word with them, and one got baptized. New ones are bringing new ones! We were full of joy; we were all filled with the new wine (Matt. 9:17, footnote 1).

 

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.