Sharing from saints on the Shepherding Trips:
1. Before coming to France I had heard the testimonies about the French being more open to the gospel, receiving the Bible, and seeking the truth. After I came, I can testify that the testimonies are true! During the distribution of the Bible, I was so touched that people are more open to receive the Bible and are willing to listen to the Word of God. I can see that this is the work of the Lord. Only He can open people's hearts. The Lord is advancing His move in France to raise up golden lampstands for His testimony. I am so grateful that I grasped this opportunity to participate and see the Lord’s move in France.
2. Thank You Lord for Your mercy! It is an untold privilege to be able to participate in the Lord’s move in Europe. My time in France was priceless and has eternal value. It was the best way to redeem my time to be the prudent virgin paying the price to buy oil for my vessel and to be a faithful slave cooperating with the saints to have new ones for meals and home meetings 2 or 3 times a week.
What the Lord is doing in France is a Body matter, a move in the Body and for the Body of Christ. Thus, the move in France needs many more saints to come to coordinate with the local saints to shepherd the new ones.
3. We arrived in Lille on Tuesday, March 18, and entered directly into a home meeting, and we shepherded a new one that evening.
The burden since the Bible distribution last summer has been to care for the approximately 26 new ones by begetting, nourishing, perfecting, and building (BNPB). All these new ones were open to the nourishing, first through the Basic Elements of the Christian Life booklets and then through The Economy of God. Every week they came, some in the afternoon for tea or coffee, some in the evening for a meal. We wanted to enter fully in, so we rented an apartment for 3 months, which was near the 3 local families.
What we’ve seen has been truly amazing. Through these weekly home meetings the new ones learned to exercise their spirit, call on the Lord, and pray-read as they sing and read the ministry together one line at a time. The times are so living! All enter in! The new ones are not the focus. It’s not an appointment but a home meeting in mutuality with Christ as the center. You can see their growth, especially in those who are close to finishing or have finished The Economy of God.
To supply and strengthen the “shepherds,” we also meet three mornings a week. We meet for prayer and coordination on Monday and for prayer to minister to the Lord on Tuesday, and we have our own small group meeting on Friday. This time in Lille has reminded me of how fresh, living, and house to house our church life should be.
4. I had the privilege of returning to Lille, France, for a three-month shepherding time, and it has been far more than what I expected. I also came last summer for the French Bible distribution/gospel.
This time has been so amazing because it's the practical way of caring for new ones, by having them in the homes of either the three families in Lille or in the Airbnb home of the shepherding saints. The new ones either have read or are reading the three volumes of the Basic Elements of the Christian Life (BXL) and The Economy of God. When this is completed, the fellowship has been to place them in a small group.
One English-speaking small group began on Saturday and was attended by 4 of the 5 new ones. We read verses from Acts and Hebrews regarding coming together in one accord, from house to house, and using the time for mutual care for one another and praying for one another.
During our small group time one of the sisters shared regarding a loss in her family in her homeland and her not being able to go there at this time; still, she knew that the saints in Lille (her family here!) has been comforting her. We all began to pray for her and comforted her, and others were able to open their situations. This was definitely a good beginning for the small group. May the Lord bring them again this upcoming Saturday!
In reading some portions of Practicing the God-Ordained Way with One Accord, I was really impressed with this statement: "I hope we would understand that every work requires diligent labor.” This is evident among the saints in Lille, with the coordination meetings, prayers, tea times, lunches, and dinners and surely many other hidden times. "If we want to beget many, nourish well, and teach successfully, we must practice the small groups....The small group is the basic unit of the church, just as a family is the basic unit of a society and of a country.”
This is what I have been seeing here in Lille, and I have surely seen the need to pray for the Lord's continued supply and strengthening, for the oneness, and that the one accord will become stronger for His testimony. We need to pray diligently for these slaves of the Lord and for the new ones and the saints who are being recovered. This is so crucial at this time.
Thank You Lord for all Your sovereign arrangements!