Dear Brothers and Sisters,
My name is Bala and I am the team leader for CHEERIO.
Greetings to you from all my team members.
It may be the first entry but the Cheerio Group has already began its work some time ago. I would like to share an experience in the visitation ministry.
The sharing will give you and idea of what the LORD has been doing in Alor Star. This is one of the many stories we have to share.
Let me give you the The story of David (not the real name). The success of this episode has nothing to do with our strength. It was the work of the Lord every inch of the way. Without the Lord’s strength we all would have collapsed somewhere along the road. The road to Salvation was challenging but manageable because JESUS leads the way.
I pray that this story will be an encouragement to all our brothers and sisters all over the country who are into this ministry.
From
Bala, Cheerio Group
Alor Star
____________________________________
THE STORYThe Ministry Of Visitation
“
Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which
we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are”
Acts 15:36I would like to share this true interesting story that took place in a small city of Alor Star. I like to call it "The Road To Salvation". This is the story of David (not his real name). We believe the Lord brought David to our attention because HE has a bigger plan. The Lord through the Holy Spirit guided us all along this journey. There are no heroes in this story, just humble servants of the Lord who were ready to do HIS will.
The Road to Salvation
The beginning The Trinity Baptist Church (TBC) has a Tamil congregation of about 80. The Tamil Church has two ministries that reach out to the community. They are Community English classes and Children’s Church school which we call “Tamil SMART School”. The uniqueness of these ministries is that they attract both believers and non – believers.
It was during the community classes the LORD made us notice David. David was a 13 year old boy from a poor Indian family. When he was asked to fill the registration form he started to grin. This was when we released that David could not read and write. What was more shocking was that he was in Form One.
The English Class in session. David is on the far left in the first row. David was a faithful student who tried his best to learn.
Visitation
The TBC visitation group swung into action. We were shocked to find that David was living in a dilapidated shack that leaked badly during the rain. The whole living quarters was about a size of a room with the kitchen, and living room cum bedroom cramped into it.
This is one half of David’s house. This is bedroom cum dining room
cum living room. The kitchen and bath is at the back. It leaks so badly that it’s wet all the time.
David’s family. The father is on the far right. The three people on
the left are part of the visitation team. On this visit we took some clothes and bedding as the family slept on the floor.
They visited the family regularly and found that they were lacking proper food, medical care and clothes. During these visits we just talked and encouraged the family. We showed grace and love. We often took clothes, food and even vitamins when we visited them.
Family Profile
David comes from a family of seven. His father served time and is on restriction and observation for two years after his release. He works as a laborer and works odd jobs. He does not have a steady job. His wife is a home maker who also does some odd jobs. His eldest son works with a wiring contractor. The other children are schooling.
The visitation group identified the needs of the family. All findings were documented and filed. Evidence included interviews and photographs. Regular reports were prepared to the senior pastor of the church... David’s case was referred to the other ministries and organizations within the church.
Help soon came pouring in. The other ministries partnered with the visitation group and contributed in whatever way they could.
Smart Partnership
A cell group adopted the family. The cell group started making visits and providing some help. They sent medicines, vitamin supplements, clothes, blankets, shoes and even bicycles.
The cell group blessed the family with two bicycles to be used for going to work and to school.
The
Trinity Baptist Church Education Fund started providing monthly financial aid for the children (pocket money for food). The education fund also paid for school registration fees and revision and exercise books.
The
Superflow Foundation, which is part of
TBC, provided food passes for the whole family. The family could now have meals five times a day at the Foundation’s soup kitchen.
The Soup Kitchen run by the Super Flow Foundation where
David’s family is provided free meals.
The Fruits of the MinistryMany individuals from TBC were touched by the LORD to help this family out. They provided food and medical supplies. They also made visitations on their own. These visits greatly encouraged the family. They also prayed for this family at cell groups and at home.
All these acts of love and grace plus the prayers of the saints moved the hands of God over this family. Alleluia! The family started to come to church. The children started taking part in the Children’s Church. They even came for prayer meetings. What’s amazing is these things were happening when they were not even Christians yet. Such is the amazing grace of our Lord Jesus that HE can touch souls and transform lives even before you begin.
The family attending church. (Front row)
David’s sisters at the TBC Tamil Children Are Church.
See how joyfully they worship the Lord.
SalvationWe all prayed for this family. Then on 17/11/08 the whole family accepted JESUS as their Lord and Savior. All the angels in heaven rejoiced. I could not hold back my tears as the family said the sinner’s prayer. I cried thinking of the awesomeness of our Lord. There is nothing too difficult for HIM.
The moment of truth. The family said the sinner’s prayer.
The whole family accepted Jesus as their Lord and savior.
BaptismDavid’s family was mentored and taken through the baptism classes. They were baptized on the 25 of December 2008. This was the best Christmas the team had. Everybody involved was so full of joy.
David’s family at the Baptism service at TBC.
David being led by a cell member that adopted the family.
There were smiles everywhere.
Lessons LearntDavid’s story demonstrates the power of visitations. Every visitation must be prayerfully planned. Its purpose must be to share the Love of Christ.
The most important ingredient is Prayer. You can’t move anything without prayer. Keep praying and the Holy Spirit will tell you the next move.
The first challenge was to penetrate the family which was strongly entrenched in idol worship. It had to be done without arousing the suspicion that we have an ulterior motive. This was done by simply loving them with no strings attached.
Partnership with the other ministries is crucial. Open up for the others to step in and help you. You cannot take on the challenge alone.
Get the support of the Church you are in. In this case Trinity Baptist Church was supportive and encouraging all the way.
The senior pastor as well as the church leaders and cell leaders were interested and fully supportive in what we were doing.
Finally the most important lesson learnt, LET GO AND LET GOD.
PRAY AND LET THE LORD TAKE CONTROL OF WHATEVER YOU DO. ABIDE BY THE WISDOM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
WE CAN DO NOTHING WITHOUT HIM.
Prayer RequestPlease keep this family in prayer. We are still working on this family. We need to release and free them from the old bondages. There are moments when they falter and become weak. Keep interceding for them. They need your prayers. We need your prayer support too.
All glory to Jesus. We are nothing but HIS servants to do His will
Thank you and God bless you.
Bala / Trinity Baptist Church
2 October 2009
