2 Cor. 9:8 ” And God is able to make all grace abound unto you, that, in everything always having all sufficiency, you may abound unto every good work.”
Dear Saints,
Here are the following highlights of the church life in Islamabad in the first quarter 2022:
1) The Very First Short Term (3-Months) Perfecting Training
Fifteen saints ( 7 brothers and 8 sisters) from the 4 local churches in Pakistan are attending the very first short term (3-months) perfecting training in Lahore. (See attached pictures of the trainees.) Four sisters and 2 brothers are from Islamabad. Fifteen is currently the maximum capacity of the training center, and prayerfully, we hope the Lord will enable us secure a bigger place so more saints could be trained in the future. ( Some saints had to be turned down for this session.)
The training started off in early January and is about to culminate at the end of this month. The saints are living corporately in order to live the Body life and be strengthened in their spiritual life.
2) A New District Will Be Added Soon; Another One Will Follow
The saints in Islamabad are currently focusing on 2 communities for gospel preaching, and some have already been having regular home meetings. Weekend evening meetings will start next week in one of these communities, By next month, the Lord willing, we will soon have another district there. We also hope that within this year, we will have another district in the other community.
3) Two Families are Going to Migrate to Faisalabad
Two families are going to migrate to Faisalabad most probably in early May. Faisalabad is the 3rd largest city of Pakistan, 3 1/2 hours drive South of Islamabad. Please pray for these 2 families and their propagation
4) By Casting Out An Evil Spirit, A Family is Gained
A family with 6 members moved from Rawalpindi to Islamabad (Dist. 3). They are related to a family living there that’s already in the church life. This family was hoping that their 13-year old daughter would get “healed”/released from the torment of an evil spirit that greatly distressed the family, causing them to have sleepless nights. At first they called some pastors in the area to pray over her but to no avail. Then 2 of the responsible brothers were asked to pray. We happened to be in the district because we just had a YP meeting, so the brothers asked us to join them. The atmosphere didn’t seem scary because the girl’s family members and some relatives were there to witness the whole situation. It was quite an experience for us to participate and witness casting out of an evil spirit. After praying and pray-reading a couple of Bible verses (Num. 23:22-23) for about half an hour, the evil spirit was cast out, and the girl was back to her normal self again. Right after that, the girl’s father and 3 male relatives came forward to receive the Lord! ( See 2 attached pictures.) Now the whole family is active in the church life today. ALL THE GLORY TO THE LORD!!!
5) Young People’s Meetings/ Outing
The young people’s meetings in Dist. 3 are well attended by the youth from 8 families. (See attached picture.) The once possessed girl with her 2 older siblings are part of the group. The latest additions are 2 biological sisters from a random family. They just joined without having anyone of us in the group invite them. The older one who is around 13-14 y.o. even attended the Lord’s Table Meeting. We hope and pray that their whole family and even their relatives (joint family) will be gained through them.
The YP Meetings in Dist. 1 are held online because a couple of families have moved to quite a distant place away from the meeting hall. It is interesting to note that 2 young sisters were used by the Lord to totally gain their families.
There’s also a good number of young brothers and sisters in Dist. 2, but they have separate meetings.
This Saturday, April 2, there will be a blending/outing at a park for all the youth who have been attending the meetings in the 3 districts. Please pray for everyone’s safety and everything will be in order.
6) Baptisms
An elderly brother and 2 sisters were baptized in Dist. 2. (See attached 2 pictures.)The brother seriously considered attending the perfecting training in Lahore, but unfortunately, he didn’t qualify because of his age, and besides, there was no longer a space for him.
We pray that more baptisms will take place in the coming months.
7) Sisters’ Meetings
There are 3 separate sisters’ meetings in Islamabad: Dist. 1 (Group 1) sisters meet in the meeting hall while Dist. 1 (Group 2) are combined with Dist. 3 sisters so the meetings are held online but they have a blending once every 2 months. These 2 groups meet on Monday nights. Dist. 2 sisters meet in person but their meetings are on Saturdays.
8) National Training for Responsible Brothers
Around 25 responsible brothers from the 4 local churches will have a training on May 3-5, 2022 in Lahore. This will also give them an opportunity to
9) National Blending Conference ( Postponed)
It’s been 3 years since the saints in Pakistan haven’t had a national blending conference that it was planned to have it in mid-May. However, due to the uncertainty of the political situation here, coupled by the exorbitant costs of renting an air conditioned place + food, the blending conference has been postponed for October of this year. We okay that there won’t be hurdles anymore by then.
10) General Schedule of Church Activities
Lord’s Day – LTM/Prophesying Mtg.
Monday – Brothers’ Coordination Mtg.
Sisters’ Mtgs. ( Dist. 1 & 3)
Tuesday – Prayer Mtg.
Wednesday – Group Mtg.
Thursday – Gospel Preaching/ Home Mtgs.
Friday – YP Mtg. (Dist. 3)
Saturday – YP Mtgs. (Dist. 1 & 2)
Sisters’ Mtg. ( Dist. 2)
– PSRP Mtg.
11) Other Prayer Requests
a) The Lord will send out more families to other cities in Pakistan for propagation .
b) Revival of the saints and recovery of some saints and their functions.
May the Lord be in all our spirit!!! Hallelujah!!!
In Him,
Raj and Meldy Bhatti
