A missionary report from Gaius in China.
This June has been a very different June for me. We’ve now been meeting as a group for five months and we are very thankful for these past months. Presently on Sunday’s we have 11 regular attendees (two of these are seekers); we also have five others who come irregularly. Another thing we are thankful for is that in May a brother in the group began to participate in some ministry. We decided to let him join in this after a few months of observing him, getting to know his spiritual condition, and also with the approval of the brothers and sisters.
Our main focus in June was first to move forward in our previous endeavors and also to start a new ministry. In June I began to lead a study of the 1689 Confession of Faith on Thursday nights from 7:30 to 9:30. There have been brothers and sisters attending this study in addition to the regular Sunday attendees. There usually are about 15 people in this study.
This month we also started a prayer meeting on Sunday afternoons from 1:30 to 4:00. Before praying together, we spend half an hour sharing prayer requests, then everyone prays together. We pray for each other’s requests, the growth of our meeting, for W____’s recent situation, for our Gospel ministry, etc. After prayer we have a brother share about a spiritual book he has been reading and his thoughts on it.
In June I conducted eight sessions of Biblical Counseling. Five of these were premarital/dating counseling. In our midst there is a brother and sister dating right now, so I counseled them three times. Also, one of the seekers is dating a seeker from another church and I counseled them twice. Another brother, who is not one of our attendees but comes on Thursday night to the study of the Confession, has depression and sought counseling; I counseled him three times.
In June we planned a ministry event that was outward focused. All the brothers and sisters at our meeting place participated. We invited unbelieving friends so we could establish relationships with them and we could introduce them to our faith.
Sunday morning is our worship service. I preach three times a month on Mark. Another co-worker preaches the remaining week. After the service everyone eats lunch together. While we wait to eat we have a time to share and discuss what encouragement and strengthening we received from the morning sermon.
We had two co-workers meetings this month in which we summarized our ministry over the past few months and thought about areas where we are lacking and need change. We also planned for our July ministry.
Three times each week during this past month, we did oversight and visitation with several brothers and sisters. These are the main ministries I have been involved in this month at this meeting place.
With my family, each night I lead my wife and son in reading a chapter on Scripture and explain it to them. This month we are reading Colossians and Revelations. Every day I teach my son the Shorter Catechism. The rest of my personal time was primarily spent in devotions, preparing for ministry, and study.
