December 2023 emails from Barnabas
December 13
My dear Christian friend:
Brother Yìzé has signed up for almost every GBI classes he could. He attends my online worship service every Sunday. He has listened to every one of my sermon live and then listened to the recordings. After that, he shares them.
He came to faith in his 40s. Now, ten years later, he continues to celebrate his spiritual rebirth and the freedom that Jesus has given him from the burden of guilt that he used to stagger under.
When his home church encouraged him to leave his home and start a new life in another part of China, he left without a second thought.
There he worked at church that operated an orphanage. Unfortunately, he discovered that in Christian organizations Satan and sinful human natures are still active. He was spiritually abused by members of that church. He felt disillusioned. The peace he had faded.
After he left that church, he sought the truth of the gospel on the internet. There the Holy Spirit led him to 316NOW. He found the banquet of God's grace in Jesus. He hungrily began to study God's Word with us.
Brother Yìzé is more than an eager student. He is busily sharing all that he is learning with those God brings into his life. And God has given him an eager audience. He works in a nursing home filled with needy souls.
Pray that the Lord will remember him and that we will pray for him.
Your brother in Christ,
Barnabas
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December 20
The Holy Spirit provides the right person at the right time for the right task.
This is Barnabas writing to you, 316NOW's liaison. I'm about to introduce you to one of those "right people" that the Spirit has sent us.
Brother Bin
Brother Bin was stricken by a severe fever several years ago. He was paralyzed by it; he is wheelchair-bound.
After being paralyzed, he sought a relationship with God. He went to a nearby church. However, that church's wrong teachings caused him to be spiritually oppressed. Rather than finding relief from his sins at that church, the church burdened him with immense guilt over his sins.
In God's time, he met Lutherans on the internet. That is how he came to know me and other Lutheran teachers. Much better than that, he came to know that God's grace has guaranteed forgiveness for all sins. And he came to commit himself to serving Jesus out of gratitude for the way his Savior has served him.
The right person
Brother Bin has become that right person at the right time for the right task in our ministry.
316NOW carries on almost all of its ministry in China over the internet. That means cell phones and computers are essential tools for our Bible institute students. Brother Bin is trained in Internet Technology (IT) and computer and phone hardware. He uses his training to help Christians who are not familiar with phone apps and computers to find their way into the institute's classrooms.
For example, the company that created the software that allows 316NOW to conduct classes in a secure environment recently upgraded its software. That transition did not go well. Bin helped about 50 GBI students survive that network crisis and get back into our classrooms.
Boast in the Lord
How thankful I am to see this brother rejoice greatly because, in spite of his physical limitations, God is using him for this ministry. When we commend him, he often quotes this verse from 1 Corinthians 1:31, Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
The right person at the right time for the right task.
Your brother in Christ,
Barnabas