Report of the Gospel Forum in Dunn Loring – God is Real by Peter

As a newly baptized Christian, I am greatly encouraged by the gospel meetings with Chinese students and visiting scholars held in Dunn Loring on November 19and in Gaithersburg on November 20. The wonderful testimonies truly revealed to me God’s intention and move on earth.

Saints worked together in one Body under the same headship of Christ. Brothers and sisters coordinated with each other and labored in the Lord according to their individual function.  This allowed the Holy Spirit to flow freely among more than 200 saints and gospel friends to touch their hearts as the real and living God.

God’s move is different from our earthly activities. By God’s mercy, I was blessed to serve with the gospel event in Dunn Loring. Although the meeting was scheduled to take place on November 19th, we started praying for it in Wednesday’s prayer meetings in early October. We didn’t rush into actual errands, such as meeting room arrangements and decorations; instead we prayed to the Lord with all our burdens to seek His guidance in handling invitation flyers, food services, transportation, accommodation, songs, and messages. (All prayers were focused on taking care of people – the editor).

At first, I wasn’t very positive that this event would be successful. The timing didn’t seem to be ideal because most of the students were swamped with projects and tests, and some were out of town one week before the Thanksgiving holiday. Besides, I wasn’t that confident in gospel preaching yet since other failed attempts seemed to prove that the more people you invite, the more frustrated you feel.

At the last prayer meeting prior to the gospel event, the brothers asked me approximately how many students were coming. I was ashamed to say that although 50 some invitations had been sent out, only about 10 could make it.  Some had been exposed to the gospel no more than three times, others seemed to want to attend for other purposes.  Actually in my opinion, none of them would get baptized.

Our brothers and sisters, however, were thrilled to hear that about 10 students were coming. They immediately expressed the need to increase the amount of food and the number of baptismal gowns. This only made me feel more burdened because I worried about the possible disappointment at the end despite the fact that we had been praying so hard for so long. But their confidence in the Lord encouraged me to do whatever I was able to, as they always reminded me, “It’s not us, it’s the Lord who’s doing the work. Let’s see what He will do on Saturday.”

And what actually happened has proved that the gospel is God’s mighty power! Saturday’s gospel meeting went smoothly. As soon as the speaker answered questions and summoned gospel friends, 9 got baptized, some of whom were invited by me. Tears gushed out of my eyes at that time.  Praise the Lord!  We did nothing; we were unable to do anything.  But our Lord listened to our prayers and blazed a trail for us when we saw no hope. We can no longer hold back from praising our God – the One who calls the things not being into being!  The living God who gives life to the dead!

After dinner, the brothers delivered messages of Psalms and four more gospel friends got baptized.  The following Lord’s Day two more meeting attendees were saved.  With the ten from Gaithersburg, a total of 25 gospel friends were baptized into the kingdom of God.  This not only beat the previous record in Dunn Loring, but also eliminated a shadow of doubt about our Lord from my heart. For the first time in my life I realized that it’s such a pure joy to watch someone get baptized! Praise the Lord for He has found 25 more lost lambs!

I witnessed the reality of living together with the brothers and sisters in the Lord during this gospel event. I certainly felt the flowing of the Holy Spirit among us. Many gospel friends shared with me after the meeting that they wanted to get baptized into God’s kingdom not only because they had their questions answered or that they were touched by the messages, but also because the atmosphere of the meeting place was friendly and open, being rendered additionally delightful by the smiles of the saints. Our Lord’s glory was magnified by the corporate labor of many saints!

The gospel was preached, the chosen ones got baptized, and all were done under God’s headship! O Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth!