Joshua Daniel and LEF : Recent NEI Meetings

By Lunminthang Haokip *

Moreh Meeting

Annual Youth Meeting: It has become almost a routine affair. Come June, and you have aggrieved parents and concerned elder brothers and sisters of Manipur and Nagaland States of North East India cajoling the black sheep in their families to join the by now popular Youth Camp at Langol, Imphal. The annual spiritual youth event is hosted at its Imphal centre by Laymen's Evangelical Fellowship which began to labour among wayward youngsters with the sole motive to win them over for Jesus Christ.

LEF was founded and grounded in deep faith by Late N. Daniel in Madras in 1935. His eldest son, Joshua Daniel sweated and toiled even harder since the sixties of the last century to make it a worldwide Ministry to reckon with by clinging on to the promise from heaven, "A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation. I, the Lord will hasten it in its time (Isaiah 60:22)".

Beliefs of LEF: Detractors all over might have loved to resort to LEF-bashing. Some even mocked the spiritual undertaking as Lame Men's Fellowship. But if there were a yardstick to measure sustained dedication and sincerity of service to the cause of the Gospel, LEF, as a Church, would have fared lower to none. Its beliefs and ideals reflect the devotion, faith, holiness and oneness of the first century Christianity. When the Churches of the East and the West struggle to prosper on the patronage of nations, tribes and communities, the strength of LEF lies in its unflinching equal love for souls irrespective of nationality, tribe, caste or colour.

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 1:28)" was the verse God's servant, Joshua Daniel based one of his sermons on in the recent Revival meeting at Imphal, held from 22 to 24 June, to ventilate God's desire to remove man-made differences.

The Youth Camp: Pastor Prakash of LEF, Imphal centre was busy since the 2nd week of June, 2012 in supervising arrangements for the year's youth camp. A huge lorry full of Christian books, DVDs, Church service and Christian home accessories arrived at Manipur's capital to be sold in a series of Book Fairs before and after the Langol Revival Meeting. The Literature sales team led by Brother Abel and another team called TV crew follow Uncle Joe (as he is lovingly called) wherever he sojourns for a Gospel campaign.

The entourage of converted brothers provided substance to the youth meeting as they shared their testimonies in turns. They are also models of meekness, obedience and utility of one's core-competence for the spread of the only Truth.

No Meo-logy: Besides, a spiritually loaded line-up of centres-in-charge of other NEI towns like Silchar, Guwahati, Aizawl, Dimapur etc. delivered messages and studies on important Bible characters. In between services, chorus singing sessions and interactive Bible-study classes conducted by Sunday School Teachers of DHQ LEF centres kept the campers engaged in diversified occupation of the mind.

Morning devotion services and the evening meetings, which were attended by parents and sermon-lovers from the city, of course, were reserved slots where Uncle Joe, as led by the Spirit, explored the actual corrective applications of the chosen Bible texts to social life and governance in NEI States. The potency of the international TV preacher's passion for uprightness, purity and orderliness in society and his bold takes on the market forces, which had rubbed in on every hearer of his messages, is something courses of Theology would do well to study and put to practice.

A Cry In The Wilderness: In a Christian world where most ambitions peak in Green- Card or the US Dollar, here is a humble labourer in the Lord's vineyard who speaks with characteristic conviction, "the dollar had produced many thieves in India. I never asked for donations in my campaigns. Money can never save souls. A broken heart and a contrite spirit will. Neither do I believe in Committees. The only committee I look up to is that of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit".

His boldness in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus is not without takers. Reports came even from a country like Pakistan that a HIV-positive Aids patient was healed instantly as he was listening to a TV message of Joshua Daniel. Over a lakh of people converge every year at Stuartpuram, AP, in the month of January to be spiritually massaged by the soothing message of the tireless crusader for the Lord.

The Nobel Achiever The Principal Secretary of LEF, Uncle Joe, was vociferous in denouncing lawlessness and mediocrity in a well-endowed state like Manipur. "The founder of the Red Cross Society, Henri Dunant, sacrificed to protect human life and health and also to protect and alleviate human suffering. He was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 1901.

What comes out of this part of India? Bundhs, blockades, insurgency, communal conflict? God has a far greater plan and purpose for you all, my dear people". Dr. Joshua Daniel meant what he said. There is zero-hypocrisy in his sermons. He was the first Evangelist to risk brickbats when he decried bloodshed in Manipur in 1993, "The forefather spirits are making you fight. Do not group and partition one another in the name of tribe. You all are blood-bought children of the Lord – you all are one in Christ". Ever since, the international speaker visited the NEI States almost every year.'

LEF Moreh

Church Building Dedication At Moreh: The border township of Manipur, Moreh, was the blessed one this year round to have had the privilege of hosting God's faithful servant. Dr. Joshua Daniel, on 24th June, 2012, dedicated the prayer hall of LEF, Moreh. A granite plate wherein was inscribed, "This Church Building is dedicated to the one and living God, Saviour of the world, The Lord Jesus Christ" was unveiled at 5:15 pm without the usual fanfare. The event was followed by a Gospel Meeting where God used His servant once again to expose the hidden sins of ultra-modern Christianity.

The text was taken from 2 Chronicles 7:1, "When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple". The ace preached warned, "You cannot live in the flesh and worship in the spirit at the same time. Without holiness, one cannot build a home or a Church or a nation. God is a consuming fire but God also is love (1 John 4:8). Let us use the power of love".

Meeting Across The Border: Immanuel Baptist Church, Tamu, Myanmar, belonging to KVTBA, Kabaw Valley Thadou Baptist Association, was the venue where Uncle Joe shared his vast and varied experiences as an international itinerary Evangelist on 25 June, 2012. Dr. Lilly Daniel also shared a sermon before the main speaker took over. God's servant, with palpable love for the people of Myanmar, admitted he could do nothing to heal the sick and the devil-possessed.

But in many of his meetings across the globe, mad and sick people were touched by the Lord and they became useful helpers in the work of God. It was the third consecutive year of Uncle Joe's Tamu visit but the Burmese Christians could not have enough of the cream of the Word of God. Dr. Khupthang Chongloi, ES, KVTBA's lucid interpretation of the message in Burmese removed the language barrier. The Spirit of the Lord helped the preacher-cum-author of Christian books to pray fervently for the needy souls who gathered around him after the meeting. May God Bless Myanmar.

An Accomplished Writer: Uncle Joe has a graceful way of putting down his thoughts and beliefs in writing. As a student of English Literature, I truly enjoyed reading books authored by him and found few equals of his calibre as a writer in English Literature. "Another Daniel" was his first writing on the life of his father, Late N. Daniel.

The book gave an account of the beginning of LEF and as to how the founder of the Fellowship exercised faith in every turn of life in the face of opposition from the Establishment and fellow-Christians. Instances like the prayer-appeal of Late N. Daniel to the Lord of Elijah to stop the drizzling rain on the occasion of his son's marriage and as to how God granted his request will always be a point of reference in any mention of faith.

Godly Pen-Pusher: God's servant, Late N. Daniel, left no stone unturned to stand for the Lord in righteousness and holiness as a messenger of the Gospel. But the enemies of true Christianity left no turn of his un-stoned. Uncle Joe beautifully chronicled the events, anecdotes and the miracles that took place in the struggling years of the Fellowship.

The author's subsequent publications like "Get, Set, Go", "Pressing Forward", "Revival Secrets", "Climbing Higher", "Run To Win" and his takes on Sadhu Sunder Singh and John Wesley are masterpieces no growing Christian can afford to ignore. That Joshua Daniel is not the run-of-the-mill kind of writer is evidenced by the humbling truth that the author does not take a paisa from the sales of his books. His only desire is that more Christian books may be published out of the sale-proceeds so that more unreached people may come to know the living Saviour.

Messages In The Net: Any person who has a desire to tune on to the messages of Dr. Joshua Daniel may visit the Laymen's Evangelical Fellowship website: www.lefi.org. Or if intent is to seek counsel or to be prayed for, one may contact 09612110191 or 08974343375. For residents of Imphal, Manipuri-translated sermons are telecast through ISTV cable network every Sunday at 6:30 pm. CDs of his messages are on sale in every Beautiful Books stall.

Lunminthang Haokip

* Lunminthang Haokip, a resident of Old Lambulane, Imphal, is a regular contributor to e-pao.net. He can be contacted at lunminthang(dot)haokip(at)gmail(dot)com or his blog here
This article was webcasted on June 27, 2012.