Bible Study With Jairus-We Are About To Climb Over The Mountain

We Are About to Reach the Top
Sean Song, May 9, 2021

Climbing Over the Mountain
It is likely that right now many people in the body of Christ feel disappointment in one or many areas of their lives. I recently had a few dreams that encouraged me. I think they may be an encouragement for all of us. We are almost at the mountaintop and a great show prepared by God will soon begin. We need to shake off our disappointments because we are about to have a breakthrough. God’s grace and supernatural strength will help us to stay the course and finish the most difficult part of this final hour.

Shake off the Disappointment
I am an immigrant from China. Like many other immigrant Christians, we speak in our native language when we hold Christian services or gather together. It is more comfortable for us to communicate in Chinese. There are approximately 3-4 million Chinese people in the US excluding illegal immigrants and international students. Since the 1970s, there has been a large influx of immigrants and students from mainland China to America, and nearly half of this population became Christian while in the US. Unlike the sizable percentage (estimated 50-70%) of Chinese churches in mainland China that are Pentecostal, the Chinese immigrant church in the US is dominantly evangelical. There are only relatively large Pentecostal Chinese churches in a select few bigger cities in the US. Fewer still are the numbers of smaller Chinese home groups that are Spirit-filled. I have not yet found any large Spirit-filled Chinese churches in Maryland—only a few small groups that are led by Spirit-filled people. Just because I am unaware of them does not mean they do not exist, but in a 50-minute radius of my city, they seem non-existent.
In 2015, I left my evangelical denomination to become a leader of one of these small Spirit-filled home groups. We currently have about a dozen people who participate with us. We read the Bible together and pursue the gifts of the Holy Spirit on a weekly basis. Some members have also received the baptism of the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues. After I shared my experience of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I taught on this subject. It was then that people in our groups also started having dreams and visions. One sister had a prophetic dream about the future of our group. She saw us meeting in a basement of a big house. I was present talking on a microphone to many Chinese people who were also gathered with us. We consider this a promise from God that our Spirit-filled home group will see great increase in the future.
Our groups went as usual before the COVID-19 crisis hit. Afterward, we adapted to online meetings. Unfortunately, our attendance numbers gradually started dwindling and I understand this is a common experience for small group leaders and pastors alike, even more so after experiencing crises. A pastor friend observed in his friend circle that many churches suffered a 50-70% loss of attendance after COVID-19 emerged. On May 1, 2021, we canceled our meeting due to low attendance and I was very disappointed. Immediately, I reminded myself not to become disappointed in any situation as we should be joyful and thankful always in the Lord. In fact, getting disappointed is a disease that steals our joy and make our hearts sick. Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (NRSV).
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