Jaimasi! That’s the greeting that Nepali believers use when they meet one another. I wanted to update all of you again and want to say thank you so much for praying for me and for our team here in Nepal.  We recently returned from a 5 day outreach in some villages south of Kathmandu. It was wonderful to take in God’s beautiful creation; the mountains, the terraced fields and the beautiful people whom God loves so much. We were blessed to minister together with my friend Surendra, whom I met last time in Nepal when he helped translate for our team. Surendra was with YWAM for many years and led the School of Biblical Studies for many years. He recently stared a ministry called Priscilla and Aquila Ministries which is focused on teaching and discipling new believers. We stayed at the training center in the village where he grew up. His sister-in-law Sadanah was a big help to our team, translating as well as making food for us. 

The focus of the outreach was largely evangelistic; we wanted to share the good news about Jesus with those who had never heard it or did not have an understanding of the gospel. The second evening we showed the Passion of the Christ and I shared the gospel as well. We gave an invitation for people to come forward if they wanted to receive physical healing or if they wanted to give their lives to Jesus. No one responded at first and Surendra said that this was normal as most of the people would probably be afraid of what people around them thought. I challenged them that Jesus had publicly displayed his love for them and so they should do the same for him. Still no one came forward but there were a few people that hung around as we packed up. Surendra shared his testimony with a few young men and there was an old man who gave his life to the Lord.  The next day we shared the gospel with people as well as invited them to come and watch the Passion that evening. I was amazed to find that there were people who had never even heard the name of Jesus. No one gave their lives to Jesus during the afternoon but there was a lady who was almost deaf in one hear healed. A lady nearby saw that she was healed and asked for prayer for her toothache. The lady with the toothache was healed as well.  That evening we set up to show the Passion in one of the main squares in the village. There were many people who showed up to watch, possibly close to two hundred. I again shared the gospel and called people forward who wanted to give their lives to Jesus or to those who wanted physical healing. Again, there wasn’t much of a response. Paula came to the front and shared the testimony of the lady whose ear had been healed earlier that day and God used this testimony. There was a large group that slowly inched forward.  We stared talking and praying for different people and a few of us started praying for an older woman who said that she had pain all over her body and specifically in her back. We prayed for her and she said that her pain was less, but she still had pain in her back. Ned and Jenn started talking with this lady (through a translator) and she said that she would give her life to Jesus if her back was completely healed. They prayed for her again and all her pain left! She gave her life to Jesus right there. There were also others who gave their lives to Christ that night. Our translator Surendra was excited because many of the people were Gopali’s, from the same family group that he is from. The lady whose back was healed was his auntie. 

The next day we shared the gospel with some Balami people. There were some people who wanted to receive Jesus, but they were afraid to do so because they said that if they did, they would be kicked out of their family, they would have to leave their village. I talked to one young man who was very open but also afraid because of what would happen to him if he gave his life to Jesus. I challenged him that someone had to be the one to take the first step and that we are promised opposition as followers of Jesus. My friend Milan (who was translating) invited him to come to church (which is in a nearby village).  That afternoon we left by truck to go to a village that was several miles away, also to minister to a group of Balami people. On the way there, we played Nepali music through the speakers we had and one of our Nepali friends announced that we would be showing a movie that night. Another one of our Nepali friends (we call him Buwa which means father) threw gospel tracks from the back of the truck (which were snatched up and read by observers). As we were bumping along and making a scene, Jenn looked at me and said “Jay, it feels like we’re in a parade!”. To which I replied, “We are the parade!” We had a lot of fun and we arrived at the village and started talking with people about Jesus and inviting them to come and watch the movie. We found the same thing in this village as the previous one; there were people who were open to the gospel, but they were afraid to change for fear of what those around them would do.  We showed the Passion again that night and as we were watching, I was struck by what Jesus gave for us. How amazing! We gave an invitation for people to give their lives to Jesus and there were some children who responded. We praise the Lord for these young ones who gave their lives to the Lord but there is breakthrough needed among the leadership of the village. If the leaders give their lives to Jesus, it will open the door for the rest of the village to come to Christ. Pray for the leaders and pray for courage for those who want to commit to follow Jesus but are too afraid of the consequences.  There are more stories that I could share but I don’t want to make this update too long! We will be leaving for our next outreach on the 27th of March (most likely). This outreach will be our longest and most challenging so far. We are going to Humla, the most remote and unreached area in all of Nepal. Pray for health for our team! Pray for us as we prepare to go that God would give us wisdom. Pray that God would continue to fill us with a greater love and passion for him above all else. Pray for more courage to be obedient to his voice. Pray for his joy to be our strength. I want to say thanks again to all of you who are supporting us through prayer as well as financially! God bless you all! 

So it’s been a while since I last updated my blog! A lot of time has passed and a lot has happened since I last posted, though most of you who know me know what I’m up to right now. I am currently in Nepal (in Katmandu) and am planning on being here for 5 months. I am leading a team composed of some of my best friends in the world! We are part of an initiative called the M24 Initiative. The M24 Initiative gets it’s name from Matthew 24:14 which says; “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” 

We arrived in Katmandu on the 26th of February very tired but excited as well. We got settled in to the Iris guest house and a few days later we headed out for our first outreach to a village called Lele. Lele is a village that is about a 45 minute microbus ride from Katmandu. We arrived in Lele and met the pastor of the local church. After we had lunch we split up into groups and went walking from house to house to share the good news of the gospel. Each group had at least one Nepali brother or sister so that we could communicate with the people. We shared with the people about Jesus and why he had to come and die on the cross. There were many people who had heard about Jesus and had heard about the cross but they did not know why he came to die; they had never really heard the gospel. We also invited people to come and watch the Jesus film that night. 

We found a spot to show the Jesus film near the main road that goes through the village. There were around 30 to 40 people who came to watch the film and to brave the cold. Our team found a log where we could sit and pray during the film. We could see the stars (and our breath as well) as we prayed for God to open up hearts. The Jesus film suddenly stopped three quarters of the way through the film! We tried to get the movie going again but it just wouldn’t work. We also found out that someone had vandalized the Iris van while we were watching the movie and we felt that we were under attack from the enemy. Our translator Ganga gave a presentation of the gospel but no one responded. Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed but I knew that God didn’t need a movie to reach people’s hearts. 

The next day we went out again to do evangelism from house to house. We were amazed and encouraged by people’s responses to the gospel. We had the privilege of seeing six people give their lives to Jesus that day! I was again encouraged to see that the gospel is in fact the power of God for the salvation of those who believe! 

Right before we left the village, my friend Lauren as well as Jenn (my sister) were sharing the gospel with an older lady. Our Nepali brother Ram was translating and I was sitting there noticing some young men standing behind us. They were talking in Nepali and I thought that they were mocking us. I assumed that they were mocking us because this is a response that I have experienced before in other countries when sharing the gospel. I felt that God wanted me to share the gospel with them and so I stood up and tried the one or two phrases that I know in Nepali. I asked them if any of them could speak English and a few of them said that they could understand. I started sharing the gospel in English and then our translator Ram helped me out by translating into Nepali. When I asked them what they thought about Jesus and how he was the sacrifice for their sins, I was surprised to hear that they thought this was wonderful news! Two of them prayed right there in front of their friends and gave their lives to Jesus! We asked them if they had Bibles and they both said that they did not. We walked with them to meet the pastor who gave them each a Nepali New Testament. 

We were so encouraged to see God at work as well as the hunger of the people for Jesus. There is more that I could share but I will save that for another update. I know that long updates don’t always get read :) Thanks for taking the time to see what I’m up to and I would love to hear from you if you have questions or comments!