Potatoes, Leaches, Wheat and Glory!

Greetings friends and intercessors! So it’s been a while since I’ve written an update and it’s high time I let you know what God has been doing here in Nepal. In my last update I shared about Humla and all that God was doing through our team there. Humla is the region in Nepal with the highest percentage of unreached people though it is probably not the region with the highest number of unreached people. After our time in Humla we spent a few weeks back in Kathmandu resting as well as doing ministry together with the Iris Nepal team. 

After spending some time in Kathmandu, we felt led by the Holy Spirit to go to the southwestern part of Nepal. We felt God leading us to a city named Dangahdi as well as the surrounding villages. We spent just over a week in the southwestern region and we were blessed to see God move and work there. We got on a bus and nearly 20 hours later we arrived! The first word that comes to mind when describing the southern part of Nepal at this time of year... hot! During the day it is not uncommon to experience temperatures of 45 degrees celsius! The southern part of Nepal is part of large region of unreached people which includes the northern part of India. This region is home to the greatest population of unreached people in the world (though not the highest concentration). Although there are many unreached people in this region, there still are churches in the region and we were blessed to be able to partner with some believers from a local church and do evangelism together. The way that we did evangelism on this outreach was somewhat different from our previous outreaches. We walked for a long distance (that part was similar) and then we came to a village. Our Nepali brothers and sisters started singing worship songs as well as dancing. Very soon a curious crowd gathered wondering what their fellow Nepali’s were doing as well as why there were a group of foreigners together with them. Then one of us would preach the gospel to the gathered crowd and give an invitation for those who wanted to give their lives to Jesus as well as those who needed physical healing. Our team went out one morning to do evangelism and it was so hot! I was literally dripping sweat without even exerting myself. We shared the gospel with a small group of people and gave an invitation to those who were listening. One man wanted us to pray for him because he had his arm in a sling; someone had beat him up and he no longer had mobility in his arm (he was also experiencing pain). We gathered around him and prayed that God would heal him, that this man would be touched by the power of God. After praying we asked the man if he felt any difference and he said that he felt less pain. We prayed for him again and he took his arm out of his sling and he had more mobility than before. We prayed for him a third time and he was able to raise his arm above his head with complete mobility and he was completely freed from pain! We again briefly shared the gospel with this man and he gave his life to Jesus! Our team also had the opportunity to minister to people in a local hospital in Dangahdi. To be honest, this hospital was one of the worst (possibly the worst) hospital I have ever been in. We prayed for a lady who had been abused by her husband. She had been pregnant and miscarried because her husband beat her. We prayed for healing and restoration over her and we shared the gospel with her as well. Her heart was touched and she decided to give her life to Jesus! Unfortunately, we were asked to leave the hospital because such a large crowd was gathering around us. We would have loved to stay at the hospital longer to continue ministering. For the 20 hour journey back to Kathmandu we decided to take an air-conditioned bus and I was so glad we did! 45 degrees is no joke. 

We again spent some time in Kathmandu resting and preparing for the next outreach, though this time it was only for a few days. We felt led to go to the Northeast region of Nepal this time, an area called Taplejung. The region of Taplejung was the home-region of one of the translators that we went with. This outreach was marked by four things; potatoes, leaches, wheat and glory! One of our translators (Ganga) led us to his home village where he grew up and we were so blessed to meet his family who have all given their lives to Jesus. On one of our stops we were told that we would be having potatoes for dinner. We thought that maybe we would be eating potatoes with rice or some other combination. When our food arrived however, we were met by two big baskets filled with potatoes. When we asked Ganga how many potatoes he had ordered he said, “Twelve kilos” (!). It is important to note that we were only eight people. We showed the Jesus film that evening and we did not have much of a response. We were a bit surprised because we had already had two sessions of all-night prayer. We knew that God always shows up when we call on him but we hadn’t seen much breakthrough (although the times of prayer were so wonderful). The following morning after showing the Jesus film we started hiking to the next village. We walked beneath a cloudy, rainy sky and we had to keep moving! Leaches! I have never encountered so many leaches in all my life! We were not able to stop for even a few seconds because the leaches would start crawling up our shoes and soon be latched on to our ankles or legs. I even found a leach fastened to my neck! Nasty! We did make it however, to our destination without too much trouble. We stayed at a man’s house named Fubar (not sure of the spelling). Our one translator Ganga had met him a few years earlier and had developed a relationship with him. Fubar and his family were Buddhists. There was a large shrine upstairs in their house where they prayed to false gods. Fubar’s son is even enrolled in a Buddhist school. We happened to arrive there during harvest time and so we had the opportunity to help Furbar out harvesting his wheat. So fun! I think that we really blessed him and it was a good reminder that the harvest is ripe! Laborers are needed who are willing to go and put in the sickle.

After our work we were hungry and we had a lunch consisting of... potatoes! This time however it was only 8 kilos and were almost able to finish them off. Ganga (one of our two Nepali translators) is a big believer in prayer and so we planned to have another session of all-night prayer for our last night in that village. During the time of prayer, God was really stirring Jenn’s heart to pour into the family with whom we were staying and causing faith to arrive that they would give their lives to Jesus. I should also mention that Fubar’s father had been a Buddhist lama (which is a Buddhist leader and teacher). He (his father) had become a Christian but kept it a secret. Fubar’s father had become a Christian during the time when there was still heavy persecution in Nepal; this was 30 years ago. Fubar’s father had shared with Fubar that he had found the true God but Fubar had never made the decision to follow Christ himself. We showed the Jesus film for the family and it stopped right before the crucifixion! The next morning Jenn was insistent that we share about Jesus one final time with the family and give them one more opportunity. We shared with them about Jesus, shared a testimony and then Ganga spoke with them at length in Nepali. We had no idea how the conversation was going because we couldn’t understand but at one point Ganga let us in with “They’re close!”. We were all praying silently and I have to admit I was so surprised when he said, “They want to accept Jesus!” I was so happy that I started crying, we were all so happy. Fubar prayed to accept Jesus so enthusiastically and his countenance was so joyful! We had been talking as a team the previous night how it only takes one touch from the Holy Spirit and the man or woman will never be the same (e.g the apostle Paul). Well, God touched them powerfully and I believe that they will never be the same. Fubar was laughing, then crying after he gave his life to Jesus. I know that I will never forget that day. What a blessing to have your poor, stuttering words used by the all mighty God! I am so blessed to be part of something that is truly unstoppable; the proclamation of the gospel and God’s mighty purposes for the earth. An ant has a better chance of stopping a tsunami than men have of stopping God’s gospel being preached to every tribe, tongue, people and nation! Thank you so much to all of you who have prayed and continue to pray.