Nepal Mission, 2018--The Gift of Futility

Thakali translated our second Bible Institute lessons excellently, including highly technical words like "trinity," "divine essence," and "transubstantiation." Needless to say, he was mentally tired from doing that important work for us from 8a-4p for four consecutive days. Although certainly tired during one lunch break, he perked up when we asked about his family. He proceeded to tell us the story of his mother. 

She was a devoted Hindu who had completed a 40-day fast on her spiritual journey to advance in the roulette game called karma. (Good deed = hope that the next reincarnation will be better). "The fast was very difficult for her," Thalaki said (perhaps the understatement of the century). But after she was done, one of the two gurus who was instructing her in this ritual said that none of it counted; that it was all in vain and would be counted not as a merit but as a debt in the cycle of karma, because she used olive oil in the rite instead of mustard seed oil as the other guru had prescribed. (The gurus are in constant competition, apparently). Gut-punch!! 

She was so disillusioned by the futility of her 40-day fast, and so demoralized by the conflicting advice by the so-called experts, that she left the path of Hinduism completely, even before she found the path of Christ. The futility of her 40-day fast, however, as seen from the other side of the grace of God--after she and her household all converted to Christ--was recognized in retrospect as a gift.

The futility of her fast forced her from the cocoon of her religious works toward the finished work of Jesus Christ. She was transformed, not by her struggling but in spite of her struggling. She was metamorphosized by faith in the finished work of Another who worked on her behalf. (And which butterfly ever returns again to its chrysalis?) Faith is the end of our trying-trying-trying to make right our wrong standing before God. Faith is trusting Jesus's work on the cross to please God on our behalf, once and for all offered and never again to be repeated. "To the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness" (Romans 4:5).

So then, as it stands right now, all of creation is--like Thalaki's mother was--currently "subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of the Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory the children of God" (Romans 8:20-21). This futility was (and is) being orchestrated by God Himself to steer us toward a living hope; toward a final freedom from the corruption that currently wraps us up; toward a relationship with God as His children. No religious rituals could ever accomplish that--regardless if the celebrant uses olive oil or mustard seed oil! But Jesus' work accomplished what all our human rituals could never accomplish--transformation, forgiveness, and adoption!

Nevertheless, if futility caused her disillusionment with Hinduism enough to consider a better way, then futility was a gift. If futility whet her appetite for an effective and permanent solution to atone for her sins, then futility was a gift. If futility drove her toward an actual relationship with God through faith in Jesus instead of working a complicated system of confusing rituals, then futility was a gift. And if this futility passed through the hands of our good God, then futility was even a good gift.

Nepal Mission, 2018--The Questions Are Easy, But the Answers Are Hard

"The questions are easy, but the answers are hard." Pastor Gupta's (name changed for safety) mic-drop of a line stuck with me after we left Itahari toward our next and final week of ministry. Itahari is a medium-sized city in the middle of what some might describe as nowhere, but to the bustling residents Itahari is home, and to the remote areas all around, Itahari is the big city. Kathmandu, at 10 hours from Itahari by motorbike or car to the northwest, is almost unthinkably far away. (And apparently the trip to the capital is only 8.5 hours for the local buses since they drive like maniacs hurtling up the road in trapezoidal, steel boxes desperately in need of a full, four-wheel alignment.)

Pastor Gupta's stupendous one-liner was referring to the "coming trial," when the new law will go into effect in August banning public evangelism and religious conversion. The penalty will be 3 years in prison and 50,000 rupees (roughly $5,000). For comparison, the Internet--which is never wrong--says the average week's wage for a taxi driver in Nepal is 2,000 rupees. But Pastor Gupta's subsequent explanation was equally mic-droppable: "We figure that they can't arrest us all. And if they could, they don't have enough money in the government to feed us in prison for three whole years." That is easy to say, and difficult to face.

One day later, back in Kathmandu, we chatted with our driver--whom I will call Bitmar, who was a Christian pastor also--who gave us his testimony. He was the youngest brother of a family in a remote district of Nepal. But the whole family was chased from their homeland for "becoming cow-eaters." (I didn't ask, but I assume that being labeled as a cow-eater in the Hindu culture cannot be friendly banter.) In the middle of this (long) story, I recalled, "The questions are easy, but the answers are hard." 

Condensed and abridged, but in no way exaggerated, Bitmar's father was a Hindu priest in direct charge of the ritual sacrifices of water buffalo (yes, actual animal sacrifice!). But he and his whole household converted to Christ in dramatic fashion. 

As was customary, Bitmar's older brother went to the Hindu temple to participate in the worship of Shiva, and took the suggested hallucinogen associated with the god (i.e. demon) of destruction. But that brother, 13 years old at the time, lost his mind after the one trip. Though the drug had long worn off, Bitmar's brother refused to wear clothes for 2 years, because whenever he did he felt the snakes bite him (i.e. demonic possession). Even though the father tried to make additional sacrifices to relieve his son's torment, he only got worse. Brother had taken to preventing the unreal/real snake bites with a real/very real knife ... resulting in significant wounds. The family had given up hope and decided to take him to a mental asylum when they heard of a very old man nearby who didn't follow the old gods. The old man was a Christian who told them that Jesus alone could break the power of Shiva. "Why not?" they reasoned, "we have tried everything else and brother has only gotten worse."

It wasn't immediate, but the old man prayed for Jesus to break the power of Shiva inside Bitmar's brother. One week, two weeks, brother kept his clothes on. One month, two months, he resumed family life. Some relapses here and there, but brother was set free by the power of Jesus. The father could not deny the power of Jesus and, therefore, renounced his priesthood, publicly burning his amulets. The family was chased away, but not to the exclusion of periodic evangelistic returns to the village later on, preaching salvation in the name of Jesus. Not many, but some there have believed in the 20 years since Bitmar's family left. "The questions are easy, but the answers hard."

Advance the story to this morning to the church in Lalitpur, where we will be teaching our second Bible Institute. Apparently some time during the very normal church service where I preached a very normal (and quite unrelated) message, a woman from Bitmar's old city arrived at church. She came a long way to ask for prayer to Jesus for demonic deliverance. (Apparently, this is normal. One week ago, for instance, the police brought another lady who was demonically tormented to the church because they could not help her. She was prayed for and went home in her right mind.) "The questions are easy, but the answers are hard."

Maybe this woman, who convulsed while the church leaders "prayed the gospel" into her with Scripture and songs of praise to Christ--if her deliverance shows forth any fruit of a regenerated heart--will be like the "man of peace" that Christ instructed the disciples to look for when He sent them out two-by-two, who will give the frontier ministry a home base. This city is one of two cities the church leaders in Lalitpur have been praying for as a site for their next church plant. (They surely don't pick the easy places!) Once a year, for 20 years, the church in Lalitpur has planted a church in the remote places of Nepal. However, the pinch-point in Nepal, as it is in the States, is spiritual leadership. Who will lead the church plant if they decide to launch a new work in this hostile region? Will it be Bitmar? Will it be another? This is why pastoral training in theology and Bible is so important, for whoever goes must be able to navigate the Bible skillfully. "The questions are easy, but the answers are hard."

Nepal Mission, 2018--"Open the Servant's Eyes that He May See"

"Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, 'Alas, my master! What shall we do?' So he answered, 'Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.' Then Elisha prayed and said, 'O Lord, I pray, open the servant's eyes that he may see.' And the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (2 Kings 6:15-17).

This week, the Himalayas have been veiled in hazy clouds every day. But they are there nevertheless, all around us. I just can't see them. More specifically, I just can't snag a picture of them--which is honestly what I really want. Yet, with a puff of wind (or even without!), the Lord could push back the curtain and show us that there is more going on here than meets the eye. 

With the eyes alone, anyone can see the rickshaws and the venerated cows, the women washing laundry in the river and the boys playing stickball (cricket) in the empty sandlot. But all around this very common scene, in this very common city, is a very uncommon spiritual reality where God is actively present, where angels actively wage war, and where demons actively seek to undermine the faith of humans who bungle through life as if it were all just about rickshaws and cows and laundry and stickball. 

Of course, reality is not less than those visible things--which is exactly what Hinduism teaches, that reality as we experience it is just an illusion (maya) of the universal principle (brahman)--but life is certainly more than just the visible things. We are not trapped in an illusion, but we are largely unaware how our story fits into the larger story of God's redemption.

This week we asked for God to open the eyes of the students at the Itahari Bible Institute to the wonderful things in His Word, and that they would--once they see for themselves--help to open other students' eyes to the truth of Scripture through the power of God. I genuinely think we saw the beginning of that process!!

The students learned that the Great Commission is for them, too, and their churches; that they have been given the same mandate by Jesus that the apostles received: to make disciples as they are going, baptizing, and teaching. They learned that they themselves can be the sending agents of their own missionaries. They learned that they have been given everything they need in Christ Jesus for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).

While this is an exciting prospect, it is also fearful since the country in which they minister does not love Christ or Christians or the Christian message. As Christians, they are third-class citizens who are blamed for many of the societal struggles. (Just remember Nero burning down Rome and pinning it on the Christians. This is not a new plot-twist.)

But the same God that opened the eyes of Elisha's servant, can open the eyes of the church, the Nepalese people, and even the government--that "those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

Nepal Mission, 2018--"Zaia Masia"

The 36 hours it took to get to Nepal, plus the 12-hour 45-minute time difference, and the tearful goodbyes to the family, together make a small price to pay compared to hearing, "Yesu," and "Alleluia," and "Zaia Masia" (the spelling is questionable, but the meaning is sure: Victory in Messiah) dotting our first church service in country. 

Dhapakhel Baptist Church in the heart of Kathmandu, the sprawling 1.4 million-person capital of Nepal, was a feast of color and sound. The worship band was amplified far beyond the capacity of their meeting space. The shoes of all the worshippers were neatly lined up outside the door. A very spicy lunch was cooking for sharing after the service. The sermon on unity in the Body of Christ as explained in Philippians 2 was translated from English into Nepalese, although most of the people spoke at least those two languages fluently. After the message, the elderly pastor--who was instrumental some decades before in bringing the gospel to Nepal, after he first heard and responded in faith to the gospel as a temporary worker in India--gave excellent commentary to the theme of unity. "Thank you, Pastor. We needed to hear that important message, because we are so easily divided."

So easily divided are all Christians in all people groups when we stray from the main tenets of our salvation, namely "God and the Word of His grace" (Acts 20:32). So the pattern continues, as it has wherever and whenever I travel: people are the same, we all need the gospel as acutely as ever, and the students always give to the teachers more than they receive from the teachers. 

But one thing that I earmarked in my notebook today that captured the heart of the mission is the testimony of Sanu (name changed for safety). He told us that he was like 83% of all Nepali people--a nominal Hindu--who had many questions about life and death, but who never had the freedom to ask those questions inside the Hindu culture. It was only when outside the heavy gaze of family and neighbors that he openly began to ask about the unifying philosophy of life and the holes in the Hindu worldview. In that posture of curiosity, Sanu met a man--a foreigner (who turned out to be a missionary)--who volleyed a question back for Sanu to answer. "Who is the light of Asia?" Sanu grinned because every Nepali boy and girl knows that answer from grade school--"Buddha is the light ... the enlightened one ... of Asia." "Ah yes, that is what they say, so then, who is the Light of the World?" the foreigner continued. Sanu did not know for he had never heard of someone who was Light of the whole world. 

The foreigner connected the dots in Sanu's unspoken thoughts and said, "Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. Would you like to learn about Him?" "Of course I do!" was the reply and a Bible was given with a marker at John 8:12, "Then again Jesus spoke to them saying, 'I am the Light of the World; he who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life.'" Although Sanu was from the highest caste, and very wealthy, he joyfully followed Jesus Christ that day even though his father pronounced him dead and cut off. Sanu smiled as he retold his story, saying that he has never regretted his decision to follow Jesus; and never looked back.

Nepal Bible Institute, May 16-31, 2018

MISSION OPPORTUNITY IN NEPAL—KEVIN REES

MAY 16-31, 2018

”Come over…and help us” (Acts 16:9)

Exotic and remote Kathmandu, Nepal, is a mixture of Buddhist and Hindu, modern and traditional people who have carved out their unique way of living in the foothills of the Himalayas. Many globe-trekkers go to Nepal to find themselves, to climb Everest, to become one with nature (shelling out over $30K for the experience!). But those are NOT my reasons for going there May 16-31, 2018.

Actually, the reasons that propel me there are exactly opposite from those reasons that attract tourists. Instead of going there to extract from Nepal an “adventure”—the futile attempt to become something greater at the top of Everest than I currently am at sea level—I am going to Nepal by commission and by invitation—to serve the Nepalese people within the ministry of the Word of God.

By way of commission, I have (and all disciples have!) been sent out by Christ to make disciples of all the nations (Matthew 28:18-20). By way of invitation, I have been asked by local churches in and around a city called Itahari, not far from Kathmandu, where 100 pastors plan to gather to learn about apologetics, missions, and evangelism.

Itahari is quite cut-off from access to theological education, therefore, World Hope Ministries International (www.whmi.org) has organized three teachers to carry in the training that church leaders need to make disciples who make disciples again in due time. The ironic beauty of that turn-of-events is notable. The famous Sherpa people groups of the southern Himalayas, although there are many other ethnicities represented in and around Kathmandu, have become synonymous to Westerners with steadfast and trustworthy guides and porters in remote areas; so much so that “sherpa” has actually become a verb in our English dictionaries. Yet, the gospel once again flips everything joyfully upside-down, we will port in the Scriptures to the porters at the rooftop of the globe.

Some Context Will Help

In early 2018 the Nepalese government passed legislation to outlaw public evangelism and religious conversion, and yet—because God is supreme—we “just happen” to be teaching the pastors about apologetics, missions, and evangelism. How fantastic is that? We didn’t orchestrate that part for effect, nor did the pastors rebelliously engineer it, it was already planned long before. Nevertheless, the courage that these pastors demonstrate to gain skill in ministry that may very well earn them immediate suffering is the stuff of legend, yet here it is within normal, everyday gospel ministry.  

For good measure, we will turn right around after this Bible Institute in Itahari—which is a 3-to-4 day marathon of teaching, 10-12 hours per day, with a little pulpit ministry thrown in for good measure—and do it all again in Kathmandu, but with entirely different curricula (biblical worship and pneumatology). Double the prep … but quadruple the joy!

But the enormity of the task outpaces our ability to keep up. Therefore, the plan is simple: we pray, we prepare, and we partner with as many of you, our dear “fellow workers in the truth,” as we can in order to “go out for the sake of the Name” (3 John 7-8).

The Cost Is Low

At $2860—which breaks down to $180 per day—we are intentionally keeping this trip trimmed to the bare-bones. We will travel and teach, eat and sleep—no frills, just flying halfway around the world, teaching two independent Bible Institutes to 200 faithful disciples of Jesus. Will you consider sponsoring me a day or two or more? Really any amount helps! Perhaps on the day that you sponsor, you would also pray heavily for us, maybe even adjusting your meals to match traditional Nepalese cuisine so as to sync up with us while we are in Nepal!!!

The Opportunity Is High

This ministry trip is a high impact/high reward opportunity that will directly equip disciple-makers of disciple-makers. But keep an eye out for me in this regard, for there are about 80 of these World Hope Bible Institutes every year in over 50 countries around the world—taking theological training to the places in the world that remain outside of the reach of traditional training venues. I am planning that these theological training trips remain an annual thing, Lord willing. My local church is very supportive, but it takes a large fellowship to fund and staff, train and send for missions. One more thought: perhaps you are formally trained for the ministry or vocationally experienced in the ministry and would like to become one of the faculty members at World Hope Ministries International? Contact me for future ministry opportunities! I’ll connect you with the right people at WHMI for more information.

If I reach my goal of $2860, then any extra money will begin to fund future mission trips.

The Time Is Now

You can direct donations for this WHMI Bible Institute through my church either by donating online (there is a drop-box on the “Giving” tab at www.graceandtruthcommunity.com where you can select the option to type in, “Nepal Mission,” as the specific mission you are supporting). Or you can donate by mail with your check made out* and sent to:

Grace & Truth Community Church

1301 Bombing Range Rd

West Richland, WA 99353

[*Instead of writing my name anywhere on your donation check, as per IRS regulations, please just write “Nepal Mission” on the memo line. Grace & Truth Community Church will send you an end-of-the-year receipt for your charitable contribution.]