But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. Jeremiah 15:11
The words of
the prophet Jeremiah remind me of the people of Nepal. I am now in the
mountains of Nepal, a country steeped in spirituality and proud in cultural
traditions. Nepal is a cross-section of aboriginal Nepali culture, Tibetan
Buddhist influence from the north and Indian Hindu influence from the south.
Traditionally a Hindu monarchy that persecuted Christians, it has been a
multi-party republic since 2008. While open evangelization is illegal,
enforcement is very limited. The Church, about 2-3% of the population, is
transitioning from persecuted infancy to maturing adulthood. Two of our key
on-the-ground Nepali ministers are teachers of teachers, i.e. they are enlarging
the understanding and skills of ministry by teaching adults how to teach the
Gospel to children. Another on-the-ground ministry leader is Kali, a 70+ year
old apostolic pastor. He is a warrior for the Gospel in the land. He was a lone
believer in his home village in Gorkha district decades ago. He learned to
fight on behalf of the Kingdom of God at an early age and has prevailed. He has
been directly influential in birthing over 400 churches during a time of
persecution. He is now ‘father’ to many young pastors and ministry leaders
throughout the country. His ministry is in rural areas where few western
missionary organizations know of him and his work. But I guarantee the Lord of
Hosts knows of his work!!
With this as
our backdrop, Deborah and I are ministering to about 35 pastors from across the
nation gathered in Pokhara. We are conducting a follow-up to our two week
pastor/leader school completed by these same pastors in 2014. These pastor/leaders
have been hand-picked as a ‘remnant’ that has the noble heart of priests and
kings to advance the gospel in this day and hour. After Pokhara I will move to
the Gorkha District with Kali where a young prophet from our local church and I
will encourage and teach groups of pastors/leaders in three different villages
over about eight days. While I am in Gorkha, Deborah will be in Bardiya, the
flat lands of western Nepal, teaching for several days to leaders in that
District. She and our Asian Director of the Crossfire International Alliance
will build up the leaders in that area. This is new territory for us.
The Gospel of the Kingdom is never
stagnant, but always moving and advancing in some way…either overtly through evangelism or covertly through hearts and minds
being transformed into maturity of character and leadership.
As I write
this I am reminded of the aboriginal peoples of Gorkha who were known far and
wide as fierce warriors. They were called the Gurkhas. The men were
recruited by the British and Indian armies because they were a warrior class;
their DNA and culture endowing them with a warrior mindset. Special Units of
Gurkhas are embedded in the Indian, British and Nepali armies today. It is
said of them that they greeted hardship
with laughter. The former Indian
Army Chief of Staff Field
Marshal Sam
Manekshaw once stated that "If
a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or is a Gurkha."
Persecution has not prevailed in Nepal. The Church in Nepal is taking new
territory with this perspective. The Lord as a mighty warrior is with them and
in them.
Advancing
the Kingdom of God requires such an attitude in this day and hour. That is heart of the leaders to whom
we have the honor of ministering.
Want some more inspiration on overcoming? Check out this post from Harvey.
Want some more inspiration on overcoming? Check out this post from Harvey.
