Christian Church Explodes with New Growth. Vibrant Testimonies Told

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NEPAL: Christian Church Explodes with New Growth. Vibrant Testimonies Told

By Robert Sanders Ph.D.
Special to VirtueOnline
www.virtueonline.org

Introduction

In February of 2007 a team of four of us went to Nepal under the leadership of the Rev. Norman Beale. Norman had been a missionary to Nepal for some thirteen years. He was fluent in the language and had been instrumental in establishing churches in Nepal. We were going to teach Anglicanism to the Anglican pastors of Nepal. These pastors came from all over the country, but especially from the mountainous regions.

In the 1950s there were no Christians in Nepal. By the 1960s there were a handful of Christians, but in the 70s and 80s, there was explosive growth. At the present moment, the number of Christians in Nepal is unknown, but is probably somewhere around 800,000. How did this explosive growth occur? Norman had told me that this growth occurred exactly the way it did as narrated in the book of Acts or in the gospels. The risen Lord Jesus did today what he did while in Palestine in the flesh. I was interested in learning more about this, and during the breaks of our teaching, I heard the testimonies of eight of the pastors who had become Christians. I did not choose these eight. The eight were chosen by Kumar who translated for me. I soon realized that he wanted me to hear the testimonies of the pastors, the leaders, and at every available opportunity, he would bring them to me. Had there been more time, I would have heard more testimonies, but these are the eight I did hear.

A few clarifying remarks might be helpful. Nepal is a very poor country and most of the pastors came from very poor villages in the mountains of Nepal. Daily life for them was a struggle. Not all could read, but many could. The testimonies that I heard were from people who were either Buddhist or Hindu before they became Christians.

Their religion was not the philosophical Buddhism as known in the West, but rather, Hinduism and Buddhism as lived daily in their village. As such, their religion had to deal with the basic necessities of life food, shelter, health, welfare of children, social acceptance, and so forth. They also had to deal with the spirit world. In my view, all people are affected by this world, regardless of whether they think it exists or not.

The Buddhists and Hindus of Nepal know this spirit world exists and they attempt to deal with it. Their shamans, witch doctors, and Buddhist lamas, all deal with spirits, with gods, with sickness, and with the forces of nature and society. As will be clear from the testimonies, Jesus is in a unique position in regard to these spiritual forces, and this for two fundamental reasons: he is both love and power. As the New Testament makes clear in repeated statements, he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and further, his aching love was clearly revealed on the cross. None of the gods, goddesses, spirits, or powers known, avoided, feared, or worshipped by the Hindus or Buddhists can withstand or compare to the mighty Name of Jesus.

Further, people in Nepal, whether Buddhist or Hindu, believe in karma and reincarnation. As such, they live under a heavy load of wrongs, heaped upon them from past lives. They live in constant fear that they will not adequately atone for these wrongs in this life, and will therefore be reborn into a lower life form. Further, even if they could escape from the burden of karma, and from wheel of life and death, their final state at best is one of personal dissolution in nirvana.

Furthermore, for many, when they see others suffering, such as orphans, the crippled, or the discarded, they feel it is their duty to leave them in their suffering. To interfere would rob them of their opportunity to atone for karma. Regardless of what is taught in the West about these religions, this is how it works out in practice on the ground. For these reasons, when they hear that Jesus forgives all sin in one stroke, that something called karma has no power over them, that they can have a relationship with Christ and with an all-loving Father, that they and this relationship with last forever, they are thunderstruck. They want God, a loving, eternal, gracious, God. For these reasons, and for many more, there is an explosion of the gospel in Nepal.

The gospel did not primarily come to Nepal carried by missionaries and accepted as part of a "superior" external culture. The gospel came, as in the beginning, by the risen Jesus doing what he always does, healing the sick, casting out demons, forgiving sinners, reconciling families, and giving the hope of eternal life. These are all his works as savior. It must be said, however, that the deepest joys are given to those who, over a lifetime, follow him as Lord. They know the meaning of the words from John's gospel, "Having loved his own he loved them to the end."

At present, it appears that Nepal will become a secular state with freedom of religion. This, however, is not certain. Christians are persecuted in Nepal, and for that reason, I will not give the last names of those who testimonies are included here.

Finally, I would like to thank Kumar R. for helping me. He brought the pastors to me and he translated for them as they shared their testimonies.

For VOL's listserv, I have selected four testimonies. If you would like to read all eight, go to my website, www.rsanders.org, and click on the section entitled "God's Mighty Acts."

The testimonies follow. They are written almost exactly as given to me with minor editing.

Nepal Testimonies

Pastor Pembadup T, 50 years old.

In his village there are 106 families. He was the first in his village to become a Christian. It happened in 1984 when his wife got very, very sick. He called the shaman and also the Buddhist lama who repeated their spells, said their rituals, and fell into trances as possessed by spirits, but nothing happened. Pembadup had heard about a Christian in the next village. By this time, he had sacrificed six goats to human dead spirits and other offerings as directed by the Buddhist shaman. (For a villager, this was an enormous economic sacrifice.) He carried his wife to the nearby village and found the Christian who prayed for his wife in the name of Jesus. She was instantly healed. He decided to become a Christian and to give up being a Buddhist and not to rely on the Buddhist shaman.

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مشاركة: Christian Church Explodes with New Growth. Vibrant Testimonies Told

At once the people in his village said they would drive him from the village. They tore his clothes and beat him, demanding that he deny Jesus Christ and return to his original religion. He refused to deny Jesus Christ. They then said they would kill him and report him to the police. He prayed constantly and the police did not come to the village to apprehend him. Then the villagers took all his food and gave him human feces to eat and urine to drink, threatening to burn his house. He continued to pray.

Finally, some of the people who were leading the persecution became very sick. They also went to the shaman and the llama, made the sacrifices and required payments, but nothing happened. Then they came to Pembadup and asked for prayer. They were healed and they also decided to follow Jesus Christ. Now there were two Christian families in the village and both were persecuted. Then slowly, slowly through further healings, the power of God, and the faithfulness of believers, others became Christian. Now all 106 families in the village are Christian.

Pastor Lilam R., 66 years old.

Lilam accepted Christ in 2000. Before that, he was a Hindu priest, and as such, he was a palm reader, practiced divination, could see into the future, was called upon to name babies according to their birth sign, could use magic to find a wife for someone, could apply magic for healing, and he could foretell when it would rain or snow. In 2000 his daughter in law became possessed by evil spirits, was constantly shaking and becoming mad. He applied all his rituals but could not heal her. He asked another shaman for help, three of them, and none of them, working together, were able to give her relief.

All these shamans were Hindus. He took his daughter in law to another shaman, but this one failed as well. At one point, he himself became infected with the same madness, the same evil spirits. His daughter in law began to tell him that the spirits had proclaimed him a great man. She said they should jump off a hill together. He asked the name of the spirits that were afflicting them.

A spirit replied that it was Vishnu and that he had sent them to destroy the world. Vishnu directed them to buy a large expensive pot which they did. They were then directed to break it to pieces with an ax. His daughter in law received this revelation, saying that they were going to destroy the world. They broke the pot, and for a moment, felt relief. For a whole day they did not eat or drink, but the demons came back with the shaking and the torments. At that point his daughter in law began to die. Her name was Vishni maya. She was being killed by an evil spirit. Lilam could hear its music in his head. It was very powerful. He tried to resist this spirit but began to realize that he could not withstand the demonic forces. His sister was a Christian.

He went to her house, taking his daughter in law with him. The sister laid hands on them and the daughter in law began to be healed. He went to the Church to pray. Over a period of some months they were healed of demon possession and became Christians. He burned all his books on magic and spells and bought a Bible. Now he is a pastor in his village and a farmer.

Pastor Bam T.

He accepted Jesus 21 years ago. It was very difficult to serve the Lord in that time since, under Hinduism, there was no freedom in Nepal for Christians. The king, who ancestors came to Nepal from India, was a Hindu.

Some 21 years ago he became very sick, some sort of gastric problem with symptoms like heartburn. This continued for three weeks, with one week especially bad. He heard there were some Christians in a nearby village who could pray for him, so he went to them for help. It was one day's walk away. He got some relief and stayed in that village for three years fellowshipping with them. He then returned to his own village and started a fellowship. At once, some 60 people came with sticks and began to beat him because he was praying to another God.

They made him pay a fine of 190 rupees. They said he must leave his religion, but he said he could not leave his God, even if they cut off his hand or neck. They then demanded that he put his thumb to a document affirming the Hindu religion. He refused to do this. He was praying constantly that God would protect him. A month later, a woman's family in his village asked him to pray for a lady who was possessed by demons. He did so in the name of Jesus and the demons left her.

As a result of this and other acts done in the name of Jesus Christ, eleven households became Christian. However, the remaining villagers would not allow them to fellowship, so they went a half day walk to another village for fellowship. A month after that, however, he started a fellowship in his house with the door closed. Even so, seven people came in through the roof and took all their Bibles. At that point, his son and daughter became sick with measles. The boy was five and the girl was three. Within three days both of them were dead.

The villagers thought he would then give up Jesus Christ, but he did not. The following Sunday, he continued the fellowship in his home. The villagers wondered why he would continue when his God had not healed his children. Someone brought a very sick child to the fellowship and they prayed for the child who was healed. When the villagers saw these things, some of them began to come to Christ. Four years later, 82 houses had become Christian, some 400 believers. In this way the fellowship was growing. From that day until now he continues the Lord's work.

Once the fellowship in his own village became strong, he began a fellowship in another area. Two years ago, he started a fellowship in still another area with 11 people. Now there are 250 people in this fellowship. He never renounced his Christian faith because our God is a Creator God and he does not want to leave Jesus. He now has two sons and two daughters.

Further comment from a missionary who knows Bam well: He gave you the very short version. Both he and Pastor Kamal were under death threats from the Maoists. They went to a town [another area] where he started this second church. At one point while they were there, Kamal fasted for 40 days, praying for the end of the Maoist insurgency. Of course, I believe that the end to that insurgency a year ago was very much because of their sacrifice and their prayers.

Pastor Laxman T., 39.

He was born in both a Buddhist and Hindu family. His father was a priest, sacrificing at an altar to the gods. Eighteen years ago he married. Two years later, his wife became pregnant and a son was born. After this birth, his wife became unconscious and this went on for seven days.

They called a Buddhist priest and a shaman to heal his wife but nothing happened. They were feeding the child with bottled milk. Then they sacrificed eight animals to the Buddhist and Hindu gods, but nothing happened. Nine days after the birth, he began to think of Jesus Christ, having heard of him. There were no Christians in his village, so he went to another village, four hours walk away, where he had heard there were some Christians. They were afraid to come to help him because they had heard that he was the son of a priest. They were afraid of being beaten, but he said he would take responsibility for those who came.

A pastor came and prayed for his wife. The pastor prayed for three to four hours and he prayed with the pastor. They prayed into the evening. Early in the morning his wife slowly came to her senses. She was completely healed. At once he and his wife, as well as his father and mother, came to believe in Jesus Christ. The rest of his neighbors were against him. There was a great festival at that time.

As a Christian he would not participate in the festival. The other villagers were against them, yet he argued for Christ. They forced him to pay a fine since he would not quit following Jesus. One year later, God helped him very much. He was very proud of God because God allowed him to share the gospel in a special way. Three families became very sick and he prayed for them. They were healed and came to Jesus Christ. At this time, he was going to the other village for fellowship, a four hour walk.

Then he started a fellowship in a village near his village with three families. That was fifteen years ago. Soon other families came to believe, some twenty households. They believed because they saw the healings, heard his testimony, and they saw him overcoming many obstacles. A local shaman resisted belief, but he came also to believe. Two years later, he left this fellowship with a leader and began a fellowship in his own village.

There are 70 households in his village, 36 of them are in Christian. There are 257 believers in his church. He has a great vision from God to reach the other 34 households. By God's grace, he is doing God's ministry. He has a golden opportunity. God has made him a servant in his village and he is very proud of God.

---The Rev. Robert J. Sanders, Ph.D. is the pastor of Christ Church Anglican in Jacksonville, Florida: www.christchurchjax.com. Dr. Sanders is Virtueonline's resident cyber theologian writing on issues of theology and faith. His website can be accessed here: www.rsanders.org