The Dawn Of A New Day

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is a blessing to be able to share with you once again by way of our blog.

Our Journey to Nepal this year was a tremendous success, thank God. It is hard to imagine that just several years ago I undertook our first missionary journey to this distant Himalayan country.As I reflect back over the last few years and compare the country from then to now, I can honestly say that not much has changed. The country seemed to me to be as unstable now as it was then when I first arrived some 6 years ago. During my first visit to Nepal some 6 years ago, there were daily 12 hour power cuts, protests in the streets, chronic water shortages, food and gasoline shortages, and a myriad of other social and and economic woes. At the time of my most recent visit just a few weeks ago, I found strikingly similar conditions still existing in the country. These factors were even exacerbated by the devastating earthquake of 2015 that killed more than 10,000 people, mainly in the capital city of Kathmandu.

As I traveled to some of the surrounding provinces that were affected by the massive earthquake of 2015, it became clear to me that many people were still struggling to rebuild their homes. Aluminium shacks littered the mountain communities where once stood clay and brick homes. I asked a Nepali friend of mine why it was that people were still living in these temporary shelters 1 and 1/2 years after the earthquake. He explained to me that billions of dollars in financial aid have been  granted to Nepal, but the government instead have chosen to help the people in the form of small construction loans with interest. Loans for rebuilding, he told me are granted only to those who have the ability to repay the loans. Because of this caveat, many of the poorest and most needy in the Nepali population are forced to live in these temporary shelters, as they are still without the ability to rebuild.

I have traveled to many countries, but I will say honestly that Nepal is one of the harder countries that I have had to work in so far. From place to place through out the country, many of the interior towns are mountainous, and can only be accessed by serious trekking. The work in Nepal requires a degree of physical fitness and mental toughness to undertake, much more than other places that I have served in.

In one particular village that we visited, there was an extreme shortage of water. The people lived on the top of a mountain, and in order to get water, they had to descend down a steep ravine and travel by foot for a couple of hours just to secure a bucket full.

This water had to be carefully rationed throughout the day. There was a minimal amount of water available for the family, and priority had to be given for cooking and drinking purposes first. Doing things like taking a bath was not seen as a necessity. Common things like washing clothes were almost seen as an excess that could not be tolerated on an everyday basis due to the severe water constraints.

I would be less than honest if I said that it was not challenging at times to work in Nepal, but God gave the grace and strength necessary for the task. The words of one inspired writer is true when it says: ” All His biddings are enablings”. Myself, and sister Della Patton ( my ministry companion from new Jersey) we able to brave the hardships in the various places, and complete our mission successfully in spite of the challenging conditions at times.

One of the blessings of working at this level of ministry is that you are able to see first hand the struggles of the native people. I have also learned from experience that Ministry is much more successful when you are able to live, eat, and work with the people in their native surroundings.

Our work in Nepal this year took us to several different provinces in the country. We traveled by public bus, jeep, and even on foot, in order to visit our targeted areas for mission this year. Our target areas were mostly rural, and many of the hard to reach companies in Nepal.

I remember traveling through the jungle one evening in order to visit the field of one of the Nepali Gospel workers. The name of the gospel worker was Meena. Meena was a young woman from one of the Mongolian tribes located in the east of the country. This young woman often traveled a long, lonely, deserted path, through the jungle by foot. It would take her some 2½ hours (one way) in order to reach the small village where she was assigned to work.

I agreed to travel with Meena one evening to see the conditions for myself. We decided it would be best to travel by motorcycle in order to save us some time, as we wanted to exit the village before the nightfall came. The road was jarring and extremely bumpy, at times the road itself became so narrow, that we almost veered over into precipices. During this time of travel, I fell from my motorcycle some 4 times due to the difficulty I had maneuvering on the roads. We were able to visit the church, conduct a small service for the people in attendance, and then we began to make our way back by motorcycle. As we began to make our journey back, it seemed as though nightfall descended upon us in a matter of minutes. Our friends who were with us went on ahead, and myself and a young Nepali pastor were riding together. Our motorcycle began to hesitate, and before we knew it the engine died, right there in the middle of the jungle. We prayed for a short moment together, and then decided that we had no option but to continue the rest of the journey on foot, in order to reach safety. My water had long since finished, we had no cell phone access, and our only source of light  was my trusty flashlight, whose light was quickly turning dim. Step by step we made our way, trusting God and asking him for guidance. After traveling some significant distance on foot, a rescue party eventually came to our aid in the form of 2 motorcycles, and thank God we were saved that night.

As I reminisce on the events of that night, I began to think of my wife and my 2 children who were at home in the US. What if we got lost and could not find our way home in the dark? What if I encountered a wild animal along the way? A myriad of thoughts flooded my mind on that night. Above it all though, I can still remember the sweet peace that I felt as I prayed and walked through the bush. It was such a rich blessing to know that God was with me, even as I walked in the darkness of the night.

Thus far, our mission work had been limited primarily to Kathmandu and few surrounding districts. This year however, it was our goal to travel to several of the surrounding districts, and see the state of the work, and assess what contributions we could make to advance the work of the Nepal field.

The Nepal mission of SDA is just now seeing the dawn of a new day. The Adventist work was first began in Nepal more than 50 years ago, and at last check, the statistics were still pretty grim as it relates to the Adventist population in this distant Himalayan nation. It would seem that statistically speaking, there are less than 6,000 official Seventh Day Adventist members in the country. When I arrived on my 1st visit to Nepal some years ago, the Adventist mission was in great turmoil and disarray. At the time of my recent visit in early 2016, much seemed to change in the movement and the overall direction of the Church. The many clans, tribes, and ethnic groups of Adventists scattered throughout the country, seemed to be unifying under the recent leadership of Pastor Umesh Pokarel ( the new Nepal Field Director).

There seemed to be a new impetus to advance the work in new places, and a great push to also evangelize. After many decades of internal and external conflict, the Nepal mission seemed to be in the dawning of a new day.

At last check, Adventists are still not recognized as an official religion by the government, and thus Nepali Adventists receive no guarantee of religious rights, and official protection from their Government. There are still Hindu Orthodox Nepali who are pushing for anti- conversion laws to be passed, in an attempt to stop Hindus from converting to Christianity. There is also  open persecution that is faced by many Christians in the country. Nevertheless, in spite of these and countless other adversities, it is our desire by the grace of God to help this most needy mission field. We plan to return to Nepal in a few months time with a small team to help to conduct evangelistic meetings, and to provide support for some of the ethnic and tribal communities in the interior of Nepal. Please keep the Nepal mission work in your prayers, and if you are impressed to support. You can give a tax-deductible donation at the website: www.3goingforward.com just click on the donate button. Many thanks for the prayers and support, God’s blessings be upon you and your family.