:: Reaching Nepal ::

All is well in Tib*t. My team and I have had an exciting trip and I look forward to sharing many stories with you but for now a brief update will have to do. We crossed the border last week with no problems and were able to bring many things needed by our brothers and sisters here. Once we hit the border we were stuck for four days is a small town due to a land slide. Afterward, we were able to make it to the capital and have had a great time here.
Dad is revealing many things to Sarah and I and we ask that you continue to lift us up. This area is in desperate need of HOPE and we are looking for oppurtunities to do that. This trip has been refreshing for me and helped me gather my thoughts on many things.

We will be heading back on Thursday and plan to be back in Kathmandu on Saturday.

For years now I have dreamed about going to Tib*t. When I first went into missions my heart was set on Tib*t and in many ways I still long to help the people there. A door has open for me to go for a two week trip to visit, pray, and deliver materials. Please pray hard for this trip. Persecution is very high in this place and lately the goverment has closed the country even more.

I know that God has a great purpose for this journey. I don’t know what it is but I know it will be amazing. I have determined to trust in God and believe big things for this trip. Please join me and expect great things from God. Tib*t is one of the most unreached areas of the world and our prayers can break down the wall that seperates it from the love of Christ.

Because of the high level of security, I am unsure if I will be able to post on my website during this trip. I will try my best to post, but if not ,I will give you an update when I get back.? I should return to Kathmandu around September 22.

Good evening all. As some of you may have already seen on the news, fresh violence has broken out in Nepal. It has been relatively quiet in Kathmandu the last year or so but this afternoon around 4pm several bombs went off around the valley. One at a bus station, one inside a bus, and rumors of several others. Several have died and many others were injured. We have had bombs go off in the city before but never has anyone targeted people. To be honest I really have no idea what took place. All I know is that today’s events are an indication of the true state of Nepal. My land is lost and in need of Jesus. Please pray for my country and my people. They are so afraid and have no place to turn for hope.

I am safe and so are my teammates and national partners. I was with Sarah getting ready for a Bible study when all of this happened. Tonight I am staying with some friends because it was unsafe to travel across town to my home. Keep your eyes on the news and continue to remember us here.

Here is a link to a Nepali news site reporting on the events.

Have you ever read an article or watched a TV program about someone doing something amazing and thought, ?I want to do that one day.? I do it all the time. A few days ago I got online to check the news and saw an article entitled, ?30 things to do before you?re thirty.? Since then I have been thinking about all the things I?ve wanted to do in my life. My overarching desire is to use my life to please God by serving Him, but with that, I have smaller goals I want to accomplish in my life. Some are a bit shallow while others are very lofty and honorable. I thought it would be a fun to share my list with you. This is part 1 and they are in no particular order. Some are things I can accomplish and others are works of God.

Things To Do Before I?m 40.

1. Be a part of a genuine revival
2. Serve in a part of Africa ravaged by war or disease.
3. Summit Mt. Ama Dablem (Mountain in the Himalayas)
4. Write a book that needs to be written.
5. Get a Master of Divinity degree
6. Start a family
7. Climb a 5.11 route (rock climbing)
8. Do ministry in the Middle East
9. Memorize a whole book of the Bible
10. Become fluent in 2 languages (not including English)
11. Run a marathon
12. Compete in one more wrestling tournament
13. Plant a church where a church is needed
14. Ride a horse
15. Build my own house

Make sure you check back in to see the rest of my list. If you have your own list or want to make a list, make sure you post it in my comments so that I and all my readers can see what you want to do in your lifetime.

Serving in Nepal is the life I’ve always dreamed of. The culture, the people, and the unique problems make serving here not only fulfilling but it also satisfies that adventure bug that’s deep down. I constantly have a problem of trying to explain life and ministry here in Nepal to other people. How can I wrap up a world so different and contrary to the world we all know. This blog has been an attempt to accomplish that. Sadly, the blog has not been all I desired it would be but I hope it has provided a glimpse of life in this indescribable place.

Take for example the last three weeks. They have been marked by extremes- both blessings and burdens. A few weeks ago I, along with my national partner, my former student, and a volunteer from America took a trip to West Nepal to visit a church. Our goal was to encourage this new church, do leadership training, and to leave my former student Nardeep for three months of ministry. Our trip was more successful than I ever imagined it could be. When we arrived we learned that this new church had almost doubled in size since my last visit 8 months ago. They have grown so large that they have formed a new church to accommodate all the growth. Now the people who were having to walk 4 or more hours round trip to church have a fellowship closer to them. Also, our leadership training was well received. Around 30 people came to each of the sessions and the material seemed to be useful to their Christian walks and ministry. In my training time I took 8 of the basic commands of Christ and taught them the importance of obeying each (Belief and repentance, baptism, love, the Lord’s Supper, prayer, Bible study, giving, and going out to make Disciples). I also taught the basic elements of a healthy God honoring church. God did so much during our time there and I believe it was one of the most profitable times of training I’ve had here in Nepal.

Below is the village of Bunga Doban where we did our training and where the church we worked with is located.

Hari, my national partner

Nardeep, my former student and new pastor of the church in Bunga Doban

In ministry, burdens normally follow closely behind blessings. Just a few nights ago we had one of the hardest rains I’ve ever seen. During the heavy rain the wall at the back end of our orphanage had a landslide. About 50 feet of dirt, brick wall, and metal fence came roaring down into a neighbor’s rice field. I’m grateful that the orphanage’s foundation wasn’t damaged but I’m a bit uncertain about what will happen with the damaged area. We have people shoveling dirt and moving bricks but I’m not sure where the money will come from to pay for the repairs. I have no doubt that God will provide but please make this a matter of prayer.

On Saturday Sarah and I went to her Tibetan friend’s house for a birthday party. I met lots of new Tibetan friends and to my surprise a few nice foreign travelers. I say it was a surprise because normally when other foreigners hear that I’m sharing the message of Jesus with others they get a bit upset. But at this party God did something amazing. As Sarah and I sat and talked, David, a traveler from Sweden, sat down beside us. Sarah, being her normal caring self, struck up a conversation with him. One of her first questions was, “Why did you come to Asia?” He then told her he was coming to find peace. Immediately Sarah jumped into the Gospel. For close to two hours Sarah and I share with David the peace that Christ gives. Over and over again David asked us questions that revealed his desire to know more about Christianity.

One of the things that shocked me was that his time in Nepal was his first real exposure to Christianity. He had a vague knowledge of what Christians believed but he had never been around those who were living out their faith. An even bigger shock was that we were not the first Christians he had met in Nepal. The Tibetan believers we were having a party with were the first. They had reached out to David in love and invited them to their home. Actually, when Sarah and I told him we were Christians he pointed to our Tibetan friends and said, “oh, like them.” It was so refreshing to hear him relate Christianity with Tibetans and not with white men from America.

Before we left I gave David my mobile number and asked him to call me when he had more questions. As we left the party that day I knew that God was working in his heart. I could see his desire to know peace now had a direction.

About six months ago God gave me an amazing godly woman, but very few of you have seen her picture. I can?t post a clear picture of her face because of security reasons but as you can see she is gorgeous.

This week in my quiet time I was blown away by something Paul said in his letter to the Romans:

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:5-8

Notice that a mind set on the flesh or the world only leads to death. But a mind set on the Spirit brings life and peace. We as believers are called to actively set our minds on Christ and the things that please Him.Simply put, a mind that is set on ungodly things cannot please God.

If we truly want to overcome the sin in our life the battle begins in the mind. Our thought life is a battle field and we have to live like everyday is an assault on our Christian lives. Set your mind on Christ and pursue an intimate relationship with Him. This is the key to victory.

Many things have been happening around here. First of all I’ve been extremely busy working on my seminary degree. Two weeks ago I had a class due and I still had not written the 4 papers it required. Yes, I admit I am a procrastinator. So for four days strait I did nothing but read books and write papers. With five hours to spare I emailed all my work to my professor. Now I find myself busy with another class: hermeneutics. I have three weeks to complete this class so I am reading books, listening to lectures, and doing assignments most days.

Another bit of exciting news is that my dog Asha had puppies. They are mutts, one boy and one girl, and they are adorable.

Lastly I was able to take a ministry trip last week to Surket, Nepal; about 16 hours from Kathmandu. Our team has been helping a local man plant two churches in this region. We took this trip to be able to encourage the young believers, do some teaching in the church and with the leaders, and to look at future work. While we were there, we were able to assist in the church’s first baptismal service. On Sunday we took a trip down to the river and baptized 5 new Christians. It was such a joyous time and the highlight of my trip.

Yesterday God have me the oppurtunity to preach in the Saturday morning service. This being Easter weekend, we have services Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Our Sunday service is always focused on the resurrection of Christ so on Saturday I preached a message answering the question why? Why did Jesus have to die? The purpose of the sermon was to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises and pictures God gave us in the Old Testament. That Jesus is the promied man that would give redemption to mankind. The blessing came when after the service two people asked Jesus to be their savior. Praise God! In case you’re intrested I have given my sermon below:

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