What We Can Learn From Nepal
By Steve Brandon, May 2005

This past March, Steve Belonger and I visited the country of Nepal to see how we, as a church, might become involved in ministering to the people who live there.  The country is very needy, and there are many opportunities for us to help.  There are abandoned women at the Tabitha House who we can help.  There are orphaned children at the Children’s Home who we can help.  There are pastors who we can help by providing theological training.  There are church members who we can help by providing skills for living.

But let us not forget that Nepal is not a one-way street.  There are plenty of ways that the believers in Nepal can help us by teaching us through their lives.  Here are a few.

1. The Hope of the Gospel
Nepal is the only Hindu kingdom in the world, which means that the country is filled with those who follow the Hindu religion.  It’s a dark religion, offering little hope for the people.  The best they have is an elusive hope for a better life the next time they are reincarnated, or, possibly, to escape this cycle of life and suffering.

But, for those who have embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ, this is all changed.  You can often see it on their faces.  Living for Christ gives them purpose and direction and hope, which they never knew before. Though their lives in this present world are difficult, they have a hope that transcends their difficulties and they know it!  The contrasts in these people are more evident than they are here, where we often hope in earthly riches.  Yet, due to their poverty, they have no worldly hope.  Their hope is placed upon their eternal riches.  Does your hope in Christ far exceed your hopes in this world?

2. The Culture of the Church
By our experience, we can easily be led to believe that church buildings consist of  spacious sanctuaries, comfortable seats, air conditioning, and finely tuned music.   In Nepal, churches consist of thin carpet on the floor on which to sit, open windows to  create airflow, and guitars and tambourines to make music.  The travel is different as well.  You and I can simply drive to church, but those in Nepal must often walk long distances to attend church.  Do you love the gathering of the church so much that you would still gather if our location was less comfortable or it took you several hours to walk to church? Besides the obvious physical differences, there are many cultural differences in their practices as well.  They love to clap their hands in worship.  They pray in unison in their services.  They will often pray for the sick.  These differences are good for us, for they cause us to rethink what we do in ways that we never thought about before.  It helps us to evaluate why we do what we do.  As we observe the differences, they cause us to think biblically, rather than culturally.  Is your Christianity cultural or biblical?

3. The Opportunities in Our Lives
Those who live in Nepal are restricted.  They simply don’t have opportunities to do the things that we have to do.  Much of this has to do with their poverty.  But some of this has to do with the infrastructure of their country and with the political instability of Nepal at this time.  Their poverty restricts their travel and housing and diet.  They can never drive 55 miles per hour, for the cities are too crowded and the country roads are too poor.  At times, a Maoist bundh (or strike) will prohibit them from even being able to travel at all!  Many have had little schooling, for it is often too expensive.  Less than half of their population over 15 years old can read and write. Our lives in America are so different.  We can go wherever we want to go, whenever we want to go.  We can eat a well-balanced diet and, admittedly, we often eat more than we need.  Our struggle is to refrain from eating all the food around us, rather than wondering where we’ll find tomorrow’s food.  Our tax dollars provide us with schooling through the age of 18.  And with only a little discipline, we can have much expendable income.  Jesus said, “To whom much is given much will be required” (Luke 12:48).  Are you using your opportunities for yourself or for advancing the kingdom?

 4. The Blessings of Giving
Suppose that you have a need in your life and someone comes along and gives to you to meet that need.  Is that a blessing?  It sure is!  There is a great blessing in receiving what you need.  But as much as it is a blessing to receive, the Lord Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).  There is something about sacrificial giving that the Lord uses to bless us.  He can bless us with inner peace and comfort.  He can bless us with joy (Heb. 12:2).  He can even return the blessing financially to enable us to give more (Luke 6:38).  We have many opportunities to give to those in Nepal.  Do you know the blessing of giving generously to others?  When the Lord returns, will He find that you hid your talent in the ground?  Or, will He find that you invested your talents (Matt. 25:14-30).

5. The Power of Prayer
Leading up to the trip we took to Nepal, many of us were praying fervently for the Lord to guide us on a corporate and an individual level.  The Lord was gracious to answer our prayers.  I believe that the Lord moved King Gyanedra’s heart like channels of water while we were in Nepal (Prov. 21:1).
Due to the political situation, there was a very real possibility that we wouldn’t be able to see all that we wanted to see.  But, the Lord cleared the way for us and swayed the hearts of political leaders to allow us to see everything that we had planned and kept us safe.  Our final day of traveling was the last day open to travel for the next thirty days.

The Lord heard our prayers and strengthened our faith in Him.  Do you believe that God hears your prayers?  Do you demonstrate this in your praying habits?

We can learn much from the believers in Nepal.  Our hope in the gospel is far greater than anything this world has to offer.  The Lord has blessed us as a nation and as a church.  May the Lord find us faithful in sharing our wealth.  Are you open to learning these lessons?  Perhaps you might share these things with your family.