So, it wasn’t the easiest thing I’ve ever done but it certainly wasn’t the hardest either. I’m not usually the type to jump into self-sacrifice that requires long term inconveniences. I’m more of the type that jives with instant gratification on a short-term project. But not this time. The whisper calling me to something different, something beyond my comfort zone was just too audible to ignore. This is how I lost 5 pounds in Nepal.
Meet Roshan Rannpal, a 19 year-old Nepali, who has been actively involved with The Agape Ministry International (TAMI) for the past three years. Roshan was born into a fairly devoted Hindu family. However, at a young age Roshan was introduced to church and began hearing the Gospel through his grandmother. In his early pursuits to know Jesus, Roshan faced persecution from his family, especially from his father. At one point, Roshan’s father found his Bible hiding under his mattress and in his furious anger tore Roshan’s Bible to pieces, throwing out the pages and the remaining shreds of their relationship. Because of their religious differences, Roshan was considered a dishonor to his family and was named the “forgotten son” by his father. Eventually the strain of relationships within his home was too much to bear, so Roshan ran away to seek refuge within the church community. Thus began his relationship with TAMI. The leader of TAMI, Brian Williams, accepted Roshan like his own son – a concept quite unfamiliar to Roshan. Through the tutelage of Brian and the other leaders at TAMI, Roshan blossomed, learning what it means to live and love like Jesus. Roshan became a leader in the slum and street kids ministry, as he knew very well the loneliness of living without a father. He had thrown himself headfirst into ministry – fully immersing himself in the work at TAMI.
And it would be a would be a tidy ending to this story if I told you that Roshan has been in love with Jesus every second since, but this is a story about a real guy facing the real pressures in ministry. In time, Roshan began to feel drained from daily ministerial activities, losing the joy he once had to father children in the TAMI ministry. Despite the incessant pleadings from Brian to stay, Roshan ran away – in hopes of finding the joy he thought he was missing. Within a few months, Roshan stumbled into a life of debauchery and instant gratification – taking false pleasure in women and chemicals. Though all the while, the conviction and the despair of this new life mounted in the back of his mind. In a moment of clarity, Roshan realized his sins and adulteries against his Lord and he knew it was time to come home. During his travel back, Roshan feared the reaction of Brian upon his return to TAMI. Roshan couldn’t help but believe that he would be chastised, demoralized and possibly not allowed to return – all of the memories associated with his biological father coming to the surface. But the moment Roshan walked into the door at TAMI and saw Brian, he was welcomed by the most precious embrace as Brian answered “Welcome home, son.” In that moment, the weight of his real-life prodigal son story fell upon him and he wept into the arms of his Father.
Since his return, Roshan now lives a bit of a different story within ministry. He recognizes his previous ministerial mistake – operating out of his own power, rather than power given to him through the Holy Spirit. Roshan is now very passionate about his prayer life and meeting the Lord in worship, which renews his strength to continue with the visions the Lord has given him for ministry. As our teams have gotten the privilege to know Roshan, we have come to love hearing his passion for Gospel videography and to one day make Christian films that will impact the movie-loving culture of Nepal. One day while my teammate, Jackelyn, was teaching videography skills to Roshan on her MacBook, I couldn’t help but overhear his awe for iMovie, the Apple program for video creation. And then came his fateful comment “I will start praying for a MacBook.” Those words rang in my ear like they were the most important words I’d heard in a while. That’s when I heard the Lord whisper – you have a MacBook.
“Uh, yes, I know I do. What am I supposed to do about it? Just give it up? You mean the 5 pound computer I’ve been complaining about for the past 2 years which has recently become an incredibly precious resource?! I have 10 more months on this race!”
After my exasperations subsided, the waves of logistical possibilities washed over me. My teammates would likely share computers with me, my external hard drive could hold my data, and I could probably type up my blogs on my iPhone. [Mom & Dad, you may need to schedule me for carpal tunnel surgery for my thumbs when I get back home] For the next 24 hours, the idea of gifting my computer to Roshan consumed my thoughts until I finally committed.
When the time came for me to tell Roshan, I disguised it as an interview. [I enjoy being sneaky and I wasn’t going to let him have all the fun!] After an hour of hearing his life story and his future dreams of video-making, I told him “Hey Roshan, you’re going to make great movies, and you’re going to start with this MacBook. It’s yours!” His reaction is one I’ll never forget. After the reality of what was happening sunk in, Roshan let one of the loudest screams of joy from our rooftop and then immediately threw himself into prayer. To see a man of God respond immediately to this blessing with a prayer of praise and joy in his father’s faithfulness was one of the best moments I’ve been blessed to experience all month.
Recently, I’ve been reading a pretty inspiring book, Love Does. The premise is that love isn’t something that just swirls around in our minds, peeking out in short “I love you” bursts. Love can’t be contained in the mind – love does things. Through the stories presented in the book I’ve seen that the pure love that comes from Christ is a love that is present and makes sacrifices. As this idea has been treading my mind recently, I have prayed for opportunities to live up to it. It didn’t take long for one to come along, and I can’t tell you how overjoyed I am that I took it. I think I now know a bit of how Oprah feels every week. And I can see why she hasn’t stopped. The joy that is cultivated in self-sacrificial love is quite addicting!
I hope that you’ll try it sometime. I hope that you’ll listen to the whisper – the one that’s calling you beyond your comfort zone, the one that is asking you to be present and make sacrifices. God only knows what you’ll gain when you choose to lose 5 pounds in Nepal.
My favorite quote from Roshan:
[Upon comments related to his awesome dance moves]
Roshan: Haha, that’s just the trailer, you haven’t seen the movie yet! [wink]
