So when I think of Bible School my first thought includes snacks consisting of Kool-Aid and a Rice Krispy Treat, and an awesome time of singing, Bible stories, and games. So when our team found out that this would be our ministry for the second half of the month here in Nepal, we got really excited. However, as I’ve mentioned before things aren’t always as they first appear.
Instead of working with kids from kindergarten through 5th grade our students have actually been between the ages of 18 and 35. In fact, it’s actually a month long Bible college that our contact hosts once or twice a year. Participants come from all over Nepal and almost all are planning to go or are currently involved in some sort of ministry. In the morning the students have classes that train them to be sent out into the ministry field. They learn how to preach the gospel to unbelievers, how to conduct house churches, how to organize conferences and programs, and teachings that they can apply to their everyday life and ministries.
Our teams have been responsible for walking to the church and helping to cook all the meals for the 25 or so participants. We’ve taken shifts and help to serve in that way. Who knew that I should have practiced chopping garlic, ginger, and various other vegetables before coming on this trip? Ha. But I’m going to be proficient at it by the end of the month! In the afternoons our teams have been teaching basic computer classes. Now as a teacher I was excited about this, but what I hadn’t figured in was that almost half of the students speak very little or no English! So for those students even basic stuff like getting them to type in English letters on Microsoft Word has been a challenge. We’ve had one or two translators for the 13 of us to help, so we’ve definitely had an interesting 3 hours each afternoon. We’ve taught Word, PowerPoint, Email, Facebook, Photoshop, and how to use websites. It is cool though because those that have caught on will actually be using these skills to help promote and expand their ministries. They are very eager and bring their pens and notebooks to every class even if they have no idea what we are saying. I wish my students back home were that eager. And they can understand me, even though some would say otherwise. Ha.
I had the opportunity to preach 2 weeks ago about Moses and how despite his laundry list of excuses, God used him to do incredible things. I’ve always related well to Moses in the excuses category, but God continues to use me despite my resistance. Last week my team had the opportunity to attend and lead a local church that is pastored by a man who runs the only Christian newspaper and radio in Nepal. He is an incredible man and has a church that is devoted to making disciples. It was so cool for us because we walked in and saw that there were more mats on the right side of the room, so the girls sat down assuming that was the side for them. However, they told us that no, it was actually the men’s side. We were so encouraged because this was the first church we’d been to in almost 2 months where the men outnumbered the women. And they were the REAL deal! Incredible men of God!
We are fortunate to be working with some of the 2% of Christians that make up Nepal and it’s incredible how passionate they are about their faith. Nepal has one of the fastest growing Christian populations in the world! I’ve mentioned this desire previously with our Bible distribution, but it continues to amaze and inspire me. They are a shining light in this country and the nation is taking notice. I’ll have more on this in my next blog.
Love you all and thanks for reading!
