This last week as we trekked in Nepal to share the gospel I had some revelations about what it looks like to have a long term Impact as we take a short term trip. I was thinking how crazy it would be for me to be in the villagers position. Think about it you are just living your life providing for your family and all you have ever really known is what is around you in walking distance. They live in very remote areas and have not learned much of worldviews or cultures except for what they grew up with. Jesus is making his name known there, but many have still not heard of the good news in a way they can truly comprehend it.
So there they are sitting at their homes working in their fields and all of a sudden a group of westerners come trekking over the hill. Where we went there has never been any Westerners to set foot in those villages, we were the first. So they are caught off guard already then we began to share the gospel with them. We are sharing a completely new and different religion with them. It is even tougher for the witch doctors as we tell them the spirits they are using to heal people which is a good thing are actually of an evil spirits. It’s just crazy for them as we show up and tell them the story of God and what we have is the way the truth and the life. We did not have time to make a relationship with these people we just shared the gospel in our western way hoping the translators would be able to get our point across.
So luckily God revealed to me that He is the one working through us. I was really struck by the verse in Acts 16:14 “One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message”. God is the one that is working on the hearts of those we minister to. I began praying for God to open the hearts of those we are ministering to. We are just the messenger and we serve an amazing God who will back us up and help us out.
But we were thinking of the long term impact that we can have with God as we just plant seeds. Think about it in twenty years as the people we share with, tell their story. They tell of the westerners sharing the gospel and revealing the truth about who Jesus is and how one convert became many and changed the villages all around. That is definitely possible with God and not by our own human effort.
Another thing I learned was the importance of not just going out to share the gospel with the villagers, but strengthening the local church. This was very true in the Chipang area as many were illiterate. We are blessed in America to be able to go to church every sunday to hear from pastors who have gotten their degree in seminary. While it seems the Pastors in that area were just those who could read. We have great access to podcasts, books and bible classes. We could share all of this information with those christians in the area.
Please pray for us as we continue on this journey that hearts would be open to God and that we could strengthen the local church. Thank you so much for all of your support with prayers and finances it has been greatly appreciated.
