The persecuted church. A term we hear quite often. Something we pray for. But do we honestly have a grasp of what it means to be the persecuted church? Do we truly understand the intensity of what it means to be the persecuted church? Living in a western society, I don’t believe we can show empathy. We may think we know what it is like, but we really don’t know. We have become numb to the idea of persecution because it is something we often hear about but never sincerely experience. I sometimes feel I am being persecuted by other people who judge me based on my faith. But that is NOT persecution.
Tonight was the most powerful night of my race so far. My afternoon started off by cleaning up the inside of the building in which church is held and cleaning up the garbage and weeds outside. After cleaning was finished some of the racers and some of the students attending a month long Bible school gathered in the church. We had some tea and cookies and began to sing worship. Our contact, Reuben told us that we were going to worship for a little while and then pray. I thought, OK sounds good…no big deal. Little did I know what our evening would turn into.
Worship was nice, almost every song was in Nepalese, but we all understood the message behind them. Prayer on the other hand, wow. Prayer is powerful, yes I know. I have experienced powerful prayer many times, and I have heard many people talk about the power of prayer and the power our words hold. Although, tonight something was different. I can’t quite put my finger on it. We prayed for the students who were attending the Bible school, the Bible school instructors, Christian youth in Nepal, and us as World Racers. But the most fierce and overwhelming prayer was for a) Christianity in Nepal and b) our contact Reuben, along with the other pastors present. I found out a lot about Christianity in Nepal in a very short period of time tonight. It was not in depth, but it was all I needed to hear in order to pray the most intentionally than I ever had before. Something I was told a couple of weeks ago was that a long time ago Christianity was brought to Nepal, but it did not last long. There was a 200 year gap where Christianity was not present in Nepal. If I remember correctly, it was in 1951 when Christianity reappeared. Crazy, right? Tonight I learned about the persecution the current Christian church in Nepal faces. For starters, the government has the ability to put laws in place so that it will be illegal to practice Christianity in Nepal and it will be illegal for Nepali people to convert. As of right now, there are rebel groups around who are killing Christian pastors in Nepal and bombing churches. I felt like I got smacked across the face with a brick. This stuff is real. Persecution does exist. I knew it existed but as I said, became numb to the term. In praying for the pastors, knowing that they are literally putting their lives at risk for the glory of the kingdom? This is some crazy stuff! I knew that Reuben had a lot on his plate, running so many ministries and that he had his work cut out for him, but to think of the repercussions he is working against? This man is truly a disciple of Christ, he speaks of his love for the Lord so earnestly. Who am I to be blessed with the opportunity to be working alongside him in his ministry? This man is more than a father, husband, pastor, ministry contact…he is the definition of apostle. Persecution became real for me tonight.
Not only Reuben, not only the pastors, but everybody who is living to fulfill a Christian lifestyle in Nepal are literally putting their lives on the line in order to follow God. And here I am complaining that I am giving up 11 months of the comforts of back home to serve the Lord. There it goes again, another smack across the face with a brick. WAKE UP!!!! Even when we believe we are living to serve the Lord, we are being so selfish! We do not know what it means to suffer, we do not know what it means to be completely selfless for Christ, we do not know what it means to be persecuted!!
Pray for Nepal. Pray EARNESTLY, INTENTLY, RAW. Pray hard. Mean it. Seize the opportunity of power being held in your words. Pray LOUD. Pray for the persecuted church. Pray for Nepali Christians. Pray for the government of Nepal to refrain from setting such obscene laws in place. Pray against the enemy who is eager to attack, because he sees the power in what Reuben is doing here in Nepal. The enemy is seeing the ruckus that the Christian church is stirring up in Nepal and he doesn’t like it. This is a GOOD thing! This means that something is happening, God is moving. We know that God is so much more powerful than the enemy, so continue to pray. Pray for Churches Network Nepal. Pray for Reuben, his family, his friends. Pray that the Christian churches of Nepal will raise up an army.
PRAY!
