Ministry last month in Nepal was nothing short of incredible in every sense of the word. There was a variety of reasons last month was incredible but it all starts with our host. Our host was a 22 year old kid who was clearly gifted by the Holy Spirit to be a leader and a host for missionary teams. From the first day of our arrival until the last, we were excited about the work God was doing through his ministry as well as his Father’s. Our ministry month was split into two parts. The first part was in Kathmandu included but was not limited to visiting orphanages and schools, visiting some churches he and his father planted or supported and encouraging local believers and home visits, and the second part involved but was not limited to a bible school for brand new believers and nonbelievers teaching people the very basics of Christ in the mountains of Gorkha: the old capital city of Nepal.
A lot of crazy life changing events ensued in the mountains of Gorkha, however I won’t focus on those events because they will be covered in depth in later blog posts by myself and many of my teammates. Instead, I will focus on our host Gresom and how he inspired myself and my team to walk more closely with the Lord and how he inspired me to pursue some of the things God has gifted me in unapologetically. To begin with, Gresom’s story correlates heavily with the story of Samuel from the Bible, in that his parents received a prophecy that he would be born and dedicated to the Lord from a very young age. He also had an experience at the age of 10 in which he heard the audible voice of God call his name 3 times and just like Samuel, he didn’t recognize his voice until he decided to say speak for your servant is listening. This experience was the kickstart of a powerful healing ministry that the Lord began in his life that the Lord later used to kickstart many of his other ministries such as working with orphanages, pub ministry, as well as bible/discipleship schools in Kathmandu as well as Gorkha. The level of influence and boldness the Lord blessed him with has inspired me to pray bolder prayers because our Father in heaven is listening.
Every night, Gresom and his father would sit down with us and read a passage of scripture as well as share testimonies of what God has done in their lives and I remember thinking to myself, “when I have my own family, this is what I want it to be like.� From the moment we arrived, we were treated as family and him and his father showed me by example how to lead a family well.
In addition to teaching our team about family, they taught us by example how to live out church like the early church found in acts. They were like modern-day Paul’s in the way they planted so many churches in peoples homes and went around encouraging and giving correction to the believers in the churches as needed. They were disciples who were making disciples and they were replicating everywhere. I just loved how we would visit someone’s home and basically have church in their living room with worship, prayer and an encouraging word or preaching. They really simplified the Christian walk in a very practical way.
One of the other very important things, Gresom and his Father taught us was how to worship everywhere you go. Gresom and his Father both play musical instruments and brought them everywhere we went and sang praises to our God at all times of the day. They provided a real example of what it looked like to praise his name day and night. However, more important than worshipping with instruments and song they taught us to carry an attitude of worship and Thanksgiving everywhere we went. They were always thanking the Lord for everything he has done and it truly transferred into a joy and peace that surpasses all understanding because they remembered all the victories the Lord had given them.
Overall, month 5 of the race will be an unforgettable month of the race and I will not forget the wonderful lessons in leadership, worship, and family I learned.
