If you haven’t read Something Needs to Change by David Platt, I highly recommend it. It will give you an insight into what we have experienced this month. The author, David, took a trip through the Himalayan Mountains (in Nepal) and was confronted with physical and spiritual needs from people he met along the path. He found himself asking questions about his life and ministry and realized that something needed to change! Our team felt that we related to a lot of David’s experiences. We have seen some insane things, and David’s book helps put into words what life is like here in Nepal. He walks you through many real life situations of things that are still happening to this day. The short version is that people need help! Something Needs to Change.
I know prayer matters, but sometimes I find myself feeling like my prayers are empty and that they don’t matter. David Platt struggled with this as well. He says, “So why do I have these doubts in the hiddenness of my own mind and heart?” I’ve heard testimony’s of miracles happening and sometimes I cant even fathom how God does what he does! One testimony I heard during my time spent in the jungle was of a man who was possessed by a demon for thirteen years. My team and I had the opportunity to meet him and you never would have guessed that that was part of his story. He was a sweet man! Our host was explaining to us that during those years the man used to have chains and shackles on his hands and feet. People in the village would throw stones at him to try and keep him under control. While under his possession, he hurt himself and others. He had broken his own leg multiple times and his mothers arm. The villagers wanted nothing to do with him and were afraid of him. Our host had heard about this man and went to visit him. He took a previous World Race team to his house to pray over him. Together, they all were able to cast out the evil spirit that had been haunting him. Now, the man is living in freedom and has been following the Lord for three years now. Hearing stories like this is always encouraging but when you are in the moment, it’s easy to only see your own perspective and forget the goodness of God. In his book, David Platt says, “I cant escape a lack of faith in my heart that the words we just said are going to make too much of a difference…It’s a pretty empty feeling to pray for someone when deep down inside you’re not actually believing its going to matter.”
O God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas;
the one who by his strength established the mountains,
being girded with might;
who stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples, so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
(Psalms 65: 5-8)
Do you find yourself crying during a church service? I don’t think I ever have. I’d be embarrassed that people would see me cry. One thing that stuck out to me this month is that when my team and I were in church, I would see so many tears. Member’s faces were tear streaked with watery eyes. I would hear the pain through their weeping as they worshipped the Lord, belting out their cries. I began to realize that this was super uncommon for me to see. As I was reading in John 11, I came across verse 35 that says, “Jesus wept.” That’s it. An entire verse devoted to two words. Jesus. Wept. When you think about it, this verse says so much. The Lord has so much compassion. He wept, healed, comforted, etc. because he loves us. So why cant we do the same for him? “We talk a lot about the need to know what we believe in our heads, yet I wonder if we have forgotten to feelwhat we believe in our hearts.” When our Christian brothers and sisters in Nepal praise the Lord, they do it with so much abandon. Literally laying their lives down before the Lord in surrender. Platt writes, “Devotion to Jesus means denial of oneself and death to one’s thoughts, desires, plans, and dreams. According to Jesus, following him means making him your entire life.” In his book, David Platt writes in a journal his thoughts and prayers after each chapter he reads in the Bible. Here is an excerpt that he shared in his book that I wanted to share. This is a prayer that I felt was written in complete abandonment.
“Jesus, you are my entire life. Whatever you want me to do, I want to do…O God, I want to renounce everything in this world that you want me to renounce. I don’t want to shape my Christianity to suit my convenience! Please guide my steps, and please guard me from myself every step of the way. Please lead me by your Spirit however you desire, I pray!”
Throughout the month, our team had the opportunity to preach at different churches and house visits. We were there to encourage pastors, families, and fellow brothers and sisters. This was a really neat experience to be part of but every time in the back of my mind; my thoughts were always “Well, who am I to share anything?” Being a Christian in another country just looks drastically different than it does back in America. Do we have walk hours every Sunday to get to church? The answer is, probably not. Do we have to sit on the floor during service so close to people that we can hardly change positions? I’d say “No.” (Side note: I did however find it relaxing getting a back massage in church by little baby toes of the 18 month old behind me, kicking while in his mothers arms). What does it mean to be a Christian in another country? I’ve witnessed it, and I know it is not without its sacrifices. It is tough to be a Christian in a predominately Hindu culture. Not only that, but also the people we have met that have accepted the Lord have done so at a cost. “I know so little of what it costs to follow Christ.” I’m glad that Platt’s thoughts relate to my own. What does it mean to risk your life to make known the name of Jesus? In Nepal, when you become a Christian, your family casts you out. The cost is high, people! Abandonment, persecution, that’s what you get in this earthly world for following the name Jesus. (It reminds me to be thankful for the freedom I have to choose what God I serve). After every short message I preach, I always wonder if what I say is encouraging to the members. Will my words spark hope in their spirits? At the end of every service, it is usually I who am the one who’s encouraged. One by one, men and women stand up and mention how faithful the Lord has been to them. Their faith and trust in the Lord through their hardships inspires me. My only hope is that I continue to have my eyes open to learning from people that I meet along the way, and not having pity on them, but rejoicing with them, how even through our trials, that the Lord is still faithful.
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said, “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, who will not receive a hundred times more, now at this time- houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions- and eternal life in the age to come.”
I honestly think I have had the most perspective change during these last few weeks in Nepal. The people I have met are incredible and I’ve loved getting these new life experiences. I hope you take the time to sit and read through Something Needs to Change. It’s fantastic and a quick read. This book will stir you into action. It will wake you up to the realities of this world and will shake up your Christian walk.
Like a king preparing for war, there’s a cost to be counted.
