So, I have been promising a new blog for a few days now. We have spent the last four days in Kathmandu, Nepal for debriefs and I feel like I need another debrief just for our first debrief!
I know many of you are curious and wanting to know what we experienced in India so I will begin there.
Our squad was very fortunate to be together the whole first month of the race. We were all with a ministry in the North East region of India in the state Manipur. We worked in the city of Churandchanpur.
This last month we had a different ministry opportunity almost every day. We were split up into our teams to either do children’s retreats, maintenance on the schools, teach in the Seminary, build walls, help build a church, maintenance on prayer mountain, VBS, and medical camps. It was a great start to the year, teaching us many different diverse areas that we can minister and was a great “training” for future months and ministries.
But ministry opportunities and training aside, God used the history of this area in a great way to speak to many of us about our service and work.
I already touched on the ministry briefly in a previous blog, but it all started because ONE man from Europe had a huge burden to minister to the Hmar tribe. The Hmar (Mar) tribe, historically, was a headhunting tribe. They had taken the heads of many British tea traders as well as their military. Because of this, the British government did not let anyone into the tribal regions. However, ONE man, Wakine Roberts, had a deep desire and burning passion to minister to the Hmar people.
Long story short, he translated the Bible in a neighboring tribe’s language. Later, the Hmar chief invited him to come to their village and from that, they came to know God. Fast forward a few decades, and you will meet a little Hmar boy named Ro. He has heard the stories of Walkine Roberts and is a believer in the ONE true God because he had the privilege to grow up in the converted tribe. Ro’s father transferred his personal burden of translating the Bible into the Hmar language to Ro which allowed this little boy to accept a dangerously long adventure that would require a lifetime of commitment.
As a young boy, Ro spent days journeying by himself to the towns from the jungle his tribe was in to go to school and learn English. He then went to the U.S. to study in Seminary and after almost a lifetime, translated the Bible into the Hmar language, the language of his people. The son of Ro is John, and John was our contact in India.
The ministry we partnered with has so many areas that allows them to minister to the towns, villages, and cities in their area. They have a Seminary where they train people from all over neighboring states and countries to become pastors, missionaries, and evangelists. There is a hospital, a grade school, an office area that is in charge of obtaining sponsorship for children in the school in the city and the schools in the hills, and there are many churches associated with the ministry.
Through the obedience, perseverance, and determination of ONE man, God changed the hearts of an entire tribe and many neighboring tribes still impacting generations to come.
Through everything we did this month, it was hard to know and see the impact we had on the kingdom. But the crazy thing about the story above is this, Wakine Roberts had no idea the impact he had on the lives of the Hmar tribe until he was an older man when Ro visited him in America.
It is so cool to see and know that despite us not seeing results right away, the impact each one of us had this month could very well be seen for generations to come. I know nothing I did was wasted this last month. From building walls to teaching Spiritual Leadership in the Seminary, I know that God used me to impact the kingdom. Even though I may never see it this side of Heaven. It is all because of obedience that we planted seeds and changed lives for generations to come as we made our unseen impact. You too can make an impact on the nations for God. Will you partner with me to reach the nations? You too can make an unseen or even seen impact for the KINGDOM.
