Longer and longer I adventure on this world race and the deeper that I go on my journey with Christ I am learning more and more about the essence of what true life in Christ truly looks like. So often on mission trips and even within churches and we have set “ministry times.” These are good and I am not saying anything wrong about appointing focused times to do ministry. But enduring life on the race I am learning the true essence of what ministry looks like. True ministry is living a life and having an opened and surrendered heart for Christ to move in ways that only He can! Sometimes God moves in unexpected ways and honestly uncomfortable ways that really stretch my faith and courage. God often moves in times when frankly I don’t want him to move because I am too “busy” focusing on myself. But once again, I am learning to have an open heart and to say yes, when I feel the living Spirit of God within me prompt me to move. This blog is about stories form Nepal and the essence of life that God is teaching me to live. I am not saying that I am there yet to be living a totally surrendered and expectant life in Christ, but I believe I am on the journey….
A life with Christ – stories from Nepal
Story # 2:
We were going to a place called, “The Monkey Temple.” A Buddhist temple that people from all over Kathmandu, Nepal would visit to worship Buddha and other God’s that the Hindu people believe in. I was not having the greatest day. I didn’t want to go to a Buddhist temple. I was frustrated that I was not able to talk to people about the Lord. So as my team went into the temple to pray to Jesus for the people who were worshipping false god’s, I sat outside on the stairs by myself. I sat there and must have watched a couple hundred people enter the gates into the “Monkey Temple.” I felt so frustrated and helpless. I sat there and tried to pray, but my mind wandered so much to all of the people who looked at me being a strange white American sitting by myself at the entrance gate of the temple.
My team eventually came out after about an hour or so. I was frustrated with myself and again just felt helpless in not knowing what to do to help these people know the truth and love of Jesus Christ. I started praying, “Lord, please just send me one Christian to meet here. Please, Lord just one Christian in the midst of all of these Hindu and Buddhist people.”
As we were walking out my friend Subash (who was our guide and host’s son from Nepal) and I stopped to talk to two homeless women who were begging for money. We stopped to talk to them about Jesus. They both had never even heard of Jesus Christ. We started to share about Jesus to them and then prayed for them. When I was praying for the second women, I noticed two girls following us. After we were done praying for the women, we started talking to the girls who were following us. When we started talking to them, I was completely amazed that these two girls were Christians. They knew Jesus and loved Him very much as their Lord and Savior! God, yet again amazed me at doing what truly only He could only do! He didn’t send me one Christian, he sent me two!
So I asked the girls if we could pray for them just to encourage them in their walk and journey with the Lord. As we started praying for them, all of these people started gathering around us. I opened my eyes to see around 15 to 20 people standing around wondering what we were doing. I suddenly felt the living presence of God within my heart empower me and touch me in a way that honestly really surprised me. I started speaking about the true love and hope of Jesus to them as described in John 3:16. As I was talking to them I was very surprised, but I started crying. My heart was breaking to see hundreds and hundreds of people going to worship a fake God. My heart was breaking more that all these people had never known the true love that God has for them through Jesus Christ.
Now I realize that many of you probably consider me to be a pretty emotional guy. I’m not going disagree with that consideration and would also agree with you, but I honestly only really ever get choked up or emotional when God encounters me and touches with His true love and living presence.
Honestly, I haven’t felt an encounter of God’s presence like this in a long, long time. I honestly believe it or not had not even cried or got chocked up in a very long time. So when this happened, it honestly shocked me. But as tears started flowing down my cheeks, I explained to them that I was crying because Jesus loved them so much and I wanted them to know the true and living God that created them and that has saved them by dying for them. It was a hard day for me, yet God out of his Grace and love chose to use me in ways that only He could!
– Ephesians 3:20-21
I love you Father and I hope in you to do what only you can do!
It was in the afternoon and I was walking to the local café in our village to get internet. I have really been trying to life everyday not just talking about Christ, but rather in living a life within Christ. Jesus prayed that all believers would be one with Him as He is one with the Father (John 17:20-23). So I have really been trying to learn the essence of a life with Christ. I asked God as I walked to the internet café to open my heart to anyone who he would want me to lead me to.
As I got into the internet café, I was very busy trying to check facebook, catch up on e-mails, and listen to my voxer messages. Sometimes getting internet can be more stressful than relaxing because you only have a certain amount of paid internet time where I am trying to get everything done. As I am busy trying to get everything accomplished, the man at the internet café kept trying to have a conversation with me. I kept giving him short, quick answers while at the same time not trying to be rude. Frankly, I was getting frustrated and annoyed because he was distracting me from the things that I needed to get done. I know, I know, I’m supposed to be a missionary right? Well I’m human and I mess up a lot and this is me just being real, raw, and truthful.
So On top of all of this, he then pulls a chair up next to me and continues to try to carry on a conversation with me. At this point I was feeling very frustrated inside. Then he asked the question, “So why are you here in Nepal?” When he asked this, I felt like the Lord awakened me from my stressful selfish attitude I had and spoke to my heart. I felt like God said, “Ryan, didn’t you just ask me to send you to someone so that you could share my love and truth with them? Well instead of sending you to them, I sent him to you.”
Wow was I humbled and awakened in this moment. I was being so selfish with my time letting my own desires distract me from truly living an open and surrendered life in Christ to let him move, work, and LIVE through me in ways that He wanted to. I felt so bad inside but thankfully slowly turned to the man away from my computer, looked directly at him giving him all of my attention and eye contact, and said within my heart to God, “Okay, Lord I am sorry, I’m ready and open to be used by you!”
We ended up having a great conversation for about a half an hour where I was able to share who Jesus Christ was and what He has done in my life. After sharing with him about how Jesus has changed and saved my life, I asked him if he would like me to pray with him so that he too could also receive the living hope and life of Jesus Christ into his heart. A man who considered himself Hindu, right there in the computer shop, asked Jesus into his heart to be His Lord and His Savior!!!
Jesus says this parable in the Gospel of Matthew :
– Matthew 9:35-38
God wants to use you, are you willing and open to be used by God in ways that only He can use you?
* If you trust Him, I promise that He will not let you down….
– People always ask me why I take so many pictures with my arms wide opened. It actually started in a way of positioning myself when worshipping God in church. It’s a way of positioning myself with being fully surrendered to God, yet fully in Hope in God! It’s a way of saying, “Lord, here I am surrendering to you to do what only you can do in my heart and my life, have your way Father, I trust and hope in you!.”
It’s a way of reminding myself that ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD!!! – Luke 1:37
