We packed up our packs, as light as we could. We remembered the essentials, toilet paper, raincoats, lots and lots of water, and started trekking. One week ago I reached out to my community asking for funds to trek across the Himalayan mountains to share the gospel, and you all stood together and donated. Here I was, financially ready, hopefully physically ready, and mentally preparing with constant prayer.
Today we were going to break the law for the sake of the gospel. That was both terrifying and exciting.
You see in 2018 Nepal passed a law that made it illegal for anyone to talk about religion, it is called the no conversation law. It outlaws evangelism, religious conversations, and converting. This even made churches educational classes about Christianity illegal.
Yet here we were, trekking with a group to spread the gospel, praying God gave us discernment to share with the people he needed us to share with.
We went house to house one day, talking to women and children about God, but there was a strong fear in Nepal. A fear of converting due to the law, and due to persecution. The toughest part, women aren’t allowed to choose Jesus for themselves, they need permission from their husbands, or they are kicked out of the home and shamed.
After a few days of speaking to families, I was getting exhausted, mentally and spiritually from all the fear and rejection. My heart was starting to feel the heaviness of the situation that ran across the country.
Then we went to a home, my team spoke to a young man and asked him if he wanted to accept Christ- “one day” he told us. Fear flooded the room. He was afraid of what his family would think.
“Why not now? You could be the one that shares this news with your family, and change their lives!” One of my teammates mentioned.
We talked to this young man more and more and smiled, his fear melted and he agreed to accept Christ. Excited and exhausted from a spiritual battle our team ate lunch while a friend mentored to the young man. Then a woman brought two high schoolers into our room.
We were evangelizing in a woman’s bedroom. One of the high schoolers was a girl, very uninterested in the conversation or who were are she immediately got on her phone. Her boyfriend sat next to us. His family was Christian but he wasn’t yet.
“Anyone want to share the gospel?” One of my teammates asked. I felt drawn to these two, “me.” I answered and started to share.
I was trying hard to reach the young guy, sharing about how I realized my faith needed to be something I picked, not something my parent’s picked for me, and how I came to truly know Christ. Then a teammate (this is why I love evangelizing in teams!) jumped in and started ministering to the girl.
After an hour talk we learned the guy wasn’t ready, he needed more proof, he left, but his girlfriend stayed. That day in the small bedroom of a Nepalian woman she accepted Christ.
A party in heaven. God is having a party in heaven right now for these two. They are the start of a ripple effect.
That day we saw two young souls come to Christ, two hardened hearts lighten, and shame lift from their shoulders.
The next day we packed up and hiked all day to another village, we shared the gospel with a woman and her teenage son, with the housekeeper at the home we stayed at, and we saw more hearts start to lighten. One woman said she’d been reading her Bible the team before us brought her, and my heart flew. I’m praying the next team that visits her is the team that sees her salvation.
The truth is even if there are laws that forbid sharing the gospels you can’t stop Christians from sharing. Once you know Christ you want others to feel his love, his protection, his gentleness. Plus we as Christians are following orders, a commission from our true leader, Christ. We are following his directions in the great commission,
“There go and make disciples of all nations.”
So today wherever you are, in a country that is forbidding the spread of Christianity or in America, find someone to share Jesus’ love today. It is so worth it. Even if there are only 2 people the entire year that accept Christ, I know that it’s worth it.
