Yesterday,since I had the day off I went with him to help him out and spend the day with him. I never knew how much I was going to learn and experience while I was down there.
When we first came in we met a missionary from Nepal which was really neat. I never fully realized until that meeting how blessed we are in this country. This man was missionary from Nepal finishing up his Masters of Theology in the U.S. and then going back to his home country to preach the gospel. Now you might ask how are we blessed compared to people who live in Nepal. Just wait until I tell you more of the story and you will see why.
Harka was a missionary in Nepal, leading a ministry called Jesus Ministries International and led an underground church in Nepal. This means that the church is hiding from the government and the other religious sects in Nepal, which are Buddhism and Hinduism. They literally just celebrated their first Christmas as an official government holiday this past year. Christians in Nepal if they are caught preaching the gospel can be sent to jail for 6 years with the maximum being lifelong depending on the circumstances. He told us you have to be really careful as to who you allow in the church because some people might be spies. The Christians have only been in Nepal for about 17 years which I found fascinating as well. This man has gone to jail at least once and has been persecuted for his faith.
As I think about this I wonder why it is that so many Christians have a hard time sharing their faith including me when we have it so easy compared to the other people around the world like Harka who I just met yesterday. We have no idea what it means to be persecuted for our faith. All we face is man's arrogance and possible arguments. We should be stepping out more in our faith to share the gospel. We don't really have a need to feel intimidated for we have really nothing to fear. It is like the bible verse that says "What can mere man do to me?" Absolutely nothing. Now that doesn't mean you have to open-air preach, or have a one-to-one conversation if that is a little uncomfortable still for you to do. Just handing out a simple gospel tract to someone can make a huge difference. You are planting a seed. If you keep working on it you will eventually find the strength to actually start a conversation. Once you do you will probably feel more joy than you can possibly imagine and I think it will become easier for you. I am still working on this myself. I am working on strengthening my courage to talk to others about Christ in a one-to-one conversation. This is my next step. All I need to remember is that God will always be right by my side no matter what I may face.
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