open doors

i’d been in the village last year. i knew the drill.

we share Jesus. the people need the gospel.

true. but this year it was a little more difficult.

the nepali government is trying to retract the freedom to openly share the gospel and to believe in Christ in their country.

we were still encouraged to share, but only if people were clearly wanting to hear,

we were warned to be careful;

that there was a head government official living in the village;

if he found out what we were doing,

all the believers we were connected to would be subject to beating.

it wasn’t a joke.

we did mostly house visits. 

until one night.

we were sitting on the floor of our neighbor friend, miley mae’s.

she was cooking cornmeal over her open fire, feet from where she sleeps. 

snacking on stale rice and attempting conversation,

our friend pabitra pops through the door and summons us to come to her house.

it seemed pretty urgent.

i didn’t think much into it;

she’s probably just excited to show us her home. that’s cute, i thought.

we didn’t want to all bail on miley, so two of us stayed and two of us left.

anyway, we had an hour to kill before dinner.

we walked down a down, rocky path, and reached pabitra’s home.

she sat us on stools in front of the home and next to her father. 

he didn’t know english, but we tried.

she disappeared and returned minutes later with tea. 

“fellowship,” she said,

“talk to my brother. tell him story of Jesus.”

he sits down.

her father moves 20-30 feet away.

we begin;

sharing the gospel.

he stops us in our tracks. he knows all of it.

we change our strategy; he still wasn’t interested.

he wouldn’t let us pray for him and said he’d never become a christian because he had to follow in his father’s footsteps.

we glanced over towards the house. 

then when we found out,

his father we’d been hanging out with and who was overhearing this Jesus talk,

he wasn’t just any buddhist;

he was a buddhist lama. a guru. 

the buddhist equivalent of a bishop.

and these are not even permitted to hear the gospel.

yet there he was. hearing. listening.

now it’s getting close to dinner time;

this man is thanking us for telling him about Jesus,

which is moderately strange because he was very adamantly opposed the whole time.

he stands up to shake our hands and tell us goodbye and we find out another thing;

he is a government official, he tells us.

the government official. 

the government official that is supposed to beat the village believers if we are in fact spreading the word.

but here he is;

us having been invited to share the gospel with him.

summoned; led to his house.

him sat before us,

and he’s thanking us.

friends, this is only one instance of The Lord’s provision that we experienced in this way, time and time again. village after village, our God led us to the priests, the lamas, and the gurus; because the truth is, we can’t share Jesus with everybody. we’re just english speaking humans passing through. but these men of influence can. our God is strategic. when i am overwhelmed because i want to share the good news with every single teenager and child and sweet grandma i see, The Lord says, “calm down. I got this.” and opens doors that i could have never opened to show Himself to the leaders; the heads of these communities; the ones who have the power and ability to lead their whole villages to Christ quite simply. and i just have to trust. my job isn’t to convince any of these men. i can’t persuade them, nor do i want to. my job is simply to share. The Holy Spirit is more than able to do the revealing and convicting and multiplying. He is jealous for his kids. and not one is too far or too hard for Him. not a lama, a guru, a priest, or a government official. He is a God who opens impossible doors. we just walk through.

the book of revelation says that a day is coming soon when

every eye will see Him; even those who pierced Him.

that every being will fall to their knees and confess that He is Lord.

and i do not doubt that these men will soon see The Lord in his glory.

i just pray that they come to know and worship Him as such before that time. 

that their people would be able to hear and follow because these men have turned.

He loves them.

He wants them.

join me in prayer for them.