Woke up at 4:30am after another vivid dream of Pangi Valley. I've had dreams of the place and its people almost every night since we got home. I've been to some amazing places in this life, Belize, Greece, the Annapurna mountain range in Nepal, Ladakh, South India, Scotland, Nothern England . . . There must be something more to this Himalayan valley than its natural beauty. It's not even the fact that Caleb, who is from there, is greatly loved by us. I think it's a different kind of God thing.
Our sweet intern, Julia, sent us out on a date tonight, the first we've had in a very long time. Over dinner I was sharing with Grant that I feel that original draw to missions being reignited--not just the going part, as we've obviously "gone," but the real gospel part-- the part that says we need to make the most of every opportunity. It's the part that spoke to me years ago, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." I might have shared the gospel with the owner of the restaurant tonight if we had talked a bit longer. I think our trip to Pangi Valley worked something very special back into my heart.
Most of our ministry is discipleship-oriented. We speak into the lives of teenagers, constantly trying to steer them closer to the Lord, always speaking the truth of the Word as we understand it, seeking to love them with the love God has shown us. But one of the most amazing parts of our work is just now being realized. Most of our youth come from unreached Buddhist areas of India and Nepal. Through knowing them we have this incredible opportunity to see the gospel preached to unreached peoples, through them and perhaps even through us.
Going to Pangi Valley, and particularly to Gandari, was made possible because of our close relationship with one of our youth, Caleb. We didn't go there as tourists to a faraway place; we went there as guests of his family. We slept in his house, ate with his parents, met all of his relatives, talked with villagers, and listened to daily hurts and struggles. We met his very old grandmother, a hopeless, sad woman who had raised twelve children. From her dirty mat on the floor, Buddhist prayer trinkets at her side, she told us that she could not understand why she hadn't died yet. "Why am I still living here in this terrible place? Why did you trouble yourselves to come to such a difficult land? I'm not dying, I don't know why I'm not dying." As we were leaving I took her hands in mine and in the presence of her son whispered the truth only in English, hoping somehow for one more opportunity to talk to her in private, knowing that even in my basic Hindi (and hers, as Hindi is not her first language) I could have communicated that Jesus is the hope she is yearning for.
Caleb's mother expressed her own hurt as we were leaving. She can't read and can only write her first name. "Please take care of him. See that he works hard in school. What could I do? I had to send him away. There is nothing for him here. Please keep him with you. Watch over him." I assured her that we loved him and that he was a good boy and would do well in his schooling. I told her not to worry, that he would be ok and he would return to visit her in the future. I didn't tell her that she is worshipping a false god, that the continuous burning of candles and incense and repetitive prayers were for nothing, that God was not in that new monastery, recently built and painted white, standing just above their home.
I've been to some remote villages in Nepal and India, but none without roads or electricity or a word of the gospel. There was something different about a place that is cut off from the rest of the world for most of the year under snow cover. I felt challenged to shout His Name in a valley that requires a 5 1/2 hour walk to some of its villages, after a long journey by difficult roads. I prayed. I sang songs from rocks over the valley. I whispered His name over an old woman. I read my Bible and thought of ways to share it with those people. But I fell short. I hope that the boys who have come out of there to study in free Christian schools will boldly triumph over those who are studying in free Buddhist ones. Surely the real Truth will win out. The Name of Jesus is higher than any other Name. Lord, may Your Kingdom come in that place.
Maybe we will visit other remote villages in the future, homes of youth we have been given charge of, Buddhist villages in Zanskar and Arunachal Pradesh, or the Hindu/Animistic Malana. Pray that the students born in such places will be voices of truth to their own families, and pray that we will each take every opportunity to give the reason for the hope that we have, wherever the Lord allows us to go.
Woke up at 4:30am after another vivid dream of Pangi Valley. I've had dreams of the place and its people almost every night since we got home. I've been to some amazing places in this life, Belize, Greece, the Annapurna mountain range in Nepal, Ladakh, South India, Scotland, Nothern England . . . There must be something more to this Himalayan valley than its natural beauty. It's not even the fact that Caleb, who is from there, is greatly loved by us. I think it's a different kind of God thing.
Our sweet intern, Julia, sent us out on a date tonight, the first we've had in a very long time. Over dinner I was sharing with Grant that I feel that original draw to missions being reignited--not just the going part, as we've obviously "gone," but the real gospel part-- the part that says we need to make the most of every opportunity. It's the part that spoke to me years ago, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." I might have shared the gospel with the owner of the restaurant tonight if we had talked a bit longer. I think our trip to Pangi Valley worked something very special back into my heart.
Most of our ministry is discipleship-oriented. We speak into the lives of teenagers, constantly trying to steer them closer to the Lord, always speaking the truth of the Word as we understand it, seeking to love them with the love God has shown us. But one of the most amazing parts of our work is just now being realized. Most of our youth come from unreached Buddhist areas of India and Nepal. Through knowing them we have this incredible opportunity to see the gospel preached to unreached peoples, through them and perhaps even through us.
Going to Pangi Valley, and particularly to Gandari, was made possible because of our close relationship with one of our youth, Caleb. We didn't go there as tourists to a faraway place; we went there as guests of his family. We slept in his house, ate with his parents, met all of his relatives, talked with villagers, and listened to daily hurts and struggles. We met his very old grandmother, a hopeless, sad woman who had raised twelve children. From her dirty mat on the floor, Buddhist prayer trinkets at her side, she told us that she could not understand why she hadn't died yet. "Why am I still living here in this terrible place? Why did you trouble yourselves to come to such a difficult land? I'm not dying, I don't know why I'm not dying." As we were leaving I took her hands in mine and in the presence of her son whispered the truth only in English, hoping somehow for one more opportunity to talk to her in private, knowing that even in my basic Hindi (and hers, as Hindi is not her first language) I could have communicated that Jesus is the hope she is yearning for.
Caleb's mother expressed her own hurt as we were leaving. She can't read and can only write her first name. "Please take care of him. See that he works hard in school. What could I do? I had to send him away. There is nothing for him here. Please keep him with you. Watch over him." I assured her that we loved him and that he was a good boy and would do well in his schooling. I told her not to worry, that he would be ok and he would return to visit her in the future. I didn't tell her that she is worshipping a false god, that the continuous burning of candles and incense and repetitive prayers were for nothing, that God was not in that new monastery, recently built and painted white, standing just above their home.
I've been to some remote villages in Nepal and India, but none without roads or electricity or a word of the gospel. There was something different about a place that is cut off from the rest of the world for most of the year under snow cover. I felt challenged to shout His Name in a valley that requires a 5 1/2 hour walk to some of its villages, after a long journey by difficult roads. I prayed. I sang songs from rocks over the valley. I whispered His name over an old woman. I read my Bible and thought of ways to share it with those people. But I fell short. I hope that the boys who have come out of there to study in free Christian schools will boldly triumph over those who are studying in free Buddhist ones. Surely the real Truth will win out. The Name of Jesus is higher than any other Name. Lord, may Your Kingdom come in that place.
Maybe we will visit other remote villages in the future, homes of youth we have been given charge of, Buddhist villages in Zanskar and Arunachal Pradesh, or the Hindu/Animistic Malana. Pray that the students born in such places will be voices of truth to their own families, and pray that we will each take every opportunity to give the reason for the hope that we have, wherever the Lord allows us to go.
6 comments:
I love your heart and what God is doing in and through it. Thanks so much for this challenging & refreshing post, sister!
Thanks, Mirianda. I really appreciate you taking the time to read it. We love you guys.
Wow, my heart resonates with your deep urge to share the truths I've found immeasurably more satisfying than this world. And I love that this year I've been able to take the road to my own unreached valley... restaurants in Dallas of all places. Who knows what's ahead in the path God's laid out for me
Yes, the Gospel is powerful, because it is the power of God for the salvation of many. Love you and praying for you!
Yes! May the lost restaurant dwellers of Dallas come to know the living God through you, Jason! :)
“… the real gospel part-- the part that says we need to make the most of every opportunity." YES! God told eleven to "go into all the world." There were many more believers at the time, but he only told the 11 to go. He also didn't say, "... and those who believe need to go after you do." He said, "those who believe will drive out demons, [perform miracles], place their hands on sick people... and they will get well."
Those who believed under the Apostles mission trips were taught to spread the faith by building their own faith to the point where they could answer all questions asked of them and heal the sick around them with the anointing oil. Read the Apostles' letter's to the church in the New Testament; they never once tell anyone to "go" as they'd been instructed. Not once. Instead, they taught converts to prepare, answer questions, and heal with anointing oil (James 5).
However, today, when someone believes in many evangelical churches, they are almost immediately told that "they" also need to "go" like the Apostles. They’re told "sending" is honorable and okay, but more people need to "go! go! go!" They almost rush their disciples out the door saying, "People are dying and going to hell… go save them!" But a rushed, fast approach is rarely the one that works. Many demons have gone out into the world, and it takes time to develop a strong and true faith. The Apostles only "went" after a 3 year, full time program at the feet of Jesus Christ Himself. Many of the young evangelical Christians who do end up "going" today haven't yet believed enough to the point where the promised signs follow them.
Of course if Jesus Christ tells you, through the Holy Spirit, that you need to go… then go. But sometimes the most charismatic of the preachers that tell everyone to "go! go! go!" begin to take the form of the Holy Spirit to their students. Some men simply want more people in the world to believe *their* beliefs. Converting masses somehow helps them justify their own theology, right or wrong… even if it means they have to preach a half true gospel to mostly children that could be converted to almost any religion given a charismatic enough speaker.
The Apostle Paul warned about this slight distortion of truth for the sake of gathering large numbers. He sadly prophesied: "From your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears." (Acts 20:30)
Jesus Christ had restored the healing anointing oil, and he gave it to the Apostles to anoint the world with along with the message of salvation through repentance and faith. God's anointing would slowly soak into the world after the Apostles went, naturally, through amazing miracles and faith healings which would propel the right faith into the rest of the world, naturally, person to person, town to town, nation to nation.
In Mark 6 we see the Apostles anointing with healing oil, and James 5 shows this was to be a regular practice in the Church. How often do you see it done in most evangelical churches? I'm not trying to judge evangelicals nor anyone personally. I've done all these things I’m “calling out” personally, so God forgive me chief among the sinners.
I've recently revised an article on the biblical anointing oil most likely used in the early church. Feel free to have a read. http://www.acts420.com/kanehbosm.html .
Love you both.
Jason
Jason, Thanks for your thoughts. Please understand that this is our personal blog, meant for sharing our hearts and lives with those who are praying for us and standing with us in this place. We basically use it in place of a newsletter. If you feel a need to challenge us or others on particular theological issues, please write to us or them personally. Thanks. With love to you too. C.
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