Go Ye...
My trip this year (April 2002) forced me to meet many challenges. My flight into Kathmandu was delayed several hours because the Royal Nepal flight was far behind schedule. While waiting in the airport, I had the opportunity to meet and study with several Nepali businessmen. Upon arriving in Nepal, most of my greeters had left (it was very late). But the few that had remained gathered me up and took me to a local hotel.
I got up early the next day. My trip was already in disarray because of the Maoists. They had called for a general bandh (strike) which was to start in a day or so. This is when they forbid the shops to open or the transportation to run. They even force the closing of the schools. They enforce this through terrorism (bombings, burnings, murder). Because of their lawless actions, many who were to come and study with me were afraid to come. My original intent was to stay mostly in Kathmandu in relative safety. But because of this situation, I decided to travel to the people since they could not come to me.
After a three day meeting in Kathmandu, I had planned to travel to W. Nepal and visit the congregations I had previously planted. The strike had been postponed (supposedly). But some Maoists in W. Nepal did not agree and so they stopped buses and burned them, shot at buses, and terrorized bus drivers, shooting at least one. This caused the buses to stop running and delayed my travel. Since I was delayed in Kathmandu, I went and visited several Christians who were in jail. I was allowed to bring them some snacks, mats, and Bibles. They were very grateful for these simple gifts. In the prison there were around forty Christians, most facing very long prison sentences.
In as few days, the buses began to run again and I headed to W. Nepal. On that trip (around 16-18 hours) we were stopped, unloaded, and searched by the army twelve times. The buses drove very fast to make up the lost time. There were curfews at certain locations and we had to pass them before they were in effect (6 pm) or we would have to camp overnight in the bus. It was a fairly frightening ride. Much of Nepal is mountainous and the roads are treacherous. When you add high speed and reckless driving, their is a high risk of a fatal crash.
Once in Pahalmanpur, I was able to relax somewhat. We passed the carcasses of two burned buses only around six miles from the location of the church (no building – just the town and the people). It is in the heart of the Maoist stronghold so I had to be very careful and stay only briefly. I stayed and taught for two days before I headed to E. Nepal (to Jhapa). It was sad to leave these struggling brethren but I had many places to go.
My next stop was Naryangadh (around twelve hours away) where I spent the night and the next day. I visited several Christian women around one hour away by bus and encouraged them. They were not able to travel to worship on a very regular basis. One lady had a foot missing and a young child and the bus ride was physically demanding (even for me) as well as very crowded.. I encouraged the ladies to get together and worship in their home. They had been told God wouldn’t allow that. I studied with them and showed them that if men were not present then they could conduct their own worship. They were very happy.
My next stop was E. Nepal all the way to the border. I met with my interpreter’s home congregation and we studied there for three days. I taught four lessons each day to the general gathering (around four hours). There were around forty people that had come to study. I taught an additional lesson each night to a young Hindu family. On my final day there, this young family was baptized into Christ.
From Jhapa I went to Pokhara, around a ten hour ride. There I met with a local Christian who wanted to restart the church (apparently they had ceased to meet). We held a two or three day meeting and met with some of the unfaithful members. We also studied with some denominational people in the area. We located a place for the church to gather and rented a room (around fifteen dollars a month). I paid one half of the rent and insisted they pay the rest. For them this is a lot of money but if everything is done for them they will never grow into Christian maturity. While in Pokhara I took a few hours to sight see. One thing I saw was a building the Maoists had damaged with a bomb the night after I arrived in Pokhara.
From here I headed back to Kathmandu. My flight was leaving in a few days and the bandh had been rescheduled for the very time I was to leave. Back in Kathmandu we again visited and taught as many people as possible. Two more were baptized because of these efforts. In spite of the strike I got a taxi to agree to take me to the airport. But the night before I was to leave, the Maoists set off several bombs and burned several public transportation vehicles. Because of this, my taxi did not show up! I had a friend nearby who owned a motor cycle and he agreed to carry me to the airport. So I got on the back of his bike and hung a suitcase from the left crash bar and a suitcase from the right crash bar and put one on the seat between us and off we went!!! I just thought the Maoists were frightening. This was real terror! The ride took around thirty minutes and several times I thought I would fall from the bike. I could not adequately hold on because my suitcase prevented it. But finally we arrived safely and I departed for home, thankful that God had protected me and my friends during this evangelistic effort.
One final note. In one lesson I was trying to make a point that there are simply some things that good sense would prevent you from doing. As an example I asked the question, “How many of you would go into the mountains with me to evangelize the Maoists camps?” Six young men raised their hands! It killed the point I was trying to make but it established the thrust of my next trip. I discussed it with my team and we are going to Jumla, a mountainous region controlled by the Maoists, and we are going to establish the Lord’s church there. The devil and his servants have made my life difficult since I began to work in Nepal so I am going in February and play in his backyard.
