Pictures of Nepali Partnership
The story of how the church in Nepal has grown—from no known Christians in 1952 to over a million today—is a story of joyful gospel partnership. That partnership is multifaceted in character, ranging from those in CMS branches around Australia who pray, care, give and go, to local believers in Nepal who both learn from and teach invaluable lessons to CMS workers.
In this article we share about some of the many ways that God is at work through this partnership–through long-term CMS missionaries from Australia, such as G and R, and Co-Mission Partners[1] supported through CMS.
B and L—mentoring and teaching
Having served in Nepal since the 1990s, CMS missionaries B and L have been involved in many ministries at N church. B says:
“I’ve been invited to share about expository preaching with the large preaching roster and preach myself once in six months. We are part of a local home group which reflects a broad range of believers, with whom we share prayer concerns and encourage in the midst of the myriad challenges of daily work and life.”
L leads devotions each week with her staff at a study centre (four of them belong to N church).
B also mentors a church elder, Bibek, and a deacon, Udgam[2], and shares with them monthly in the challenges of family, ministry and work. Bibek is involved in a health NGO serving in rural areas and is undertaking theological study. Udgam is a fervent pray-er and heads up the men’s ministry. Recently, B and L have started a marriage enrichment time with these men and their wives.
Through a CMS Co-Mission partner who works in student ministry, B facilitates a small group Bible study with three local workers, including the one full-time student worker.
Pray that these relationships will encourage and develop people to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ.
A and K (Co-Mission Partners)—training leaders
A and K are working in Nepal Theological College, Kathmandu, and raising their five-year-old son. A teaches Missiology, Church History, Worship and Music, Communication, and Religions at Bible college. He also preaches at church. A says:
“I believe that my work in Nepal is preparing quality leaders, pastors, and evangelists for the kingdom of God. As CMS partners are located in various parts of Nepal, getting connected with one another really strengthens the work of the Lord in mission.”
K teaches counselling and other subjects. She also offers Christian counselling in NGOs, a hospital, and various churches and training centres.
Praise God that he is using Nepalese workers to raise up trained Nepalese Christians.
B and K (Co-Mission Partners)—discipling young believers
Australian-born K (previously a CMS missionary) is married to Nepali-born B. Together they belong to a church in Pokhara, which was the first church in Nepal. Along with another couple, they lead and pastorally care for a house fellowship.
B meets with three young men who are part of this group to pray and read the Bible, and helps with the young adults’ fellowship.
K meets with three women to pray and read the Bible one-to-one. She is also involved in the elderly people’s group, which meets four days a week. K is responsible for one of those days, as well as planning their overall Bible teaching program. Most of the group is illiterate; all of them grew up in Hindu families, and were converted later in life. K says, “It has been amazing to see the way they have grown in their faith, and their knowledge and love of God since we started this ministry.”
Thank God for the opportunities that K and B have to share God’s word, even with those who are unable to read.
K and B—local commitment
K has been serving as a CMS missionary in Nepal since 2010. B became a Christian through the work of N church, where he and K were married by Pastor Grishma in 2018.
K writes “we are involved in a church called H, taking up opportunities as they come with women, youth, and our home fellowship group particularly. And B has the opportunity to preach sometimes.” K uses her occupational therapy skills to serve people in the church.
Pray that the gospel will transform the hearts and minds of people in Tansen and in the H church.
L and T—a glimpse into trust
CMS worker T shares a story that highlights the significance of partnership with local believers:
Sarita, one of the ladies from our ladies fellowship group, had moved to a village with her husband and two-year-old son to support a daughter church of N Church. She called me to share about the struggles of village life—cooking over firewood, the daily trek down the mountain to source drinking water (and then carrying it on her head back uphill!), the poor schooling options for her son, the lack of vegetables and fruit. But these paled in comparison to the struggle she had with the people. “They’re lazy,” she said. We would probably describe it as being “stuck in a poverty cycle,” hopeless and depressed.
I wanted to encourage her, and so did a deaconess from N church and leader of our fellowship group. So we made a six-hour trip to Odare in the height of the monsoon season.
We walked from house to house, hearing stories and praying with people. I shared with ladies at their fellowship about Rachel (Genesis 29-30). The pain of infertility, the jealousy in families when husbands take more than one wife, anger and frustration at situations out of your control … these feelings resonated with the village women. When I met S’s husband a month later, he said the women were still talking about it.
The visit was brief, but extremely beneficial in the strengthening of an ongoing relationship. S and N are front-line workers. I am thrilled to be part of their support team, partnering with them in seeing the expansion of God’s kingdom.
Pray that L and T would continue to develop relationships of trust with local Nepalis.
Sa and Sh (Co-Mission Partners)—planting churches
Sa and Sh are part of a local Nepali-speaking church that has planted more than 30 churches around the country. There is a shortage of good and mature leaders to lead those churches. Sa’s role in the church is to nurture and build leaders who could go on to lead those small churches and make disciples for Christ. Currently, Sa leads Student Leadership Development Training (SLDT) with a focus on developing Christian student leaders.
Sa says: “My passion is to see young educated Christians counting the cost and taking the gospel to places in Nepal and to Nepali-speaking diaspora where people have never heard the gospel.”
The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few. Please pray with Sa and Sh that God would send more workers into the harvest field.
G and R—long-term trust
CMS missionaries G and R seek to encourage and support the ministry of Nepali Christians through N church, under Pastor Grishma. The church leaders have invited G and R to support their seniors’ group. They also help lead a weekly home group and have many opportunities for teaching. Ruth supports a fellowship of students and young doctors.
G and R feel blessed to work alongside other CMS workers and expats from other agencies and countries. As CMS encourages workers to stay for the long-term and gain a high level of fluency in the local language, G and R have found that they have developed many trusting friendships with national believers, and so can support them in their ministries. The small team of CMS workers in the same location also meet regularly to support each other’s ministries.
G and R specifically ask for prayer that despite increasing persecution, suspicion and restrictions, the Lord’s kingdom there would continue to grow like the ‘mustard seed’, and that the second and third generation believers would maintain their passion and courage to walk the ‘narrow way’.
Jasan (Co-Mission Partner)—reaching the unreached
Nepali-born Jasan[3] and his father have been involved in pioneering evangelism work for many years. Jasan’s family have known CMS workers G and R for over 30 years.
Jasan works for an organisation whose goal, in his words, “is to reach unreached people groups along the north of our country and over the border. We have been reaching out in these areas since 1986.”
They share the good news with people who have not heard about Christ. They have also offered help in other ways, such as providing building materials to new groups who don’t have a meeting venue, providing a small allowance to support group leaders, and providing both short- and long-term training for workers from these areas.
Jasan has asked Checkpoint readers to pray that Nepal would continue to be open to the gospel.
PRAY
Pray with these workers in Nepal using the prayer points they have shared with us. Perhaps you could use the material to inspire a Nepal mission focus in your Bible study group. You can refer to the 2020 Prayer Diary for further useful information.
[1] From the 2019 CMS Prayer Diary: “Many churches… with whom we partner do not have the financial capacity to support their own workers. Through the Co-Mission Partner program, CMS provides funding to selected people to support and encourage their ministry.” Use the Prayer Diary, available from your branch, to pray in a more informed way about the work of CMS.
