The First Story

Here is the first of my promised stories about our Nepali graduates. I want to introduce you to Lazarus and Martha. They graduated nine years ago. My struggle here is choosing which of their many stories to write about.

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Option #1—Their second son Abhishek was born while they were at ISOT-Asia. He was born with severe schizencephaly, which has resulted in profound disabilities. Just remembering the pain of those early months, back in 2001, as we discovered the seriousness of his condition, still brings tears to my eyes. During those days, Lazarus started studying the topic of suffering, and when he went back to Nepal he wrote a book in Nepali called “Where Is God in My Suffering?” Very few books have ever been written by Nepali Christian authors. This one met a real need, and the first several printings sold out immediately. Lazarus went on to write seven more books, and is now working on the eighth. I am overwhelmed with thankfulness when I see Lazarus’ writing ministry. It’s a fascinating story, but I am not going to write about that story.

.Option #2—Two years ago, while Lazarus was conducting a series of training seminars for church planters in Eastern Nepal, he met a woman living in an extremely difficult situation. She had a five-year old daughter that she could no longer take care of. Lazarus felt God nudging him to take the child home. He pushed the feelings aside, and went ahead to the next city on his training schedule. That night he had a dream where he saw the child crying. When he woke up, he cancelled his schedule for that day, rode a bus back to the first city, and asked the mother if she would like him to adopt the child. She said yes, and the little girl, whose name is Simran, willingly came back to Kathmandu and became Lazarus and Martha’s daughter. She is such a sweet and funny little girl, and I loved every minute of staying in their house. It’s a fascinating story, but I am not going to write about that story. .

Option #3—About five years ago, two Nepali men living in Manila became Christians through the witness of our students. I told you the story of one of them back when it happened. The other one, Paul (at left in the photo), was a much more difficult case, and to be honest, I didn’t think he had really become a genuine believer, and I didn’t have much hope for him. When Paul went back to Kathmandu he started attending Lazarus’ church. There were many ups and downs, and the average pastor would have given up. I don’t know of ANYONE who would have enough grace to give to a man like Paul, who kept falling back into his old habits. But Lazarus and Martha believed in Paul. When we visited their church, we saw that Paul had become a strong, committed, faithful leader. While James was out trekking, Paul and his wife invited me to breakfast at their home one day, and I stood amazed. Absolutely amazed. It’s a fascinating story, but I am not going to write about that story.

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Option #4—About five years ago, Lazarus and Martha planted a new church. In the beginning the church met in their home. It grew steadily, and they moved to a bigger space. It kept growing, and they wanted to move again. They found a good location, but the rent was $100 a month and the church couldn’t afford that. That is the story I am going to tell you.

The church is called Jyoti Great Commission Fellowship Church (jyoti means “light” in Nepali). Their dream is to be a light in their community. The church was getting crowded as more and more new believers came in, but they just felt that $100 a month was too much. Finally, a blessing came in the form of a Korean supporter. One of the Jyoti Church members is Jun, a missionary from Korea. He has a fulltime job as a Bible translator for one of the Nepali tribes, but he and his family attend the church on weekends. Jun told the Jyoti Church members that there was a lady in Korea who would give $50 each month if they could cover the rest. They talked it over, and agreed that they could manage their share. So, they rented the new building and the church kept growing. At Christmas time, the church members told Jun that they wanted to send a card and thank-you letter to the Korean lady who was helping them. So they asked Jun, “Can you tell us more about that lady?”

Jun was scheduled to preach that Sunday, so he promised to include her story in his sermon. When the time came, he shared this story:

There was a homeless lady in Korea. She slept on the streets, and she managed to earn enough for food by collecting glass and plastic bottles and turning them in at the recycling center. One day, a Korean Christian shared the gospel with this lady. She was deeply touched as she heard of Jesus’ love for her. She gave her heart to Jesus. The Christian who had shared the gospel with her brought her back to their church and asked the pastor if the lady could live in the church’s empty storage room. He agreed, so the woman began living there and attending the church. She grew spiritually and got very excited about world missions. She still supported herself by collecting bottles for recycling. So she worked harder to collect more bottles. And each month she was able to give $50 for missions in Nepal. That $50 was being sent each month to Jyoti Church to help pay the rent.

As Jun shared the story during his sermon, the Jyoti Church members sat in stunned silence, and then began to weep. They turned to each other and said, “We’re poor, but we aren’t that poor! We have homes and jobs. Why are we not that serious about giving???” So they asked Jun to express their deep thanks to the Korean lady, and asked that she direct her giving to a more needy church. They began to support their own church. Since then, Jyoti Church has continued to pay their own rent AND has planted two daughter churches.
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One of our highlights during our time in Nepal was attending the fifth anniversary of Jyoti Church. That’s where I took the photo in my last post about the dancing deaconess. All the times we spent with Jyoti Church were great fun for us. This is the church family that has helped Paul grow into a spiritual leader. This is the church family that welcomed Simran when she joined Lazarus and Martha’s family. This is the church family that loves Abhishek the way he is. The books that Lazarus writes come out of the trials and joys of this church family. When Lazarus and Martha were struggling students at ISOT –Asia I did not envision all of this. But God did.