In the early 1990s, Nepal was opened to the Gospel. At that time, it was the world's only Hindu kingdom and Christianity had never been allowed to officially exist. There were few churches and believers were persecuted. But with the democracy movement of the 90s came an explosion of churches across the nation. Western Nepal however, has remained largely unreached. Through the 90s a strong Maoist insurgency controlled much of the west. Violence and political instability made evangelism and the growth of the Gospel extremely difficult. Last year that changed. The Maoists have gained representation in the Nepali parliament and have agreed to lay down their weapons. Their armaments are cached in a huge depot in the mountains of the north-west, under the supervision of the U.N.
In the past two years, with the help of Bethany World Prayer Center, we have been sponsoring village church plants across western Nepal. There are now over 70 churches established in these rural villages. We are developing a training center in Nepalgunj, Nepal and have launched a construction project to extend the mother church there from a seating capacity of 200 to over 1,000.
This month, Bev and I have been training the top leaders who help oversee these churches. We are developing growth and training strategies for the future and 100 churches by this time next year is well within our grasp. I believe that 120 may be possible.
This weekend we traveled four hours north by jeep to visit a village church that had been established only 9 months ago. There are now over 130 adult believers gathering in this brand new congregation. The growth is absolutely amazing! We drove through scores of small towns with no Gospel witness and that is just the southern edge of the vast, largely unreached regions of the north-west. In an afternoon service, we gathered with a small group of believers at a nearby river and baptized 30 new believers. Thanks for standing with us in faith and partnering with us to reach these desperate regions of Nepal with the Gospel.
-Rick
Churchasia Inc - P.O. Box 82080, Baton Rouge, LA 70884
rick@rickzachary.com |
