White
….”Don’t Mention the Name of Jesus”!
It’s hard to describe the sad hopeless look we saw on the people’s faces when we arrived at Kathmandu, Nepal on October 5 to help with MTM seminars in eastern Nepal. The gloomy, trashy conditions and oppressive spirit spoke of the country’s great need for the gospel.
An evil fifteen day Hindu festival was in progress when we arrived with Raymond & Naomi Burkholder on Sunday, Oct. 9, for our first seminar in very remote poor village named Karsiya in the Morang district near Biratnager, Nepal. It was a joy to meet fellow believers worshiping the real God of this world in the midst of an ungodly worldly festival. Their church building was less than a year old and very nice. Two hundred fifty to three hundred people counting children were attending. More children were present than usual because of the festival.
The people were sitting on the floor singing and praising the Lord with the joy of Jesus beaming on their faces. With rapt attention they followed Bro. Raymond’s teaching on “The Greater Works of the Holy Spirit” and my teaching from “The Beatitudes”. Taking notes and listening intently, these brothers and sisters displayed a deep longing for sound Biblical teaching. They have had little exposure to “whole gospel” teaching. It was exciting to teach them and to be inspired by them too.
All to soon our three days were over. Their word to us was; “we feel like a baby just birthed and now we need you to stay and nurture us on”. It was a privilege to be part of this teaching ministry. The local planning committee worked hard to coordinate the event.
Full Conference Group at Karsiya Village.
After a six hour ride over Nepal style roads we arrived at the second location in Chandrapur. We found the same eager, joyful faces and worshiping hearts. Again there were two hundred fifty to three hundred people in attendance. There were fewer children at this conference. This house of The LORD is located close to a Mosque. To see the name of Jesus be proclaimed right in the midst of a M_sl_m community was awesome.
The people sat on the floor for hours in a crowded, hot, stuffy room and drank from the rich living word. “The Beatitudes” were taught again and Bro. Raymond taught on “The Cry of Ishmael”, a call to evangelize the M_sl_m world. This teaching was greatly appreciated. Their attention was amazing.
In one of Raymond’s session when he began talking about Jesus an evil spirit cried out; “don’t mention Jesus, don’t say the name of Jesus”. The church immediately began rebuking this evil manifestation in the name of Jesus. And it became silent. GLORY! Jesus is LORD! Our hearts were inspired by how they knew what to do, to stand against the Evil One.
Full Conference Group at Chandrapur, Nepal.
The time to leave came too soon. They wanted us to stay longer so we could teach more truths to them. Many books were picked up from the table – books from FLM and others, translated into their language. The hunger to learn is in their hearts! At both places, there were those who traveled six hours or more to come. They sacrifice so much to dine at Jesus’ table. May our pilgrims grow onward and upward as they seriously study His word. The Church is alive!
It was a joy to help MTM carry on the vision of reaching this part of the world with sound Biblical teaching. The cry of the pastors is PLEASE COME AND TEACH US!! Who will answer the cry? Will you?
Our zeal to hold high the heritage we have been blest with was fueled. May we faithfully hold to the teachings we have known and carry the torch forward as we go. Thank you, Jesus, !!
Editor’s Note; The above article was written by Tim & Mary Alice Lauver from Mifflintown, PA. Pastor Tim serves as lead pastor at Cross Roads Mennonite Church near Richfield, PA. Thank you so much Tim & Mary Alice for giving of yourselves as well as time and resources in serving the Lord thru MTM. Our prayer is that the Lord would reward you openly for your labor of love in Kingdom building in Nepal as well as at home.
Another Editor’s Note: Pastor Anand, who was the coordinator for the conference in Chandrapur, wrote a great testimony about the conference. Click HERE to read it!!
