Cry from the Far West Nepal

I was born in Doti, and was supposed to be living the life my friends and neighbors are living even now. But I met Jesus when I was 18 years old and that changed everything for me. No, as some of you might be thinking that becoming a Christian helps you to go abroad; thats not how change came in my life. Change came when I came in touch with the one who created me. Only the maker has the power to bring change, and therefore, God in Jesus Christ has been my guiding light to see changes along the road that has made my life more fruitful and meaningful. We have one life and it should not be wasted on looking for food, but rather loving God and loving our neighbors. Today, many of our talented young and old people are leaving the nation to find more food in the affluent nations. But if we ask God to come into our lives, he can bring the end of all such suffering that we are witnessing in this video.

You Cannot Serve Two Masters

Nepali Church leaders are now crying foul against certain terror group for demanding to pay huge sum of ransom for their security and some seemed to have bought their security with the hard currency. This group chasing the wealthy Christian leaders appears to be well aware of the corrupt practices among the Christians leaders which otherwise go unnoticed by the simple minded Nepalese in general and Christians in particular. It is possible that the group members or the leaders of this outfit might even be some of the disgruntled former Christians themselves because there is half truth behind the rumor that becoming a Christian fetches dollars. This half truth behind the rumor is evidenced in the life style of some of these Christian leaders who have embezzled mission funds to build their own houses, start their businesses and buy visas for their children to live and study in some other developed nations; this is no different than the news which we hear from Pasupatinath and other temples. The only difference is that the Hindu temples get money from the Nepalese (Indians as well at times) where as these wealthy Christian leaders deceive the foreign donors. Just as it is not the devotee with bheti (offering) that is to be blamed for the corruption in the temples, so are the Christians, whether foreign or national, in putting their hard earned money in the hands of these Christian contractors in Nepal with the hope of seeing someone in need being helped.

Because these Christian leaders have demonstrated well, the half truth remains the full truth for the outsiders (non-Christians) who have never really understood what it is to become a Christian. Becoming a Christian and becoming a Christian religious leader in Nepal are two very different things. These Christian leaders who have become wealthy today by deceiving the foreign donors might have become Christian at a certain time in their past and might have endured some of the suffering that comes with becoming one. Until few years ago and even today, becoming a Christian is a very challenging thing in our nation. Our society is still very religious and conservative when it comes to other religions and even the caste system is very much a reality in Hindu ceremonies and rituals (except with Maoist forced exceptions). In a society like this, becoming a Christian means a total ostracism from the family, friends and local community. Sometimes wife is divorced or a husband is abandoned and parents are chased out by the children just become they believe in Jesus Christ. But if someone hears the truth about who Jesus Christ really is; the chances are that he or she will desire to be the follower of Jesus Christ regardless of the price to be paid. When someone really understands the message of the Bible, there is no power or threat that can stop that individual from accepting it. Once the choice is made to be the follower of Jesus Christ, then comes the inevitable case in our nation; the family gets upset and shuns the person regardless of who the person is. If the person is an unemployed young man or a woman, things become more complicated. But it is also not easy when one family in a village decides to become Christian and the whole village comes against them, they are not allowed to drink the water from the same tap, no one goes to their house and no helping hand is given in their times of tragedies. Even in death, most local villages come against the Christians and do not allow their dead to be buried in the same burial jungles. In circumstances like these, the already existing Christian community tries to minimize the suffering of their new brothers and sisters by offering any help they can find. In some cases, they would ask to their known contacts in affluent nations to help these suffering Christians. Such help, not always, comes and suffering is sometimes relieved. But then the real cycle of greed begins by those watching the help come; it is because of the merciless poverty. A non-Christian sees the help from the Christians and becomes tempted to go the easy way, thinking that if he or she can find financial help, it is worth the risk. Poverty is such a powerful task master that it reduces human dignity to the dust and no religious convictions are worth cherishing while in its grip. If there is some relief, it does not matter what religious clothes one wears, and some people do choose Christianity with this false hope and who later become disgruntled if they do not succeed in getting what they came for. Some do succeed.

It is these people who we have to be weary of and make sure that they really know why they want to become Christian. Why one becomes a Christian in the first place will determine the kind of life that person will have. If we see a Christian leader whose conscience is dead, it is possible that he or she had come to Christianity with such a wrong motivation. The right motivation of becoming Christian is to recognize that Jesus is the only way for us to be saved from our sin and restore our relationship with God our creator. It is to recognize our sinfulness and repent from it with a desire to be a better person of honesty, integrity and credibility. It is to be a human with love and compassion for the fellow human beings. But some of these people who are now wealthy and control the church in a nation like ours do not exhibit any of the right motives of becoming a Christian. They appear to have become Christian for the material motivation only.

Since their aim is to gain material success, they do not mind to compromise their doctrinal and moral convictions to please any foreign donors. On the other hand, because they are good at pleasing the human beings, the foreign mission leaders trust these people with their life and resources. Once they have the backing of the foreign Christian leaders and the power of money in their hands, these leaders climb the leadership ladder to the top and control the local church under their vice like grip. They want to attend any world level Christian gatherings, they want to be the main body of Christians with whom the government should deal, and they want to be the main body for any possible donation to run NGO and INGOs. But these people have no concern for the welfare of the Church and the Christians in Nepal. Nepali Christians have now become victims from both the sides. They have been cheated and betrayed by their so called leaders. In the name of these real Nepali Christians who have shown great courage in following Jesus that these wealthy Christians leaders have collected enormous amount of money for themselves. From the other side; the terror group threatens to attack these poor and defenseless Nepali Christians while these wealthy Christians leaders will flee the nation and live in the security of Europe or America. Some of them have already done so and others will follow soon and the rest can pay the ransom, but the innocent Christians will have to pay for the sins of these wealthy Christians leaders all over again.

When a nation crumbles, everything crumbles along with it and the church is not immune to that. The level of corruption in the government is now matched with the Christian mission work where the innocent are only used as baits to catch for the wealthier ones. Some of the foreign missionaries are also achieving great success because they have realized that these poor Christians in Nepal can never voice their grievances against them. A foreign missionary went so far as to tell (to the seminary president where I studied) that the Nepali Christians should not be given admission in seminaries in his country because after their education they know more about the missionary and they do not obey. With this kind of religious betrayal and a real threat from the terror group, Nepali Christians need to voice their concerns and let it be heard from one way or the other. The real Christianity in Nepal is not represented by these gospel agents either national or foreign, but by believers who live in the simplicity of life with all its suffering; from the plains of Madhes to the foot hills of the Himalayas, from the far west to the far east. In order to redeem the face of Christianity, every local church needs to rise up and evaluate its leader because due to the influence of these wealthy leaders, the low level Christians leaders are also contaminated and they are using their congregations for their personal gains. Some of these leaders do not want to be paid by their local congregations because that hinders their freedom to beg from multiple others. But the local congregations need to be given authority to choose their pastors and take care of the needs of their leaders. Unfortunately, some of these congregations are entirely infected with this false Christianity of greed that it is hard for them to think that they are supposed to feed their leaders. This is because for years, these corrupt Christian leaders used such congregations for their advertisement and now the damage to real Christianity is irreparable.

Yet, if there is any hope for the Church in Nepal, this cycle of greed needs to be broken and Christians must take responsibility for their own destiny. It is going to be difficult and sometimes, it may cost lives. But there is no alternative to the authentic Christianity because we are now witnessing the consequences of a false Christianity. If from the beginning days, these leaders were honest and were content with the support from their own local congregations, the rumors of dollars might not have become a problem today. If the Nepali Christians still do not learn the lessons, then God might have to use anyone or anything as he did in China because Nepal is dear to God. The Nepali believer in general is still one of the finest Christians in the world today and God will not abandon him or her because compared to the godless Christianity of Europe, pagan Christianity of Americas and the ritualistic Christianity of the Far East Asia, Nepali Christianity is much closer to the heart of what Jesus taught. May be these greedy leaders will now flee the nation and the real Christianity will take root and hopefully the foes also will realize that the cause of Christian growth in our nation is not money but something else which is also equally attractive to them as well. May be we might have to pay the ultimate price until every Nepali sees the real face of Christianity and experiences the love of God.

Prayer for Kathmandu from a mountain top

Men's group climbed a mountain to pray for the city of Kathmandu

Poverty, Patriotism, and Immigration: A Biblical Reflection

Human dignity is a God-given privilege of man. He is made in the very image of God; has the honor of being called a friend of God! When that image and friendship was marred, Jesus abandoned everything pertaining to his glory and came down to earth to rescue this man who had lost that privilege and honor to the schemes of the Devil. What a price Jesus paid to deliver his friend! What a wondrous work he accomplished to bring back that image in man; restore that friendship and fellowship with this fallen creature who does not know how low he had gone! The story of the prodigal son captures the indignity and shame of this man; yet he refuses to recognize his condition unless the God above, in his divine grace and mercy, would send his Holy Spirit to open the eyes of this blind man to see his indignity and shame, wooing him to come back into that glories companionship. When the eyes of this blind man are opened by grace, he sees the filth he was living in, he realizes how rebellious he had become, and how he had adorned the mask of pride to hide his multitudes of sins. Inside, he was rotten and stinking, but outside, there was an apparent calmness and how he longed that this outward calmness would be real and true even in the inside. How he longed that his soul would find rest from the constant hankerings of sinful passions. But one day he saw Jesus extending his arms of love and heard him say “come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest”; eyes opened by God’s grace, the man plunges into that divine embrace, still stinking though. The loving eyes of Jesus look into the misty eyes of this sinner as he wipes out the tears of remorse and sorrow; the love of God is poured into this broken heart by the Holy Spirit because without the Spirit pouring God’s love into this parched soul, he cannot accept the fact that Jesus accepts him in spite of his stinking past. Finally, with his past behind him and eternity ahead, the image of God begins to appear and the dignity restored and fellowship with God re-established; man is once again a dignified jewel among all of God’s creation.
But not yet! As the whole creation awaits for the final redemption, man has a long way home. It’s just the beginning of that glorious restoration! We live in a world where not every human being has come to his or her senses. Even those whom Jesus has embraced, the residue of the old perspective continues to linger beneath the new perspective. The full impact of the glorious change taking place in our lives is yet to be fully realized. When time shall come, we will enjoy that blessed walk in the cool of the garden with the master himself and all shall be well once again! But not yet.
One of the many evidences that indicate that we are still a long way home is the stigma of being citizens of any of the poorest nations of the world. The discrimination and mistreatment one gets for being a citizen of a poor nation manifests in many different forms; sometimes the discrimination and mistreatment is self-inflicted or invited by the citizens of such nations by their actions, attitudes and appearances, but other times, it is deliberately inflicted upon them by the superior race or nation. Poverty is such a powerful task master that completely takes away the dignity of a human being, not only in the eyes of the other, but in his or her own eyes. Man begins to rationalize his lower and inferior status, and seeing no way out of it, he or she accepts the lot and begins to act and behave in certain ways in order to survive. For example, the legal or illegal immigrants in rich nations who do not wish to return to their native homelands have in most cases lost self-worth and patriotism because they know the power of poverty. Against their conscience and natural tendencies, they try to imitate the life of their adopted nation. The first generation usually goes through a constant period of longing to be back home and at the same time tempted to stay in a foreign land for the hope of achieving material success. Against the ravaging poverty in their homelands, they are rather willing to live with humiliation of another kind than going back to the grinding yoke of poverty. They are willing to set aside their individual human dignity and be treated or mistreated by the natives of the land of their sojourn at their mercy. They are willing to forget their language, culture and even willing to break all ties with their homelands if they can have a chance of gaining the citizenship of their land of dream. Initially such immigrants entered their dreamland as students, professionals, and tourists. Some of them even had contracts to return back to their homelands, but the temptations of materialism overcome the faithfulness and patriotism. But of course, there are those few remnants that after completing their legal stay for either a job or education return back to their countries with respect and dignity intact.

This stigma of being a citizen of a poor nation is nowhere more apparent than in the airports and immigration check points of the wealthy nations. Long before the threat of terrorism and the 9/11, the practice of harassing the passport holder of a poor nation at the airports and immigration check points was prevalent, and more so now due to the fear and in the name of terrorism. That is why the ultimate aspiration of such immigrants is to gain a citizenship in the land of their sojourn so that they no longer would have to be humiliated when they travel to other destinations. Same person holding a passport of a wealthier nation makes a world of difference at the check points, opens doors which otherwise would be impossible and provides a better respect and reception even in a hostile situation. Because of this human need to be recognized and respected, for the people in the poorer nations, immigration to the wealthy nations appears to be the shortcut in finding the fulfillment of that need. But the road to the actual summit of that attainment is not as simple as it seems; few lucky make it to the top but the most are left panting at the foot of that insurmountable mountain. Back in their homelands, many of them might have had a decent job, good family, and an honorable image in the upper end of their society, but the dream of achieving more at times becomes costlier than expected and finally they end up being in the lowest end of their newfound social settings. Back in their homelands, they might have had house maids to work for them in their homes and fields, but because of their dream of achieving more, they themselves end up being the house maids for others in their new and wealthier nation. This desire to look for a greener pasture comes at a price, not only for them individually, but also for their homelands. Instead of developing a healthy patriotism for the well being of their nations, they develop and communicate a defeatist mentality to the rest of their fellow countrymen and soon everyone looks for ways to get out of the forsaken land perpetuating the poverty and regress. This mind set of looking for a greener pasture and abandoning one’s homeland has more ethical implications than it appears. From a biblical perspective, it is a violation of God’s divine order in which every nation’s boundary is set by God and one is placed there for the purpose of glorifying God and bringing his kingdom there by his or her doing and being. Citizens of any nation are to love their lands, defend it, work for its progress and uphold their political leaders so long as they do not contradict the superior laws of God. The citizens who are infected with this desire to immigrate to a better nation need to realize that they are driven by their selfish ambitions at the cost of their native lands, and need to overcome the selfish ambition of personal gain and look beyond the temporary satisfaction for the betterment of their nation and their people. Selfishness is the root evil of many other evils, and the desire to abandon one’s nation for personal gain cannot be taken lightly. But true respect and dignity is only achieved when one’s nation achieves success, but a shortcut to that through immigration is a mirage, so illusive and when it comes, it is too late to enjoy. Whenever a poor nation achieves developmental success and prosperity in a short period of time, those who left the land when it was poor begin to return back to their homeland, and this indicates that true respect, dignity, and satisfaction is illusive in a foreign land; unless the whole land is comprised of immigrants who have equal share in forging their new identity.
There is another side of poverty and patriotism in these times of economic imperialism and colonization and that is the export of human labor. The number one export item of many of the poorer nations is human labor; a new form of slavery of modern time. As far as it is possible, nobody in the wealthy nations likes to work in the so called 3D jobs; the dirty, the difficult, and the dangerous. So, they import laborers from any poor nation that is willing to export their brightest and the best for such tasks as those 3Ds. Life in the poorer nation is difficult, but the television and the modern communication have made the world a village and the general public in these genetically leveled as third world nations are bombarded with all the glittering of the first world . The illusory images created by the world of media could hardly match the reality in the ground, but the young and brightest of these nations flock into the labor market with the ideal image of a wealthy nation presented to them through movies, media, and television. They leave their homeland in the prime of life with the hope of making good money with relative easy, because for them, the image of working in a developed nation was formed from movies and television. The scenes at transit airports like Bangkok and Dubai cannot be described in less than slavery terms. Hoards of these migrant workers are given the same uniform (same color of caps or jackets), with their work document folder in their hands, they are huddled together from one place to another with security guards in front and behind them, transporting them like as if they were a dangerous herd of cows. Some of these workers come from so remote part of their homelands and had never entered an airplane prior to this new experience. Most of them coming from rural upbringing, become confounded with the view of the new world, willingly bear the shame and inhuman treatment at the hands of their masters. When they finally get to their working destinations, very soon, they realize that all that glitters is not gold, all the images of that nation that they had seen from movies and TV was not real, and the promise of easy money was a myth they refused to believe when it was first told them while they were making the decision to leave their countries. Working conditions and the treatment at the hands of their masters breaks their spirit, but having no choice, they endure the hardship with the hope of returning soon. As they pick up the local language, their pain multiplies as how they are despised as the 3D workers and they find out that if the same job is done by the native of that land, the company would have to pay three to five times more than what it pays to these migrant workers; the value of a migrant worker becomes five times less than a native. But the power of poverty is such that it makes humans lose all hopes and dreams; after they overcome the initial shock, slowly they get used to the mistreatment and lack of respect. They develop this inferior image of themselves and when they finally come back to their homelands, the inferiority takes different forms. Some exhibit pride, others violence and some turn out to be sensible human beings and make use of their bitter experience to achieve something good for themselves and others around them in their homeland. The sensible ones become the inspiration and warning for the new generation to work hard in their own homelands than selling themselves as slaves to foreign nations.
Bible does speak a lot about poverty, and no where it says that it is God’s will for man to live in poverty. The Roman Catholic vows practiced by Benedictine and Franciscans; of chastity, poverty and obedience is accepted by the protestant church without qualification. Especially the poverty is seen as a sign of piety, but Bible nowhere confirms such assumption. Rather, there are plenty of texts that promise material blessings to the faithful and the righteous, and the way God brings a person out of poverty is when a believer finds his or her dignity in God and believes that his or her life is in the plan of God and therefore, his or her citizenship in that particular nation is God ordained. Once this issue of citizenship is settled with confidence; the person begins to work not for food, but for God. A farmer begins to glorify God when he works, a clerk believes that it is God who sent him or her to work there and serve God in his or her working environment, a teacher aims to please God in his teaching, a politician aims to bring God’s kingdom in his sphere of rule and soon these individuals begin to experience divine breakthroughs and amazing results in their work places. Because they no longer work for stomach, the power of poverty is broken in their minds and they are liberated from greed to generosity, from selfishness to service. When a person has achieved a sense of generosity and an attitude of service, the divine doors of God’s favor begin to open up and soon, God’s blessings not only satisfy his or her needs, but the needs of others around.
So, the only solution to a dignified humanity in one’s own homeland is to know the God of the Bible and believe his word and decide to work for him to create a better country and fulfill the patriotic duties of a good citizen. There is no other way out of poverty, not even immigration to a wealthy nation.

येशूको रगतको मुहान

Translated by Bhojraj Bhatta, from the English Hymn “There is a fountain filled with blood” by William Cowper (1771), 1932-1800. He was an English poet who worked with John Newton and others of his era.

१ देख्छु म बगेको मुहान, येशूको रगत को
पापीहरु स्नान गर्छन् जहाँ, मेटिन्छन् पापका दागहरु
मेटिन्छन् पापका दागहरु, मेटिन्छन् पापका दागहरु
पापीहरु स्नान गर्छन् जहाँ, मेटिन्छन् पापका दागहरु

२ त्यो मुहान देख्दा रमाउँछ, चोर पनि क्रूसमा
उ जस्तै पापी म भए नि, धुँदछु पाप सबै
धुँदछु पाप सबै, धुँदछु पाप सबै
उ जस्तै पापी म भए नि, धुँदछु पाप सबै

३ प्यारो थुमा तपाईँको रगत, अशक्त कहिल्यै हुँदैन
जबसम्म थुमाको मण्डली, पापरहित हुँदैन
पापरहित हुँदैन, पापरहित हुँदैन
जबसम्म थुमाको मण्डली, पापरहित हुँदैन

४ येशूको रगतको मुहान, विश्‍वासद्वारा देखे देखि
उद्धारक प्रेम मेरो गीत भयो, गाउँनेछु बाँचुन्जेल
गाउँनेछु बाँचुन्जेल, गाउँनेछु बाँचुन्जेल
उद्धारक प्रेम मेरो गीत भयो, गाउँनेछु बाँचुन्जेल

५ गाउँने मेरा यी ओठहरु, चिहानमा जब सुत्‍नेछन्
थुमाको मुक्तिको गीत म, स्वर्गिय धुनमा सधैँ गाउँनेछु
स्वर्गिय धुनमा सधैँ गाउँनेछु, स्वर्गिय धुनमा सधैँ गाउँनेछु
थुमाको मुक्तिको गीत म, स्वर्गिय धुनमा सधैँ गाउँनेछु

Audio uploaded on July 7, 2018

I Remember

I remember the day when I first heard I had my parents. I remember the day I first saw my parents and other members of my family.  I remember the day I bought a bag full of books from a group of booksellers with a fraction amount of a rupee (they had come to our school; Rampur High School, Budar, Doti in far west Nepal where I was probably fifth grader) and how they were told to leave the school.  I remember staying over in my aunt’s house (because by then my home had become a prison for me).

I remember running away from home and traveling to India (I was suffering from severe depression; home had become unbearable). I remember passing 9th grade with grace marks from a kind teacher.  That year had been the most troublesome year of my life.  After wondering in India and visiting holy places I had once again returned home with even emptier heart than when I left, and had to sit in exams without any preparation.  

I remember my sister’s family offering me to stay in their house and finish my 10th grade (10th grade used to be the most severe test for one to enter university in Nepal).  Though I came to stay with my sister, I had brought my problems along with me to her house.

I remember my school teacher shouting at me (in a loving way) and asking me to buy chocolate for passing the 10th grade (SLC; school leaving certificate).  

I remember the night I said "Yes" to the Lord Jesus Christ in that dark room.  I remember the day I took baptism. I remember the day I was baptized in the Holy Spirit. I remember the day I decided to serve the Lord for the rest of my life.

There after there are so many fond memories that I cannot list all of them here…I remember the day I was able to communicate in English (I was 20 years old by then).  I remember when I got the academic excellence award in my graduation from a well known Bible College in India.  I remember the first day I met my wife. I remember the day she said yes to marry me…I remember the day when doctor told me that my wife was pregnant…the day when I first held my son in my arms…the day he spoke the first word “papa”, the day his first step to walk as I was leaning him against a wall.

I remember the day we began our first church…the day we first laid the foundation for our church building…the few more graduations along the way towards my educational pursuit…

There are so many good memories and there were also equally or even more difficult experiences along the way, but they are not there in my memory with the same freshness. The Lord has blessed me with the gift of Manasseh so that I would not be crushed with the weight of all the bad things that had happened all along those years.

Jesus, when leaving his disciples, he told them “do this in remembrance of me” indicating to the fact of his death on the cross for our sins. This “remembrance” is such a blessed gift from God that every time I fall short, I am reminded to “remember” the cross and the blood that guaranteed my entrance into the Holy of Holies. It reminds me of the fact that it’s not about me or my goodness, but it’s all about Him and His goodness and grace that I am what I am today. Even the heavens sing of the importance of the event of the Mt. Calvary when they sang; “they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony”. We remember Calvary and confess our sins and move on to the place where we shall join the chorus in singing to the Lamb upon the throne.

This blog is an attempt to take note of these things as I remember along the path as I move forward towards my heavenward call...if you have the time and the tenacity;  I would greatly appreciate your company, contribution and even some occasional comments...I am new to the world of Internet and modern technology…but I hope to catch you along.