MHT 2017 Nepal - Pastor Bruce Naumann

Yesterday (Wednesday) we completed our work as the pastor-types finished up the second day of the HCLCN Seminar, and the rest of the group returned from their child evangelism, about 5 hours south of Kathmandu. Today was set aside for some touring and shopping before we depart for home tomorrow. The main architectural attractions in the city are the Buddhist and Hindu temples. We saw several, and were immediately struck by the sad blindness of millions who openly worship idols. In a land where a tiny minority of the people are Christian, we feel both blessed and challenged. Blessed to have had the privilege of proclaiming Christ in this place, and challenged to continue the work of witnessing to our Lord Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We have established a close bond together as fellow travelers and workers, and we cherish the friendship and fellowship of the Bhitrakoti family and all the people of the HCLCN. It was great to come, and it will be great to be home

Early this morning most of the Mission Helpers left for a final, long bus ride to Bardibas for child evangelism. Grant Drew, Pete Reim, Todd Ohlmann and I stayed for the pastors’ workshop here. Today was my day to present a crash course in Gospel preaching to the pastors. Many of them are badly lacking in pastoral training, and my aim was to give them a “do it yourself” approach for sermon preparation and delivery. Judging from the reports by the breakout groups, each of which worked on a sample sermon text, the men benefitted from the paper, which Raju had graciously translated into Nepalese. The Bardibas travelers had intended to return late tonight, but were delayed enough that they decided to stay over, and will return tomorrow. Pete Reim has tomorrow’s presentation on general Bible study, and the training of teachers for Sunday school. Our flight home leaves Kathmandu Thursday night… whew!

Pastor BN – Worship at Eternal Life Lutheran in Kathmandu The Mission Helper Team members were guests for Saturday morning worship at Pastor JB’s church in Kathmandu. All the churches worship on Saturday, simply because that is the only ‘day off’ in Nepal generally. The service began at 9 – sort of. There was worship music provided by musicians for a half hour while the people filtered in. Pastor JB then introduced us, and led the service. I had the privilege of being the guest speaker, addressing the people from 1 Corinthians 5 – ‘The love of Christ compels us.’ It is the overwhelming love of God in Christ that assures us of forgiveness and life, and moves us to share that Gospel. The message is summed up in four simple words, ’ONE DIED FOR All.' It was a joy to share this time of worship and fellowship with our HCLCN brothers and sisters, including observance of the Lord’s Supper. Near the close of the service the ‘Mission Helper Choir’ sang Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah and

Yesterday morning (Friday) we awoke at a motel in the Dhadding District of Nepal. The entire group rode a bus for a few miles, to a dirt road turnoff that went up, up, up with winding, severely rutted switchbacks. I don’t know how any vehicle could possibly climb that “road,” but 4x4 sort of flatbed truck-thing that we rode on somehow managed it. It was a good two hours of lurching, bouncing, and nail-biting at the sheer drop-offs, but it was much better than hiking the whole way! There were four different congregations at which our teams were let out for a hike to the locations for child evangelism. During the presentation it started to rain hard, and we found out that our driver wasn’t willing to try to get us back down the hills. 5-hour hike, here we come! It started out in the pouring rain, but things got better. The rain stopped, and after we met up with the other groups we found a different truck and driver; he was able to deliver us into town to meet our bus. It was 11 pm by t

Hattibang is, of course, inaccessible except on foot. The people there eke out a living by farming rice and corn on the terraced foothills. There is a secular school there... About 20% of the students are Christians, and the rest come from Hindu families. We had the privilege to proclaim the story of God's love in Christ to the whole school. They were all very attentive. We pray for God's powerful Word to do its work in them! The trip out of Hattibang, by a different route, was shorter than the way in, but in some ways harder. We were grateful beyond words to have made the trip and reached its end! 

Volunteers were taken to do the very hard hike to Hattibang. I wasn't among them, but when Josh Ohlmann couldn't go because of a sore ankle, I hopped on board. It was a 6 hour hike, with lots of elevation, to get there. It was the most physically demanding thing I've ever done - as in sweat-drenched, heaving, I-don't-think-I-can-do-this travail... But well worth it, as the next post will show. 

After very long flights, overnight bus rides, and a chance to get started on our work we had a very welcome day off at the Chitwan National Forest. The elephant ride was unforgettable, as well as the dugout canoe ride, complete with crocodile sightings! The biggest challenge of the trip would come the following day...

Hello again - Here is how our evangelism works - Through a translator, we walk the kids through the story of the creation, fall, flood, the birth, life, death and resurrection our Lord Jesus. In many cases we have a large proportion of Hindu children present. Afterward, we hand out book bags with HCLCN information on them. Grant and I are on the same team with cousins Shelby Shwab and Ana Pavey. Coming up: a fun break before a hard trek.

Peter Reim, 2 HCLCN pastors [we've been advised not to name them on the blog], and myself. Also, when a few blocks to see the elephant... In the background maybe you can make out some Himalayan peaks. Too bad we're at the start of the monsoon season, so we may not get a clear look at them on this trip.

Hello All - all our traveling delays finally paid off when we brought our children's evangelism program to 8 congregations (between our four teams) yesterday and today. We had expected to present to perhaps 1500 kids on the whole trip... We're in the area of 1200 already, with 2 weeks to go! This afternoon we arrived at our "day off" hotel. Elephant ride/safari tomorrow, then travel to our next hotel, from which we'll continue to go out to churches on Monday. This will begin the "hiking to remote villages " portion of the trip. Thanks for all the prayers - they're working!

Friday morning, July 14 - At least it FEELS like the ends of the earth for our Nepal Mission helpers. We have arrived in Dang and Sirkhut after 30+ hours of riding on a bus. It wasn't planned that way, but a previous mudslide on the road made it too dangerous to travel by night, so we had long delays. Our young folks made the best of it, and the older fellows also soldiered on. In the photos, we're talking a walking tour around Mading, the place where the mudslide stopped us. The shower and bed were a very welcome relief last night! We have the morning to organize and prepare, and will be sharing God's Word early this afternoon with the children of the Dang and also in Sirkhut, where there is a Christian school.

We arrived in Kathmandu early Wednesday morning, and by about 4:30 pm we were on a bus, bound for Dang and Sirkhut. This about a 15 hour journey to western Nepal. These are newer congregations in the HCLCN, and have not been visited by Mission Helper teams before. We’ll be presenting tomorrow, after an all-night drive. May the Lord help us to deliver a clear message about Christ!

Hello - Raju and Rajan met us at the airport. We are settled in to our hostel. Lunch soon, then boarding the bus for a 15 hour ride... If there no washouts!

Hello from Istanbul, Turkey. We gathered in the terminal after our 11 hour flight and had a prayer. We have a 6ish hour layover before our flight to Kathmandu. Most everybody got some good sleep.

Here's Missionary Ohlmann explaining how our schedule when we arrive is going to be accelerated. We were going to have a day and a night to adjust to Kathmandu, but now on the day we arrive we leave at 4 pm for a 15 hour bus ride, and teaching the next day. Whew!

Here's our group, ready to depart. Everything is going well so far, except that Anna Pavey's checked bag was lost on her flight to Chicago. Trying to track that down...

We left family and friends today on the start of our mission trip to Nepal. Grant and I, with Josh Ohlmann and Heidi Lau, are nearly at the airport. Looking forward to long hikes and ready young hearts to hear the Word of God.

Tomorrow Grant and I, with Josh Ohlmann and Heidi Lau, leave from Eau Claire to travel to Chicago, then on to Nepal for the 2017 Mission Helper trip. Please pray for our safe travel, and for the success of the Lord's powerful Word which we'll be proclaiming! Pastor and Mrs. JB Bhitrakoti and the orphans under their care.