A Story of Hope for the Nations

"These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” ~ John 16:33

It is quite easy to observe the news and general state of things and get the despairing impression that the world. But I'm here to share some hope with you! We have had the immense privilege to get to hear first hand stories of the gospel going out to the unreached parts of the world. Stories that show that God is moving and active all over the world. Hearts are being changed and are being drawn to our one hope in this world, Jesus Christ. A couple of weeks ago, we had a teaching on pioneering a ministry. The lady teaching, Liz, shared her story with us and now we would like to share it with you.

Back in the 80's, a young girl in her early twenties did a Discipleship Training School with YWAM in Hawaii. During a time of intercession, she was praying for Bhutan. At the time, there were hardly any missionaries in Bhutan. She was asking that God would send missionaries. In the middle of her prayer, she felt a question pop into her head. "Why not you? Why don't you go?" Challenged, she had some discussion her leaders and, with their blessing, she went with a friend to scout out the country. They flew into east India where they would attempt to secure their visas. They never did get the visas, but rather Liz's original two month stay turned into a lifetime of ministry in India. 35 years of dedicated service later, the numbers have grown from just a few to over 3,000 missionaries, many of whom are native Indians serving in India and would go into Bhutan and begin ministry there.

When Liz was still in her 20's, she lead an outreach in Nepal. At the time, there was no religious freedom and evangelism was illegal. They were reported to the police for being Christians and were arrested. While they were still being processed, one of the members of the team managed to sneak away into the woods without being caught. He immediately began to run to the nearest village where he knew there were Christian contacts, only he didn't know where! When he reached the town, he began walking the streets and praying that God would lead him to the Christians and after some time, one of the Christian friends found him! They immediately began to pray about how to proceed and felt like they were to take it to the US ambassador in Nepal. The ambassador ended up reaching out to a US Senator who submitted a bill in the Senate that would refuse further aid to Nepal unless they lifted the restrictions on being a Christian and evangelizing.

Back in Nepal, Liz and her team were all crammed into one cell, where there was barely sufficient space for them all to lie down. Together they worshipped, prayed, and even played games. They were allowed to go outside once a day, handcuffed to one another. One day, after being in prison for about a week, an expensive and impressive car rolled up and out stepped the ambassador. The bill had been passed and Nepal changed it's laws that made it no longer illegal to be a Christian and the team was released.

They all rejoiced and were amazed at how God worked through their imprisonment to bring religious freedom to the entire country of Nepal. God brings about our good and His glory even the darkest of situations. He is working through what was happening then and what is happening now. He is bringing hope to our world. Take heart, for He has indeed, overcome the world and holds it in His hands.