Nepal, located between China and India, is home to about 23 million people. Eight of the world’s ten tallest mountains are found in Nepal. Mt. Everest alone contains 240 peaks over 20,000 feet above sea level. It is a scenic land popular with tourists and adventurers.
However, Jerry Bates and I left the USA Jan. 13 because of another mountain, referred to in scripture as “the mountain of the Lord’s house,” (Isa; 2; Micah 4). Both these contemporary prophets picture people of all nations going up the mountain of the Lord to be taught of God and walk in His ways.
This passage prophesies, or prefigures the house, kingdom or church of the Lord composed of all nations. It is a description of God’s blessings through Christ and of world evangelism. After spending a night in Delhi, India, we flew to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, a city of 3 million. Kathmandu has become a center of evangelism for the country of Nepal.
Jerry Golphenee, a dentist, and his wife have lived in Kathmandu for 14 years. Though he helps people through his dental practice, his greater service is in guiding them to blessings in Jesus Christ. Jerry recognized a need for the Nepali Christians to be trained to teach their own people.
As a result of Jerry’s efforts, Nepali brethren, together with the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver, began the Nepal Center for Biblical Studies the first week of January, 2010. Gajendra Deshar and Jerry Golphenee teach most of the classes, but are increasingly assisted by other brethren. Gajendra is also the Director.
The students attend classes for about 88 weeks of comprehensive Bible study and training for two years. On weekends they assist local congregations by teaching classes, preaching, and helping to establish programs for church growth. Most Nepalis are all extremely poor and their abilities to earn a living are limited. Therefore, plans are being made to give each student the tools to be able to provide adequately for himself and his family. Some of the men who live in the rural areas will receive “gifts” and training of livestock and agriculture methods. Others who live in urban areas will receive appropriate vocational training, such as plumbing, solar energy, computers, welding, etc. Each man receiving a “gift” will be required to “share his gift” with another Christian family within the first year of his work. This vocational training is critical so that the gospel can spread and the church, with very limited resources, will not be burdened.
People will continue to come to Nepal to see the beauty of its mountains, some to back-pack, a few to try to scale the heights of even Mt. Everest. That is all temporary and temporal, however. Of far greater importance is to see the people of Nepal, who have been wandering aimlessly in the wilderness of false hope, now be able reach the heavenly heights in and through Jesus Christ.
—Gary Fallis
Report of Bear Valley Extension in Nepal
Every year in Nepal there is a five week national holiday (called Dashain) sometime in late September and most of October. The exact dates are determined by a Hindu priest according to the full moon. The students went home on September 24 and returned to school at the end of October. This was their first holiday and home visit since the school opened on January 4, 2010.
During August and September we spent some time discussing and planning how the students could encourage, teach and motivate their brothers and sisters at their home congregations. This was to be a family visit and also a spiritual mission outreach. Our students went to their villages high in the mountains to the north, low in the jungles to the south, east to a large city and just outside Ring Road right here in Kathmandu. This outreach touched much of Nepal.
In addition to the students doing the Lord’s work in various villages, three men from Kathmandu went out to four areas {3-5 days each area} to assist the students in their evangelism and to strengthen the members. Gajendra Deshar, the school director, Kirish Maharjan and Deepak Deshar were these three men who spent about 50 hours on buses, slept in strange beds or on the floor, and labored to train and guide the students in a joint effort to mature the Lord’s church in Nepal. They were warmly and lovingly received and begged to return by grateful brothers and sisters. This is one of our major goals becoming a reality—Nepali leaders will evangelize Nepal.
Donnie Bates arrived Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010, attended service in a Tamang village on Sunday morning {after an hour’s “jeep ride” and a half-mile uphill walk}, and also preached Sunday evening at the Nepal Center for Biblical Studies. On Monday morning he began his classes on prayer. Don Prather was our first guest teacher in July, and Donnie was the second. Their excellent teaching, their example of love and service, and the inspiration from the supporting and contributing congregations have touched the minds and hearts of the church in Nepal.
Jerry Bates and Gary Fallis came January 15, 2011 and shared the teaching for one week. Jerry taught about the organization and worship of the church in the morning. Gary taught about the establishment of the church in the afternoon. They were here in the coldest part of the year, with no heat in the hotel or in the school. Despite the cold, they taught clearly and reinforced their teaching by discussion with ample opportunity for questions. The students bonded with them from the very first day.
We had an evangelistic campaign three weeks after Jerry and Gary left. The results were good, and we have plans for another in April. This time we will walk three to four miles in the low jungle area to reach a village that has an attendance of about 70 local villages every Sunday.
The progress of our seven students has been very encouraging. In a country of low literacy, where memorization is the educational standard and accepting what your superior teaches without question, one of our goals was to help the students know “how to learn.” Men who have been preachers for many years are saying, “I want to learn to preach sermons like these students give.”
—Gajendra Deshar
God Is Able
Last September at the Bear Valley Retreat in Denver, CO, we focused on Eph. 3:20. As 2010 comes to an end, I can say that I have seen God’s unmatched power work through His servants to produce fruits “abundantly beyond all that we ask or think”. We have a long way to go. There is much more to accomplish. Because of the efforts of too many to name in America, joined with the work of many in Nepal, and blessed by the power of a gracious God, loving Savior, and guidance of the Holy Spirit, we have made a great start and are headed in the right direction. Please remember us in your prayers.
—Jerry Golphenee
