By Brother Thomas —
We wrapped up our frontier missions school last month. For three months we had 11 students join us and we trained and prepared them for their long-term assignment in a specific nation God has called them to. Adrienne and I trained and discipled students (now friends) and sent them to Asia and North Africa! One highlight was seeing God do remarkable things in the villages on the border of India over 10 days. Here’s an account from the trip:
In the sweltering, impoverished borderlands of Nepal and India, among forgotten people groups, we entered a village and were warned by our translator to tread carefully, we approached the next house, where a family mourned their mother’s recent death, observing a 13-day Hindu ritual. In a quiet conversation, Vihaan*, the son, bared his soul. “These rituals bring no peace,” he confessed, “I follow them only for my family.”
Ananya (our Indian student) shared her story—how God saved her from literal death, igniting her faith. Vihaan listened, riveted. He respected his Hindu traditions but admitted, “I want to follow Jesus. I once attended church, but my mother pulled me back to our old ways.
When she fell gravely ill, three Christians gave money and prayed for her. She recovered fully after the prayers of these believers. I urged her to follow Jesus, but she refused, saying there was no need since she was healed…. Later, she fell sick again and died.”
Vihaan’s voice trembled. “I must tell you something…Last month, when I was visiting our neighbor’s house (new believers), I saw a man in white— and I knew it was Jesus. No one believed me…But I pray to idols, but they never answer…Jesus clearly does”
Moved by the Spirit, Vihaan declared… “I will give my life to Jesus.”
Praise be to God!
Another initiative we have been working on is Every Language: https://everylanguage.com/
This initiative seeks to see every mother-tongue language receive the Bible in their original language. Yes, there is a Nepali bible, but most in the regions only understand 40-60 percent of what it says. It would be like you or I using our high-school Spanish or French and reading the Bible in that language alone.
How are we to disciple nations according to the Great Commission if we do not have the Bible in every language? We can’t! As a response to this seemingly insurmountable challenge we’ve responded as a missions team to reach every mother-tongue language by translating the Bible from Nepali into their original language. So far, we have seven different mother-languages being translated into their tongue for the first time in the history of the world!
We are grateful for you, please continue lifting us up in prayer
*names changed
