Hey friends: It’s starting to become a very long trip. We are missing family and deeply grateful for your prayers. My health recovered quickly as well as my voice, and I am back to preaching, for which I am thankful. (Please continue in prayer for Colin and Trent for their recovery from sickness.) By God’s grace the team remains in good spirits. We have a remarkable sense of unity and joy in the privilege of traveling on behalf of our church family and sending back these firsthand accounts of what God is doing through our church to impact the world for Christ.
Today was by far the hardest day of the Risen for the Nations tour. Our trip from Malaysia to Nepal went smoothly and the welcome from Pastor Timothy and the Harvest churches here was incredibly encouraging. Upon arrival we had another night of intermittent sleep, in yet another time zone (from 13 hours difference in Malaysia, to 10 hours and 45 minutes in the city of Kathmandu, Nepal). However, we rose with excitement to see the city . . . only to have our hopes dashed by the enormity of the need, the squalor of the people, and worst of all, the deep darkness of Hinduism and Buddhism.
The five major world religions are: Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. From Jerusalem, to Malaysia, to Nepal, we have had a front row seat to the other four so-called ‘religions’—and to say they are less than compelling would be an understatement.
In Jerusalem, we were taught that Orthodox Jews, who pride themselves on their knowledge of the Torah, see nothing wrong with frequenting prostitutes, provided they do so outside their own communities. This seemed unbelievable to me, but I tested it when we were approached by an Orthodox Jew on the streets of Jerusalem who was begging for money. I simply asked, “Is it true that you have no problem going to a prostitute if she is outside your own community?” He quickly replied with a creepy, deep voice “Yezzzz, itz good, no?” Of course I immediately declined his request for money, stating, “I could never support such behavior.” I walked away, grieved by the overt hypocrisy of claiming to love the Word of God but showing such little regard for its moral teaching.
The minarets dotting the skyline in Muslim nations blare the oppressive wailing of a priest who, five times daily, calls everyone to prayer through loud speakers. All opposition is crushed, so objection is never voiced. This is coerced belief at its worst, and the very opposite of the gospel of Christ. Anyone who says, “all roads lead to God” would have a hard time explaining how these roads lead anywhere, let alone to the same place Christ is taking His true followers.
Leaving Malaysia, I felt fairly confident that the worst of false religion was behind us. Actually, the sights we saw in our tour of Kathmandu, Nepal, made the Malaysian Islam and Israeli Judaism look like a Sunday School picnic. I confess to being in tears many times throughout the day as we saw children cremated in public, their ashes swept into the river as the families waded into the floating filth to bathe in their child’s cremated remains . . . even drinking the water from this nasty creek which they call ‘holy,’ known as the Bagmati River.
The streets were lined with little phone booth-sized temples, as painted men lounged self-righteously in the doors, believing they are next in line to become gods themselves. Such is the darkness of Hinduism. It reminded me of Jesus’ words to the false religion of His day, ‘the blind leading the blind’ (Matthew 15:14).
Next, we visited the “Monkey Temple,” one of the most sacred shrines in Buddhism. The climb up 365 steps, which promised ‘enlightenment’ to anyone reaching the top, was less than enlightening as I stood on the highest step.
The ritual prayers and weeping of the people as they touched the countless idols, made sacrifices of spice and rice, and generally moped about in despair and confusion were the furthest thing from enlightened. NO singing or celebrating, no grace or forgiveness, no joy of any kind. Only someone who had never visited these places or known the light of Christ could claim this salvation slavery, which demands everything and gives nothing, as an equal to the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.
I will say a lot more about what we have seen when you come to Harvest this weekend, including the AWESOME CONTRAST OF OUR HARVEST CHURCHES IN NEPAL. Let me just say that when Jeff, Kirk, and I baptized 20 converts in a little creek as they verbalized their faith in Jesus, it was amazing—and we will tell you all about it at church.
Next came a meeting with ten Harvest Pastors for an afternoon and seeing their sacrificial passion to proclaim the gospel. Then, best of all was praying, worshiping and getting to preach to a combined worship event for all ten Nepali Harvest Bible Chapels—maybe the biggest swing of darkness to light I have felt since coming to Christ myself. From tears of grief over the desperate needs of lost people all around us, to the incredible joy and excitement of our weekend worship, suffice it to say I can’t wait for you to get to church this weekend and take it all in personally.
As I close, I cannot overemphasize the impact of your prayers. From speedy health recovery, to moments where we remark to one another of a nearly tangible sense of being prayed for, your faith petitions are heard by our Lord and being answered. This is one of the hardest and best and toughest things I have ever done, and I think the team feels the same. We are doing this out of love for you and for the work God is doing through us around the world. My prayer for you (even as you continue in prayer for us) is that God would use all that you are seeing and hearing to lift your eyes to the fields He has ripened for His own name’s sake.
“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.” John 4:35
Can’t wait to share it all with you in much more detail this weekend. We love you deeply and miss you greatly.
For the Risen for the Nations team,
James
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