Dearest Friends,
SEVEN PERFECT SHOWS
We have spent the last two days sharing Christ with over 3,000 children, teenagers and adults in very Hindu villages. The bulk of Nepal’s Hindu priests come from the villages where we were talking about Jesus. To describe it as dark is greatly inadequate.
In many of the places where we shared, the teachers showered us with beautiful garlands of marigolds. In several of the schools, they wanted to put a temple blessing on our foreheads in addition to the garlands. This is a red powder that they would use to mark your forehead. We explained that this mark was not allowed by the Living God.
At the heart of everything that we have been saying to the children is this message: our God is alive! A Hindu can make no argument that an idol of stone and concrete is alive. It is the uniqueness of our message as Christians that we can speak about a Living God with whom we can have a relationship through faith in Jesus Christ. I have stared into the eyes of an ocean of children and watched them focus on every single word I said! Their hunger is so real! Only at one show did we have difficulty with the behavior of the children and that was largely due to the efforts of one teacher and the failure of the rest. It has been surprising to see how much help even the Hindu teachers have been at our programs.
I have had some very special opportunities to speak to smaller groups of people as we have been at the schools doing the programs. It is generally considered acceptable here for a man to hit his wife. Thankfully, I had an opportunity to speak with one group of male teachers, challenging them to teach the boys that hitting women is not acceptable. I spoke with a group of village ladies encouraging them to see themselves as God’s special treasure.
This morning I spoke with a very large group of young people challenging them to hold onto their dreams. I told them my dream was to tell the world about hope in Jesus. There was lots of cheering and clapping and all of us were surprised at how receptive they were to what they were hearing. Not everyone was pleased with what I told them. I took a large stick off a boy who was swinging it around threatening the other children. I ran across the school yard to get it and broke it over my knee. Only later did I realize it had a huge nail in one end of the stick. I am sure that this stick first belonged to one of the teachers. I have also had many discussions with teachers about more effective ways to discipline their children.
Hold these thousands of children, teenagers and adults in your prayers. Over 99% of them heard about Jesus for the first time in their lives over these last two days of shows. Please pray they will put their trust in Jesus Christ. Nepal’s only hope is the Gospel.
YOUR GREAT KINDNESS
I have received so many encouraging emails in the last two days and I am so grateful. Sometimes when you are so far from home, you begin to wonder if anyone is reading the stories you send out. I was very touched by the response of so many of you who lovingly indicated your great concern for the Hindu children. Thank you for caring about children that you will never see until you are the other side of Heaven. Your generosity has blessed me and I will in turn bless many others. I appreciate your great kindness!
PRAYER REQUESTS
We have two more days of shows in Eastern Nepal and we really need you to pray. Again, we will be with children who will be hearing the Gospel for the first time. Please ask the Lord to make us wise in how we are sharing His truth.
Late Wednesday afternoon, we will begin driving back toward Central Nepal. On Thursday, we will drive to Kathmandu and on Friday we will fly home. We have a lot of driving on exceptionally bad roads in the next few days. Not only are the roads very difficult, but the traffic on them makes driving very precarious. The winding mountain roads that will take us back to Kathmandu have proven particularly unpleasant for Anna and me. The scenery remains spectacular! Please continue to hold us in your prayers.
In Jesus,
Linda, Anna and Tika Ram Baral