I believe that your greatest value as a partner with us in reaching the world for Jesus is to pray.  When we make ourselves available to the Holy Spirit, there are countless ways we make a difference in the world.  I’m thinking, particularly, about prayer for deliverance from wicked men with evil intentions.  Many such men opposed Paul and the Gospel, which explains why he is begging for prayers. Our world today is no different. 

India

Many of us saw images of the recent violence in Mumbai, India. What you did not see or hear is of the violence carried out by extremist Hindu mobs against Christians that started in Orissa and spread to six other states in India. Many believers were killed, and 50,000 have fled their homes.

Iran

In another hot spot of the world, the Iranian Parliament has approved legislation that mandates the death penalty for any person converting from Islam.  This comes at a time when hundreds of Iranians are responding to the Gospel that is infiltrating the country via the airwaves.

Nepal

Our Regional Director in Asia, Terry Phillips, just returned from a trip to Nepal and India. I received a phone call from his wife, Rose, the day he arrived in Katmandu, the capital city of Nepal.  Apparently, he walked right into the middle of civil unrest and had called asking for prayer.  Due to the violence and demonstrations, our scheduled meeting for ministers in Nepal had to be postponed, but Terry was delivered from a perilous situation.  He commented to me later that he has a fresh perspective about the dangerous circumstances in which many of our FCF ministers live each day. 

Though the ministers’ meeting was cancelled because of the unrest and transportation strike, Terry taught in the Bible school founded by our FCF pastor, Brother Daniel. The following is Terry’s report about how God is moving in Nepal.

I had a wonderful time teaching seventeen eager students who are preparing for ministry. At least half of them will be involved in church planting, many in areas of unreached and unchurched people groups.

On the last day of my teaching, I met Anand and Nimali Mikhokpa, a couple who had graduated last year and had just returned from a one-month field assignment to western Nepal. 

To reach a remote village in western Nepal, they had spent one day riding a bus, and then they walked for about seven hours along a river. In that village they had six new conversions. Then they decided to walk up river for four hours to another village and plant a church there. They love the people in western Nepal and want to stay.

While teaching, I mentioned that as Christians we are blessed to be a blessing. Before I left the next day, Anand gave me a “Pentecostal handshake,” an envelope containing about $100 Singapore dollars! I was overwhelmed! I didn’t want to accept, but Pastor Daniel suggested that I allow them to respond to the Lord.

Then he told me that Anand and Nimali had returned to Kathmandu to ask the church to formally send them as missionaries to western Nepal. They have no support, just great faith and a call and a vision from the Lord. The small church in Kathmandu cannot support all the students they are training.

I thought of my own words and decided that I am blessed and that FCF Asia should stand with this couple in their pioneer efforts. We were able to purchase some supplies for their return and will support them on a monthly basis.

In fact, I would like to offer an opportunity for you to be involved in the equipping and sending of Nepalese church planters. To support a student through twelve months of training, including a one-month field experience, requires only $600.00 US. A Nepalese couple can stay on the field and plant churches for about $50.00 US a month. 

In the near future, two more young Christians will be leaving Kathmandu to plant a church in the Himalayan mountain region. They need a sponsor.

If you would like to assist in planting churches or training Bible school students in Nepal, you can send your funds to our office. Be sure to designate them “Asian Church Planting.”