Episode 128

In many countries around the world, the name of Jesus Christ is still unknown and the people are as yet unreached. Nepal is home to nearly 31 million souls, 1.5% of which claim the title ‘Christian’ and only the Lord knows how many of that small percentage are genuine born-again believers. In this episode of the Removing Barriers podcast, we have the honor of interviewing Missionary John, whom God has called to reach the people of Nepal. We will learn about the challenges of this field, and how God is working to remove the barriers Hinduism, Buddhism, and other religions pose to salvation.

May 24th, 2023 Update
At 23:28 in the recording, Missionary John was asked “How do you share the Gospel in the culture like that? Would you agree that it is a shame/honor culture in that area of the world, and how would you go about doing that?” His response was, “I would agree that it is certainly motivated a lot more by guilt.” He meant to say “shame.”

Also at 26:25 in the recording, Missionary John said that Silas was with Paul in Acts 14. That was incorrect. He meant to say Barnabas was with Paul.

[John]

This is the question that he really dealt with my heart, he says. Why do you think I would allow you to preach my sons gospel on the mission field when you will not even? Walk across the. Street and tell your neighbor about Jesus Christ.

[Jay]

Thank you for tuning in to the Removing Barriers podcast. I’m Jay and I’m MCG. And we’re attempting to remove barriers so we can all have a clear view of the cross.

[MCG]

This is episode 128 of the Removing Barriers podcast and this is the 13th in the series of on the mission field, and in this episode we’ll be going on the mission field with missionary John to Nepal. John, it’s a pleasure and welcome to the Removing Barriers podcast.

[John]

Well, thank you very much for the opportunity.

[MCG]

Well, let’s get into it. Tell us about yourself, your family, whatever you feel comfortable sharing with us.

[John]

OK. Well, I’ll just share a little bit of a testimony of how God saved me and how he called me into the ministry. I was raised. In a Christian home. My dad was saved later in life. He was 32 and I was about five years old. So as I grew physically, my dad was growing spiritually. It was not the most spiritually well grounded home, but Dad was growing. His convictions were forming, so he faithfully. Took us to a Bible preaching church. And I thank God for that, because I understood my need for the Savior and I was saved at age 12. But I lived a carnal life through my teenage years, and I met my wife in high school and next to my salvation. She was definitely the greatest thing that ever happened to me. She did not grow up in a Christian home. Her family, they were religious at times and they knew the Christian lingo. So when I spoke to her about knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior and knowing that she was his child, she told me that she was. She believed that when she repeated a prayer when she was nine years old, that she was saved because the pastor led her in that prayer and declared her to be safe. And it wasn’t until her first year in Bible College that she came to understand that she had never truly put her faith in Jesus Christ for her salvation. She never understood the gospel until then, and so we were both babes in Christ and God mercifully led us and ordered our steps. And put some really godly Saints in our path to encourage us and counsel us along the way and we got plugged into the youth group and our church. In God’s spirit, really began dealing with our hearts about yielding ourselves to him. I was called to preach when I was 18 years old. I surrendered my life to him at that time and shortly after they had our youth group went on a mission trip to Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands and it was on that. Trip my wife and I were engaged to be married. It was on that trip that God really began to deal with our hearts about giving our lives to him for being missionaries, and we prayed together and we just yielded to whatever God wanted. Do we were convinced God was calling us to the foreign mission field we specifically were burdened at that time for Third World missions. And I know that we were very young, emotionally and spiritually. So we continued to go to Bible College. And after Bible College, I assumed that God would direct us right away where he wanted us to go. And his answer was very clear to us, and that was. He wanted us to wait and so we just submitted it and trusted in his perfect timing and. He allowed us to grow in our local church and we served there and now looking back on that, I can see that it was definitely God’s timing because if we had gone to the mission field at that time, I don’t think we would have made it very far. We just needed to grow. And so we served for about 8 years in our local. Church and God showed us the people he had called us to. We began sincerely praying. Later on, in that time that God would show us and, you know, one of the things that God did confront and convict us over was our lack of attention or our lack of willingness to deliberate personal evangelization. You know, working as personal witnesses. For him, we were busy in our church and our lives certainly gave testimony. The fact that we were Christians, but we. Were doing very little in the way of witnessing to family and. Neighbors and Co work. We knew God was preparing this and. This is the question that he really dealt with my heart, he says. Why do you think I would allow you to preach my sons gospel on the mission field when you will not even walk across the street and tell your neighbor about Jesus Christ? And so the Lord used that time to, really. Get us out of that comfort zone and we began inviting friends and acquaintances from work and people from church and homeschool. Co-op group and just everyone that we could, we invited them to our home for a meal. We told them ahead of time that we were going to do a Bible study with them and after the meal we just opened God’s word and just shared the simple truths of the gospel that Jesus died for us, that he paid for our sins, that he rose again from the dead. And victory for our justification. And I tell you, the Lord really began to open up hearts and people got saved in our home. Many of them were churchgoing people, and so God. Used that time to help. Us to grow. And it was an amazing time in our lives. And so shortly after that, we really began to focus again on the mission field. Earnestly praying God would show us where he wanted us to go, and a missionary came to our church and shared about. What God was doing in Nepal and the great need there and the Holy Spirit used that divine appointment to direct our hearts to take the gospel to the Nepalese people at that time.

[MCG]

Man, you said something there. That’s very interesting. Then the fact that you weren’t evangelizing your local Jerusalem and you said the Lord spoke to your heart and said, why would I send you to the foreign field when you’re not doing it locally? Do you believe that’s the reason why a lot of Christians don’t evangelize, and by extension, a lot of Christians may not obey that call to go on the mission field? I find it very interesting. You know, I’m from the Caribbean. Let me put it this way. I’m from the Caribbean and one of the signs that we have in the Caribbean against missionaries is that they would not evangelize their own people, but they will come to us and try to win us. Yet they neglect their people as a missionary, and you hear something like that from a place that missionaries go to. What is your response?

[John]

I can tell you that God dealt with my wife and I both really at the same time and used a message that we heard on the radio. I was in the car getting groceries and I was in the car driving for my work and we listened to the same message and it was Doctor David Gibbs who was preaching. He was preaching on the top 10 reasons why we. Won’t hand out a gospel tract and. I don’t remember all the reasons, but I remember the last one. He said the number one reason why you won’t hand out a gospel track is because you just don’t care. And boy, that just hit me. And I came home and I. Was under a. Lot of conviction and I said, honey, I I need to share something with you. And she’s like, no, I need to share something with you. And we both just started crying together and just shared the same story, basically that God had orchestrated both of us to listen to that same message. And yeah, if we’re not willing to go across the street. And tell people about the Lord Jesus Christ. We’re not going to do that on the other side of the world.

[Jay]

Brother, could you tell us more about your mission field? Whatever you feel comfortable sharing? Perhaps population, people groups, perhaps the religious breakdown of your mission field? Where has God called you to serve it? Not in specifics, but tell us about your mission field.

[John]

OK, well I don’t mind sharing about the mission field. God has called us to. It is a restricted access country. It is the country of Nepal. And Nepal is a country made-up of about 30 million people. The capital of Nepal is Kathmandu and we live inside of Kathmandu Valley, which it has about 3 million people. The religious breakdown of Nepal, according to world statistics. It is 81% Hindu. Very much like India culturally and also religiously, it’s very closely related to India. It’s 9% Buddhist and 4% Muslim. And they say that the Christian population is 1.5%. I believe that’s an inflated number because. They lump everything together. The churches that are there, many of them do not preach the Gospel of Christ. And so there are 125 casts or what we would call ethnic groups in Nepal, there are almost that many languages. There’s 123 languages that are spoken as a mother tongue that’s not including. Foreign language is foreign to them, I should say. The official working languages, Nepali language, that’s the language that my wife and I have learned. In our learning. Sometimes we feel like we’re just children trying to speak it. It’s very difficult.

[MCG]

I imagine that you preach in. Is it the Nepali language?

[John]

That’s correct. It’s Nepali.

[MCG]

Do you preach in it?

[John]

Well, I for a long time I used an interpreter and the main reason for that was because if I did not pronounce words correctly, then our people really did not understand, and half of the people that. Were coming to. Our church could not read or write. So it was very important for me to pronounce those. Words correctly and so I used that for a crutch for a long time and I I used an interpreter. I could speak conversational Nepali, but preaching it, it was completely different manner. COVID came along and my interpreter got sick and he said, brother, you’re going to have to do this on your own. And so it was just another way that God was getting me out of my comfort zone. I preached for a couple of weeks. In Nepali and then after that, our people said we don’t want you to go back to an interpreter. We want you to continue preaching in Nepali because we can understand you. So that was a great encouragement.

[MCG]

Yeah, my man. Tell us where in the world is Nepal?

[Jay]

For people like me that are geographically challenged, right?

[John]

Nepal is a small country. It’s about the size of Florida and it is located. And between the two giants, China and India, it’s kind of sandwiched in between those two. The Himalayan range, it’s to the northern part of Nepal, is made-up of the Himalayas. Mount Everest is in the fall.

[MCG]

You know, it’s funny that you say it’s a small country. I’m from the Caribbean. And you say Nepal is the size of Florida. That’s a large country.

[John]

Yeah, I guess you would say it’s a medium sized country.

[Jay]

So you mentioned how in your particular flock many are illiterate and that’s not to be mean. It’s just that they can’t read or write. And so it’s very important for you to be able to communicate and speak the language very clearly so that the message gets through to them. Do you find that as you are? Laboring in that particular field, are you also have? And to help the people learn to read and write so that they can perhaps pick up the Bible and read for themselves, is that a part of your ministry as well when trying to help them get on their feet in terms of the gospel and reading the Bible and things of that nature.

[John]

I do not personally know there have been times when one of the gentlemen from our church wanted to teach and so he offered to teach some of the older people, especially who could not read or write. He talked them that Nepali language. And so that is way above my head.

[Jay]

Hmm, I see.

[John]

I struggled just learning it myself.

[Jay]

But God is obviously using you to speak the word, and the scriptures say that how in the world are they going to believe if they don’t hear, and how are they going to hear if no one is sent to them? So actually speaking and preaching the word, so obviously God is using you. You said that the people. Actually said they don’t. Want an interpreter any longer? They want you to preach because they actually understand what you’re saying, and God is obviously using you on that front. Praise the Lord for that. That he brought you to them so that the gospel can sound in their ears.

[John]

Yes, the Nepali people are very gracious, and they have been so loving, you know, toward us. And and they laugh at us all the time when we speak. And you know what? The missionaries have got to learn to laugh at themselves. We say some of the dumbest things, but God still helps us and we in our people efforts in our childlike way, we’re able to speak to them. And the Lord has just really opened up their ears to hear, and I praise the Lord, for that’s the Lord I can. Tell you that.

[MCG]

What are some things you think that folks should keep in mind if they feel that they’ve been called to go to serve the people of Nepal?

[John]

I don’t think that it can be overemphasized. It’s true everywhere, including. The USA that. We must learn to serve with patients. You know, second Corinthians 64, Paul wrote. He said. But in all things, approving ourselves as the Ministers of God in much. Patients in the New Testament often gives the idea of endurance, and we only find that endurance or that patience that we need. We only find it in the God of patience and consolation. And we need to understand that God has not just sent us to change the peoples hearts that he sent us to, but he must also change our hearts. He’s working to change our hearts at the same time, and one missionary friend of mine in Nepal, he said. Why am I in Nepal? He said because this is where God can make me more like his son, Jesus Christ for his glory. And you know, it’s it’s not about us, but God must transform our lives. To reflect his. On and so I’m not God’s gift to them, to the people, but Jesus is, and they need to see Jesus and me, so God has to change me as well. And I need to learn to endure. I need to learn to be patient. And Paul said to the Corinthians for I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. He is the model and he is the pattern for us. He became a servant, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto. Then he endured the crawl, and so I need to learn to endure in a place like Nepal. If I’m going to serve there, I need to learn to be patient and wait on one missionary city. You cannot turn a battleship very easily. It takes a long time to turn a battleship. And it’s the same way in ministry. Sometimes it takes a long time and I have to be patient I. Have to endure.

[MCG]

You know what you were saying that I came to my mind was that many times, even when you participate in ministry, so when in whatever it does more for you as the. Different than their recipient, and I think that’s where you getting that the Lord tends to use our service to change us more than you use it to change the people that we are serving.

[John]

And you know at times we get impatient and angry, we get frustrated and then we get discouraged. You know, that often happens because we don’t have the mind of Christ.

[MCG]

Hey, man, that’s true.

[John]

We have our own expectations. We just have to humble ourselves and give God our expectations and serve with that patient endurance.

[Jay]

Yeah, I’m sitting here and just listening to your words, brother. And I’m just so convicted. So true, whether in Nepal or here in the United States. So thank you so much for your encouragement, brother. I really appreciate it. In addition to being patient, in addition to. To humbling yourself before the Lord and surrendering your expectations to the Lord so that he can bring about whatever fruit he’s trying to bring about in us. How do you handle the differences in culture with the people in your mission field? I imagine it’s drastically different the mindset of the people is drastically different. From what you would find in other countries, well, particularly here in the United States, where we’ve gone from. Being a country founded on Christian principles to the point where we are now, I mean we’ve completely done a 180 there, but in light of how you serve in your mission field, how do you handle the differences in culture dealing with people in your mission field?

[John]

Well, that’s a loaded question because and sometimes I don’t. Handle it well at. All you know, I’m definitely. The fallible and I have Jeremiah 17-9 heart, you know, desperately wicked to see from above all things, and I have such a a limited understanding. But I’ll tell you. How I think Christians should handle the differences with the meekness of Christ and with the truth of God’s word. That the Bible, you know, with the meekness of Christ, humbling ourselves, remember that we are not always right. There are many times when I think that I’m right and. God has to convict me and show me that I’m not and realizing that I’m not in control no matter. How many times I get frustrated because I want them to grow? God has putting that love and desire my heart to see them come to a closer walk with the Lord Jesus and. But I’m not. In control, I cannot change their hearts and feel. I have to have the mind of. Christ, it’s easy to be critical. When you do not. And also having a Bible reason for everything you do and. Everything you say. I feel like that’s so many times. You know our ministry philosophy, the decisions that we make, the direction that we go, the Council, that we give men can argue with our opinions and. But they cannot argue with. Thus sayeth the Lord. When you can show them. From God’s word and. And so I think that’s definitely how we should handle the difference. There are huge cultural differences. In the eastern mind, just like you said, the Eastern mine is so different from the Western mine. Their reasonings, you know, their thought process, their behavior, their manners, is that what motivates them, what offends them, what makes them laugh, you know, et cetera. All of these things are completely different and formed to us, and these cultural differences manifest themselves in all kinds of ways, good and bad. And it’s not always bad. Sometimes I’m ashamed of the culture that. I come from. And so it’s not always bad. And and then sometimes it’s just. I get, you know, you just want to pull your hair out. You don’t understand why they make the decisions that they make, and you can’t wrap your mind around it, but I need to be careful that I don’t have a critical or haughty heart. You know, God didn’t call me to make little. You know, that’s something I think every missionary has to learn. There’s American culture. There’s Nepali culture. Or the culture that God has called. You to to minister in and. Then there’s Bible. Culture and that should be my aim. Teaching them the Bible culture what the Bible teaches us after the pattern of the Scriptures and doing it with the maintenance of Christ because he’s the standard for. The Christian and. Noah’s word is our standard.

[MCG]

Yeah, brother, that’s very interesting because, you know, culture is one of those, you know, sticky subjects that missionaries have to deal with because you never know when you got offended by saying something you should not say. Or by doing something you should not do with the learning process. I wonder what you will say to this. You know, recently some friends of mine. We were talking about. You know, in the US we have the guilt, innocent culture kind of thing. We present the gospel in a way that you’re guilty of your sin and you can find innocent in Jesus Christ. But I would imagine Nepal and many of those countries in those areas of the world, they have more of a shame and honor culture. How do you share the gospel in a culture like that?

[John]

That’s a very good question.

[MCG]

Would you agree that it is a shame on a culture in that area of the world? And how would you go about doing that?

[John]

I would agree that it’s certainly motivated a lot more by guilt. I think that we can. Certainly take that too far. But I believe that what motivates them does not necessarily motivate us and vice versa. I’ll just give you an example. If you’re walking down the street. And you see. And a beggar, and let’s say the beggar has leprosy. Leprosy is a problem in Nepal, where the beggar has some kind of deformity and he’s, you know, for the Western mind. We would give out of a sense of guilt that would motivate us to give, but the the Nepali they would look at that and they would say, you know, that’s their fate. And they don’t feel guilty about that at all. They believe that that is they’re paying for a previous life and that’s because of karma. But they would still give. Out of a sense of shame because they want to be honored and they don’t want to feel ashamed and so. Or they might give because they’re afraid they are afraid of what will happen to them if they don’t get. And so definitely there are things like that to consider when you are sharing the Gospel of Christ. And presenting the gospel to the Nepali. Find how to present that in a way that they will understand. Certainly I need to understand that I am guilty. I need to understand that and I don’t think they have a problem understanding but that. For me to understand that I need to honor God with my heart, with my life, and to understand that I. I am shameful in his presence because he is a holy God and I’m a Sinner, and certainly you have to explain it in a way that they can understand it.

[MCG]

Would you say the culture in Nepal is more of attracted to you where they have some knowledge of God of saying and judgment to come always more like acts chapter? 17 where they are worshipping the unknown God the Greeks, they’re wise in their own knowledge, but they don’t have a concept of who the real God is.

[John]

Absolutely closer to acts chapter 17. Or even better, acts chapter #14 the laconians where the idolatrous laconians when they tried to OfferUp to worship Paul and Silas was with Paul. At that time I believe so. Certainly they’re an idolatrous people and they. Have no foundational understand. Thing of the God of the Bible.

[Jay]

What are some of the needs that if filled, would make your task of sharing the gospel in Nepal easier?

[John]

Yeah, I think I’ve already confessed the biggest need that I have. Is to have the mind of Christ no as a per request, I could say that one great need is to be able to evangelize freely in Nepal, and Nepal is a restricted access country.

[MCG]

Right.

[John]

They have a no proselytizing law. And that law is very vague in how it is written, so it’s very much open to whatever interpretation whatever slant you want to put against and. And a Nepali man has the freedom to choose. Of his own free will, if he chooses to change his religion, he now has that freedom. That’s only recent history. They have become a secular government and have obtained some religious freedom very recently. We’re only talking within the last 14 years, but it is illegal. For one to convert. Another or to try to make this side of this, if you will, that’s the actual word they’re proselytizing. It is to make disciples trying to convert someone else from the religion of their ancestors, and that can be interpreted very differently. So just handing out a gospel tract that someone can say you’re trying to convert, people you’re trying to change them to your religion just by giving them. The Gospel of Christ and so as a prayer request, I would say that that is a great need that we have to be able to work freely in the country and to be able to share the gospel more freely. Another need is the freedom to reside in more rural parts of Nepal. Visa restrictions make that very difficult to do. So these are just a couple of things.

[MCG]

That’s interesting, brother. And if you don’t feel comfortable sharing this, that’s fine. You can let us know. But we’re not all being restricted. How do you evangelize? I guess it’s the crux of my question.

[John]

Very good question. And I believe that evangelizing. We follow a biblical model, not some model of success that maybe man has designed, but we follow the scriptures and what we see in the scriptures is relationships are built and very much so in Nepal I can tell you that it is a relationship oriented people. When you go to your neighbors. Else and you take that time to just sit down and and you’re not trying to get something out of them. And they also have to respect you that they’re not trying. To get something out of you. You are respecting one another where you are in life and. You have to build that relationship with that person so that they trust you. Only then they’re going to start listening to you, and that takes a lot of time. It takes time for that to happen.

[Jay]

We spoke to a missionary, perhaps a month or two ago. That’s in roughly the same region as you are. We also can’t identify exactly where he is just for his safety, but he said something fairly interesting, he said. In his country, anything that the United States is doing is considered Christendom. It’s considered Christianity. They of course don’t understand. That’s not the case, but the average person in his country would say, ohh if you’re talking anything Christian. Christian is synonymous with America. Is that the case in Nepal as well, and is there something that the church is doing here in the US that makes your job more difficult on your mission field?

[John]

Well, I don’t know that. It’s what our churches in America are doing that. Makes it difficult I. Guess I need to answer that in a couple. Of different ways.

[Jay]

OK.

[John]

First of all, what Nepali people? Are often told about Christians is very far fetched. They’re often fed lies because there are those in Nepal that want to control, and that’s what Satan does. And we understand they’re under the power of Satan, Satan. Wants to control Satan wants to keep people in fear, and so there are some very strange things that are said about Christians. That they do this or they do that. And so when you build relationships and you’re they’re observing your life, certainly those. Barriers begin to come down, but you have to be patient again. That goes back to that. You have to be willing to wait and to let go. God tear those barriers down to working their hearts as far as the question that you asked, is there any? Thing in the. US that churches do that makes our our job more difficult. Well, I don’t want to sound critical of our American churches, so I would answer it in this. If church members, and especially pastors, visited their missionaries on the field, I believe the Lord would help them not only to be able to better equip their own people. But also to know. How to minister to their missionaries better and they would certainly know how to pray for their missionaries better, for example, learning the difference between a harvest field or, we would say harvest ready and a seed planting ministry. Nepal is very much a seed planting ministry. We don’t see a lot of souls coming to come. Raised because the seeds are being planted and it takes time for that process to happen, there’s going to be a level of expectation that churches have from their missionaries and that’s not wrong. The church is making an investment in that missionary, and they should hold him or her. But they need to learn what is a reasonable expectation relative to the field that they are serving in, and so I am definitely a proponent of churches that are sending people over to mission fields to visit missionaries and to learn from that mission field. And also the missionary how they can better. Mr. to them.

[MCG]

Well, brother, why don’t we go into a break and then we come back and we get in some of your favorites? You’re listening to the Removing Barriers podcast. We’re sitting down with missionary John, and we’re finding out all about his mission. Feel we’ll be right back.

[Jay]

Hey, thanks so much for listening to the Removing Barriers podcast. Did you know that you could find us on Twitter, Gab Parlor, Facebook and Reddit, go to removingbarriers.net/contact and like and follow us on social media? Removing barriers, a clear view of the cross. Hi, this is Jay MCG and I would like for you to help us remove barriers by going to removingbarriers.net and subscribing to receive all things removing barriers. If you’d like to take your efforts a bit further and help us keep the mics on, consider donating at removing barriers. Senate removing barriers, a clear view of the cross.

[MCG]

Alright brother, let’s go into a little bit of a fun section and find out some of your favourites. So tell us what is your favorite scripture verse?

[John]

My favorite verse, Nehemiah 218. Then I told them of the hand of my God, which was good upon me as also the King’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. It reminds me of God’s hand upon Nehemiah and. How you know his job was not to be that great leader, but just to point them to the one that was doing the work.

[Jay]

What would you say is your favorite biblical historical account? We don’t like to call them Bible stories because the idea of a story is like it’s a myth or it’s something not true. So what’s your favorite biblical historical account?

[John]

I love the life and the Ministry of the Apostle Paul. I love to try to just. Put myself in that setting, I guess, to see what it must have been like would have loved to have been a fly on the wall. So to speak.

Speaker

Be able to.

[John]

Watch, if possible, Paul Minister in these places.

[MCG]

Well, what would you say is your most convicting scripture passage to you?

[John]

Well, that’s a hard. One, because there are so many. But you know, lately the Lord has. Really been using second tendency to. One through 15 and just. Helping me to understand what a servant should be. A servant of God. And how the apostle Paul was encouraging Timothy to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. And of course. Being strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, but Paul described. He used an illustration of a few different things that we can also relate to that, for example, a soldier and how a soldier does not entangle himself. And the things of this life. And certainly God has been using that to convict my heart to how really the focus of my life should be him and pleasing him, serving him. And we often get so. Busy in all of the things of life that we get ourselves entangled into, those things where we get frustrated. And and God has to remind us again, he is the preeminent one. He’s the one that really matters.

[MCG]

Yeah. Amen. That’s all true.

[Jay]

What is the most comforting scripture verse or passage for you?

[John]

I would say probably we’re Romans 8, and I know that’s, you know, very familiar passage for many people. But just understanding my position in Christ Jesus, I’m not. And I have God’s spirit in me and he helps me. He helps my infirmities. He helps me to pray when I don’t want to pray and and just to know that I have a destiny. Predetermined, and that is to be conformed to the image of his son, because I’m in Christ Jesus and God is not against me, he’s for me. And nothing could separate me from him and from his love. That’s such a great passage.

[MCG]

Well, what would you say is your favorite hymn of the faith?

[John]

I would say. I love be thou my vision. I’ve loved that since I was a child. And that goes right along with I guess. The same thing I’m talking about how he needs to be the center of our focus and. Everything else takes second place.

[Jay]

You know, our oldest son has just been introduced to that him and he absolutely loves it. Who would you say is your favorite giant of the faith from the scriptures?

[John]

I would say David. Because he really wasn’t the giant, was he? He was used by God. He served a big God, and God helped him to kill the giant. He faced a lot of giants in his life, but I identify with, so I’m sure everybody does with so many of the the weaknesses that he faced and. Was victorious through his life, and God helped him.

[Jay]

Our pastor is currently going through a series on Sunday evenings in Second Samuel, and it’s obviously focused on the life of David and some of the things that he’s teasing out of the scriptures. I I’m sitting there like, wow, I didn’t know that the way God helped him through so much from the time that he was anointed to be king to when he was actually crowned as king. And even afterward, after his son with Bathsheba, and how there was a schism in his family, and all these different things that the pastor is teasing out, and I’m just thinking, like, wow, that’s how God was working in his life and. For all of those giants that he faced, even after Goliath, all of those giants that he faced, God being there for him and showing himself strong, and that it’s really incredible.

[John]

Whoever said the Bible was boring, I mean.

[Jay]

They never read it, that’s the problem.

[John]

That’s right. I mean, when you start studying how intricate those relationships were, the names that are mentioned in the scriptures, especially in David’s life, you begin to understand and putting pieces of the puzzle together to understand. Did what he did and what was he feeling when he went through what he went through?

[Jay]

Right.

[John]

So it’s definitely so rewarding to. Study the life of Damon.

[MCG]

What would you say are some of the biggest barriers facing the? People of Nepal.

[John]

Probably the biggest barrier is fear. Fear to go against culture. Fear to think independently of what man tells me and. That expectation given by men upon. My life fear to seek the truth. Because when you talk to the average Nepali person, they know. Contradictions and discrepancies and problems with their belief system. They will confess that they will admit that. But then you ask them. Well, why do you follow? This and they can’t give an answer. Their answer is well, this is just who we are. This is how we have always done. And they’re afraid to seek the truth. And Satan has kept the Nepali people in that ******* of fear for hundreds of years.

[Jay]

When you talk about those barriers, how do you suspect or how would you say that those barriers can be removed? That’s no small feat to engage someone who has those fears, and I would imagine in the eastern tradition. Or in the eastern way of thinking of things, that is a very strong deterrent going up against all of the tradition and the expectation in the history, the shame, of course, if you were to do something different or or believe something else, how can those barriers be removed?

[John]

Well, certainly that is the work of God in salvation. That is something that only. God can do. To work in that person’s heart to illuminate their minds, to understand who he is and understanding. That God is. A person that he’s not a force. No, all roads do not lead to God. God is not a place God is a person. And he has a wheel. He has a design. He has a plan. And we’re part of his plan. We’re created beings. Our lives are not decided by fate, but our lives were given to us by God for his glory and for his own pleasure. And God created us with a free will to choose what we will believe. And if we would sincerely seek the Lord. And call out to him. God, who are you? Reveal yourself to me if we would sincerely do that in our hearts, God will reveal himself. He has promised.

Speaker

To do so.

[John]

And just to understand the reason for that barrier is because of our sin. That’s the reason for the barrier. It’s because of that sinful part that we have and God loves us and has provided a way for us to remove that barrier. Actually we don’t remove it. He has given us the way to remove and that is through his son Jesus Christ, by sending his own son. To pay for our sins and to reconcile us to a holy God and holiness is something that is often misunderstood among the Nepali people. We define it in four different ways in. Nepal in the first is perfect. And then it is sinless and then it is separate. And then it’s pure. Those four things describe what holiness is to most Nepali people. When you ask them what is holiness, they’ll tell you well. Our rivers holy, and these idols are holy, and these priests are holy and. You know, when you begin to look at those things? You see the pollution in the rivers. You see how fallible their priests are? Those things are not really. They need to know what holiness is, and they need to know what sin is. You have to define those words. Sin is not going against my culture or disobeying. You know what expectation has been put upon me by my religion. But sin is disobeying God, disobeying God’s word. That’s what sin is. And so is that that sin that has separated us from God, but God in his love and in his mercy made a way for me to be reconciled to him. And that’s through Jesus Christ. And he came and he died for me, paid for my sins, and he was buried. And three days later, he rose again from the grave and. He has victory over Sin and death and hell. Nepali person believes in him. They use that word, but they don’t know what hell really is. They don’t know the Bible definition of him. And so these barriers need to be removed. Obviously, and that is the work of gone, but it starts on a Ground Zero level and that is Genesis 11. Taking them to teach them who God is and who man is. And how sin entered. The world and how God made a way for us to escape sin and escape from the penalty of sin through his.

[MCG]

It was a pleasure. Thank you for joining us on the Removing Barriers podcast.

[John]

Thank you very much for having me.

[Jay]

Thank you so much for listening to the Removing Barriers podcast. Make sure to rate US everywhere you listen to podcasts, including Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, or Stitcher. Removing barriers, a clear view of the cross.

[MCG]

Thank you for listening. To get ahold of us, to support this podcast, or to learn more about removing barriers, go to removingbarriers.net. This has been the Removing Barriers podcast. We attempted to remove barriers so that we all can have a clear view of the cross.