Nepal
If you can locate Mt. Everest, you can locate Nepal. Mt. Everest is on the northern-most border of Nepal. The country to the north of Nepal and Mt. Everest is Tibetan China. In 2006 I was in a Nepali village by the name of Jiri. Jiri is “the jumping off point” to go to the base camp for the trek up Mt. Everest. While we were there we would watch the helicopters bring in the supplies to be taken on to the base camp.
It was in Nepal that I met Joyti Pradhan (joy-tee pra-don) - a 4’9” kind, gentle Nepali woman with a great heart. She and her husband have been ministering with the children of Nepal for almost 25 years. That is before it was legal. Eliya was imprisoned for practicing his Christian faith. This is her story as told to Jackie Sheppard. I hope your heart is strangely warmed as you read it.
J. Wayne Lester
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Story of World-Changing Faith
Jyoti Pradhan and Jackie Sheppardy
Their food resources were gone and the group of 32 men, women and 22 children had no where to go. For days they had slept on the ground, expecting more persecution or death.
Nepal Directors Eliya & Jyoti Pradhan Sitting across the table from Jyoti Pradhan, you’d never guess she and her family once lived under a tree as outcasts, that she’s been persecuted for her faith in Christ and that starvation once threatened her family and herself. Now, looking at her, with her calm, sweet, caring expression, her careful manners, and her bright, insightful eyes, it would be easy to think it was always this way. There’s not a trace of bitterness in her voice as she relates her story - one that begins when she’s a little girl living in a Nepali village called Kudal, about a seven days’ walk from Kathmandu.
Her story begins with her answer to the question, “When did you come to Christ?” Like Andrew and Peter, the Gospel message came to her from a relative. Her uncle had gone to Pokhara to earn some money. While there, he became very ill and had to go to the hospital, where the Christian doctors and nurses told him about Christ and prayed for his healing. He was healed and became a believer.
Returning to his village, he burned to tell his family about the True God. Until 1990, it was against the law in Nepal to preach the Gospel, to evangelize and to convert to another religion. The priests, called “Lama” in the Nepali language were also the witch-doctors and were called in case of illness. When Jyoti’s uncle returned to their village, he told her family about his healing and hearing about Christ. Before long, his son became ill. The uncle prayed for him and he was healed. Soon, others in the village came for prayer for healing. They prayed for sick cows, and chickens, goats -all were healed. The ire of the Lamas was raised as their prayers and income was cut off.
Over the next five years, others became Christian and a small place of worship was built, only to be burned again and again by the Lamas. By now, five families, including Jyoti’s had come to the Lord and were meeting together for prayer and worship. When they refused to offer sacrifices during the festival, the five fathers were arrested and were told they would be killed if they did not renounce Christianity. They refused. For days they were tortured and beaten with stinging nettles in the public square as their families were forced to watch. The new little band of Christians prayed and eventually the men were released.
As a few days passed, the Christians felt the Lord was leading them to leave their animals, crops, homes and their village. They packed what food they could carry and early one morning before dawn, they slipped away. They walked for seven days to the outskirts of Kathmandu and then traveled in the back of a truck south to the border of India, in the Terai Region. Their food was gone and the group of 10 men and women and 22 children had no where to go. For days they had slept on the ground, expecting more persecution or death. The men settled their families under a large tree in a sparse forest in the Terai and sought some type of work.
Dirty, with torn, ragged clothes and no way to take care of themselves, the refugees were desperate - but no one came to their aid for three months. The mothers and fathers worked when someone would hire them to carry wood, enabling them to buy a little rice. their major food was plants and herbs that grew wild in the forest. Their mothers would cook them with a little salt for the hungry children. Many times the parents could not provide any food for the families. Jyoti still remembers the children crying from hunger.
There are presently 59 churches in
the Kudal District. To Jyoti’s knowledge,
there are now no unbelievers.
They continued praying and trusting God to help them. Eventually, a kind businessman gave them enough land for a small, simple cow shed for the five families and land for a few crops. They had no ox so they did all by hand. They were so burned by the sun that boils broke out on their bodies. Dysentery hit the children and Jyoti’s little sister died. Within six months, another family lost two more children. Jyoti’s family lived there for five years, until Jyoti was 14 years old. Life consisted of simply trying to get enough food and shelter for the day, yet the families continued to pray for their village, the one they had left behind.
Following the death of one of the uncles, the families decided to split up. While Jyoti’s family moved to Pokhara, one of the families returned to the village, finding that the number of Christians had grown and more and more villagers had begun refusing to obey the Lamas and witch-doctors. They challenged the Lamas, hindering their powers in the spiritual realms. When the evil spirits lost powers, the Lamas and witch-doctors began to research Christianity and they, too, became Christians. The village sent word to Jyoti’s family to return because, now, they knew the Truth of Christ. They asked forgiveness of Babba, Jyoti’s father, and ‘Mama’ her mother, and promised to return their land. Jyoti’s father returned and preached the Gospel openly in the village. After ten years, the whole village worshipped the Lord. All of Jyoti’s family, mother and father’s side, came to the Lord. There are presently 59 churches there in the Kudal District. To Jyoti’s knowledge, there are now no unbelievers. Now, in the Terai, there are five churches near where the tree once stood that had sheltered them.
When Jyoti came back from her exile, she said, “Lord, I will go back there!” However, now when she goes to the Terai to teach, she goes with great joy and enthusiasm to share the Gospel. The old tree is no longer there but the little cow shed still stands. In Pokhara, more than 200 people came to the Lord where Babba and Mama (along with Jyoti and the family) moved because Babba prayed for them and they were healed.
The foundation of the Christian work in Pokhara can be traced to the arrival of Jyoti’s parents. The hand of God has effectively used Baba and Mama for the changing of the nation - and beyond. Please pray for Babba and Mama as they continue to witness the ongoing harvest of seed planted many years ago. †