Report by Dn Chia Chung Seng

Mission awareness trip to Kathmandu B-P Church (31 May – 3 June 2018)

A group of 14 members led by Pastor Quek went on a mission awareness trip to visit the work at Kathmandu B-P Church. Since the beginning of this year, our church has taken over the financial support of this overseas mission. Kathmandu B-P church was started in 2011 by Preacher Rajan, an FEBC BRE graduate. 

31 May (Thursday)

The group departed from Changi Airport at 9 am. Thank God for travelling mercies. We arrived safely at Kathmandu Airport, aka Tribhuvan International Airport. Tribhuvan is the name of the grandfather of the last king of Nepal. Pr Rajan, his wife and a few of his church members received us at the airport. Each of us was warmly welcomed with a bouquet of flowers. One distinctive feature of the city of Kathmandu is the dust. Thank God for preserving us from sore throat and allergy. Many of us donned face masks when walking along the roads. A 24-seater mini-van was chartered to take us everywhere during the trip. An estimated 10km ride to our hotel (Manang Hotel) in town took us close to one hour. We encountered traffic jams at almost every junction, with some controlled by a single human traffic controller. What a feat! This reminded me of Singapore roads back in the sixties. We travelled on roads occupied by cars, motorcycles, human beings, and cows in the middle of the roads. Crossing the roads posed a real challenge to Singaporeans like us, who are so used to zebra or pedestrian crossings. Pastor even asked me where the overhead bridge was, which is non-existent.

The hotel, a 3-star Singapore equivalent, provided a roof over our heads, located right in the heart of the city centre of Thamel, where tourists abound. The no-vehicle shopping street starts from the road just in front of our hotel!  We had no complaints except for the murky water that flowed from the wash basin taps and toilet whenever the hotel main water tank level was low. Pastor had advised all of us to brush our teeth using bottled mineral water, and we were glad to heed his advice. Another thing we observed of Kathmandu is the mess of tangled electrical and telephone cables dangling from the street poles. Could these have triggered the first power outage at our hotel on day one? There was also a power outage at the airport during the check-in for our departure home.

Lunch was served at Choice Hotel, a few kilometers from our hotel. All of us were famished and we thoroughly enjoyed our first delicious Nepalese meal, comprising of fragrant rice, chicken and baked beans in local sauces and potatoes.

After lunch was a very short drive to the church. The church is a rented apartment on the 4th level of a residential building. It has three rooms, like a small 3-room HDB flat. The first room functions as a church office/bedroom/library, the 2nd room is the sanctuary, and the 3rd is the kitchen with a bed. Pr Rajan shared about the ministry in Kathmandu. We were updated that Worship Service is held on a Saturday, as Sunday is a working day in Nepal. The attendance at the weekly worship service averages 20-30 adults and 5-7 children. Pr Rajan has been praying for a piece of land to build a church building by 2022. In the late afternoon, we visited a church member (brother Caleb) who hosted us to a sumptuous dinner. The Word of God was shared with the family before the meal. 
 
1 June (Friday)

The team visited two different potential sites for the new church building. Both were vacant pieces of land, with residential buildings in the neighbourhood. Both of them were too expensive and were not suitable. Two home visits were conducted, first to the home of Elder Noha and his family, who hosted us lunch, which was another sumptuous meal. The gospel was also shared before the meal. Thank God for their kind hospitality. The Nepalese are very good hosts. In the late afternoon, we had our first two hour plus seminar, conducted in the function room of the Choice Hotel. Pastor shared on the “Dangers of the Charismatic Movement”, cautioning everyone not to fall into the lust of the flesh and a most dangerous teaching that focuses on the health and wealth gospel taught commonly in the Charismatic churches. That is not the salvation that the Bible teaches. We thank God for the 54 adults and 9 children who attended. Please continue to pray for the church members that they will remain strong and not be influenced by Charismatism. Many questions were raised during the Q&A session. One notable observation was that the locals were very attentive throughout the afternoon seminar, and many were jotting down notes.
  
2 June (Saturday)

Saturday was the day of Worship at 11.30 am. More than 50 of us sat in the living room which functions as the sanctuary. We witnessed the baptism of two adults and six children (including infants), conducted by Pastor. The Lord’s Supper was conducted in remembrance of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Pastor spoke on the topic “Conservative Worship”. During the time of Jesus, the Jews worshipped God in spirit and in truth and in Jerusalem. Today we worship God in spirit and in truth, and no longer need to worship in Jerusalem or even facing Jerusalem. In the afternoon, we had our second seminar, and pastor shared on “The Bible Presbyterian Movement”, and covered its history and the B-P theological and practical distinctives. The session ended with a Q&A session, with many questions being raised. The turnout was 48 adults and 7 children. 
 
3 June (Sunday)

The service on Sunday saw less attendance as it was not the official day of worship. Many of the members had to work. Service started at 11.30 am, with 13 adults from the church. Pastor spoke on the message "Why Biblical Separation" taken from 1 Peter 1:14-15. The children of Israel had committed the sin of Jeroboam which was the sin of the worship of the golden calf. We were exhorted to live for Christ, which is the evidence of our salvation, and to stay away from the fashions of the world. Near to 12 pm, a group of eight Singaporeans walked in and joined our service. They were from First Evangelical Reformed Church, Singapore and had returned from the base camp of Mt Everest and decided to visit a church for worship. God provided the location and schedule of Kathmandu BPC through the Internet. Thank God for the fellowship that we shared in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We exchanged personal particulars and bid each other God's traveling mercies and parted after the church service ended. The afternoon was spent visiting the Kathmandu Museum of the Royal Palace and “The Garden of Dreams”. After dinner we set off for the airport to catch our 9.50 pm flight home to Singapore. Thank God for His mercies. We touched down safely at Changi Airport at 5.55 am. Praise God for the wonderful privilege to witness the first B-P ministry in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Please do remember the Kathmandu B-P mission in your prayers:

1. For Pr Rajan to remain steadfast and faithful in the teaching and preaching of God's Word;
2. For the church members to grow and mature in their faith;
3. For the members to be bold in witnessing for the Lord. Locals are predominantly Buddhists or Hindus;
4. October VBS for which Calvary Pandan is planning to send a group, God willing;
5. Wisdom and discernment in looking for a piece of land for church building.

Kathmandu Bible-Presbyterian Church, Nepal (sharing by a team member)

Psalm 107:35 “He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.”

Jaimashiya – Praise the Lord! This is how Nepali Christians greet one another. Hearing this beautiful word in Nepali was to me like drinking spring water in a dry land.

The first impression I had of Kathmandu was one of an economically underdeveloped country stuck in time. Its roads are mostly unpaved and rustic, and the air is dusty and polluted. Buildings are built to defy all laws of uniformity. What also struck me was that Kathmandu is littered with well-built temples and idols. Being the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu has a concentration of better schools and hospitals that in turn have attracted many Nepalese to flock to the city to live. Tourists are a common sight in Kathmandu, who set their sights on the heights of Mt Everest. Over time, Kathmandu has become a very expensive place for local people to live in; poor infrastructure also contributed to the mess and pollution. I observed that underdeveloped and backward Kathmandu has no lack of people with faces that are worn down by the fatigue of striving for a living. There seemed many who were lost and wandering. A burning question in my heart was, “What can be done for the people here?”

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4b)

How can they get access to the truth of the Word of God?

I thank my God that He has seen fit to send Rev Quek and the team of 12 others from Calvary Pandan to Kathmandu to serve the people there. The main objective of our visit was to support Preacher Rajan Shrestha (FEBC graduate, 2005-2008) of Kathmandu B-P Church and to minister to the brethren there.

Our programme included the conducting of two seminars by Rev Quek: “The Dangers of the Charismatic Movement” and “The Bible-Presbyterian Movement”. There were about 40 local people who attended, excluding the Singaporeans. We also visited members in their homes and fellowshipped warmly with them. The Lord’s Day worship was conducted on Saturday, which is Kathmandu’s day of rest. The following day, another worship service was held for a smaller group of members. On that day, we were pleasantly surprised by the visit of eight Singaporeans who had just completed their base camp climb at Mt Everest. They did not expect a service to be conducted in English by our Pastor, so they were equally surprised and blessed - such an amazing providence of God!

The main challenge faced by the brethren in Kathmandu is the strict laws against evangelism. A Christian could be jailed for six months if accused of sharing the gospel against the will of the hearer. In addition, the Charismatic movement and its churches are rampant in Kathmandu so that the true Christian is bombarded constantly by false teachings. It is not easy to stand alone in the fundamental faith in the face of attacks and seductions. The attacks are from within and without - the brethren there need a lot of prayer. I believe if you were to speak with Preacher Rajan about the difficulties, he would not think much about the scarcity of resources but he would be very much burdened by the spiritual warfare that they must fight. Brethren, please pray for them.

Hinduism is the main religion in Kathmandu, followed by Buddhism. The people and the place are steeped in idolatry and the wall that separates them from God seems insurmountable. Thank God for His light that shines in this darkness.

“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;” (Philippians 2:15)

By God’s grace, Kathmandu BPC has been protected and preserved since it was established on 15 October 2011. Thank God for watching over and leading His servant, Pr Rajan, in his calling to this ministry. Please pray that he will continue to stand fast and persevere.

Jaya Hos Yeshu Rajako – Let the Lord King be Praised. This is a beautiful Nepali Christian worship song that brought much comfort, peace and joy to my heart. Pray that the living water of eternal life will keep flowing through Kathmandu BPC to the people in Nepal (John 4:14). Let the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ be glorified in this land of darkness, and that His work be done according to His good pleasure and will. Amen.