Bhojraj's Xanga

News of God's Grace

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:57:58 GMT

For the last one month, the Lord is very gracious to us and many more new souls are added to our fellowship. It has been our prayer to make our church building small for us...and it appears that the Lord is listening our prayers. In our nation, even one new souls brings such a joy to the whole church but on June 21, when I gave the alter call for anyone to accept the Lord, 13 new people came forward and accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior.

Our worship pastor is doing a marvelous job in leading us into God's presence. When we worship, the whole neighborhood can know that there are people who lift up the name of Jesus with the top of their voices. Some cry to the Lord, some dance and others just bask in his presence. It is a great blessing to see how people can live free lives when they come to Jesus. Some of these people are very poor, some were under demonic bondage, but in Christ, they are free...

On June 21, we also had baptismal service and nine of them obeyed the Lord into water. four of them are elderly women over 65. This is first time I have baptized four such senior citizens. The joy God gives knows no bound even to those who are physically suffering. The lady sitting with a headscarf is suffering with parkinson disease and hardly can walk. We had to lift her up and deep into water. I told her that it is not necessary to go down into the tank, I can just give you a holy bath, but she insisted that we must deep her. The lady standing next to a man lost her mother last week. Mother had accepted the Lord but had not been able to take baptism before she died. She missed her mother so much and even wondered if her mother would be in heaven. We tried to console her that since her mother had accepted the Lord Jesus as her personal savior, she will be in heaven. Baptism is not the things that will save us, it is our faith in Jesus' sacrifice.

Another problem was that her mother and other family members go to a different church where they believe that without baptism one will not go to heaven. The lady sitting on the extreme right will have to stand against all her clans for deciding to believe in Jesus and take baptism. Life is full of challenges but the Joy of the Lord is their strength.

On the same day, we also had children's worship memory verse contest and Shanti Tamang took us all by surprise by the way she ate her bible.

Since my wife separated the children's worship from the adult, it has taken a different shape. Before we used to worship adult and children together in the main sanctuary and then when the time comes to preach, we would take the children out for sunday school classes. But now, they have their service right from the beginning where they worship, take offering, have their own choir group. Finally they divide the groups according to their ages .

This is how we have been so busy and blessed. There are many things we still would like to do and need your prayers.

At present we are conducting special marriage seminars on every Saturday after worship. This is another area of need in a nation like ours.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:31:05 GMT

For some reasons I had bought Christopher Hitchens' book "God is not great", but really did not have the time to read it for so long. Last week, my wife and I had to take on a 20 hours journey by bus (one way) to meet my elderly parents. My father is about 75 and three years ago he took on a holy pilgrimage with bare foot, that too in the chilly winter of North India. When he returned home from a month long trip, instead of bringing hope, peace and joy of salvation, he brought a terrible pneumonia that totally destroyed his both the lungs. Nearly 25 years ago, he disowned me for believing in Christ. It took many years for both of us to come in speaking terms but still had that cold feeling about each other. I did forgive him the very day he disowned me, but as the years went by, he grew softer and softer.

This time I was amazed to see the changes that had come in his life. He had become so skinny that the skin was touching his bones and the son he had trusted after disowning me was not willing to look after him. Doctors have given him a very short time to live. When I asked him "where are you going after death", "I don't know" was his answer. I shared the gospel and gave him stark choices to make before he departs from here. He promised that if he survives another year or so, he will think about it. My mother was willing to accept Christ and even be baptized, but because of the old man….

Since the journey was so long, I had finished some chapters of "God is not great" and on our way back from my hometown; I began to see Hitchens as a young teenager boy who is mad at his parents for not giving the things he wanted to so much. Because the boy is so mad at his parents that he starts to see everything with those angry glasses. Having heard Hitchens reputation as a thinker, I was disappointed with the way he connects ideas, events and scriptural references only to prove his anger against Christian God. He does not dare to attack Allah or Mohammad but only brushes it with some political scenario; may be due to the fear of death. He mentions Koranic and Islamic inconsistencies but then turns to the God of the Bible when it comes to make a final attack. As I see from this, I am inclined to think that the atheists are not afraid of other religions except the message of the Bible.

As I said good bye to my devout Hindu, and ailing father, I could not stop but think that people who deny God are not denying because they know he is not there but because they are angry at him for some reasons. It is not so much of a matter of knowledge but of rebellion against God. Even my father's religious life did not bring the kind of end he wanted and is still looking for answer. If Hitchens comes to him and tells him that there is no life after death, "old man, you have had your share of it and now there is nothing left for you, just die and you are finished", I wonder the old man would be satisfied. But when I talked about the God of the Bible, this stubborn Hindu was willing to give his ears and who knows he might even give his heart and die as happy as he could ever be.

If you happen to read so far, please say a prayer for my old father that before he dies, he will give his stony heart to Jesus Christ.

Me, sitting with father and next is mother, elder sister, yougest sister, my brother's wife. Behind me is my brother, elder sister's son, my brother in-law and the three of them my brother's children. My wife was the one who took the picture and my son could not travel due to his schooling in Kathmandu.

Money is not the measure of success in ministry

Sat, 31 May 2008 21:42:24 GMT

Three weeks ago, we saw the Lord touch our young people and since then the Holy Spirit is falling upon the children as well. We can not wait for the Saturday to come; there is a kind of excitement in the air for the church worship. In between the Saturdays, there is much to do and feel that the week has become too short. Last Tuesday I traveled to Janakpur zone for a pastors' conference. I was given four sessions in two days but due to the transportation strike two of the speakers could not make it. My sessions were doubled into eight. We saw the Spirit work among the pastors and others who attended. Eight people even accepted the Lord as their personal savior for the first time. But for the pastors who had come there, it turned out to be a different kind of conference. In Nepal, when one says pastor's conference, it means money and some more money. Almost in every occasion, pastor's conferences (leaders' conferences) are organized and funded by some foreign missionaries or pastors who are there to make a better profile for the growth of their business. In order to succeed, they would not mind to throw some crumbs to these innocent but deceived rural pastors. Usually there would be one cleaver and English speaking national coordinator who will make sure that everything goes well according to his foreign friends' will. So, when one hears about leaders or pastors' conference, it is not about the things of the Spirit but the things of the flesh; money, materials, and sometimes a ticket to the country where the money carrying master has come from. Just to fill in the gap, they would invite some national speakers as well.

With this background, I was invited to speak for this conference along with four other foreign speakers. I could feel the cold air of uncertainty among us because they never knew what I will be speaking. As the time progressed and sessions started, the cold air began to evaporate and we began to open up with each other. By the time the conference was over, these foreign friends also realized that every national is not in the ministry only for money but I was even glad to see the change of attitude in the pastors' mind who attended. Few of them met me personally and confessed that they had never looked at them and their ministry in the light that they saw during those two days. But there were others who were totally disappointed, and I am sure when they see my name in the speakers' list they will never attend that conference again.

One among the attending pastors was a brother whom we had sent to pioneer a church in his village. Our church invested in him until the church was able to stand on its feet. But few years ago a false teacher came and deceived him. We had to abandon that beautiful church due to the arrogance of this brother to join the cult. After a year the cult leader was found to be chasing after the young girls of the village and some even became pregnant. Eventually the villagers chased him out and members realized the stupidity of their pastor. At the end of the first day of the conference, this brother came up to meet me with tears in his eyes. I could see the pain that his initial arrogance of not listening us had caused him, he was broken and lonely. He had chased many other leaders and denominations to accept him into their group, but no one accepted him. During this conference, he mustered all his courage to come and ask me if we could accept him back into our fellowship. There are about 150 members in his congregation and we are glad to see him come back.

I am praying to God for the open door to minister the national pastors. They are hungry and at times have very low self esteem thinking that money is the measure of one's success in the ministry. Please say a prayer for me so that I would bring hope to these pastors.

An Email that humbled me

Sun, 11 May 2008 11:24:36 GMT

The following email brought tears to my eyes, not because he said anything bad, but because I wished he had said those good words about the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Prior to this email, I had taken the appreciation for granted, but this night I was forced to think about my motivation for being a good teacher or a preacher. If I have somehow failed to bring the glory to the Lord by drawing people's attention to myself, then I have failed. Tonight, I asked the Holy Spirit to take all that I have and all that I am to bring glory to the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world. Needless to say that I do enjoy conversing with the people who would pay me a hearing, but from now I have decided to let Christ shine and draw people to himself. Please pray for this wonderful family, especially for Badal; he is a very intelligent and a king of a gentleman we rarely see in a Christian world, least of all in a non-Christian world.

Sunday, May 11, 2008 9:19 AM

From:

"badal bhattari" <nilabadal@yahoo.com>

To:

brbhatta@yahoo.com

Respectable Bhojraj sir,

Jay Messiah!

With God's grace, I m well n hope u the same there.

U were, indeed, true to say that it was not easy for "the new comer" to put on your shoes. I greatly miss u while attending "worship" in Youngnak church. Your words had magic that would hold the audiences spelt-bound. Your lecture was not only alive with spiritual knowledge but also informative/educative even for non-Christians.

I have been highly impressed with your simplicity, abundant knowledge with references n depth of feelings with artistic expressions.

The story of your tragic childhood life n the vicissitudes in life to overcome the challenges touched the core of my heart n drew due respect n love towards u. The way u explain the Biblical verses with contemporary world affairs and interesting n inspiring stories is so beautiful. I appreciate u with my whole-heart for your devotion to God. I would like to say," La ge ra ho Bhojraj sir."

I used to eagerly await Sundays just to enjoy your lecture on Bible in Jubilee shelter n in the church. I would approach u with a thirst n would return quenched .

Nevertheless, I m still vague about what a true religion is. Needless to say, to frame the religion in one-accord definition is the most challenging task in the world. However, the life of Jesus Christ, His role and sacrifice for the welfare for the mankind promotes love n peace in lives of human beings to great extent.

There r mushroom-like religions each claims to be the best of all. This kind of religious extremism think, is the root cause for the hatred n violence among the people .I, though born n brought up in Hindu culture, don't abide myself with any belief, unless my heart from the depth accepts n feel positive. I pay deep respect to the religious sentiment of Christianity and other religions.

Now, I have been working in a glass company in NamDong Kongdan, Incheon. I have rented a room in Sanhak station.

Ju Didi, Rekmi bhai and others r all well.

Nila, my better-half has said "Jay Messiah n Namaskar to u.

Optimistic that u would encourage and throw light to me in course of feeling and finding the presence of God and his purpose for man-kind, in my heart.

Incase of mistakes, your corrections, comments and suggestions r warm-welcomed.

Curious about to know your howabouts.

Looking forward to receiving your mail so soon. "JAY MESSIAH !"

Truely yours,

Badal

When God comes to Church

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:18:26 GMT

Tonight me and my wife visited one of our church members' home. The couple have an old mother (over 70 for a Nepali woman is a thing to celebrate). She had been a devout Hindu until recently but the couple kept praying for their mother's salvation. Eventually God did touch her heart and few months ago she accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal savior and discarded all her idols and worshipping items. Last Saturday (Nepal has church service on Saturday) we had a wonderful worship service and the Lord touched the hearts of many hungry as well as hardened believers. Five new people accepted the Lord. But tonight, while talking with this elderly woman, my heart was so full of joy. She said that as we began our worship, her whole body began to feel a kind of electricity go through her and towards the middle of the praise and worship, she could not stand up. She would feel as if someone has picked up her body and is swirling around in the air, she would at times feel heat and see some kind of strange light. Finally she asked the Lord to help her gain her control and give her the peace in heart, and to her surprise the body came to a standing still and the joy and peace of God filled her heart and took away all fear.

The same day, after our service was over, we had planned our leadership seminar. It had been five long years since I had any proper contact with these leaders. Some had developed a cold attitude and others were nearly apathetic towards anything I had to do or say. Realizing the cold response, I thought about inviting one of my good pastor friends to minister us the word of God for the whole sessions. But as I picked up the phone, something in my heart prompted me to not to make that phone call. Lord began to impress on me that I must trust him, not man or my own ability. So, the whole week, I was kind of nervous and finally Saturday came, we finished our service and left for the retreat center at 3PM. All together we were 20. We had a tentative schedule for three sessions but as the time progressed, we forgot all about our schedule. The sweet move of God swept us all from under our feet. By the time it was 2AM, we were so broken and united in heart and purpose. No eyes were without tears and no feet were unwashed…never before had I seen God touch stony hearts like that! When God visits the church, it’s a joy to be the under-shepherd of His flock. This week, we are taking our young people to the same retreat center…please pray that the Lord would touch the young ones' lives as well.

Communism and New Nepal

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 12:53:24 GMT

On 10th April, Nepal voted for the constituent assembly that will write a new constitution for New Nepal. Nearly 300 years old Monarchy is done and dusted as the people overwhelmingly voting for the Maoists who are determined to turn Nepal into a federal republic. Votes are still being counted all across Nepal, but the result so far tell us that the communist party of Nepal (Maoists) is heading to a landslide victory. Top leadership of Maoists is still trying to calm our fears of international isolation and internal labor camps, but we never know until we know what they will do when they start ruling the nation under their sickle and hammer. The slogan of New Nepal is everywhere and the people who were tired of an autocratic king and corrupt politicians of the past are now willing to see if there is really a chance to have a new Nepal under the leadership of the Maoists.

Therefore, dear friends, continue to pray for us and our nation that we will truly have a new Nepal where there would be peace and security with the human freedom of speech and practice of our faith. We do believe that it is God who raises the kings and dethrones them…the kings of Nepal had always been against the church of Jesus Christ and today they have seen their end come. Lets hope and pray that the communists of Nepal will not try to do the same as the kings of the past.

Our Family Friends lost their wonderful son

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:08:11 GMT

We met Marc and Irine Ulbrich through our son Martin. Their son Karl and Martin were classmates and got along so very well that eventually two of our families came so close. We spent time with each others, talked and laughed a lot. Marc works for a multinational company and they had three wonderful children. Marco was the eldest, Karl the middle one and Nina the baby sister. We were still planning for them to visit us here in Nepal sometime this year. They left Korea a year ahead of us and are now in Shanghai, China. Last weekend Marco went for Jet Ski and met with an accident and lost his life...we can not imagine how the family must be going through...if you can please say a little prayer for the remaining four Ulbrichs.

Theologians and Demons - who will win?

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:16:44 GMT

After spending many years in theological education, I am still wondering what has gone wrong with our theological schools and seminaries! Every other field of education (academia) has a direct correspondence with the real world of practice. An engineer uses the tools of his or her learning into his profession. A medical student is able to put all his or her know how into practice and treat a patient. An economics, a linguist, a scientist and you name it; all of them feel equipped to function in the real world. But a theologian…when he or she enters into the real world of his field finds that the years of learning are about to betray him or her! Yes, the theologian is prepared to argue his case, yes he or she is well prepared to explain all that is there to explain about the Bible, history, philosophy and you name it. But when it comes to ministering to an individual who is in real need; all such knowledge flies out of the window. The only thing that can save the theologian is if he or she has learnt to live and do things in the power of God and this is what is missing in most of the seminaries that I have attended over the years.

After I returned to Nepal, so many people have come with so many kinds of needs and somehow they expect me to be the person who can meet their needs. How many times I had to fall on my face and ask God to show me how to face the person who comes with need. Every day we have no electricity for 8 hours. Even when there is electricity, we can not go out of our homes after 7 PM. But last night a member of our church rang our door bell after 7 PM and informed me about a family that was in a dire need of someone to come and pray for them. Their daughter (already married) had been sick for the last one year and they had done all they could in terms of medical and their traditional (religious) treatment and there seems to be no cure. She is still a young lady, but her husband finally told her to go to her parent's house. The parents took her in but from the last three days she lost speech and from tow days was in semi-consciousness. With no other option, they had heard about Christians. In God's providence, one of their distant relative had just begun to attend our church and by the time they came in touch with that person, it was 6 PM. Then they tried to telephone us, but our telephone would not work. As a last resort, the new believer (not yet baptized) walked 30 minutes (no vehicles at night) and came to us. My wife was about to serve our family dinner, but seeing the man and hearing the story, I took my flash light, asked a couple other nearby believers to join me and walked another 30 minutes to reach the house. As we sat in their little house, we could feel the smell of death. After a few minutes of prayers, it was obvious that the sickness was not physical but demonic and the lady who was not able to move began to stair at me with her white eyes and her body began to be shaken violantly. It was at that time I saw my theology run out of window! All I could hold on to was the very simple words of the Lord Jesus in Luke 10:19 and John 14:12-14, Mark16:16ff. As we rebuked the evil spirit, the lady began to speak and asked for water. After drinking a full glass of water, we led the lady to accept Christ. Her body was weak and frail but after our prayer the parents confessed that she looks so different than how she was before we had arrived.

I have spent well over 12 years in seminary life, but not even one time do I remember learning how to cast out the devil and heal the sick. But in the real world, this is what brings a soul to the knowledge of God and helps one to minister to the needy. I am afraid that our theological system has been trying to outsmart the Lord Jesus by thinking that demons and sickness belonged only in the past. If Jesus being the Son of God needed to demonstrate the power of God by healing the sick, casting out the demons, how much a theologian needs to depend on God for these things in order to minister his people!

Glimpses

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 11:47:02 GMT

After we returned from Korea, my wife began a separate worship for the children and we have seen God's grace touching these young ones in a marvelous ways.

What a joy to see them worhship the Lord!

The Adult worship is also gaining momentum, the Lord is giving us the freedom of the Spirit

This was just before I left Korea, we had a wonderful session of talking about what God can do when we decide to change our way of life.

Depression is the Mood

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:13:52 GMT

All across Nepal, people just seem to be depressed for one thing or the other. I have met a few people after I returned and none seems to believe that any good things will come out of Nepal at this time. Every young man and woman's dream at this time is somehow to get out of the country in search of better luck, no matter where the journey might take them. Luckily, some end up in hospitable places but most are not that lucky. Some commit suicide in Korea; some are killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some spent their time in unknown jails of various countries. But the outbound human traffic continues to grow everyday. So much so, that the government itself has accepted that the export of human labor is the only thing Nepal can contribute to the world community. Instead of looking for creating jobs in Nepal, the government is now seeking lucrative destinations where it can sell the most productive years in the lives of young Nepalis.

Since the rulers themselves acknowledge the hopelessness of this nation, the subjects can have no hope at all. Sectarian violence has crippled the land for the last two weeks, but the government cares only for its survival, not the survival of a common man on the street. Lawlessness, kidnappings, extortions and violence of all kind awaits us at our doorpost. In the midst of it all, there is a group of people in Nepal that is hoping against all hopes that God is going to heal this land very soon. We are now reaping the effects of the sins of our former generations; who had expelled the last remaining gospel witness nearly two hundred and fifty years ago and shut the doors against any further influence of the gospel. As a result, the nation remained in the middle ages while the age of enlightenment swept through Europe and Asia. Only in 1990, a Nepali person could believe in Jesus Christ without going to prison for that and today the Lord is building his church in Nepal. Believers are crying out to God, confessing the sins of their forefathers so that the Lord will heal this land. When we visit the churches, it is clear that the Lord is not going to forget this land and that is why there is hope even if depression is the mood.