Our conference in West Nepal was unbelievable! There were over 200 people who came to the three day training and we had pastors from over 40 different churches from as far away as 5 hours bus ride. One woman walked 3 hours each way everyday just to be with us. They were so hungry for the Word and devoured everything that was given. Glenn Johnson who has been a missionary in SE Asia for over 22 years and the author of four different books was the key note speaker. He did an amazing job of really challenging these leaders in the area of shepherding their flocks. We had a three part seminar for the women led by Dee Johnson that spoke into issues that women are facing both at home as well as in the church. They were challenged in many areas of their lives and learned not only how to be free in Christ, but also how to help other women find their identity in Him. Tom Johnson did the same for the men as he talk about 4 lies that satan throws our direction and how to counter those lies with 4 truths from God's word. My sessions covered how to take these lessons and effectively share them with others, and talked about how to effectively share the truth of who God is through servant evangelism.
i do have to say, that in over 18 years of ministry, i have never had to stop in the middle of speaking because my audience was thrown into a frenzied panic due to a large snake passing a foot behind me. For those who followed my time in SD, there seems to be a pattern developing here.
i also knew that i was not back at home when i asked a group of men to come up with a couple ways they could demonstrate God's love in a practical way in their villages or communities. One man stood up and said, "When there is an accident and someone is injured, while the other villagers are beating the driver and setting his car on fire, we could instead find out if the injured man is ok and turn the driver in to the proper authorities." And he was dead serious! i responded with a resounding "YES! That is a great idea. Are there any other ideas?"
In the end, we wrapped up the final session with Glenn bringing it all home and sending them out with a great challenge to love well their families, church members, and people in their communities. But i think the climax for the five of us came when we then told 150-200 people that we had a gift for them. We then handed them 5 resources to take home with them. A book by Glenn that has been translated into Nepali, a new testament commentary, a Bible dictionary, a concordance, and a book of sermon outlines. These would have cost many of these pastors over one months salary. Many eyes filled up with tears including ours. It truly is better to give than to receive.
There is still much to be done and many more dreams and visions we have for the leaders in this area. The 5 of us have already begun to help one pastor set up a small business to help some of the women in his church, and we have identified several other needs we would like to pour into. So please stay tuned for ways you can pray and be a part of what God is doing in this area of Nepal. Thanks so much again for your love, your prayers, and your amazing support of what God has entrusted us with.
We start a new training tomorrow here in Kathmandu with another 100+ leaders. Please pray for energy for the team, as we are super tired and have been going 100 miles an hour since we landed 10 days ago. And for me, please pray that i would get some much needed sleep, something that has evaded me the past couple weeks, and that my mind would be free from any distractions.
i have so many more stories that i want to share with you, but will wait and post them in another e-mail soon. Again, thanks! This would not be possible without you guys on my team. i am so very thankful for all the folks back home at Wooddale, MCC, Westchester, Rimrock, and First Federated, as well as all the friends and family who have been lifting me up. Much love to you all!!!
His,
scotty brown
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