Nepal...culture...daily life...faith

The Nepalese have many racial, cultural, and linguistic similarities to the people of northern India. Their domestic and religious practices are patterned after the higher Hindu castes of India.

Most Nepalese live in small villages in hilly terrain and are accustomed to traveling long distances on foot. They are known for their cheerfulness, good humor, resourcefulness, and self-confidence. Their population consists primarily of three "castes," or social classes: the Brahmans (priests and scholars); the Kshatriyas (rulers and warriors); and the Achut (laborers and servants). The Achut perform the most polluted tasks, such as cleaning bathrooms. Many also beg and scavenge for a living. As "untouchables," they are excluded from and considered ritually unclean by the other classes of Hindus.

What are their lives like?
Most of the Nepalese are farmers. They live in small rural settlements that are situated near rivers or springs. The villages consist of loosely grouped homes surrounded by farmland. Only the poorest families do not own land. In middle and southern Nepal, the land has been terraced for generations. Wet rice is grown during the monsoon season; dry rice, maize, millet, and wheat are raised on drier land during the summer and winter months. The Nepalese also cultivate vegetable gardens to feed their families. Most of the farmers raise buffalo and goats for meat and cows for milk.

Houses are usually made of mud-brick with thatch or tin roofs. Most houses have two or more stories. The kitchen and living quarters are often located upstairs to keep them free of pollution by stray animals that might wander into the house. Most houses have porches and courtyards where people socialize and do crafts such as weaving.

What are their beliefs?
Nepal is a Hindu nation in which the king is worshipped as an incarnation of the Hindu god, Vishnu (protector and preserver of world). Although most Nepalese are Hindus, there are still a large number of Buddhists and Muslims. All of these groups have held onto their traditional animistic beliefs (a belief that non-human objects have spirits). They recognize local gods, goblins, and spirits. They also believe in ghosts and demons that haunt the crossroads and rivers. Offerings are made to these spirits in order to appease them.

With Hinduism embracing 330 million gods, Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, has more temples, houses, and idols than people.

What are their needs?
Several missions agencies are now working among this people group; however, their progress has been slow. Very few of the Nepalese in Nepal know Jesus. Christianity is looked at as the "foreigners" religion. New believers are considered "untouchables" - the caste you do not mix with. Baptism is considered the ultimate proof of conversion, and the person performing the baptism can face up to a six-year prison term.

Prayer is the key to reaching the Nepalese with the Gospel.

Prayer Points
* Pray that God will encourage and strengthen the Nepalese who have converted to Christianity.
* Ask God to bless worship and intercession by Christians from other countries who come to prayer-walk in Nepal.

If you would like to financially support my trip this May please click here:

http://www.luglobal.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=151&Itemid=186


This info was taken from: http://www.joshuaproject.net/people-profile.php?peo3=16589&rog3=NP

Knowledge of Good and Evil

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”- Genesis 2:16-17

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. -Genesis 3:4-7

Adam and Eve were cursed with death, not only because they disobeyed God but ultimately because their eyes were opened and they KNEW good and evil.

Your friend walks in eating a chocolate chip cookie. All of a sudden you’re hungry for one too. If you had never seen or smelled that cookie, you probably would not have desired it, but now your KNOWLEDGE of KNOWING there were cookies that could be eaten, and KNOWING how tasteful they are, made you want one.

In the same way, have you ever sinned because someone told you about something? Before you were ignorant and had no KNOWLEDGE, but then you were made aware of it and now it is part of your life.

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" the evil Queen asked her magical mirror, to which it responded, "Queen, you are full fair, 'tis true, but Snow White is fairer than you." The queen became enraged with jealousy, and told the huntsman, "Take Snow White into the woods and kill her!" Disturbing? Yes!, however, this evil queen is more similar, than one might think, to countless girls today.

Hannah is struggling with finding her identity in Christ. She looks at herself in her bathroom mirror, if only I looked like...her mind wandered to those beautiful girls she saw on TV. She slowly became trapped with envying and idolizing beauty. Without even knowing it, pride crept in as she developed a low self-esteem. Pride consumed her with self, everyone thinks I'm fat and ugly, she constantly thought. Pride feasted on her. It was invisible...she never guessed pride had to do with low self-esteem...after all, she wasn't proud of her looks. Yet, PRIDE consumes one with self. It digs deep roots that open new doors to sin like bitterness, gossip, and sexual immorality.

Taking a moment to reflect, this slippery slope ultimately began when Hannah first became aware of her appearance as she glanced at herself in her mirror. She, then, started comparing herself to the beautiful girls around her, especially on TV. Her comparison lead to discontentment which lead to idolizing beauty and opened the door to pride. If Hannah had no KNOWLEDGE of her appearance from mirrors and of those beautiful girls on TV, she would not be struggling in this way.

Similarly, James is a teenage boy hanging out with his friend who shows him pornography.This KNOWLEDGE lead him to desire to see more. Now he is addicted. In the same way, Anna learns about bulimia from her friend. She tries to lose a few pounds by doing it, now she is controlled by it. Most likely, neither James nor Anna would have been tempted to do what they did had they no KNOWLEDGE of it. So, we see, KNOWLEDGE of evil gives a person desire and temptation to sin.

We are living in an age of KNOWLEDGE as we are constantly fed information from the internet and media. KNOWLEDGE is intimate. It transforms a person's thoughts and gives them new desires.

Paul says, "In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults." (1 Cor. 14:20) again he says, "I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil." (Romans 16:19)

The Greek word for innocent is ἀκέραιος akeraios which translates: unmixed, pure as in wines or metals, without a mixture of evil, free from guile, innocent, simple

Infants or children are innocent, pure and without a mixture of evil because they often lack KNOWLEDGE of evil. Jesus said, “Unless you become like a little child, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” (Matt.18:2) Entering the Kingdom of God is more than just being "saved". One aspect is having an innocent or pure heart. In order to do this one must become like a little child. A believer must, in a sense, be reborn. To be reborn into a little child, first, one needs to turn their backs to whatever sin they have fallen into. To turn means to no longer engage in their previous action. Then they must ask God to open their eyes to see how this KNOWLEDGE of evil has lead them to make choices that lead to their enslavement. They need to replace the evil KNOWLEDGE with truthful KNOWLEDGE. Jesus says, "then you will know the TRUTH and the TRUTH will set you FREE!" (John 8:32).

For Hannah, struggling with finding her identity in Christ, she needs to repent of her deep rooted sin of pride and her superficial idolatry of beauty. She needs to take this KNOWLEDGE of evil captive by being careful what TV shows she watches and how often she looks at herself in the mirror. She needs the Spirit of TRUTH to transform her by helping her follow TRUTHFUL KNOWLEDGE so she KNOWS, understands, and perceives beauty like a little child.

Lord, please take away my KNOWLEDGE of evil. I repent of all the times I've given into sin because of my knowledge of it, and thus have been enslaved by it. I pray that I would be born again like an innocent little child. Today, I choose TRUTH. Today, I choose LIFE.

Prayer strikes the winning blow!

A culture of PRAYER will fuel supernatural mission advancement. Jesus established the church in an environment of prayer. He told his disciples to go to the upper room and pray. As a result, on the day of Pentecost, 3,000 people were saved in one day! If we want to be a present day church of Acts, we need to cultivate a culture of prayer. Jesus said, “My house will be called a House of Prayer”. In Acts 6:4 the apostles devoted themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. May we join together as the body of Christ to cultivate a culture of prayer so we might fuel supernatural mission advancement!

This week I asked God to show me what to do for the second hour of church. I didn't know whether to help out with the children’s ministry or go home and prepare for Lighthouse Kids. I felt God tell me not to do either, but rather to start a prayer group during the second service. My pastor supported this idea.

Sunday morning I woke up feeling so sick!

This is the same sickness I felt last Sunday, and I never get sick, especially two Sunday’s in a row. This was no coincidence. I asked my sister to pray over me and still felt no better. I thought I was under spiritual attack because God had put it on my heart to pray the second hour of church, AND the enemy hates prayer.

On our way to church we stopped to pick up an inner-city girl who comes with us every Sunday. Right after we pulled up to her house I opened the car door and threw-up. I can't go to church this sick!? I felt crazy for even thinking I should go...but God often asks us to do crazy things for His Kingdom. We drove the rest of the way to church and parked. I didn't think I could even get out of the car. After praying some more, I made it inside and reluctantly asked the elders to pray over me and anoint me with oil. I could not even stand while they were praying. When they were finished I felt no better. I went to the bathroom and threw-up again. “I don’t think I’m going to make it", I told my sister as I sat on the bathroom floor. She prayed for me and said, “I think you should stand up and start thanking God that you feel better.”

“What!? How can I? I am so sick I feel like I'm going pass out!” I told her.

I thought about it for a moment and knew she was right. I started thanking God that I felt better. Lord, thank you that I am better. Lord, thank you that I am better. I kept repeating those words over and over in my head. I stood up and walked into the church service. The whole time I felt nauseous, dizzy and unbelievably tired, I could hardly keep my eyes open. After the service I went to the bathroom and threw-up again! I felt humiliated and completely irresponsible going to church so sick. I told my sister, “I have to go home, there is no way I can or should stay.” She said, “You need to stay and pray because that's what God told you to do.” Ahhhh, I just wanted to cry.

Lord, give me strength. I sat down in the peach chair near the door of the church, pulled out my Bible, Lord, I pray for… and the moment I began praying during that second service, I felt better!

Even though people had been praying for me all morning, I did not feel better until I obeyed what God had put in my heart. So in conclusion, it matters if we PRAY and it matters if we OBEY. I prayed the rest of the service without feeling sick!

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. -Ephesians 6:10-12