First Love Home

Zechi and Lola Lhomi were raised in a small Buddhist, Lhomi village near the Nepali Tibetan border. There are no roads that reach their village. To get there, one would have to walk miles through incredibly steep hills and valleys. Their village has no electricity and limited access to facilities such as schools and medical care. Zechi lived most of his life as cow shepherd and had to work hard for his livelihood farming wheat and potatoes.  

His village and culture are deeply rooted in Buddhism and the Lhomi people have strong spiritual pride. His life forever changed when he became a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. One day his younger brother became deathly ill. The Buddhist holy men tried to heal him but nothing worked. After many days a Christian man from a nearby village prayed for healing and slowly he was healed. Zechi and his family accepted Jesus as they saw the power of God displayed in their life. A church was founded in his village and Zechi became one of the leaders. A small revival sparked the surrounding villages and many people came to Christ. After some time a severe persecution rose from a Maoist Rebel group. They came with their machetes and threatened Zechi and the other church leaders and told them to leave. They tried to burn down the church and beat some of the Christians. They had to flee for their lives. After a while another village killed the Maoist rebel leader. His body was cut up into pieces and thrown into a river. He left a small boy behind named Thudok.

 

Three years ago Zechi and Lola felt God impress on their hearts to start First Love Home for Tibetan children. Their vision is to disciple children and train them up to be responsible Christ-filled adults who will return to their villages to share the Gospel. Currently they have 14 children and 4 of their own. Thudok (right pic), the son of Maoist rebel leader who severely persecuted them, now lives at First Love Home and he loves Jesus.

*Names have been changed

Psalm. 98:2 The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

Seeking God's INSTRUCTION

There is, perhaps, nothing a Christian needs to more closely examine than his or her own presumed views and habits, for we are so prone to take God’s divine approval of them for granted, rather than seeking out his counsel and instruction in the Word! Let us examine ourselves, our habits, our ways and see if there is anything that is hindering us from fully following God. 

1 Chronicles 13 tells the account of King Davids endeavor to bring the ark of God back to Jerusalem. David just became King of Israel and is living in Jerusalem. He has good intentions of bringing the ark of God to Jerusalem. All Israel goes to get the ark. They put it on a new cart to bring to Jerusalem. "And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark, and he died there before God. And David was angry because the LORD had broken out against Uzzah."-1 Chronicles 13:9-11 

Even though David and all of Israel have good and right intentions to please the Lord, they did not seek His instruction. Uzzah perishes because of his lack of knowledge in understanding of how to correctly carry the ark of God. David learns a harsh lesson and seeks the Lord for instructions of how to correctly carry the ark of God.

Two chapters later, David realizes God is blessing the house of Obed-Edom because of the ark. He goes to bring it to Jerusalem, however he does it differently this time. He does not put the ark on a CART like he did the first time. David seeks the Lord's instruction. He realizes that no one but a Levite can carry the ark of God. In 1 Chronicles 15:13-15, David says, "Because you (Levites) did not carry the ark the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule."

The priests and the Levites consecrate themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord. This time, the Levites carry the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the LORD.

"So all Israel brought up the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres" (vs28). 

So often we are like David and Uzzah, we have good intentions to follow God and seek him but we are not going about it in the right way. Hosea said the people perish because they lack knowledge. We must examine our own presumed views and habits, rather than taking God’s divine approval of them for granted. Let us examine ourselves, our habits, our ways and see if there is anything that is hindering us from fully following God. 

Lord, search us this day. Search our hearts and minds and bring to our attention any hbait or presumed view that might hinder us from following You!