Missions Report 2010
Korea
I had a great time exploring the city Seoul during my layover on the way to Nepal. Seoul is my kind of city—very neat, clean, and orderly. It seems to have been designed for people just like me--and Adrian Monk. It is very English friendly, so it is actually easy to get around. Browsing through a stack of tour brochures, I picked out the various attractions on the map and figured how to get there on the subway. I actually did what would have cost $35 on the tour bus for $3 in subway tickets and $3 in entrance fees--plus, I got to stay as long as I wanted to and read all the descriptions in the museum and see the whole thing rather than the few spots that the tour groups pass by. In addition, I didn't have to go to all the trinket shops that tour busses focus on. I even went to the places that the average tourist never even hears about for just another $2 in subway fares. My real tourist adventure was at the Gyeongbok Palace. The palace actually consists of a large compound of residences and government building that date back to the end of Fourteenth Century. The original structures were destroyed by the Japanese at the end of the Sixteenth Century and remained in ruins until they were reconstructed in the late Eighteenth Century, two hundred seventy-three years later. Included in the compound is a very informative museum that explains not only the history, but also the culture of the Korean people. One of the highlights of my visit to the palace was the re-enactment of the official changing of the guard and the royal parade of the king and queen. The regal display of the traditional costumes and customs was incredible. After taking a journey into Korea’s past, I stepped into their present by spending some time in 
Yoido, the government center. This ultra-modern district boasts impressive business centers, the General Assembly building, and beautiful parks in the city center and along the waterfront. It is also the home of Yoido Full Gospel Church, Dr. Yongi Cho’s thirty-four-thousand seat auditorium. I visited the church and sat in on part of a service. The usher said that the speaker was going to preach in English so there was no translation service available. When the speaker began I assumed he must be just making an introduction for the guest. When they started turning to Bible passages, I thought maybe he was going to take an offering. Although I know that they don't normally pass the plates in the service, I thought maybe that was what was happening since this was a special meeting. When they started putting his points up on the screen, I figured that he must actually be the speaker, so I finally excused myself.
On the flight to Kathmandu, I was upgraded to business class. When I checked in at the airport, I went through the regular line rather than using the self-check-in kiosk. The whole time I was standing in the long line, I kept asking myself why I hadn’t used the self-check-in machine. When the agent offered me the free upgrade, I knew why. He said “If you don’t mind…” Why of course, why would I mind?! The business-class section was only about one fourth or one third full; obviously, they had not extended to offer to many other passengers.
Nepal
Nestled in the mountains of Tibet between China and India, this small Himalayan nation of nearly twenty-nine million people is still basically Hindu although the king was recently removed from power and a secular democracy put in place. Hindus still make up seventy-two percent of the nation. Buddhists claim nine percent, and Muslims have four percent. Christians trail at fourth, with four percent. However, Christianity is growing twice as fast as other faiths, and the church is growing faster there than in any other nation in the world. In 1960, missiologist Patrick Johnstone reported just twenty-five believers. Today the number has risen to more than a million, and that number is projected to double within the next quarter century.
William Carey's Serampore Mission group prepared the way for evangelization activities in Nepal when it translated the Bible into Nepali in 1821. The legendary Sadhu Sundar Singh trekked through Nepal on several trips to preach in the early 1900s. Early mission attempts into Nepal included Scottish missionary William MacFarlane's Eastern Himalayan Mission that focused on education and evangelism in the late nineteenth century, and the Australian Nepalese Mission that was founded in Melbourne in 1911. Ganga Prasad Pradhan, born into a wealthy family in Kathmandu in 1851, became the first ordained Nepali pastor. He was expelled in 1914 by a royal decree, "There is no room for Christians in Nepal." Some forty years later, his grandson, Rajendra Rongong (our personal friend), was among the first group of Darjeeling Nepali Christians to return to Kathmandu. It was at that point that Christianity reallyabegan to take root in the country under the leadership of our dear friend Rev. Robert Karthak. Other close friends of ours who came into Nepal at this same time to do social work and to spread their faith included Eileen Lodge who has given more than fifty years of service to the lepers of Nepal and Elizabeth Mendies who has cared for the country’s orphans for the same amount of time. In addition, a group of mostly Western missionaries formed the United Mission to Nepal (UMN) in 1954, focusing on medical and educational work. UMN missionaries signed a required agreement with the king not to proselytize. However, some ethnic Nepali Christians were determined to be more open about their faith. For example, the late missionary Prem Pradhan proclaimed, "Christ died for me openly before all; how can I proclaim Him privately?" He received a six-year prison term for baptizing nine believers in 1960, but was released under amnesty rules on the king's birthday, after serving four-and-a-half years in prison. Despite hardship, Prem Pradhan established a missionary school in Kathmandu with support from US-based Christian Aid Mission. However in 1972 royal troops closed the school and killed one of the teachers. Prem was again sentenced to prison; this time for twenty thousand days (53 years), but he was eventually freed after paying a ransom of one rupee per day ($2,000). While in jail, at least a dozen political prisoners became Christians who, after their release helped spread Christianity and to establish churches. Another missionary, a former Hindu priest, began circulating a Bible correspondence course in the 1980s; more than four hundred thousand Nepalis eventually subscribed to the course. Today more than half of all Christians belong to independent groups, and charismatics number some six hundred fifty thousand. Every Home for Christ began its outreach into Nepal in 1982 with the vision of visiting every home in the country to share the gospel. To date, EHC has reached every home, even in the most remote villages and has more than halfway completed a second coverage of the country. They report more than three hundred fifty thousand responses to their literature outreaches and have established almost nine thousand Christ Groups, which are essentially pioneer church plants. 
The growth of Christianity in Nepal has occurred exactly the way it did as narrated in the book of Acts or in the gospels--through healing the sick, casting out demons, forgiving sinners, reconciling families, and giving the hope of eternal life. Evangelism is easier in the cities because people are less connected than in the villages where everyone in part of a corporate whole rather than nuclear families or individuals on their own. In the villages, Christians are considered unclean because they don’t participate in the Hindu, Buddhist, or Muslim rituals of the locality. Those who eat meat, especially those in Hindu villages who eat beef and those in Muslim villages who eat pork, are banned from touching the community water supply and other facilities that might “contaminate” the other villagers. The result is that they are essentially outcasts and wind up being excommunicated.
Though there is a tremendous revival spirit throughout the country, not all is peaceful. Nepali Christians have faced all kinds of abuse and isolation in recent years. Many have even paid the ultimate price for their faith. Our translator recently wrote concerning an experience in which one of his pastor friends visited his home to share the gospel and show the Jesus Film. Unfortunately, our translator’s father became very angry and forced the guest to turn off the film and run from the house. But this kind of hostility is not only localized in a few homes here and there; it is widespread throughout the country. Several months ago a bomb was detonated inside a church, killing two believers and injuring fourteen others. Miraculously, the kingpin behind the bombing plot was arrested and placed in a prison where there is a very active Christian Bible study and fellowship. Recent reports we have received from that group tell us that the man behind the bombings is now attending their fellowship meetings and responding to the gospel. He has repented for his deeds and has extended an official apology to the church and asked for their forgiveness. In addition to the religious hostilities the believers have experienced, the country as a whole has suffered greatly under the Maoist insurgency that has cost the country thousands of lives and untold difficulties through strikes that have totally shut down the government and economy of the country. The people have experience extreme shortage of daily supplies, and the prices of daily essentials have been increased unexpectedly. However, Nepal's churches are not shutting down despite the political turmoil in the country. In fact, churches in Nepal are actually growing while the Maoist party continues strikes and protests. At one point, the insurgents implemented a policy of extortion of Christian leaders in which demands for large sums of money were accompanied by threats of kidnappings or burning of homes if the funds were not delivered. Very close personal friends and co-workers of ours in Nepal were targeted in these extortion plots; however, they were protected through God’s grace and the prayers of the saints.
The political system of the country has been in a constant state of flux during our entire experience there. At present, there is no active constitution in place, though a constitutional congress of six hundred five delegates have been selected. Unfortunately, there are no Christian representatives among them. Although this body’s first task is to be to install a new prime minister, eleven attempts have failed to place a chief executive in power. While extreme forces attempt to return the country to a Hindu state and a popular movement wishes to reinstate the royal family, the Maoists are claiming a commonality with the Christians because they both want a secular state based on a democratic process. Presently, Christians have total freedom, Christmas is now recognized as a legal holiday, and in a recent public display (even broadcast on television) the government honored the Christian leadership for their contributions to the country; however, all that can change overnight if a new constitution is adopted which returns the country to its Hindu roots.
My recent trip to Nepal, my twentieth journey to the country. In fact, I have so many Nepali visas in my passport that the immigration officer once commented, “Why don’t you apply for citizenship?”
Upon arrival in Kathmandu, I was greeted by a living, breathing, walking miracle. Ravi Rai, who has been our tour guide, friend, and ministry companion since my first visit to Nepal in 1992 met me at the airport. Nothing unusual here in that he has met us on every visit that Peggy and I have made to the country except for when Peggy visited in April of this year. At that time, he was totally bedridden with a paralysis that could have actually taken his life. But, now he is up and walking! Even though he has a cane, he doesn’t really use it. What’s amazing is that the elevator in the hotel was out of service, and he walked up three flights of stairs to my room. Ravi had been suffering from problems in his feet and legs and was examined by a doctor in the Philippines when he was there for a ministry trip. The physician was trained in regular Western medicine and specialized in cancer treatment. His parents were also cancer specialists; however, his father died of cancer, and his mother was diagnosed to be terminal with cancer as well. When the mother received her diagnosis, she refused treatment, stating that she had treated hundreds of patients who died anyway. She would just as soon die without going through the treatments. At that point, the son began to explore other treatments and came up with a treatment that combines Oriental and biblical treatments, requiring the patient to follow a strict biblical diet, drink gallons of water, fast regularly, and believe God for healing. He gave these treatments to his mother, and she lived! The, Ravi’s diagnosis was that he had 100% functionality of his heart and lungs but minimal capacity from his kidneys and liver. In fact, the doctor said that had he not been a walker and swimmer to keep his heart and lungs healthy, he would have been dead long ago. His main difficulties were a result of poor diet and the pollution in Kathmandu. During his recovery period, Ravi went through six grueling months of paralysis with periods of mental incognizance. However, today his is back to traveling the length and breadth of Nepal to train Christian leaders how to effective raise up other leaders within their churches!
After only about an hour’s stop in the hotel to wash my face and change clothes, I was off to my first assignment at the Stuti Prasansha Church’s eighteenth anniversary celebration. The church, which was begun the same year as my first visit to Nepal, now has twelve daughter churches throughout the country and across the border in India. A hundred twenty delegates from nine of these daughter churches along with the full congregation from the local church were present to praise God for their successful history and to gain inspiration for an even more successful future. I learned that some delegates from the remote areas of the country had traveled for as much as four days—three days of walking and then another day of bus travel—to be present. What a humbling experience it was to stand before such dedicated believers who had given so much in order to be trained and equipped. Upon arrival at the church, I was given a program for the conference with the explanation that the other scheduled speaker had been selected as a delegate to the Lausanne World Evangelism Conference in South Africa so I was to have the privilege of speaking in all the sessions for the full three days of the program. The theme of the meetings was based on Ephesians 5:14, “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light,” so I dedicated several sessions to studies on sleeping, waking up, and the power of the light of Christ in the life of a believer. Since the scriptures often speak of sleep as a time of rest and renewal, I shared on the importance of having times of rest when we are refreshed in our vision and spiritual energy. However, the scriptures also refer to sleep as a negligent disregard for vigilant watchfulness and activity. In fact, such non-productive sleep is even likened to death. Therefore, I shared with the delegates the need to have a proper balance between our renewing rest and our progressive activity for the kingdom of God. Then, I began all the way back with God’s first creative act in Genesis chapter one to show the significance of light in the life of a believer. What a blessing it was when the coordinator of the conference can to me and shared that his twelve-year-old son had been able to explain to him all the major points of the teaching. I was certain if this young man had understood that the message must have been clear and relevant. In the closing session, we asked the Holy Spirit to fill the believers and heard at least two testimonies of delegates who received the baptism in the Holy Spirit during the prayer. The elders form the church summed up the conference in an appreciation email by saying, “We all have received a new direction to develop our spiritual life. It was truly a revival conference.”
Once the Kathmandu conference came to a close, I was off to the city of Pokhara to minister at the Bible college which TAN has helped sponsor. The school was founded the same year I first visited Nepal. When I first visited it, it was in cramped rented quarters. Miraculously, Teach All Nations was able to raise enough money to buy an old factory and renovated the building as a campus for the school. I understand that, due to the tremendous appreciation of property values in Nepal since we first purchased the plot, the property is probably worth a million dollars now! With the new facilities and encouragement from Teach All Nations, the school has become a vital force in equipping Christian leaders for the Nepali-speaking world. To date, over seven hundred fifty graduates have been sent out into the harvest fields of the Himalayas, with over ninety percent of them presently active in the ministry. The current student body represents twelve of Nepal’s twenty-seven districts and also represents the full range of Nepali life from the exuberance of the youngest eighteen-year-old student to the maturity of his oldest sixty-three-year-old classmate. The director of the school had asked that I share on the theme, “Let’s Get Excited About Building the Body of Christ,” a theme which had also been chosen for the city-wide pastors’ conference which was to follow my time at the campus. On my first day with the students, I taught all the classes from eight in the morning until five in the afternoon. The day was climaxed by a dinner with college’s board of directors. Since next year will mark the tenth anniversary of the construction of the new campus, we used this opportunity to strategize how to further the work of the college as we move into a new decade. We identified a number of major needs which need to receive the focus of the board’s attention—the major point of which is the expansion of the dormitory building in order to optimize the student body since classroom facilities will accommodate several times more students than can be housed in the resident hall. The second day, I only had two sessions with the students—one hour for teaching and one hour for ministry. What a blessing it was to see at least eight of the students receive the baptism in Holy Spirit to empower their ministries!
In addition to the ministry at the campus, I was able to minister in a one-day conference that Teach All Nations sponsored for the local pastors and leaders. Many of the approximately one hundred sixty delegates representing almost all the churches in the area who gathered for instruction and encouragement shared with me how the word that I ministered on was exactly what they needed at exactly this time in their ministries. I concluded the meeting with a challenge for them to recognize the significance of the Bible college for the Body of Christ in Nepal and to begin to aggressively support it. I then shared with them the vision for the expansion of the dorm and told them that they should plan to build it with local funds rather than waiting for someone from outside the country to send the money. As soon as I concluded, the chairman of the board grabbed the microphone and challenged the delegates to respond immediately.
The result? A fifteen-thousand-rupee offering. Although this is far from the two to three million rupees needed to make the vision a reality, it is a great start in a country where needs are great and funds are scarce.
One of the blessings of my time in the country was the opportunity to reconnect with many of the friends we have made over the years. Since Peggy was in Nepal this spring and her new book has been released in the Nepali language, it was a daily occurrence that the women would come up to me with messages to bring back to her about how much they had been blessed through reading her book. I was also greatly moved by the number of men who came up to tell me about how they had been trained in previous leadership conferences and were now pastors or leaders within other ministries. The pastor at Stuti Prasansha Church told me that he was at a retreat that Teach All Nations had sponsored for the Kathmandu Valley pastors in the early 1990s. He then added that that opportunity for the pastors from the various ministries to get together for fellowship and direction was a breakthrough that brought unity among the pastors and revival to the churches. One significant aspect of our ongoing work in Nepal is the translation and distribution of our books in the Nepali language. Again, during this visit, I was able to meet with the leadership team and submit new materials for review and evaluation for future publication. I was also able to review the needs for further reprinting and distribution of existing materials. It was a blessing to receive emails even before I returned to the States reporting that the books are presently be taken to more and more remote areas of the country.
MYANMAR AND THAILAND
by Peggy Shirley
Delron kissed me goodbye and pointed for me to turn left to head for the transit lounge as he continued straight ahead to go through customs clearance and immigrations for his stopover in Seoul, Korea, en route to Nepal. Standing there in the middle of Incheon International Airport, I felt so alone and wondered how I was going to be able to “pull off” the teaching schedule I was facing in Myanmar and Thailand. Linda Easton, who has always been such a great traveling companion and preaching partner, was planning to accompany me on this mission, but delayed in purchasing her tickets due to her husband’s illness. When it seemed that it would be okay for her to leave him for the two-week mission, she found that there were no tickets available. For days, I had petitioned the Lord to do a miracle by opening up seats for her on the flights because I could not see myself going alone. I thought that I could not possibly minister in all seventeen meetings without someone to assist me. The task seemed even more overwhelming when I learned that Dr, Buakab who was supposed to assist me in Thailand had been chosen as the Thai representative to the Lausanne Conference on World Evangelism and would be in South Africa rather than with me in Chaing Rai. Had I known that Manassa who was going to take her place had been called away to Fiji due to the funeral of a co-worker, I would have really been in a panic! The sensations I had been feeling were only amplified by the comments I heard from some of my friends who insisted that it simply wouldn’t be safe for a woman to travel through Asia alone as they reminded me that the Lord always sent them out two by two.
Well, I thank the Lord, He is God and does have it all figured out ahead of time. He assured me that, if I would trust Him in this new out-of-the-comfort-zone test, He would show Himself strong. I was certainly encouraged by His presence with me there in the busy airport and on the lonely plane ride to Yangoon; yet I still had little idea what lay before me and what all the Lord was going to do.
I arrived in my hotel room on the first stop of my solo journey--Yangoon, Myanmar (known as Burma in the past)--at 7 PM and was up the next morning at 4 AM to pray and prepare for my first day of teaching from 9 AM to 3 PM. My host was Dong Mang, a former student of ours at World Harvest Bible College. Dong was thrilled as he saw that women from seventy-six different churches registered at the three-day women’s conference he had organized. One of the highlights of 
the conference was that we were able to give each woman a Burmese-language copy of my Women for the Harvest book, which was literally “hot off the press” the morning of the conference. They were so receptive to the message of the book about being used in the end-time harvest. In fact, when I asked how many wanted to be used of the Lord, everyone in the room stood up. During one of my teaching sessions, the Lord told me to tell them that the power of the Holy Ghost was available to all of them and that it was absolutely necessary if they are going to be used in the end-time harvest. A large number came forward and wonderfully received the baptism in the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues. I had no idea that most of these women who were being setting on fire for God were from traditional denominational backgrounds which did not recognize the Pentecostal experience as valid for today. I also learned that this group of ladies were from churches that did not ask them to come forward for prayer; yet, time and time again, they came forward so hungry for a touch of God. I never laid hands on anyone; I just let the Holy Spirit do what He wanted to do in their lives. How exciting it was to watch as He touched them while they were standing in front of me.
Every day for the three days of the conference, I taught continuously with only half an hour break for lunch, but I felt as energized as if I had only taught for one hour. It was truly a supernatural touch on my body, soul, and spirit. After concluding the conference, I stayed over one more day to preach two services at Dong Mang’s church and still felt energized.
The next stop on my mission adventure was in Thailand. Although I had never ministered in Thailand before, Dr. Buakab (the Every Home for Christ national director) had heard about my book, which is currently being translated into the Thai language, and asked me to come speak at the women’s conference. I found that the thousand women present were really eager to learn and to do the work of the Lord. Every day, the Lord woke me up early to study and pray--and the next thing I knew, I was up preaching. Even though I thought that I would be lonely without Linda or even any friends among nationals like I had in Burma, I soon discovered that I felt totally secure and had no need to talk to anyone other than to the Lord Himself. I repeatedly thank the Lord that He knew what would happen if Linda couldn’t come and that I would be just fine by myself with lots of time to spend with just Jesus.
The response in Thailand was as incredible as it was in Myanmar. There was a great spiritual hunger and willingness in the women; they were so open to the Lord and so ready to receive from Him. On the first night of the conference, the Holy Spirit told me that there were many women present who needed the power of the Holy Spirit. Just as I had witnessed in Myanmar, I once again saw the Holy Spirit move on the ladies as they came forward. At one of the last meetings, I felt led to minister to the women who had experienced abuse. To illustrate my point, I took a handful of flowers out of a vase on the podium and threw them down and then stepped on them. I then explained that God had showed me that each of them was like these beautiful flowers, full of God’s fragrance and beauty; however, man and their culture had taken them and crushed and hurt them. As a result, they felt like they had no value or potential for service for the Lord. I then picked up the flowers, blew on them, and put them back into the vase to show the women how God wanted to restore them. I then asked the women to come forward who had been crushed (abused). I was not surprised to see the whole room come forward. As I told them to put up their hands for a healing touch from God, I broke out into tears and a prophecy 
proclaiming how the Lord said they never deserved how they had been treated and how He came to take their hurt and shame. The entire group of women began to cry, which you may not think of as unusual for women; however in Asian cultures--and particularly in Thailand--women never cry in public. It was a breakthrough that really set these women free! You will never be able to imagine how happy and free they looked at the end of the conference.
As I traveled back to Korea where I met Delron, I was overwhelmed with the same “mission accomplished” satisfaction I had felt on my last mission trip to Nepal and India—two groups of women had been recruited and empowered for God’s end-time army. I was thrilled that the women in Myanmar and Thailand were truly stepping up and taking the Great Commission seriously. It is reported that sixty to seventy percent of missionaries around the world are now women and that eighty-five percent of the leaders in the underground church in China are women. Although women in China are traditionally treated as totally inferior beings, when God calls them as His messengers, they cannot be pushed into second-place. How glorious it is to see that God’s end time army around the world is starting to fill up with women who are bold enough to say, “Yes, Lord, here I am. Send me.”
