Ruminant Covenant - Rumination Break

13 October 1999

This week we will take a little break from our adaptability series to ponder for a brief period on why this whole ruminate thing is important.

This weekend I had the opportunity to remember some of the circumstances of my divorce. The night that I felt the Lord release me from that trying situation was the most painful experience of my life. The pain was so wrenching I believed that I could die. The most painful part however was the knowledge that I wasn't going to pass on. Since that time I have always wondered how women could ever cope with those circumstances. After all they are supposed to be more emotional than we macho men. Hey Dude, all guys are tough and hard, right?

As time passed and I began to pick up the pieces, the Lord sent Kay into my life to show me that I could love and be loved again. After some months she went on to marry a rich guy that truly cherished her in a way only one man can love one woman. If anyone ever deservved that kind oftreatment it was Kay because of some of the hard times she had been through. That was really the first time I saw the Lord work out his plans for me, bringing into my life just the right person at just the right time, in just the right circumstances.

Freed from the marriage, the Lord has had time to deal with me in ways I could have never imagined previous to that time. I have had a lot of time to ruminate on a of lot areas, and I have seen the Lord work in wonderful ways. This leads me to comment on some thoughts I had working at Port Townsend last week. Living in South Seattle, it is cheaper and most of the time faster to drive around through Tacoma than take the ferry. Driving Highway 3 by Gig Harbor, Bremerton and Poulsbo, I noticed that the drivers on the peninsula drive the speed limit, as opposed to a minority over in the big city. The thought crossed my mind how most of the city drivers are in a big hurry and are really going nowhere, at least in an eternal sense. Their lives are sort of like Tibetan prayer wheels and the eastern religions. They go round faster and faster, leading to nowhere. That parallel shows itself in modern western culture centered in the cities. All this hurry to get somewhere, to do something of no eternal consequence. And sadly much of the church is locked in step with this circular reasoning.

The church however, is called to follow Christ, to become one with him in his sufferings, to wait on the Lord, and to minister to others from our weakness. How difficult it is for us to wait, we just want to spin that prayer wheel and get things moving. But how do we make the change? People from Seattle probably make up the highest proportion of visitors every year to Nepal. Most associated with some sort of mountaineering expedition or some related trek. They come back as expositors of the great religious principles of the east. But really there teaching is just a rural form of the religion they already practice.

There is a work of God going on in Nepal however. A Christian work. The church of Nepal is planning to walk across the country in Y2K, as a witness to that nation, that there is a personal God that created all. He sent is Son into this world to justify sinners by his righteousness and to those who believe on Him, they receive the free gift of eternal life. That is a journey worth the effort.

My contact in Nepal is Dan Bushy (danbushy@cs.com) and the rest of this weeks message I will turn over to a letter describing this trek for Christ across Nepal. If we support this effort with our prayers and in other means, perhaps the influence of Himalayan Buddhism will diminish and it will cease to be a model of western culture. Just a thought for your further rumination.

PRAYER PLANTS

Before that letter however, I would liketo acknowledge that the Lord has provided financially over the last week, beyond anything that has occurred even before this post divorce pilgrimage. The housing situation is to the point where I will be able to work from here should the Lord desire, for the foreseeable future. So things are looking good from that perspective. The vehicle situation needs to be taken care of however. My truck still has the big hurt from the accident about a year ago and I noticed today a whining, the truck for a change and not me, but with 193 thousand miles it has been by far and away the best vehicle I have ever owned. There is still the financial needs to get ministry finances, if this ministry is ever to get beyond this weekly letter. With that also comes other human resources as the Lord knows I require.

Thank you for your prayers.

"BLESS NEPAL 2000!"

September 12, 1999

Dear Ministry and Church Leaders, Church Families, and Friends,

It is our great joy to share with you something that we believe God is wanting to do at the turn of the millineum here in Nepal. As you may know, God has been doing incredible miracles in this nation in the last years. We have seen the church of Nepal grow from no known believers in 1950 to an estimated 400,000 believers, much of the harvest coming in since 1990 when religious freedom was pronounced. The church, despite continued persecution and pressure, is continuing to grow in all regions of the nation. We count ourselves so blessed to be a part of what God is doing to advance His kingdom in this Himalayan nation.

We in "Youth With A Mission (YWAM), believe God is calling His church here in Nepal to hold a nationwide Chistian event in January of 2000. We believe God is calling His church to walk across this nation proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We are calling this historical event, "Bless Nepal 2000."

I'd like to first share with you the five main objectives of this walk so that you can better understand the vision behind "Bless Nepal 2000."

1. A NATIONWIDE TIME TO CLAIM OUR COUNTRY FOR CHRIST - Walking across Nepal, claiming and proclaiming the nation for Jesus Christ and His purposes. (Joshua 1:3 "I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised to Moses.")

2. A NATIONWIDE TIME OF PRAYER - Praying for God's purposes to be done in our country and in the world. (Matthew 18:19 "Again, I tell you, that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.")

3. A NATIONWIDE DEMONSTRATION OF THE UNITY OF THE BODY OF CHRIST - For all parts of the body of Christ to join hands together in a spirit of unity and love, that would go beyond all existing barriers in the church. (Ephesians 4:3 "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.")

4. A NATIONWIDE EVANGELISTIC EVENT - To see many people brought into the kingdom of God, through many different forms of culturally appropriate and sensitive evangelism. (Acts 1:8 "And you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.")

5. A NATIONWIDE CALL TO OUR PART IN WORLD MISSIONS - To see many new people, organizations, and churches respond to God's call to take the gospel to the unreached peoples of this world. (Mark 16:15 "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.")

There is a sense in many spiritual leaders' hearts today across this nation that God is wanting to usher in a new time in the history of the church of Nepal. In the last years, the church of Nepal has seen great advancements in both number and maturity. We have seen God grant to us a Spirit of freedom in the last years which has resulted in the general belief that the door is open for us to run with the gospel. And God is wanting to do new things in the church today. One of those new things is the calling of a whole new generation of Nepali missionaries into world missions. The Nepali church, for the greater part, has been a receiving church but we believe that God is now calling the church of Nepal to be a giving church, sharing the blessings and annointings it has received with the world. To not see the church of Nepal stagnate, she must give so that she can continue to receive and give again. We want a healthy bride to present to Christ and the world. We also believe God is wanting the whole church of Nepal to be involved in this nationwide event. We want to see churches and Christian organizations across the nation plan and participate in this walk to the degree they desire. We believe something of this size needs to be led by the local leaders as they will best know how "Bless Nepal 2000" can work in their area.

Practically what we see is Christians, churches, and Christian organizations across this land walking across the 10 zones that are along our nation's southern "East-West Highway." We see marchers taking off from four different locations along this highway beginning January 2 of the year 2000. The distance east to west is a total of 975 kilometers and broken down into four regions, each with their own starting location, the walking distance for each region would be between 220 and 270 kms. We see believers walking these kilometers claiming their region, zones, and country for Christ, praying for the church and for God's purposes to be fulfilled in our generation, preaching the gospel, walking in unity, and calling out a new generation of Nepali missionaries into world missions. We see this march connected with different kinds of short term evangelistic and intercessory outreaches, evangelistic programs, celebrations with drama and music teams, mission rallies at churches, and special seminars that would meet the felt needs of the church.

This will be the first time in the history of the church of Nepal to attempt this kind of nationwide event. Therefore, we are asking people from all around the world, through intercessory prayer, to be a part of seeing God's purposes for Nepal and the world furthered through this walk the Lord has called us to. The Lord has spoken to us that His desire is to raise up an international prayer force to stand behind the church of Nepal in blessing their nation in Jesus' name through "Bless Nepal 2000." The Lord has spoken to us from Nehemiah 4:16-18 that He desires two groups to be involved in "Bless Nepal 2000" - those working on the wall directly, with a tool in one hand and a weapon in the other, and those standing behind the workers armed with weapons for warfare to support and defend their work. The Church of Nepal are the front-line workers. That is, we will be involved directly in the walk. But the second group, the officers, stood behind each worker armed with weaponry, supporting their work. This group we believe is the international body of Christ, not able to be directly involved in the walk, but forming a prayer shield, defensive and offensive, to see the work through to successful completion.

We believe intercessory worship, prayer, and spiritual warfare is what will enable us to be faithful to the Lord in obeying His vision of "Bless Nepal 2000." We believe your prayers will do two things: release the measure of God's enabling grace and power we need to accomplish successfully the vision God has spoken, and your united prayers will become an interceptor and a shield against the strategies and attacks of the enemy against this vision. We need committed, unified prayer now and in the coming four months as we prepare and then walk across this nation of Nepal in January 2000. We want to be faithful to the vision God has entrusted us with (I Corinthians 4:1-2) and we need your partnership to see that happen. Please join us "on the wall" and let's see the Spirit of God released in a fresh and mighty way across this nation!

This introductory letter is being sent out to those we know and believe would like to be a part of standing with us in intercessory prayer. Your names and e-mail addresses have been given to us by those who are linked with you here in Nepal. Our desire is to send out bi-monthly prayer updates to you so that you can pray with more understanding of our needs and challenges as things here progress. Please be in communication with us if you have any questions about how you can be a part or if you would like to share with us insights, scriptures, prophetic words, etc. that you receive as you pray.

Please write to us at the following e-mail address only. You can write freely as this is a secure address and your letters will be encrypted and sent on to us.

Write us at: <susan@gvp.connectfree.co.uk>.
Thank you and may God bless you as you pray!

In His Service for Nepal and the Himalayas,
Susan Gaffney
Kwang-Sook Chung
("Bless Nepal 2000" Prayer Coordinators)