After a season of persecution, a pastor continues his ministry

There were six of them locked in a small room. There was a bucket in the corner used as a bathroom and a sink. Food was not promised.

A guard stood at the door with a rifle.

They were locked away because they celebrated Christmas, the birth of their Savior.

God uses everything

Pastor Ram of Nepal looks back on that season of persecution as a lesson.

Pastor Ram recalls a horrific 35 days spent locked in a small room with his family because they celebrated Christmas. Though there’s always a risk of persecution, he continues to spread the Good News.

“Persecution and suffering taught me that following the Lord is not easy,” he says. That time spent locked away was not the family’s first experience with persecution and probably not their last. At that time, villagers would break into his family’s house and attack them with lathis–long, heavy wooden sticks.

But God used those trying times to grow the faith of His servants and to grow His kingdom. Pastor Ram and his family spent 35 days in that small room, locked away by Hindu radicals. They prayed each night, and the guard at the door listened intently.

“God worked in his heart, and he went to church and confessed his faith in Jesus,” he recalls. “Now, Pastor Ram is a pastor.”

Ministry today

Pastor Ram has been serving in his community for four years. He attended Bible League’s Church Planter Training and uses the small group Bible study materials to introduce the Gospel to people in his community.

Pastor Ram serves as a pastor in a community in Nepal. His church has 45 members and he’s actively doing ministry in the field to share the Gospel.

“I have benefitted greatly from [the training]. My knowledge increased and I learned to serve better,” he says. “It helped me proclaim the Gospel and teach the Word. I learned how to look after and lead the church. I learned to approach a stranger and share the Gospel.”

His tactics are working. He planted a church in an area with a large community of people from a lower caste. “The Lord began to bring people to Himself. There are now three churches in that area,” he says. He trained a local believer to manage those churches and moved to his current home, more than 300 miles away.

Now he welcomes 45 people to worship each Sunday.

Dreams for the future

Thanks to your faithful gifts, each member now has a Bible. “Nobody had Bibles before, but thanks to Bible League, our believers now have Bibles,” he says. “They love and read them. Now, no one in the church is left out.”

Pastor Ram tells story after story of the faithfulness of God in his church and the families he serves. More are coming to his church. The people here are hungry for God’s Word. He has big dreams for his community, dreams that are only possible through God.

“As I look ahead, I want to see new souls come to Christ. For this, we go to many surrounding villages and share the Good News,” he says. “We have yet to see the results of this outreach, but we hope and pray expectantly.”

Looming threats, hopeful hearts

Though Pastor Ram does not face opposition now, he is always aware of the threat. The memories of that small room will always linger.

Pastors from across Nepal gathered for a Church Planter Training course, the same course that helped Pastor Ram plant several churches and grow his ministry. Thanks to your gifts, many pastors will be equipped to do even more ministry here.

“Persecution will come and go, but we must keep growing in the Lord,” he says. “We need to perservere in prayer and become strong in the faith. By using these Bibles and Bible study booklets, our spiritual life is being strengthened.”

[Jesus said,] “Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” John 15:20 NIV

The beautiful thing about Pastor Ram’s community is that, though there is always a risk for their faith, people continue coming to church. People here are hungry for the Gospel, and that hunger continues to grow.