Our teams at the border of Bhutan

Lost Inheritance

Jerry’s 2nd trip blog from India and Nepal

Dear Family,

The second leg of our journey took us to a free state in India with no anti-conversion law. It is predominantly Hindu, so the Christians who live there still suffer persecution. Tapan (name changed) met us at the airport, and we had a short ride to his home. There was much less pollution than in Delhi.

When we turned off the main road, the houses were like those I’ve seen in East Africa. Most were one-story with a concrete finish on the exterior walls. But as we pulled into our partner’s compound, a three-story building towered over us. Tapan’s home doubles as a school. He runs a one-year discipleship program in which he trains four students at a time. The students live on the first floor while his family occupies the second floor. The unfinished third floor is the classroom. He trains these missionaries to walk with Jesus, love their families well, and take the kingdom to specific people groups.

The next morning, we met with students and alumni from the school. We heard testimonies from those who were willing to do what the rich young ruler was not. These bold believers’ choice to follow Jesus was also a choice to give up their family inheritance. Many of them were kicked out of their home and forced to depend on God for everything. We shared some encouragement and introduced some Disciple-Making Movements (DMM) training. Tapan, already having a curriculum in place was hesitant, but kept an open mind.

Later that evening, we observed a house church started by one of the alumni. It was in a little community inside a tea farm. The houses were very primitive. You can read more about it in David’s trip blog here. They had praise and worship, prayer, a responsive reading, and an offering. Then the pastor preached what seemed to be a dynamite sermon, though I have no idea what he said because of the language barrier. After the service, we ate a great meal and headed back to the compound.

As I began to process what I had seen with my team, a problem arose. Though I was encouraged to see the house church, I was somewhat critical of its mode of operation. It felt exactly like a traditional church service, just not in a building. That is not a recipe for multiplication. We need to equip every believer to make disciples, and that doesn’t happen when we just sit and listen to sermons and do nothing else. We must equip people with simple tools to grow in their relationship with God. Then they can hear from God for themselves, obey, share, and train others to do the same.

But I thank God for my brother Todd (a fellow staff member here at Heaven’s Family). He reminded me that this house church that resembled a traditional church, was in the middle of a Hindu community. He told me that as he explored the nearby area, they saw a Hindu altar right behind where the church met. Once again, this was a little light, shining in a sea of darkness.

Wow…for the last eight months I have eaten, drunk, and slept DMM. Now my agenda to incorporate DMM in all we do was clouding my ability to see the good work the Lord was already doing through Tapan. Running a school that trains four disciples a year may not seem that impressive, but let’s do the math. If those four disciples each made four disciples of their own, the following year you would have 16. If that pattern continued, with everyone training four disciples each year, by year 10 you would have 1,048,576 disciples. That is the power of multiplication!

For the first time since I’ve been in ministry, I came in as the “educated outsider” or Pharisee trying to tell someone else the right way to do their ministry. This was supposed to be a learning and relationship-building mission, not a fix-it mission. The message was getting out regardless of the method. The next morning I apologized to Tapan and asked for his forgiveness. He was gracious and accepted my apology. I realized that I’ve been looking through the DMM lens so much that I forgot it’s not the wineskin that’s important but the wine. This was the second-biggest lesson I learned on this trip. (The biggest lesson comes in the next blog.)

After our conversation, we took a four-hour drive to meet Rina (named changed), who is working along the border between India and Bhutan. She is a YWAMer (i.e., a member of Youth with a Mission). Several years ago, she had a vision of Jesus leading her by the hand to the gate of Bhutan. Now her team of four ladies is reaching out to the Bhutanese and Nepalese people there. They go four times a week. They do prayer walks (walking around and praying for the needs of the people they meet), and as people are healed, they believe. They have a thriving house church. They share the gospel more in the towns than in the villages. Rina said, “Due to a lack of education and entrenched Buddhism, if a villager converts, the locals persecute and torture them.” The king of Bhutan allows the people to worship the god they choose, but you’re not allowed to convert others.

What inspired me most about Rina and Tapan was their unrelenting passion to see the lost know Christ. They were both willing to move away from their homes and families to obey the Great Commission. They have decided to give up everything to follow Jesus. Your choice to support either of these national missionaries would be a great kingdom investment.

Please join me for my final trip blog from Nepal. We will meet two amazing women, one of whom taught me the most valuable lesson I learned on this trip. It is the real key to disciple multiplication. Thank you so much for your time and attention.

Grace and peace,

Jerry Jefferson
Director, National Missionary Ministry

Tapan (plaid shirt) interprets as his disciple shares how he lost his inheritance because of following Jesus

Offering time at the house church we visited

Preach!

Left to right: Anung, Naro, Rina, and me