VIETNAM LEPER MINISTRY  -   David and Pushpa 

Mark 1:40-42

A man with Leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging Him to be healed. "If you are willing you can heal me and make me clean"  he said. Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him “I am willing,”he said. “Be healed!”  Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed.

Despite the triumph of modern medicine, leprosy is still largely misunderstood and somewhat feared in Vietnam. Most leper patients today are elderly and contracted the disease before medicines were available for them to be cured before the disease damaged their bodies. Every year there are some new cases although these now generally are cured before physical damage occurs. Leper patients not only have suffered terrible physical hurt, but also have often felt great loss and rejection by family and society as they were put into centers away from those they loved.

From many years ago the government established these leper centres, usually far from the cities, where the patients live in simple buildings with basic amenities. Most patients have been cured of leprosy, but they continue to live with the physical deformities and health related issues that accompany leprosy. The most visible deformities are the hands with fingers amputated, legs amputated and facial disfigurement. It is moving to see a man with all his fingers and both legs amputated chatting with you as if there was no difference between you and him.

The government gives the patients an option of either receiving two free meals a day or they can get their own meals and are given $21.USD per month.  In some centers the patients have land to cultivate crops and vegetables for their own consumption but because of the severe deformities (loss of limbs and fingers) they find it difficult to work in the fields. In some centers the ground is too hard.

Today you will also find the children and grandchildren, (not affected by the disease), of the Leper patients staying at the centers. They live in simple houses separate from where the leper patients live and together they make up the whole community of the leper center – elderly leper patients, their adult children and grandchildren.

Our co-workers work in 6 of the 14 leper centers in North Vietnam. They have impacted the patients who are touched by our workers love, as they were not repulsed by their disease but who continued to regularly visit them, touch them, eat with them, fellowship with them and care for them. The ministry also supplies some groceries to the patients for which they are very grateful for.

Hien and her Team of 3 local co-workers are very dedicated and passionate in their work and have brought many patients to the Lord. Hien first visited one of the leper centers in 2002 and she felt sad to see their loneliness, (hardly anyone came to see them), and to see the bleakness in their faces. They lived from day to day resigned to their life, not expecting or hoping for anything more.

In 2008 after seeking the Lord’s guidance she formed a partnership with an ex-patriot couple and her AG church leadership, and began to work full time in the Leper communities. The centers are far from town and Hien and her team must travel 2-3 hours by motorbike, but she has a heart for these Lepers and desires to bring the peace, love and joy of Jesus into their lives. Initially she faced a lot of opposition from the authorities at the centers and she was not allowed to share the Gospel, so just visited bringing food parcels and being friendly. They watched her and praise God He opened the door for her to work in the centers.

One center had been closed for several years, not allowing her to share with the patients. For two years we prayed, - highlighting this as a prayer need in our prayer and newsletters. Then unexpectedly the center director called and asked if she would do a Christmas presentation that year to the patients and children. This was a miracle as this man used to be so against her. But he has changed and now the gospel is shared openly, even to the staff, patients are placing their faith in Jesus, and about 30 children meet for Bible study each week.

The past two years over 30 children from this center have attended the AG church summer camp with many being water baptized there. The center director also enjoys attending along with the children and is most helpful, always encouraging the children to behave well, to pray and participate in all the activities. We truly thank God for this man.

In another center there is also a group of about 30 children and youth who meet every week for Bible learning, singing and fun games, along with many adults who continue to be discipled there. A new generation of young people hungry for the Word of God are discovering the truth and finding meaning in life through knowing Jesus Christ.

From these two leper centres Hien has over 70 children attending the summer camp. What a blessing God has given to Hien – who has no family (her parents and only sibling (a brother) all died when she was in her mid-teens), – and yet she will be called ‘blessed’ in heaven by many!

Our Leper ministry raised funds to give 27 of the poorest children scholarships to help them with their school fees. The children and their families were overjoyed.

When other volunteer groups from the Buddhist faith have come to evangelize them, the believers stood firm in the Lord refusing to even receive  their gifts of CD’s and biscuits, sweets and other goods. They declared that now they know the Lord, they will follow Him alone. They told them that since they have known Jesus their lives have changed and they are happy and filled with peace. The most amazing statement was “We know we will have a new body when we go to heaven so we will rejoice with what we have now.”

Last year, just before Christmas, a Malaysian team came to visit these two centres. In one centre the team cooked lunch for the patients and had fellowship with them. A simple gesture, that meant so much to the patients who were deeply touched by the tangible love of God shown by the team. Later many were greatly encouraged by the film of Nick Vujuvicic (a Christian man with no arms or legs) and by the sharing of the team. Many patients were seen with tears rolling down their cheeks. We hope more teams will come and share the love of God with these people.

     Praise God for His favour and open doors, and the partnership of supporting churches and organisations, which enables our co-workers in the Leper Ministry to reach, touch and change the lives of the people in the leper centres.

               

                                           

EXPERIENCING THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT.

Erik Cheong, (Mission Team member to Nepal–December 2014)

Everything made sense and I connected all the dots when I began life as a born again Christian. Even as a non-believer, God shone His light on me, looked out for me, guided me through my many challenges, granted my heart’s desires and gently led me along the path straight to Him. Being a young Christian, I was privileged enough to be part of two mission trips, Myanmar in 2013 and more recently, Nepal in December 2014. The trip to Myanmar was in the capacity of a photographer, when I was still a non-believer. There is no other way to describe a non-believer going on a mission trip, other than it being all part of God’s plans. It was a fulfilling purpose being able to capture images throughout the mission trip, more so when on landing back in Malaysia from my first mission trip ever, to Myanmar, Ps Eric Fung prayed for me and I invited Jesus into my heart right there in the arrival hall of the airport. Praise the Lord!

My recent trip to Kathmandu, Nepal is still very vivid. Kathmandu is surrounded by poverty; you can see it and feel it everywhere you go. From the intermittent blackouts, the brown water, the dusty streets, poorly paved roads, to the street kids working for a meal a day; it was always a feeling of hopelessness and despair from any first impression. Thapathali Slum, or what I would call the “slum of all slums”, is located right in the heart of Kathmandu under a bridge and right next to the Bagmati River. Now this heavily polluted river has human excrement, factory waste and dead animals floating in it and yet this is the Slum Dwellers only supply of water. Their homes are shacks literally made out of plastic sheets and cardboards. What we call rubbish is what the slum dwellers call home. Winters can be harsh without electricity and clean water and I am simply unable to comprehend the hardships and struggles of the people here. Similarly in Myanmar, underlying all the doom and gloom, I find a lot of hope and optimism, with God working out His plans for these people.

 Our mission trip included the distribution of donated blankets, winter wear, food and chocolates for the children. In the middle of the slum lies a Church established by Asian Outreach and National Mission Commission (NMC) of Nepal. The Church blends in to the surroundings, maybe different by being slightly larger than their huts. Once inside however, the place was filled with warmth and love as I saw about forty kids of different ages, diligently learning their lessons of the day from devoted teachers and writing on to their writing pads intently. Yes, all this in a slum. As the mission trip ventured into another slum (Godawari), local ministries and churches, one thing was prevalent and that was the selflessness and devotion of the pastors, volunteer teachers and all of God’s faithful servants. They work tirelessly and relentlessly, by sowing the seeds of Love, Faith and Hope. Instead of wandering aimlessly with no apparent future the kids now have a ‘Safe Haven’ where they can be nurtured —physically, emotionally and spiritually. I can visualize God’s will, as my first year relationship with Him continues to grow and I learn and reflect from the Nepalese people and the awesome mission team, praying and aspiring to the attributes in:  Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." 

LORD HERE I AM SEND ME! 

Tan Luan Kyee, Missionary 

The 2-week trip between July and August 2014 was my 14^th trip to the Himalayan region of Siliguri in West Bengal, India. From my non air-conditioned minivan taxi, I watched the congested traffic and the inevitable ear jarring honking of cars and the familiar scenes and sounds suddenly brought an exhilarating sense of home-coming to the place which had been home to me for a number of years in the past.

It was in 2012 that I had the privilege to work with Kikon Lotha, founder and director of Neighbours Mission Himalayas (NMH), a church planting ministry he started in 2010 by faith in obedience to God. Within a short period of time, the work to reach the unreached in suburban and remote villages has greatly multiplied in Siliguri, Indo-Bhutan, Indo-Nepal and South Bhutan.

On my last trip, we went to Shompok Village in Darjeeling where church planter, David Baraily is ministering. Our transport was a tough rugged 12-seater land cruiser. Leaving the crowded humid city behind, it was lovely to feel the cool refreshing air and be fascinated with the enchanting scenic view of changing landscapes as we travelled on the mountainous road. The further we go, the road becomes more narrow and winding but the 90-degree bends were skilfully manoeuvred by the driver as we continued ascending. The few small towns we passed by, are no more than two rows of small cubicle shops on both sides of the single narrow road with the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (Toy Train) passing through them. There was a brief stop for passengers to get off and time enough for a stretch before more passengers packed the seats and atop the vehicle. Passing a huge tea garden, the gravel road suddenly seemed deserted and became even narrower as we continued in the pitch dark quiet mountain. When we finally saw David outside the gate waiting to greet us, it was past 8pm. We were the last passengers to be dropped after six hours on the road. There were no street lights and with a torchlight, we made our way to David’s small two room house.

Prior to joining Neighbours Mission Himalayas (NMH) in 2013, David and his family lived in Kathmandu, Nepal for 7 years where he was a church planter. Then two years ago David heard of this village, Shompok which did not have a single Christian believer and David felt the Lord calling him to go there.  He was told that 2 years ago, some missionaries who went there encountered great resistance and hostility and were eventually chased off. God’s favour was upon David and when he came in 2012 to hold a Christmas celebration and medical camp, the villagers welcomed him and he won his first convert. There are now 15 baptised believers. David’s whole family are involved in ministry. His 14 years old son, Asish, goes to school in Sikkim but every weekend he walks one and a half hours home to help his father lead worship on Sundays and teaches Sunday school to about 35 children. He walks back to school on Mondays. 12 years old daughter Anuja loves to sing and worship and is a graceful dancer.

 

                                  

The next morning, David left early and we joined the rest of the family later to go church.  After about half-an-hour the steep descending path and the sweltering heat had all of us sweating profusely, I couldn’t resist asking how much farther to go and was told it would take one hour to reach. Church on that Sunday was under a temporary tarpaulin shed on a small plot of land belonging to Mr Bishal, the first believer in this village. On the edge of the land is a 10 feet long two room wooden hut, the slightly bigger 6 x 8 feet room is used as church where about 25 people cram in every Sunday. Smartly attired in his Nepali outfit, David and his son, Asish led us in lively worship. We were delighted to enjoy a variety of performances by Sunday school children dancing graceful Nepali dances in solo and groups. For the children, the highlight was receiving a goody pack each which we had brought for more than 80 of them. It was humbling to be asked to share the Word with them and I felt more encouraged by them. It must be past 2pm when we ended and, as if on cue, the intermittent rain turned into a downpour but the small crowd remained jovial and after many photos, all of us enjoyed a simple lunch together. The way back was more difficult as I had to pause for breath going uphill. I was hugely relieved when after about one and a half hours I emerged from the jungle path and was heading home.

 In the evening we were told there about an impending  3-day strike where all roads will be closed and we would have to travel back via Siikim, the neighbouring state. Next morning we were up at 4.30am for the first part of our journey . We drove for sometime and the road ended at the edge of the jungle. There we had to walk for about 40 minutes to reach the road on the other side to board the next vehicle. We walked and crossed a bamboo suspension bridge and out of nowhere suddenly there was a lone little church atop a hill and we stopped for rest before we continued on. There were at least 15 of us in the vehicle as we headed to the bus terminal to take another vehicle for the last leg of our journey. In all it took about 10 hours when the adventuresome journey ended as we reached Siliguri.

 It was a humbling experience meeting David and his family. I was deeply touched to see his selflessness, dedication, commitment and love for God and his people. You could see the joy he had in giving and serving God together as a family.

Matthew 5:14. 

 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”

Prayer Request

(1)    Financial support for David and his family. He is getting USD50 per month and half the amount goes to paying his house rent.

(2)    For God’s provision for land to build a church and a room for Sunday school. Flat land is scarce and costly.

(3)    For funds to support local workers so that more can be sent to reach the un-reached in rural areas.