This week on the blog we’re sharing excerpts from At The Foot of the Snows: A Journey of Faith and Words Among the Kham-Speaking People of Nepal by David E. Watters with Steve and Daniel Watters. (Read more about the book in Tuesday’s post.)
Yesterday we shared about the low point, when the Watters were ready to give up and end their work in Nepal. Today we see the result of their faithfulness. David Watters writes about the first Kham believers:
Nancy served some tea. Bishnu, the oldest, was the first to speak. “We want to be baptized,” he said.
This was completely unexpected, and I didn’t know how to respond. I had already resigned myself to the fact that no one would ever show any real interest in the gospel.
“Baptized?” I responded. “Whatever for?”
“We read in the Bible that when someone believes, he gets baptized,” he explained.
…
Three days later, the men returned—Hasta Ram, Bishnu, Danthya, and Panchya. I began to talk. I began with original sin and the fall of man. I explained that God had made provision for our sin and that he promised to send a Redeemer. I talked about the birth of Christ and his life among us, preaching the gospel and healing the sick. I talked about his crucifixion and all that that means. I talked about our hope of eternal life through him. All this took a couple of hours.
Then, I gave them a strong warning. “If you believe,” I said, “you become liable for imprisonment in your own country. In Nepal, it is illegal to become a Christian, so my advice to you is to think very carefully about what you will do. Are you willing to suffer imprisonment for your faith?” At the time, both conversion and proselytism were illegal, punishable by one or six years, respectively.
All of them responded in the strong affirmative. “Yes, we understand,” they said. “This is what we’ve been looking for all our lives.”
The men’s decision to follow Christ would prove to be a costly one. Tomorrow we’ll share one final excerpt from the book to share how the Kham responded when persecution came.
Disclosure: VOM is part of the Amazon Associates program. If you click on the links in this post and purchase the book from Amazon, VOM will receive a very small percentage of your purchase as a referral fee.
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