Goats and Gospel
A submission story:
Bhaju Ram Shrestha
"Oh, gods, we have done everything to prevent
our goats getting sick. We have gone to the veterinaries, to shamans and what
not. Our goats suddenly get sick and they die. As a last resort, we are
calling you all the way from Kathmandu
to pray for our goats and ward off the evil spirit" the lady of the house pleaded
by folding her hands. Her husband and
his brother together own about 50 goats for their income. All of them were Hindu family except the lady
who claims to be a Christian. Raja Ram was the elder brother who requested
us through one of our church members in Kathmandu to go to his village and pray
for the goats.
So four of us from upon the direction of Pr. Umesh
Pokherel of Gathaghar Church-two ladies, Durga and Indira and Mr. Sharma (80)
and I went to the village that was over 50 miles from Kathmandu that took us
about 3 hours. When we arrived in the nice
village I saw many healthy goats, sick goats and a couple of sick kids who were
sleeping under the basket. After the lady's plea we tried to console them
through the Bible. I read Psalms 24 and the promise from James. Other urged
them to believe in Jesus, so that the evil spirit would go away. Mr. Sharma
pointed the story of King Hezekiah and in fact he urged the younger brother to
read. Perhaps that was the first time in his life that he read the Bible. They all gave the words that believed in God
and eventually they would spread their interest in Bible and join the church. We did not have a Bible to give to them;
however, we left the illustrated Bible that we published and the Steps to
Christ. Both were in Nepali language. After sharing our faith, I poured the
olive oil on the head of a sick kid as if I were a priest ready to sacrifice
the goat. Each of us took the turn to pray and pleaded the Lord to make the
goats healthy, drive the evil spirit away from the premises so that the owners
would glorify God who owns everything.
After the
prayer the household gathered together in a room where I presented the power point
on why we suffer. It was my intention to
direct the villagers' mind to Jesus through whom God showers the love, and He
does not cause evil as all the major religions depicts.
Within a
couple of hours we finished our mission assignment and headed toward Kathmandu.
Please
pray for those goats in Sanga chowk which is in Sindupalanchok district that
borders China. Please pray that through
the healing of the goats, the owners would glorify God and turn their eyes on
Jesus. In the book of Joel the plague of
locusts was upon the land of Israel so that the chosen people would turn to
God. Likewise according to John 3:16, God has chosen everyone for eternal life
provided he or she chooses Him.
It was the
wonderful experience on last Sunday (Dec 9, 2012) that we had heeding the
Macedonian calls from the goats.
Indira shows the Illus Bible
The owner reads the Bible
I Pray fort the goats and the owners
The Goat saving party
