Calvary Road Baptist Church
“MISSION TRIP REPORT - OUR PARTNER IN NEPAL”
Matthew 28.18-20
My text is Matthew 28.18-20:
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Properly understood, this passage establishes the marching orders for a New Testament Church. The passage is usually (and erroneously) understood by Protestants as the Lord’s authorization for every Christian to evangelize the lost. Such a view of the Great Commission is incorrect because baptism is appropriately understood to be a Church ordinance, and no individual has the authority to administer believer baptism. The authority to baptize is only delegated to rightly constituted Churches.
Our charge is to reach, baptize, and then train disciples for the Lord Jesus Christ. The Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ is a task Churches do not seek to accomplish on their own, but collaborate with other Churches of like faith and practice to discharge this holy privilege, and establish Churches to collaborate with where duly constituted Churches do not exist. Where rightly constituted Churches exist, we partner with them. Where rightly constituted Churches do not exist, we seek to establish such Churches.
Prayerful and energetic involvement in the Great Commission to establish Churches distinguishes a missionary Baptist Church such as ours from uninformed or uninvolved gaggles of professing Christians. We, which is to say missionary Baptists, support missionaries. We, which is to say missionary Baptists, pray for missionaries. We, which is to say missionary Baptists, send missionaries. Our goal is not limited to evangelism, however.
Our goal is to establish missionary Baptist Churches, who are then authorized by this same Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ to reach their neighborhood and partner with us in reaching still other neighborhoods by establishing missionary Baptist Churches. Falling short of this congregational involvement in the evangelism of sinners to add them to Churches by bringing them to Christ, seeing to their believer baptism and membership in a missionary Baptist Church where they will be trained to serve the Savior, and establishing new missionary Baptist Churches, is disobedience to the Lord Jesus Christ who commissioned us.
That I have the privilege of pastoring a congregation of people who are missions minded and allow me from time to time to go to the mission field to encourage missionaries, to encourage congregations, and to both evaluate and learn from our missionaries, is of profound benefit in a variety of ways. By visiting the mission field, a pastor sees things he needs to see to be more effective at home. By visiting the mission field, a pastor learns what he needs to know to lead his congregation more effectively regarding missions. By God’s grace, you have enabled me to gain perspective and wisdom not available to me by other means.
Thank you for the privilege. I appreciate the opportunity. We have two couples in our Church who have previously traveled to Nepal with me. Along with my wife, I believe they can verify most of the things I seek to bring to your attention in this message.
First, FOR CONTEXT, LET ME EVER SO BRIEFLY REVIEW THE MODERN MISSIONS MOVEMENT
By its nature, the faith once delivered to the saints is expansive. One cannot embrace the good news that a Savior has come without a corresponding desire to share that good news with others. Energized by the indwelling Holy Spirit of God, this explains the reach of the Gospel in less than a century from Jerusalem to at least Spain in the West, from Jerusalem to Africa in the South, from Jerusalem to India in the East, and who knows how far to the North?
On our final day in India, before flying back to Los Angeles, David Mallipudi took us to the large city of Chennai, which used to be known as Madras. He took us to three locations associated with the Apostle Thomas in that city. He first took us to the cave where the apostle hid from those who sought to kill him. He then took us to the hilltop some ways away, where Thomas was apprehended and murdered. Finally, he took us to the reputed site of Thomas’ burial. The southeast coast of India is a long way from Jerusalem, illustrating the reach of the Gospel before the end of the first century.
After the first three centuries of the Christian era, the Gospel's spread slowed as error crept in, and professing Christians began to persecute those who remained true to the faith. For many centuries real Christians were brutally oppressed by state churches that greatly hindered the spread of the Gospel.
In God’s providence, the world-dominating British Empire encircled the globe, creating the circumstances that led to the modern missions movement. It was a small group of Baptists in England, enabled to go to regions dominated by the British Empire. They first went to the subcontinent of India, then to the East Asian region of China and Africa.
As the apostles in the first century took advantage of the relative tranquility imposed upon the world by the brutal Roman Empire, the modern missions movement was spawned by the relative stability imposed upon regions that had become accessible to missionaries. The impulse to start Churches spread from England to the infant nation of the United States, resulting in thousands of Churches being established here and abroad.
We are the heirs of that movement that began in Jerusalem two thousand years ago and was revitalized by God’s good grace a little more than two centuries ago.
Next, THE GOSPEL WE PREACH
Expansive movements are one thing, but expansive movements are little more than mass manipulations using propaganda and coercion, except when the Gospel is involved. When the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is what impels and compels the expansion of the missions movement, it is truly a grassroots movement that results from individual conversions of sinners to Jesus Christ.
More than 2000 years ago, the virgin-born Son of God came on the scene, born in the dusty little village of Bethlehem, reared in the slightly larger town of Nazareth, and began His public ministry when He was baptized in the Jordan River by His cousin John the Baptist.
Different than anyone who had ever walked the earth, the Lord Jesus Christ was God who became a man, lived a sinless life among us, died a sacrificial death on behalf of us, and rose from the dead on the third day to demonstrate that He was more than a man, that His sacrifice for sins was acceptable to God the Father, and that He had triumphed over sin, death, Hell, and the grave.
Enthroned at the Father’s right hand on high for more than 2000 years, the Lord Jesus Christ is both our Savior and our advocate. Those who come to Him by faith are justified in the sight of God, with peace the result of our Lord Jesus Christ’s blood shed on our behalf.
Yes, it is the foolishness of preaching when that preaching is the straightforward declaration of Gospel truth that God uses to save sinners from their sins. And when a movement is the result of the individuals in that movement coming to faith in Christ, becoming new creatures in Christ, indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God, then Churches are established to advance the Gospel even further.
How far has the Gospel advanced? It has advanced to the other side of the world. It has advanced to the remote valleys that separate the highest and most impossible mountains to be found anywhere in the world.
Third, OUR COMMISSION AND MESSAGE MERGES
Would it not be wonderful for God to raise people in our Church to involve themselves in evangelism, reaching individuals nearby and establishing congregations far away? Someone once said, “The light that shines farthest shines brightest at home.” No doubt a missionary, a missions-minded pastor, or a strong supporter of missions in a Church.
Calvary Road Baptist Church has a commission from the Lord Jesus Christ. We read that commission at the beginning of this message. Calvary Road Baptist Church also has a message, the Gospel. The commission is to be executed by means of the message being declared and those responding to the message being properly tended to.
But what happens when God calls no one from our Church to pioneer the establishment of another Church? It’s not our job to call people to the mission field. It’s not our job to call people to the Gospel ministry. That’s God's responsibility, though we are directed to pray to the Lord of the harvest for laborers, Matthew 9.38. But until God raises up men and women in our Church for us to send, our only alternative is to seek out others to be their partners, supporters, and encouragers.
That is where our commission and our message merges with the commission and the message that is being executed and carried out by others. For 2000 years, congregations have partnered with other congregations to send and support Gospel ministers in places they could not go to reach people they could not reach, with the goal of reaching a group, baptizing those new converts, and duly establishing a Church to fulfill in their neighborhood what the missionary had begun.
That is what we have done in Nepal with a man named Samuel Rai. A Nepali man providentially prepared, spiritually equipped, called to be a Gospel minister, and trained by a godly pastor, he has been on the field for a quarter century of Gospel preaching in his own language and culture, disciple training, and Church planting. The great thing about Samuel Rai is that he was doing what he does long before anyone knew what he was doing or helped him in any way. He was determined to serve God, come Hell or high water. That is the kind of missionary Churches should partner with.
Fourth, THE NEPALI REVIVAL
I was introduced to Samuel Rai and his wife by Dr. Peter Masters, pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, England, while attending a School of Theology one summer. He approached me and asked me if I would step into his office. I complied, finding an Asian couple already there. The introduction made, Samuel Rai then called me several months later and invited me to Nepal to preach for him. Except for the Covid lock down, I have preached for him every year since then.
Over the years, I have had the privilege of not only preaching for Samuel Rai but also hosting Samuel Rai here at our Church. Our friendship has flourished, and my incessant questioning of him and those around him has resulted in surprising revelations to me. For example, he was offered the position of senior military chaplain by South Korea because they wanted a godly chaplain who was an experienced combat veteran. Samuel Rai graciously declined.
When he left his country to pursue training for the Gospel ministry, he was a newly converted but infamous revolutionary leader with a price on his head. Having once commanded 14,000 soldiers, he was now the leader of only his wife. For five years he preached the unsearchable riches of Christ with no fruit to show for his efforts. He preached and prayed and cried without results. But he was faithful, and God began to give him fruit.
Over the last 25 years, God has used Samuel Rai as the point of the spear of a revival poured out in a country of 30 million people and the surrounding regions where the same language is spoken. God has used him to establish more than 175 Baptist Churches, with those Baptist Churches starting another 850 Baptist Churches. He estimates that there are presently 1134 Baptist congregations associated with His ministry of evangelizing, baptizing, and discipling their converts, the fruit of his service to God.
Eleven hundred Baptist churches directly resulting from one person’s blood, sweat, and tears as he uses up his mind, body, and heart to serve God is a revival by anyone’s criteria. That said, Samuel’s ministry is incredible in that he shies away from manipulation and improper persuasion.
While I was with him, several pastors asked him to participate in the ordination of several dozen men in their Churches he has had a hand in training. Yet, he persuaded them to wait a year, so no hand was laid on any man suddenly. How utterly unlike he is to the high-pressure style of leader seen in Churches in North America.
Let me share an anecdote from the final day of this last conference in Nepal. On Thursday, November 17, I began preaching at 9:00. I preached for one hour. After a short break, a colleague then preached for one hour. After another short break, a second colleague preached for one hour. We broke for lunch at 12:30 and reassembled at 2:00. Samuel Rai then stood to preach, and I left the building with him preaching to return to my hotel room at 2:30. I returned to the conference at 4:30, with Samuel Rai still preaching. He concluded his sermon at 6:20, with every man in attendance sitting on the edge of his uncushioned wooden seat, eyes fixed upon the speaker, and eager for more. From 9:00 AM until just short of 6:30 PM, 180 men who had traveled for days on buses over mountain roads to get to the conference listened attentively to almost 7½ hours of meaty Bible preaching!
Who can do that? Who does that? Those under the influence of a Holy Ghost revival. Most Church attendees in our country can barely tolerate a twenty-minute sermonette. Fewer will sit still for a thirty-minute message. And rare are those who will sit under a preacher who regularly preaches 40-45 minute sermons. And how many of them will come back for a second sermon after lunch or in the evening? Very few, indeed. Why so? If they actually are Christians, they are Christians who are unrevived, for it is only when so blessed by God that a person can physically tolerate 7½ of Bible preaching in less than 9½ hours and be eager for more.
Finally, OUR CHURCH’S INVOLVEMENT IN NEPAL
I think it would be a mistake for our Church to seriously consider partnering with an American claiming to be called to serve as a missionary in Nepal. Let me explain my thinking. Throughout the 20th century, American missionaries going to countries around the world benefited from the superpower status of their country of origin, the United States of America. Be it Africa, South America, Asia, or Europe, American missionaries were shown courtesies as a direct consequence of being American citizens. No more. American citizenship is, in my opinion, increasingly a liability rather than an asset. Add to that the incredible liability resulting from arriving in a foreign country without knowledge of the language or the culture. We support missionaries who could overcome such obstacles because they arrived on the field when their home country was held in high esteem. But so many American missionaries come home often for reasons that are very difficult for me to understand. So, why not support a missionary who uses his first language to minister the Gospel within the culture that he grew up in, who will have no second thoughts about returning home because he is home, and who has proven that he is going to do what he is doing whether anyone supports him financially or not.
When Dr. Peter Masters introduced me to Samuel and Mangali Rai, they were already serving God by reaching the lost and establishing Churches. He is not an American missionary who will spend two years trying to raise a certain level of support and then giving up because he hasn’t raised a sufficient amount of support. There are people all over the United States who spent two or three years unsuccessful in their attempt to raise a sufficient amount of money so they could become missionaries. Excuse me, but that is nonsense. Samuel Rai was a missionary in his country, starting Churches long before anyone gave him a dime. That reminds me of the Apostle Paul, who was grateful for the support of the Philippian congregation but was going to serve God whether he got any money from them or not.
As for Samuel Rai’s fruitfulness? The only thing commanded and demanded by his Savior, and ours, is faithfulness, First Corinthians 4.1-2. I led our Church to support Samuel Rai long before I realized how wonderfully God had blessed him, learning of his fruitfulness by prying the information out of him and others and seeing for myself, and not because he brags about numbers. If God had not sent revival to his ministry, I would still advocate for our continued support of his ministry. Why so? Because he is faithful, and that is what the Savior requires.
As I have previously mentioned, two couples in our Church have seen much of the evidence I have spoken to you about. Ask for verification. But better yet, travel to Nepal and see for yourself. The hotel room costs only $24 per night, and there are restaurants all over the city, from burger joints to steak houses. It is a tourist Mecca, and beginning next year, you can fly directly to Pokhara and won’t have to go through Kathmandu.
That said, you should be there when I am there, so you can see for yourself when the pastors arrive from the mountains to be trained and encouraged. Will you be bored out of your mind? Not likely, since half of the preaching will be in English. Work it in with a nice vacation. Go paragliding. Do a little ultra-light flying, hot air ballooning, hiking, camping, or take a boat out on the calm lake. The sightseeing is some of the best in the world, with Mount Everest only the seventh most challenging mountain to climb and one mountain north of the city that is rated unclimbable by mountaineers.
But when you get home from Nepal, you won’t talk much about paragliding, boating, hiking, or sightseeing. What you will remember for the rest of your life is the ministry and the preaching. And it will change your life.
That said, it is highly unlikely any Americans would go to such a place. Want to know why? Americans, despite being from the richest country in the world, are the least traveled population on earth. Americans vacation, but typically only from one part of the USA to another. Want to know why? Americans, as a rule, are committed to comfort.
Americans are only willing to eat the same kind of food they are used to, sleep on the same kind of beds they are used to, travel in the same kind of style they are used to, hanging around the same kind of people they are used to. And what’s wrong with that? Nothing besides leaving you insulated and isolated from astonishing things God is doing beyond your comfort zone.
Let me wrap this message up with a comment for lost people. What do you do with Samuel Rai? How do you explain him? By the time he was 23 years old, he was a general in command of 14,000 soldiers and the most feared man in his country. With everyone else in the revolution, with him now a high-ranking government official of some kind, how is it to be explained that he has been a Gospel minister for the last thirty years?
Is he insane? Is he delusional? He might be president of his country, but for his conversion to Christ! How is this to be explained? He was led to Christ by an impoverished man and his wife. He went to the UK not knowing English but learned English to be trained by Peter Masters. He was offered a command in the South Korean army as their senior Christian chaplain.
But he turned it down to trek up and down the mountains in his country to penetrate remote valleys where his people live. How do you explain him? Here is how you explain him. He trusted Christ, and Christ makes a difference.
Not that you need to be a preacher, a Church planter, or even exceptional in any particular way. But you need to be a Christian, a real Christian, because only real Christians are reconciled to God, only real Christians’ sins are forgiven, and only real Christians will populate heaven some day.
That concludes my report on my mission trip and our partner in Nepal. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me because I love to talk about God’s work in Samuel Rai’s life. Church member? Forget that Disney World nonsense. Pass on a trip to Hawaii. Instead of paying woke businesses to soak you, why not take a journey that will change your life forever?
Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.
Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church