David's second letter from Nepal
Greetings from Pokhara.
You have to watch the old women! On Thursday Sandra, some of the folk from the church, and I, made our way out to Bhimad (pronounced Be Mad) to visit a small church that meets in the village. As Sandra said on the way out, "Given the state of this road you'd have to be mad to live out here!" - but that's another story I'll tell you some other time.
There were more men than women at the service but it was the old women who caught my attention. They sang with enthusiasm and listened eagerly. You could tell they were a critical part of the life of the church.
However, at one stage in the service while I was in full flight and Sandra was busy translating for me one of the old women raised her shawl to her mouth and started muttering and complaining. It wasn't long until two others sitting beside her did the same. The mutterings increased and the attendant noises, rolling of eyes and pointing at another old woman in front of them made it clear to even me who knows no Nepali that the woman in front had broken wind. There are some situations in which a translator isn't necessary. This was just such a situation. We have all indulged in the cruel sport of 'point and laugh' at some time or another but 'point and scorn' in church is new to me.
The woman in front, the perpetrator, looked decidedly sheepish and in a decidedly sheepish manner began to raise her shawl to her mouth and with doleful eyes seemed to protest in my general direction her innocence of the crime. Given that lentils, spices, garlic, chillies and goodness knows what other potent forms of edible vegetation form a key part of the diet here flatulence is bound to be a consequence. The way the old women deal with the perpetrators obviously keeps occurrences to a minimum in church. As I said, you have to watch the old women!
Old women have played a big part in what I've been hearing and seeing this week - old women who are real heroines of the faith, pioneers, grafters, women who had complete faith in God and who got things done.
While staying with Adrian and Sandra, we've been attending the Jubilee celebrations of INF and also of the Ram Ghat Church in Pokhara. Both INF and the Ram Ghat Church have taken time to rehearse their history of the past fifty years and in both women have played a key role.
Back in the
1930s it was a small group of women who felt called of God to Nepal and
set up mission stations on the border in India because at that time it
was impossible to enter the country. For nearly 20 years they ministered
to Nepalis who criss-crossed the border with India before being able to
enter the country in the early 50s and establish a medical ministry here
in Nepal. They built the Shining Hospital - so called because the sun
reflecting from the roofs of the nissan tin wards caused it to be seen
from all over the vast Pokhara valley - and through the ministry of the
border mission stations and the hospital many people came to the Lord.
Throughout this week I have listened as many of the key leaders in the Nepal church have testified to the way God used the 'sisters' of the INF and the Shining Hospital to bring them to faith in Christ. Today these men - some of them in their seventies - are the father figures of the church here in Nepal.
When I attended the jubilee celebration at the Ram Ghat church on Wednesday I watched - along with thousands of others - as seven of the founding generation of the church were honoured for their faithfulness to God and their service to the church. There were three men and four women.
Today the church in Nepal seems to me to have at least as many men as women in its ranks, it is not predominantly female. But when it comes to its origins clearly women have played a critical role. What I find striking is that this is completely counter to the culture of the country in which the role of women is to breed, farm, feed their family and literally bow down to their husbands.
Why was it women to whom God gave the vision and call to establish the gospel in Nepal? Why was it women who worked for years on the border with India and not men? Why have women played such a key role in the growth of the church in Nepal even though in church life all leadership is male and men and women sit separately on different sides of the building?
In family life, commerce, politics and every other walk of life the
gender distinction and the balance of power is completely different to
our western culture - men have it all, women don't get a look in
sideways. But God works differently.
Paul writes to the Corinthians: "God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful." While Paul is not speaking specifically about women in this passage, nevertheless what I've been hearing about this week is a good illustration of God taking those without power and choosing to use them powerfully in the work of his kingdom. These old women were once young women, some married, many unmarried. They were women of prayer, of vision, of commitment and steeped in the scriptures - young women who have been used to shape the future of the church.
There will be many women listening to this letter this morning - do not underestimate what God may wish to do with you and through you for his glory. There'll be a few older women listening too - they're the ones to watch!