Pray

Written by Terence Lee Ascending Everest is many mountaineers’ dream. For some it is the apex of their journey, to stand at the roof of the world and, for one moment, look down and survey the rest of humanity. Needless to say it is a bucket list item for many people. For Gopal, however, it’s his day job. Gopal Tamil is a trekking guide. One of many who, weekly, would make the walk to base camp and beyond, whilst carrying someone else’s ascent equipment. To him, Everest stands not so much as a challenge, but rather as livelihood. When he’s not busy walking and guiding people up mountains, he has a day job as a training coordinator in Butwal, Nepal equipping a new generation of Christian leaders. Each year, the training centre runs two, three-month long residential training programmes where up to 15 people can attend at a time. They would come to the centre, stay there for three months, and in that time learn the basics of grass roots leadership, practical ministry techniques and the foundation of theology.

Written by Terence Lee Have you ever had that nagging sensation from the Holy Spirit, prompting, but because you were busy, or embarrassed, or uncomfortable, you turned your face away and ignored the prompt? For Danny and Lydia, it took many calls and 26 years before they answered God’s call on their lives to mission.

Written by Terence Lee Seven people huddled in a small room, heads bowed in prayer, speaking a rhythmic tongue, they pray to God asking earnestly for missionaries to come to their home, a village nestled in the northern mountains of Thailand. This had been their practice month on month for years, earnestly seeking God and asking for the Gospel to come to the Lahu people.

Written by Terence Lee The sudden and tragic death of three family members; being married off to a man not of her choosing; caring for her sister as she slowly faded and finally being unwelcomed in her own home. Through it all, Anila still says “God never leaves us in the time of troubles, in tough times or in problems, but He gives us more strength that I feel during all these problems or hard times.”

Written by Terence Lee “Before that conflict, when we were young, I think every Muslim could visit any family of any religion. We had many Muslim friends when we were young, but in this age, we are not even allowed to visit their homes.” Patrick is referring to the widespread rioting and clashes between Rakhine Buddhists and Muslims in 2012. Sporadic clashes between the Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims had been that way for years, but in 2012 this came to head with widespread rioting leading to over 2,500 houses being razed, 90,000 people displaced and approximately 100 fatalities.