Nepal is known for the Himalayan mountain range and the highest point above sea level — Mount Everest.  The country is filled with multiple ethnic groups and more than 120 languages. Less than 2 percent of the population is Christian. The country's median age is 23 years old and less than 5 percent of the population over the age of 65.

“It was an amazing adventure in a foreign nation which carries the aura of eastern mysticism, religious temples, holy men and holy cows, prayer flags, and elaborate, ancient places of mystic worship," said Keith Spicer JESUS Film Harvest Partners mission trip leader. "This is a nation of people who are seeking — people who are trying to fill the void within with rituals of incense, ash, and marigold petals.” 

Spicer and five others journeyed to Nepal to see firsthand the work of national JESUS Film team members. Traveling with a local pastor and team member, they attended two different JESUS Film locations, witnessing follow-up discipleship that helps new followers of Christ grow as believers. The JESUS film was previously shown several times, and now the same equipment is used to show films that help people advance their faith walk.

“We worshipped in a small church not quite finished, but funded by Alabaster giving," Spicer said. "The presence of God was there in the songs, prayers, and Bible message.”

Amidst the presence of God, the participants witnessed devastation.

“On our last day there, we traveled to a village outside of Kathmandu that was totally destroyed in an earthquake months earlier," Spicer said. "Piles of rock and brick lay where houses and businesses once stood. The government has assisted with temporary housing. Shopkeepers have set up business at the edge of the ruins. On the brink of the village, almost at the end of the road, a solid steel structure stands under construction. It is a new child development center being built with funds from Nazarene donations. This will become the outreach center for the Church of the Nazarene. Soon it will be full of children and families and will be the base for another JESUS Film team."

Several Church of the Nazarene ministries are at work in Nepal to make an eternal difference. Nazarene Compassionate Ministries use child development centers to care for physical needs and pave the way for spiritual change, and  Nazarenes around the world join together through the World Evangelism Fund and Alabaster gifts to make the Body of Christ tangible in this country and 158 other world areas. 

For information about getting involved by praying, giving, or going on a similar trip, visit jfhp.org. 

--JFHP