Eyes Opened-Josh O

Good evening from Nepal. It's our final night here and while I am excited to go home and see my family, my heart is heavy at the prospect of saying goodbye to Raju, Rajan, and Suraj, the people of Nepal, and this beautiful display of God's creation.

Having gone on mission helper trips before, I was anticipating a perspective change. When you visit India, Africa, or Nepal and work side by side with the pastors and see first hand the work of the Lord, your perspective will be changed. It's unavoidable. And this is a good thing.

At home in the U.S.A it's very easy to fall into the "swing of things" and forget about the unbelievers in the world. It's easy to dwell on your own problems, both the significant and the insignificant ones, and forget that throughout the world there are people who have never heard of their Savior.

Today we visited a few Buddhist and Hindu temples. Seeing all those people worshiping empty idols is a blunt reminder of Satan's grip on many people. Right in front of our eyes was Satan, hard at work. The feeling you get when you see something like that is one of dismay, motivation, and resolve. Dismay at sight of so many people who don't know their Savior died for them. Motivation to get up and start preaching! And resolve to spread the Gospel despite Satan's attempts to sway us. It is an eye opening experience the Holy Spirit gives us and provides deeper insight into Christ's command to go and make disciples.

We saw today the work of Satan but more prevalent throughout our trip we saw the work of the Lord. We saw Him working through Raju and Rajan, through our translators, through the pastors and
church members. We saw the the Lord working in the hearts of little children singing their praises. Our trip was filled with examples of the Lord's work, not Satan's. The Gospel is a shining light in Nepal! The past 16 days opened my eyes to the power and love of our Savior.

Going forward, I pray that the Lord will remind me of the work left to do. I pray that He will guide my heart and mind to keep the right perspective during my day to day life. I thank the Lord that He has redeemed me and given me the tremendous privilege of telling others about their Savior. And I pray that the Lord would keep my eyes open. 

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, anf of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit..." 

Matthew 28:19