The following is an excerpt of letter I received from some friends who work in an Asian country that contains the world’s highest mountain. Their letter is posted here with their permission, but I have changed the names for security purposes. The photographs are mine.

Guest Post: At the end of April, Bob, and two local pastors set off on a 10-day trek to a neighboring district. It was a trip Bob and Pastor S had dreamed of and planned for over the past five years. Our neighboring district is the most remote and unreached in the entire country…This year the planning was more complicated than in years past and, up until the day the trio left, there was uncertainty as to whether or not the trip would take place at all. The planning was so difficult it seemed as though maybe we weren’t supposed to go. Permits, finances, snow, supplies, Covid. . .

The goal of the trip was to connect with a few isolated church leaders in the district. There are very few Christians in this region and Bob and Pastor S wanted to meet with the leaders who are working there to discuss ways in which we can come alongside existing leaders and churches in discipleship and ongoing outreach projects.

Along the way they stayed in small tea houses run by local families.

It was in one of those tea houses the group discovered God’s purpose for the trip. At the end of a long day of walking, the trio stopped at the Reliable Hotel – a tea house not quite as grand as its name would suggest. They were still one day away from the lake, and had already been trekking for a number of days. The weather had been erratic, snow and rain, and the guys were tired and hungry. As they were the only trekkers staying at the hotel they were able to spend time that evening talking with the hotel’s owners.

At one point, Pastor S mentioned they were Christians and the wife’s face lit up immediately. “You are Christians?” She asked. The men nodded. “I have been waiting fifteen years for someone to come and tell me how to be a Christian.”

“I have been waiting fifteen years for someone to come and tell me how to be a Christian.”

Fifteen years. She had been waiting fifteen years. At one point in her life, she’d heard rumors of a faith different than the Buddhist/Hindu hybrid she and her family had been practicing, and she had been waiting for a decade and a half for someone to explain to her how she could have this faith. She had been waiting for someone to tell her about Jesus.

“I’ve Waited Fifteen Years…”

Suddenly, Bob and the pastors were no longer hungry or tired or cold. All that mattered in that moment was this couple and truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The men spent that night sharing the Gospel with them, introducing them to the God they had waited so long to know. The guys had to leave the Hotel the next morning, but they promised to return. Pastor S told the couple to spend the next few days thinking about all they had heard and truly weighing the cost of following Christ.

“When you return, we will be ready,”

And they were. Three days later the couple knelt in their kitchen and with great joy gave their lives to Jesus Christ.

The men stayed at the hotel for two days, reading the Word to the couple and answering their many questions. It was crash course in Christianity.

There is no church in the area where this couple lives. They cannot be connected to a local fellowship. They are not able to study the Word of God for themselves as neither can read. Everything they know about Christianity is what the men were able to share with them in the few days they were able to spend together. The pastors are committed to discipling the couple, calling them each week to continue to teach the things of the Word and encourage them in their new faith. We are working on finding a way to get audio materials to them so they can continue to grow.

Please pray!

Pray for this couple as they stand for Christ in a region completely hostile to Christianity. Severe opposition has already arisen from their village. They know their new faith promises them nothing easy in this life but, as the wife said, “That is why we have Heaven.”

Amen.

Final notes from Lisa: If you are reading this and wondering who Jesus is, read more here. There is really nothing more important in all of life than knowing Him. Let me know if I can help, please!

If you already believe in Jesus and are wondering if this waiting couple is unusual, the answer is, sadly, no. More than 3 BILLION people worldwide have not yet once heard who He is. If I can help you figure out where you fit in the world’s waiting, please feel free to contact me.

Lastly, if you are interested in helping financially with the ministry in this country, with pastoral training, women’s discipleship, and radio ministry, please let me know and I can make some connections for you. The reason the Unreached are unreached is that they are hard to reach. Let’s get working!