Before he found Christ, Bishwa Karmacharya was destined to become the temple priest, making sacrifices on behalf of others. Instead, the Nepalese church planter grew up to tell others about Jesus’ sacrifice.
Karmacharya is Brahmin, the priestly and highest caste in Hinduism, the religion followed by most Nepalese. It’s typically unthinkable for Brahmins and high-caste Hindus to associate with lower-caste Hindus.
But Christ has no caste, says Karmacharya, who was trained in church planting by IMB worker Carl Russell.* Russell watched God develop in Karmacharya a gift for sharing the Gospel and church planting. Now he and his wife, Ramila, plant churches among all castes and people groups in Nepal.
His radical obedience has permeated a growing generation of Nepalese pastors who, like Karmacharya, have chosen the road less taken, braving threats and bombs to see Christ’s name glorified in the Himalayas.
“We don’t pray for one more church,” Karmacharya says. “We pray for one more healthy church.” This means having local, indigenous leadership. That’s why the Karmacharyas regularly pile into their car and drive down roads that hug the hips of mountains to train these leaders.
Many Nepalese would call Karmacharya a radical because he’s chosen obedience to Christ over caste, culture, family and Hinduism. He sees himself as only obedient.
Pray for healthy churches and other godly leaders to be raised up in the Himalayas; pray for safety for the Karmacharyas.
Pray that the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering goal will be met so more obedient workers like Carl Russell can disciple and train national leaders.
Many of the people the Bratchers work with are illiterate. LMCO giving allows them to purchase materials for oral learners. An example of these materials are picture flip books that tell Bible stories from creation to Christ. These picture books cost $8.
The Bratchers say they use many audio-based materials like the Papyrus Solar Audio Player. This audio player is solar powered so it can be used in areas without electricity. These solar players cost $50.
They also use “The Hope,” a DVD Gospel presentation that has been contextualized for the Tibetan Buddhist world. Copies of the video cost $10.
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