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Published: October 26th 2009
the evangelist
God has a great work for this man to do.Narzyan told me with simplicity, "I didn't have any money, but I had to do what I could." If yiou are wondering...what he has done in 6 years is the following baptize hundreds, plant dozens of house churches throughout Kinnaur, found the only Christian school in all of the district, found a children's home, and sent 3 leaders off to Christian training colleges. Yes, all this was accomplished without any outside support, only by little profits provided by his family's humble apple orchard.
Narzyan grew up in a Buddhist family and in a remote buddhist village. At age 16 he happened to read a small article about Jesus. His interest was peaked and he sent off for a Bible. He told me that he only anticipated learning some philosphy about life - good theories. Instead, after reading the OT through about 8 times and the NT through about 30 times, he said that Jesus took complete control and changed his life.
He is a 31 year old simple man. He is very intelligant and has his masters in Agriculture, a field in which he could be rich, if he wanted. He lived 4 years working as an evangelist for
Sangla Valley Christian School
The only Christian school in all Kinnaur. an organization called Operation Agape - but he told me that God lead him back to Kinnaur...and that Kinnaur is ready to receive Jesus!
Oh, I forgot to tell you how I met Narzyan. I traveled to Sangla, a tourist village in the beautiful Sangla Valley. In the morning I asked a worker at my guesthouse if he knew of a Christian school. He returned to me that standard confused look and said there is no such thing in Kinnaur. I pressed the issue because a young man I met in Shimla who is from a village in the valley told me that he thought he saw one last time he visited his home. So, I pressed this man, "Are you sure...do you know of any Christians?" Then, another worker overheard my questions and interupted. "Yes, follow me," he said. He took me to the back of the guesthouse, pointed to a building about 200 meters away and said, "Christian school."
I walked to the school and the teacher gave me her brother's phone number, the number for Narzyan. One of his first sentenes, "We have been praying for 10 years to hear from you." I visited him the next morning in his village.
So anyway - I won't bore you with the details, but I do want to give you a scope of the great things God can do through this man's leadership. He is of no denomination...he is just a Christian following the Bible and living out the book of Acts. He told me that everything he does is a platform for doing the great commission. He said the people won't listen to preaching so you have to do something that they respect, namely, social work.
Childrens Home:
Currently has about 12 children. It is run entirely by his 20y/o sister (whom he converted) and himself. They have numerous application for children in need - children abandoned by family, orphaned, poor, etc. His vision is to have 2 hostels and house 300 children. He told me that the government has a program that will give him land if he has the money to build the building and run the program up to standards. With our help, he can do this.
Christian School:
Only Christian school in Kinnaur. There are currently 40 children attending this school for age 6-12. This school is unique in that it is an English school and most poor children can't afford such a school. The school is a huge financial need because he has to pay teachers and high rent. He runs after school programs such as computer, sports, and Bible study (18 kids are attending the Bible study). He spends half of his time here and the other half at the children's home. His vision is to plant another large school and reach even more families.
House Churches:
The government in Kinnaur has banned all church buildings so homes are the only options. But, in dozens of villages there are now Christian believers where a decade ago there was none.
Evangelism:
He says that the people are ready to hear, but they will only listen to another person from Kinnaur. Others have tried to come in and work, but they are always rejected. He has endured some persecution such as being boycotted from communities and threats...but he says he just doesn't go into villages at night when he would be hurt. He said that his man goal is to raise up local leaders to continue this work and reach the whole region.
I won't go into his whole vision...but let me tell you...it is vast. And, what is more...it is already in the process of coming true even before the resources were available. Now, through our support, the harvest is ready, the workers are few...but they are ready.
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Andy Cox
non-member comment
All I can say is "GOD IS GOOD!"