HGST Student Testimony

When I was four years old my parents accepted Jesus as their Savior. I was attending Sunday school weekly, but in my school, my friends and teachers criticized Christianity. They asked many questions to which I was unable to give responses. So I decided I would follow the Hindu religion even though my parents were Christian.

Later however, as I began to know about God and His love, grace and mercy. I accepted Him as my Savior. I realized that Christianity is not a religion, but is a real practice and proves to grow up in righteousness those who accept Jesus Christ as the one and only way truth and life. At this time, I was very happy and secure in Him.

As a child I realized that many who are sick came from the villages to Kathmandu. It was my job at this time to take them to the hospitals; I was only 10-12 years old. But, I enjoyed serving these patients and meeting their needs. This led me to join the Hospice ministry in 2003, where we serve cancer and terminally ill patients. Today, I am still serving in this ministry. We seek to meet the physical, medical, family and most importantly spiritual needs of the patients who come. As well as to prepare them for death, which is not the ultimate end of life. Leading them to Jesus who gives eternal life, even life after death.

My studies at HGST help me in my work at the Hospice. And I am continued in my calling and trying to show commitment in my calling continually. Praise be to the Lord.

HGST Graduate (May 2016)

I am Khadka Bahadur Regmi Magar (Jayaraj). I was born in a Hindu family in the Sarlahi district of Nepal. I used to worship idols as my forefathers religious practice from my childhood. However, deep down in my heart such practices never gave me satisfaction and peace. When I was seven years old and studying in grade (class) three my father passed away by cancer. Although I was child, my father sudden death caused me to think and question about the existence of life after death of human being. I often used to think of where the soul would go after human beings die and what would happen after the death. I never got the satisfactory answers of my questions in my childhood. After finishing my high school study, I was influenced by communism and got involved in their activities as an active member of communist party. However I wasn’t satisfied with my life and action and thought. One day, in 1993, during my Katmandu visit, I was sitting at Ratna Park reading newspaper; a Christian brother came and shared with me from one small booklet called The Four Spiritual Laws. During our conversation, I asked him so many questions of my childhood and he told me that there is one Person named Jesus, who can answer my entire questions. Then, he challenged me to accept Him as my personal savior and Lord by praying simple prayer of faith. With just hope and belief that Jesus would answer my childhood questions, so I accepted Jesus as my personal savior and Lord by having faith on Him.

At that moment, I experienced some kind of peace in my heart. After knowing Jesus personally, I started to learn more about Him by reading the Bible. During my Bible reading I found one of the sayings of Jesus that related to my life &quote, “All of you who are tired and burdened and I will give you rest (Matt. 11.28).” This verse touched my heart so much and I surrendered my entire burden of unanswered questions to Him. That day onward, I have received the answers of questions from the Bible that who believes in Him will go to the heaven with Lord Jesus Christ and gets the eternal life. Then, my spiritual life began to grow in Him and I found true happiness and joy in my life. After receiving Jesus Christ, I got opportunity to take basic training called LTI. Then I took three months NLGCTC training in 1995 and started Gods ministry as a NCCC staff. In August 1995 I shared the gospel to one sister (who was my classmate since my childhood). She accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior and Lord. After that she was persecuted by her family. She did not lose her faith but she persisted to become for Christian testimony. In 1997 she took three months NLGLTC training, after that God had given burden to her to do His full time ministry. I married with her in 1997.Now we have a son. In 2012 God lead us to start church in Bharatpur, Chitwan, by God grace it is growing and now we are around 120 Believers but in Saturday fellowship it is around 70-80 people gathers. I have made up my mind to work in Church as a Pastor, Mainly, I have planned to share the life-saving gospel, do follow-up and train students and provide the study scholarship for the poor and underprivileged students. I have committed my life in his service with prayer. In life I have experienced many blessing in his service. Although, to become good servant, slave, teacher and to know the mysterious things of the Bible, I have hope in the Lord when I start one step, Jesus will help in 99 steps.

HGST Graduate (April 2016)

“It was God’s grace and love that caused my families to let me leave home and come here in Himalayan Graduate school of Theology to pursue my passion. In the first year of my enrollment in HGST, I was tempted to give up my MDiv studies because I was overwhelmed by the church ministry and thought that ministry is more important than my studies. And after I was encouraged by my beloved and I continued my master degree studies. In the process of my studies, I got the privilege to learn under reputed professors, and in my four years here, I've learned not just how to think critically, do research, preach and teach. But I have learned the importance of love for God, love for my neighbor, and love for the lost. To me, the Himalayan Graduate School of Theology becomes very core of what it means to do God’s ministry: to find joy in God even when I am in uncharted territory. A few years from now, we might not remember the idea of anthropology, soteriology, Millennium, eschatology or the critical criticism from scholars concerning doctrine, but I will remember the importance of Trinity, the right way of interpreting the Bible, and worship of God So like everything else I've learned here, these things are something that shouldn't just be remembered, but something that I should constantly carry with me. Pushing me not just to seek meaning by myself, but to find others to share that meaning with, and in a lost, sinful, disaster and immoral world, the love that I’ve learned will explore to the end of this world. The love of God will allow me to run and to finish the race no matter And perhaps most importantly, this ability to love the world, and a passion for the lost, assurance of salvation, to find endless possibilities for meaning wherever I am, is what made all of those moments in Himalayan Graduate School of Theology.

Women from Ladies Bible Study

I grew up in a Hindu home and married a Hindu man. We lived with my in-laws, but in the flat below where we lived, a Christian family lived. My two boys often played with their kids and this family even took my boys to church. My boys wanted me to come along as well. So one Saturday, I went with them. On the following Monday, my husband died. My in-laws were furious with me and blamed me saying my husband’s death was my fault. Because I had gone to church. I didn’t’ know what to believe, yet there was such a peace when I went to church, so I continued to go. This only made things worse. My in-laws grew angrier and angrier with me. Sometimes they would lock me out of the house at night, other times, they’d lock me in the kitchen or refused me any food. They wanted me to quit going to church and tried everything they could to stop me. But, I knew that Jesus was the real and only God and had trusted in Him. So I refused to stop going. Things grew worse, so bad that my sister and her husband helped me and my boys to find a place of our own. Staying with my in-laws was no longer an option, even though it was culturally wrong for us to move out. Over the years, my in-laws have refused to have anything to do with me, but a few weeks ago, they called me. They wanted to know if I wanted my husband’s inheritance, or if I wanted to continue going to church. The inheritance is rightly mine for me and my boys, but they made it clear that the only way I would receive this was if I denied Christ and left the church. I told them, that I would not leave the church. Since then, I have not heard from them. I guess I will never get my husband’s inheritance, but I know that God will take care of me.

HGST: Student

I was born in a Hindu family. I was in search of God from my childhood. At the age of five, I began doing puja (worshiping of idols). At the age of sixteen I fell sick. I had suffered from tuberculosis. I was not recovered totally. It returned back again and again. Some said, I didn't take my medicine properly. Some said it was because of my study, still others said it was due to evil spirits trying to kill me. I struggled with this for four years. Then I left my study and gave total attention to my health. After two years of medical treatment, I became depressed and stopped taking my medicine. I knew I needed to take it and to eat, but as food came near to my mouth, I just couldn't eat. What was happening to me, I didn't know. My family became worried for me and sought help. My auntie was a Christian. She and my family took me to the church. At this time, my view was "every religion is the same, why go to church?" One day while I was writing in my diary about my experience, I felt a voice asking me, "If every religion is the same, then what is wrong with the church, since this is where you were healed?" So I began going to the church, and came to accept Jesus as my Savior. Today, I am serving in my church faithfully as a teacher. It is my passion. Besides teaching I love to write and sing. I have written one story that has been made into a film, named "Prashna." I have written other dramas that have been presented by the children at my church. I have also translated English songs into Nepali, for our church. Therefore, God is using me to teach His Word and to use my gift for writing for His glory.

Himalayan Graduate School of Theology: Student

I came to Jesus Christ from a Hindu family. After finishing high school, I came to Kathmandu for further study, and joined a government job. Soon after I got married. My life was going on and everything was good. But there was no peace in my heart. I had deep fear and worry in my heart. I was worshiping many Hindu gods everyday. I did many religious works to confess sins. I took fasting twice in a week in the name of the Hindu gods. Even still, I could not get peace in my heart.

One day I shared my sorrow to my Christian friend who worked in the same office. One day he shared with me the Gospel and gave me a track. He invited me to his church. The first week I did not go. He called and invited me the next week. I went to his church the third week after taking advice from my wife. After the church's service, the pastor came and met me and shared the gospel to me. That day I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. This was April 25, 1993.

After that day, my life became changed. I experienced joy and peace in my life, and slowly fear and worry left. After one and a half years, I felt called into full time ministry as an Evangalist. So I resigned my government job and came to God's service for full time. Now, I am in God's service faithfully, preaching and teaching God's Word.

Himalayan Graduate School of Theology : Student

Before I knew Jesus, my life was full of unfulfilled desires and loneliness. My family was typically chaotic, most of the times with many quarrels between mom and dad, and also between my parents and grand-parents. Since I was born in a Hindu family, I used to worship idols, not out of reverence but out of greed and fear. In Nepal, people believe in 330 millions gods and goddesses. But, we have only about 28 millions of the inhabitants in Nepal so far. That was quite amusing! As a teenager, I used to ask myself, "How can there be more deities than the people in a country?" Additionally, there used to be series of questions in my mind. How did life begin? What happens after we die? Why do I have to worship so many gods and goddesses? Cannot there be only one God to follow and worship? When will all the corruption and evil end? In a nutshell, my soul was unknowingly seeking for the Prince of Peace who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

I was 18, and it was during my high-school days (when I was preparing for my School Leaving Certificate level exam) that I first visited a church in A.D. 2000. I can still see the images of the church service into my mind quite vividly how the church was worshipping with great contentment and joy. Seeing their worship, my heart was overwhelmed with the feeling of wonder and admirations. I felt like all my insecure feelings or loneliness vanished away in the thin air. Amazingly, I just felt loved and felt a warm touch all over my body at that moment. I felt like ‘Wow! This is a good feeling!’ I treasured and coveted that feeling more and more. From that day onwards, I decided to keep going to that place. As time passed, I was already a part of the youth group in the church as an active member.

My parents did not like me going to the church. When my mother learned that I was not returning back to Hinduism, I was treated like an invisible member in the family. I would be used hurtful and harsh words, and was always discouraged going to the church. Gradually, my mother’s bitter feeling for me turned into hatred. Whenever my friends would come home to hang-out with me, she would falsely tell them, "Hey, stop coming here and meeting Richan. He is out of his senses. He became a Christian deserting all the Hindu tradition and customs." I would not know how to respond to such things. I would just smile at her such naivety. In return, she would furiously stare at me with her biggest eyes. There was also a time when I felt like I was abandoned. I still remember that evening, when I, my brother and my sister were enjoying a TV program. At the meantime, my mother called out for dinner to my brother and sister, but me. When my father knew of my decision to be baptized, he was really furious. He even discarded and disowned me. It was a very tough time. I was still praying for them, for they did not have any slightest comprehension what I have found in Jesus Christ - the true love and peace that my soul was yearning for. 

In those times, I used to remember the verses from. Matthew 5:11-12 that says, "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." I would be exceedingly joyful in the Lord reminding myself to be worthy of persecution for His name sake. I kept praying and praying for my parents. 

After about 2 years of continuous prayer, I witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit that changed everything in my family. I was returning back from the house-fellowship at about 7:30 PM. As I just arrived home, my father called out my name expecting some rescue. I was so moved and glad to hear my father calling upon me after such a long-long time. Without wasting any single second, I just ran up to the kitchen from where my father called me out. There I saw an extremely fearful faces. My father was terrified, my mother was completely horrified and my 12 years-old, sister had no idea where to hide. The atmosphere was completely hopeless and alarmingly fearful. I asked my father to explain everything. Then he explained about the situation. The whole house was covered with the evil spirit and its terror. Making a long story short, my mother saw a black shadow walking against the wall, saw the curtains of the room moving by itself even the windows were fully closed and no sign of wind blowing. As she saw all these, she just lost her senses. She just cried and shouted out in her loudest voice for help in the name of her 330 million gods and goddess, but did not prevail over her fear. Since it was an evening time, her cry was heard all around the neighborhood. Hearing this, all the neighbors came to see what was going on. At the entrance, each of them could feel some sort of fear. Because of the fear and terror filled into the mind, my father was feeling his head as hard as the stone. My mother kept babbling with her eyes half opened and half closed that the devil would, certainly, not let her sleep the whole night. They were utterly undone.

However, I was absolutely in peace, for I knew Jesus was empowering me at that time.Then I asked my father for the permission to pray in Jesus' name. Since it was the only option left, he could not refuse. Then I simply prayed a prayer proclaiming the victory of Jesus over death and evil powers. As I ended the prayer by saying "AMEN", all of us discovered a kind of absolutely peaceful surrounding as we slowly opened our eyes. No more fear, just peace. Just like the brutal war has just ended. It was a miracle in the 21stcentury. I knew that the Holy Spirit worked in our midst, and kicked the devil’s agents and schemes out of our house and hearts. Hallelujah!!! I asked my father and sister if they were feeling any better, then they said "YES" Then I looked at my mother, and saw that she was already snoring lying against the wall. My father could not believe his eyes. Now, I asked them if they would want to thank Jesus for what he just did for our family. They affirmatively nodded their heads, and we sat down on our knees again for praise and worship in prayer. As I was praying, something unusual happened again. All of us were unceasingly crying out of joy. We simply could not stop our tears streaming down. The Holy Spirit was at work; and at that very moment, God touched them, healed them and transformed their hearts for His own glory.

Today, all of us are baptized. My father works as a full-time evangelist for the church. My mother attends every woman’s fellowship as much as her health allows. My younger brother is also pursuing his career to serve the Lord through Christian media. My younger sister sings for the church choir. My wife serves as the Sunday-School teacher. For all His goodness, I will keep on singing. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, worship His holy name. Amen!

Go dig your own well! (Copied from Voice of the Martyrs Post)

On a recent trip to Nepal, I met Pastor “Gyan”, who VOM supports. Pastor Gyan was honored by all of the pastors in the area as a grandfather and hero in the faith. Nepal is made up almost entirely of first generation Christians, so a man of his age is seen as one of the first builders of the church in Nepal. We asked them how he built up the church. They told us that Pastor Gyan built his own well.

Gyan had grown up in a remote Hindu village. After he was saved and converted to Christianity, the Hindus in his village were furious. All of the villagers shared one well where they got their water, so these Hindus stirred the people up to keep Gyan away from the well. They told him that as a Christian he would have to go and dig his own well. They hoped he would die of thirst. Eventually they drove him from the village, threatening his life if he returned. So Gyan did exactly as they said: he dug his own well, deep in the ground outside the village. He found clean water.

Some months later a severe drought came across the area and the well in the village dried up; the people thought their gods were angry with them and feared they would die of thirst. Gyan’s well did not dry up. When he saw the drought, he went back to the village he had been forced out of and invited villagers to come and drink from his well. Gyan was welcomed with open arms this time.

That same day, Gyan shared the gospel and many people in the village converted to Christianity. The first church in that area was born. Today Pastor Gyan has a thriving church, his son pastors another church and Gyan encourages the pastors in difficult areas facing persecution to stand strong.

When I heard this story I couldn’t help but think of the number of times we depend on the wrong ‘wells’ as our source. In the United States, where we are so blessed, it’s easy for us to depend on our finances, our jobs, even our relationships as our source. None of these things are bad, but ultimately we must know that Jesus alone offers us the living water that never dries up. And as Christians we are called, like Pastor Gyan, to share with people the source of this water, because eventually they will find their well, literal or figurative, has dried up.

Himalayan Graduate School of Theology

First year student