Nepali GFA Renewing Your Passion Conference Speaker
Shares Firsthand Story of Watching
God Change a Nation
ASSIST News Service, July 12, 2008

Narayan Sharma speaking at the GFA conference

DALLAS, TEXAS (ANS) -- In just 50 years, God has changed an entire country. That was the message Narayan Sharma, Gospel for Asia's Nepal Country Leader, shared with the more than 1,000 people at the GFA Renewing Your Passion Conference. The conference kicked off Friday and runs through Sunday at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas. The Renewing Your Passion conference is a gathering of Christians from around the world who support the work ofGospel for Asia's 16,500 native missionaries in 11 South Asian countries.

"It is not just people's lives being changed. It is about Jesus changing the nations," he said.

Fifty years ago, Nepal was the world's only official Hindu kingdom. Nepal's king was considered to be a god. Anyone who dared preach the Gospel in the country was reviled and accused of promoting a foreign religion.

Radio stations regularly carried reports of Christians being arrested and imprisoned for their faith. Sharma recounted a time when he himself was arrested and put into a dungeon-like prison cell because he was sharing the Gospel.

"In all this darkness, there was no imagination that the country would ever be open," Sharma said.

Then things began to radically change. A few months ago, the people voted in a new legislative assembly, and just two weeks ago, the king stepped down from the throne. The newly elected officials have promised to allow freedom of religion. And now Gospel programs are aired over the same government-owned radio stations that used to carry reports of Christians being arrested.

"The Bible says that after the night, joy comes in the morning, and morning has come to Nepal!' Sharma told the enthusiastic crowd.

He challenged the Christians at the conference to expand their spiritual boundaries and be aware of how God is moving in other nations, which may be like Nepal was 50 years ago.

"God is going to prove that He is faithful," Sharma said. "We just need to open our eyes. We just need to open our ears, and we can see the wonders of the Lord."

The Renewing Your Passion Conference kicked off Friday afternoon with GFA President and Founder K.P. Yohannan encouraging Christians to turn aside from self-centeredness and to put their focus on Jesus instead.

Other scheduled speakers include GFA mission leaders from Myanmar (Burma), Sri Lanka, India, and the U.S. and the U.K. There will also be a late-night prayer meeting Saturday night with multiple speakers.

Details about the conference, including specific speakers, are available online at www.gfa.org/ryp.
Gospel for Asia is an evangelical mission organization based in Carrollton, Texas involved in sharing the love of Jesus across South Asia.