Posted: 09/09/2015 at 2:21pm | IP Logged

The day Jesus invaded a Buddhist monastery in the Himalayas

By Mark Ellis

Trekking in the Himalayas

Tyler Connell, with the Ekballo Project, is currently in the Himalayan Mountains in one of the most unreached places of the world distributing Bibles, praying for the sick, and preaching the Good News.

“We hope to get a bible in every home and every village in the next two years,” Tyler noted in a recent blog post. “It’s exciting to be a small part in changing history in Nepal with God!”

The Ekballo Project uses film as a mobilizing spark on college campuses and churches to send believers into the unreached, unengaged regions of the world.

Handing out Bibles

A month ago, Tyler and his team trekked to a village called Jhong, one of the highest villages in the Tibetan region of Nepal.

“We arrived desperate to hear where the Spirit was wanting us to walk,” he recounted. They split into groups of four and prayed for the Holy Spirit to direct their paths.

Tyler’s group felt led to walk to the highest point of the village where they observed ancient ruins protruding above them.

At the moment they reached the promontory, a monk appeared, smiling as he approached them. “Hi, I’m Jems,” he said in perfect English. “We’ve been watching you guys; it is rare for anyone foreign to come to our village. Would you like to come inside our monastery?”

Tyler and his teammates looked at each other with wonderment and smiled, sensing it was a God-moment.

They entered the monastery and were met by men and boys of all ages, studying under “the llama of the

Monastery

mountain.” They met the llama and proceeded to continue to converse with their new friend, Jems, who studied under the Dalai Llama in Dharmsala, India and learned English there.

“We are followers of Jesus, the man and God greater than any other god,” Tyler told the monk.

“Oh, I once heard of Jesus in India, but wasn’t able to do any reading on who He was,” the man replied.

“Can we introduce you to Him through the power of the Holy Spirit and the presence of Jesus?” one asked.

“He said yes and put out his hands,” Tyler recounts, “and suddenly the power and peace of God descended, his eyes got big, he began to take steps back, and began to laugh and shake his head in disbelief.

“He told us he’d never felt a peace or power like this. We proceeded to give him the Gospel and a bible, and he then INSISTED we come back in the morning to meet his other monk friends.”

Sharing in the village

Twelve hours later Tyler and his team returned. This time, Jems was coming down the mountain as they were ascending. He said he wasn’t able to spend time with them because he had errands to run, but he invited them to meet with the other monks.

They entered the monastery again, and were met by a monk in his late 20s. “He invited us into the idol room, the ‘holy of holies’ for the monastery.

“It was dark, dank, heavy, and strange, perfect ingredients for the lightning of the Gospel to break into!” Tyler recounts.

As they sat down, one of the team received a word that someone was injured in the monastery.

“Was anyone injured in the earthquake?” they asked.

The man’s eyes widened. “Yes, I myself was injured and my back is in pain!” he replied.

They asked if they could pray right there in the name of Jesus for healing and the monk agreed.

As they began to pray, a “sweet, heavy glory filled the idol room.”

Tibetan Buddhist monks in Kathmandu, Nepal

The man had the same experience as Jems. “I feel a peace and a power like never before!” the monk exclaimed. “It feels as though this major blessing has entered into me.”

He tested his back and discovered he was completely healed, saying it felt like a “hot and icy sensation” covered his body.

The monk said he had heard of Jesus 15 years ago, when a man came to his village and told stories about Jesus, but he couldn’t read, so he didn’t fully understand who Jesus was.

“Thankfully, we had a translator and she explained the entire Gospel to him and gave him a bible. He was grinning from ear to ear, and was so thankful, and told us he wanted to read more and was going to pray and ask Jesus to reveal Himself to him. We were overjoyed at the kindness of Jesus. We handed out more bibles to monks and joyfully skipped down the mountain remembering with gratitude the day Jesus invaded a Buddhist monastery!”

Life in the Himalayas: Part One Video

Source: Godreports