Before I tell you about the reception with the King and Queen, I need to explain what led up to that experience. Nepal is the only Hindu Kingdom in the world. Because of this, proselytizing there is expressly prohibited. It is for this reason that the following story is so amazing.
Missionary Family "A" have been coordinating Laymen Ministries’ work in Nepal. Their main outreach has been twofold:
1) Health education with the highest caste Hindu people in the Kathmandu Valley;
2) translation and publishing of Spirit of Prophecy and health literature.
March 12th through 17th we held Health Expo 2001 in the city of Kathmandu. A large convention center was rented and booths were set up representing various aspects of health: everything from cardiovascular disease to cooking lessons. A 5-Day Stop Smoking program was conducted throughout the meetings, and health lectures were held every evening.
One amazing thing about Health Expo 2001 was the teamwork. Bill and Lois Dull, of Living Springs Overseas Mission, came from India with their team to help. Ruth Zollinger, who is part of Bill’s team, trained a number of student volunteers from the Institute of Medicine, who took visitors’ blood pressure, and helped with other activities in the booths. Some of Laymen Ministries’ Nepali staff did cooking demonstrations, and Sandra Horner, with her helper, did presentations on hydrotherapy. Greg and Sue Lundquist, who had just arrived from Weimar Institute to help at Scheer Memorial Hospital, turned out to be a great help, as were some of the regular Scheer Memorial staff. Esther Zimmerman, of Adventist Frontier Missions, helped with food preparation and in the booths! It was wonderful seeing all these people cooperating! Even Missionary "A's" 12-year-old son operated a busy booth on computerized health screening.
The chief guest speaker for opening night was Dr. Keshar Jung Rayamajhi, chairman of the King’s Counsel. Because of his position, the major media was there to cover the event—national TV and newspaper reporters. They did an interview with Missionary "A" for the evening news, and the people were surprised that this American spoke fluent Nepali! The extensive media coverage resulted in hundreds of people attending the Health Expo!
Other nightly speakers included Bill Dull, Dr. Gopal Achariya, a professor at the Institute of Medicine, and Dr. Amatya from the Hardic Fitness Center. After the Health Expo was over, Bill Dull excitedly declared, “This was one of the most successful and influential events for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the history of Nepal!” The personal contacts made, the friendships developed, were phenomenal. And what an encouragement to know that these meetings, held by our workers, had a Christ-centered, spiritual emphasis, considering the fact we were dealing with influential Hindus.
The closing night speaker was Dr. M. R. Panday, the King of Nepal’s personal physician. It was on closing night that Dr. Panday and I were introduced, and the invitation was extended to the special reception with the King and Queen.
Two days later, Mr. and Mrs. "A," Joe (our camera man), and myself were ushered into a theater under tight security measures. (Joe was placed with all the other media people, so he was able to shoot some great video footage of the ceremony, which you can view on our new videos.) At this private celebration were many of the most influential people of the Nepali government. Dr. Amatya sat next to me and kindly pointed out many of the dignitaries in the audience. After the formalities and meetings, we were introduced to many of these influential people at a banquet, where "A" made even more contacts for future meetings. Speaking of the future, here is what Missionary "A" has to say:
The Follow Up
“We have had some very positive follow up from Health Expo 2001. On April 1st, we began the 8-week New Hope Lifestyle Seminar with around 30 businessmen, engineers, ex-army personnel, police, etc. Many are attending with their wives. Some of those who attended the 5-Day Stop Smoking Plan at Expo 2001 are also coming. One of these gentlemen conducted his own mini survey of the 15 who had attended the 5-Day Plan, informing us that 13 of these have kicked the habit!
“When a doctor from the UN compound ask me what the success rate is of the 5-Day Plan, I was glad to share the local results from this first Nepali 5-Day Stop Smoking session, in which we used our new guidebook that is just off the press.
“I recently met with Dr. Keshar Jung Rayamajhi, chairman of the King’s Counsel, and our chief guest speaker for Expo 2001, to invite him to the 8-week seminar. Joella, my daughter, and I had a lovely visit with him and his wife in their home. His wife suffers from elevated blood pressure, so we extended a special invitation to her for the session on hypertension. With excitement Dr. Rayamajhi told us of his recent meeting with the King. ‘I shared with the King how important this lifestyle approach is at this time . . . with rapidly changing life-styles in Nepal and our limited resources for medical treatment.’ He was enthusiastic about the future. ‘Now, for next year,’ he said, ‘I would like bring His Majesty to Expo 2002, and he can see all of the exhibits for himself!’ [Just weeks after this visit, the whole Royal Family was assassinated-ED.]
“As the conversation moved on to world events, religion, and faith, out of the blue Dr. Rayamajhi said, ‘I believe in prayer. We need prayer. We need to talk to God, and we need meditation to listen to Him speaking to us.’ I thought to myself, ‘This certainly doesn’t sound like typical Hindu thought.’ Then he went on to share his personal experience of working under a God-fearing surgeon who was always a few minutes late for surgery. One day Dr. Rayamajhi asked him, ‘Doctor, I have noticed that every time we are all ready for surgery, you are always 5 or 10 minutes late. Would you mind sharing why you are always late?’ The physician kindly said, ‘I believe there is a God and I feel my need of His wisdom. When I ask Him for special help I am strengthened to know He is by my side.’ This doctor’s example had made a profound impact on Dr. Rayamajhi’s life.
“Then he said, ‘Science has proved many things, but it can’t prove whether there is a God.’ We discussed the order and design in nature that gives evidence of a living God. ‘And after death,’ he said, ‘I don’t know what happens to a person then.’ What wonderful opportunities the Lord has entrusted to us to share precious truth! Pray with us that we may have wisdom to share the Living Way with these searching souls.
Sandra Horner in India
It was decided to move our Nepali lay-training school to Kalimpong, in northern India, for various reasons. A school was already there to use, and so far it had gone well. But then we received this note from Sandra Horner:
“Dear Friends, We are being faced here in Kalimpong with a lengthy strike, and we have no definite idea when it will end—perhaps even a month or more. No one is allowed to travel or to open any shops, businesses, or schools. The grade school here is closed, but we have still been holding our training classes.
“A terrible crime was committed not far from here and the police didn’t respond properly, so the people have called a total strike until the situation is resolved and the ones who did the killing are punished. We were just about to send the students to do some field work, but now we need wisdom to know what to do. If we try to leave, we don’t know how we will even go. No vehicles are moving and people really aren’t even walking, as there are many checkpoints on the roads. I ask you to keep this matter in your prayers. Yours in the Master’s service, Sandra.”
A subsequent message from Sandra was reassuring:
“The promises in Isaiah 43:1-2 have been very special lately. Though faced those who hate our work, I was able to go forward without feeling any of the actual fire. I only heard it second or third hand. God is so merciful!
“After arriving in Kathmandu, I went to some of my students’ villages. Bhakta, Kumar, and Nani come from the same village in the hills of eastern Nepal. Three students and I joined them to share for a couple of weeks in their community. I am very proud of how well they did in teaching disease prevention and home remedies in the nearby village schools. We divided our efforts and each took a different topic in several classrooms.”
Please remember to pray for these workers who often face life threatening situations. As we enjoy the comforts of our homes, may we remember that there are those sacrificing far more than we do to shed the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Three Angels’ Messages to these dangerously dark areas of the world.
—Note: As we were preparing to go to press with this issue, we heard the news that the King and Queen of Nepal, and several others of the royal family, had been slain in a tragic shooting. King Birendra’s brother, Prince Gyanendra, is the new monarch of Nepal, leading a grieving and confused people. What will happen in this situation is entirely in the Lord’s hands, and we ask for your continued prayer. We are still moving forward with translation, audio and video production, and national workers being sponsored.
Sandra Horner continues the seminars in India. The political situation is improved, but the advent of rainy season has brought a new enemy—mildew!
Living Springs Overseas Mission has been invaluable partners in many projects. If you would like to contact them, write to:
Living Springs Overseas Mission
12 Living Springs Lane
Putnam Valley, NY 10579
Joel Meyer (right) with the King of Nepal's personal physician, Dr. M. R. Panday (center), and Dr. Amatya (left) of Nepal's well known Hardic Fitness Center. Dr. Panday extended the personal invitation to Laymen Ministries leaders to attend the celebration hosted by the King of Nepal.
(Above) Missionary "A" and family provided computerized health screening to those who attended Health Expo 2001.
(Below) Students from the Institute of Medicine helped with blood pressures and other testing.
Bill Dull (above) and Ruth Zollinger (below) of Living Springs Overseas Mission brought their team to participate in Health Expo 2001. They provided valuable information in some of the booths, and helped with demonstrations.
(Above) Joel Meyer with Dr. Rayamajhi (left), chairman of the King's Counsel, was the keynote speaker for opening night of Health Expo 2001.
(Below) It took a very great team effort to pull off a program on such a large scale as the Health Expo. Many thanks to all who gave such willing and expert help.
(Above) Dr. Amatya of the Hardic Fitness Center explains the proceedings and points out visiting dignitaries to Jeff Reich at the King's reception. Joel and Joyce Meyer also attended.
(Below) Amid tight security and heavy media coverage, the King and Queen of Nepal enter the reception they hosted in honor of the 25th anniversary of Dr. M. R. Panday's health foundation.
Sandra Horner with some of the students who are attending the advanced training course for Lifestyle Educators being held in Kalimpong, India.