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Young Nepal Leader Takes on Challenge


to Train Pastors


Nepal


were not much help. He tried home remedies, gargling salt water between teaching sessions. Yet there was no long term relief. He remembered saying, “Lord, if you heal me I will quit and give everything to you.” His throat appeared to have improved. He, however, did not fulfill


his promise to God out of fear of not having a livelihood. Pradhan had a relatively new family with young twins, was the only breadwinner, and was the sole support for his mother. “I didn’t have faith that God could provide.” His father had died when Pradhan was still quite young and as the eldest son, he had responsibility for his mother and sibling. Nine months passed and his throat worsened. The doctor told him he needed to quit teaching in order for his voice to heal. “You’re kicking me in the stomach,” he told the doctor. Pradhan prayed to God, basically challenging God that if God wanted him to serve full time ministry, God would need to demonstrate this through the book of John. As he began reading the gospel, he felt caught by the words, “‘Lord, what good is there in following you?’ And the Lord spoke, “‘come and see.’” He broke down and wept.


Within a matter of days he submitted his resignation and enrolled at the Malaysia Baptist Theological Seminary. Upon returning to Nepal in 2007 he taught at NBBC part time and was named school principal in 2008. The Nepal Baptist Church Council, with which the school is affiliated, is


Right: Subash Pradhan, principal of the Nepal Baptist Bible College, at the BWA international offices with BWA General Secretary Neville Callam


It was a dream that provided the initial spark that led Subash Pradhan


to faith in Jesus Christ. One night the Nepalese dreamed he was close to death. His family surrounded him for what would be their last visit. He felt helpless. He then saw a man surrounded by bright light with a lamb bounding at his feet. The man picked up the lamb and carried it.


“I woke up not knowing what to make of the dream,” Pradhan said. Later on, a neighbor invited him to a Christian church where he found it a fun and joyful environment with young people singing and playing music. However, as he was Hindu he began looking for idols that he thought they would be worshipping. He saw none, but what he saw was a wall painting that looked like the man in his dream, also carrying a lamb. That made a deep impression on him. Pradhan continued to visit the church and upon hearing the story of Christ’s resurrection, dedicated his life to Christ at the age of 16. “I wanted to serve a living God,” he said. “That was important to me.” Nearly two decades later, Pradhan was selected as principal of Nepal Baptist Bible College (NBBC) in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, after serving as a secondary school teacher and then going to do theological training in Malaysia.


It was a long bout of laryngitis that led him into full time ministry as a theological teacher and principal. Doctors


one of the fastest growing Baptist groups on the Asian continent. There are 132 churches comprising approximately 16,000 members after numbering 102 churches and 7,000 members in 2007. This phenomenal growth stems from a policy that each church must plant at least one new church. Pradhan explained that his church planted eight new churches and each of those eight churches has in turn founded, or will form, at least one church each. There is great need for theological education and training in Nepal, Pradhan said. But even though the cost is less than US$700 per year per student, the school and those who seek training have limited financial resources. Many Nepalese Baptist pastors, he said, have had no formal training. Some are barely literate. To meet this need, the college offers a certificate course in satellite centers across Nepal. One hundred and thirty two pastors have so far received this certificate training. NBBC also offers a bachelor’s degree course for new pastors. The school, though relatively young, has


been affected by political instability. It opened in 1998 offering one month church leadership courses before it began offering a three-month program. The school closed in 2004 due to political tensions in Nepal. It reopened in 2005, offering leadership workshops. In 2007, the decision was made to establish a Bachelor of Theology degree. Twenty one students have already graduated from the B.Th. program. Pradhan’s vision for NBBC goes beyond Nepal itself. “There are 80,000 Nepalese in South Korea and 15,000 in the state of Maryland in the United States,” he said. Large groups of Nepalese live in other countries, with some 400,000 in Malaysia, 19,000 in Australia, and more than 10,000 in Japan. There are opportunities for further growth inside Nepal itself. Nepal was a Hindu kingdom until 2008. Up until then, Christianity was largely an underground religion because it was against the law to proselytize. “In the late 1990s, we shifted to a multi-party system where you could be a Christian but it was against the law to try and convert a Hindu. In 2008, Nepal shifted to a secular state.” Official persecution has largely ended, and churches now operate openly. His vision is to train Nepalese pastors who can serve Nepalese in Nepal and the Diaspora. The aim, he said, is to train pastors who will have an impact on the church, their community, the nation, and beyond.


JULY/SEPTEMBER 2013 15

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