In August of this year, I helped man the John Stott Ministries (JSM) booth at the Presbyterian Global Fellowship’s 2008 Inside-Out Conference in Long Beach, California. Our new tabletop display featured a photographic image of one of JSM’s graduated scholars, Lok Bhandari from Nepal, preaching in front of thousands of people at an open-air gathering in his home country.
Well, guess who stopped by our booth on the final day of the conference? Lok! At first, I didn’t recognize him (and he probably didn’t recognize me!)—the passage of time has changed the physical appearance of both of us. But midway through his warm greeting, I remembered his familiar, huge smile and sensed the same joy in the Lord and enthusiasm for ministry that impressed me while he was a diligent Ph.D. student at Fuller Theological Seminary several years ago.
Ken Perez with Lok Bhandari at Presbyterian Global Fellowship
Since his time at Fuller, Lok has gone on to share the Gospel with literally thousands of people and train over 1,000 pastors who are ministering throughout the Himalayas—in Bhutan, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, and Tibet, often touching previously unreached people groups, planting churches and nurturing new believers toward maturity in Christ. Talk about a return on investment for the kingdom!
As I drove to the airport after the conference, I reflected on Lok’s ministry, how we in the U.S. couldn’t even envision the kind of ministry he has, much less carry it out. And that’s the beauty of the collaborative partnership between John Stott Ministries and the burgeoning church in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
Ken
