WELS' work in Nepal and Pakistan
Filed Under: BWM, Missions, MLP, Multi-Language Publications, Nepal, Pakistan
Board for World Missions (BWM) Administrator Rev. Dan Koelpin is returning today from a two-week trip to Nepal and Pakistan. Koelpin was joined by Rev. Michael Duncan, pastor at St. Paul, Fort Atkinson, and the new mission outreach coordinator for WELS' work in Nepal and Pakistan. Koelpin introduced Duncan to the Nepalese and Pakistani leaders who are helping WELS distribute Bible-based materials in the native languages of these countries.
In Nepal, Koelpin and Duncan observed WELS-led teaching workshops. These workshops, held twice a year, focus on teaching basic Bible stories with a gospel emphasis to native church leaders, who will return to their villages and share the stories with their neighbors. More than 6,000 Nepalese people have heard God's Word in this way over the past five years.
Koelpin also brought 100 solar-powered audio recorders to Nepal so that native leaders can share God's Word with the illiterate. The recorders contain the entire New Testament in Nepalese, along with a Nepalese version of The Promise, a booklet published by WELS Multi-Language Publications that focuses on teaching basic biblical truths.
"This budding church is committed to being self-sufficient, and the leaders have earned our trust by their hard work," says Koelpin. "We are already working with the Pastoral Studies Institute at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary to prepare top leadership [in Nepal] for further training through technology. Perhaps this church can be a paradigm for other less accessible countries."
The Board for World Missions is committed to using cost-effective alternate strategies to build churches and reach out with the gospel wherever feasible. These alternatives can either supplement or, in some instances, replace the more traditional long-term, resident-missionary approach. Alternate strategies are particularly useful in countries like Nepal and Pakistan, which do not permit traditional Christian missionaries.
To hear more about Koelpin's trip, read the entry he posted on the WELS Missions blog.
