Mission: Ararat 2020 By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ Saturday, Aug. 1 Our team photo in front of Mount Ararat: (left to right) Holly, Behzat, Elaine, and Gary. “How was your trip?” It is a commonly asked question. If you ask Elaine about her fifth journey to Turkey (and 20th Climbing For Christ mission overall), she will tell you: “It was bomba!” Bomba translates into “the bomb.” It is Turkish slang for “excellent.” “I experienced more priceless C4C firsts,&...
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The Voice in the wilderness When we first arrived in Humla, a remote district in the northwest corner of Nepal, we could count the number of Christians on two hands. There were seven young men in a tiny house church in the district headquarters of Simikot and a brother and sister in an otherwise Hindu village perched on a mountainside a few hours away. Our Mission: Nepal 2012 team was invited to a Bible study in the house church, where we worshiped and prayed with a few of the men. Later, we prayed with the brother and sister in secret for fear of bringing persecution to their home. From 20...
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In God’s time The Bible tells us, repeatedly, to wait patiently for the Lord. God’s thoughts, His ways, even His timing are not the same as ours. In the New Living Translation of Isaiah 55:8, we are told: “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” We are guilty of becoming impatient and, in some cases, even giving up when we have seen little or no fruit. Then we are reminded Who is in control. Peter wrote, “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyon...
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Soldiering for the kingdom The revered Gurkha soldiers have roots in the region. Soldier for Christ Megh Gurung dreamed of being a Gurkha when he grew up in the area, a place he says “is very rich in culture and heritage.” It’s also steeped in high mountains, Hinduism and Buddhism. Climbing For Christ returns to the Annapurna Region in 2019; this time exploring the Manaslu area, where the world’s eighth-highest mountain looms at 8,163 meters (26,781 feet). “I hope we can open the door to hearts in those areas,” said Megh, our kingdom worker in Nepal. He p...
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The church at Korchabang in worship. (Photo by Megh Gurung) CLICK HERE to read Remembering Visits with Joy, Mission Moments from Nepal.

Remembering visits with joy By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ The church at Korchabang in worship. (Photos by Megh Gurung) I better understand now Paul’s letters to the young church of his day about longing to see them. In 1 Thessalonians 3:6, he wrote about Timothy’s return from the church at Thessalonica: “He reports that you always remember our visit with joy and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you.” In July, our Nepali kingdom worker, Megh Gurung, went to see the body of believers God has used us to help build up in th...
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Trekking into the Aladaglar Mountains. (Photo by Gary Fallesen) CLICK HERE to read the Mission: Turkey 2019 Trip Report, “Keep the faith: Do not grow weary or give up; a harvest will be reaped.”

Keep the faith ​​Do not grow weary or give up; a harvest will be reaped ​ Trekking into the Aladaglar Mountains. (Photo by Gary Fallesen) By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ Descending off Mount Ararat for the first time in 2010, I was facing an intense battle against personal discouragement. I had hoped to meet Kurdish nomads on and around Turkey’s tallest mountain. But we only talked to those selling trinkets and they viewed us as “tourists.” We were unable to have any significant conversations. We had been turned back by bad weather...
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The church (blue roof) at Simikot, district headquarters for Humla in the northwest corner of Nepal. (Photos by Megh Gurung) Enjoying a spiritual feast in Humla By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ Megh Gurung desired to take flight and leave the Humla District. But God had other plans. “I did not get (my) flight,” he explained, “and spent time with Kali, Thana, Hari, and (Pastor) Harka’s family. We prayed.” And prayed. And prayed. The group spent two hours together at the church at Simikot. “We prayed for the Humla District and for...
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Mission: Nepal 2019 (Part 1) By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ Friday, Feb. 22 Clouds hung over the valley as we ascended into the Manaslu area. (Photo by Gary Fallesen) We were in a Middle Eastern airport early this morning when the call to prayer rang out. I was again reading about Jesus giving us the power to “bind and loose” as found in Matthew 16:19 and Matthew 18:18. These commands have come up time and time again in recent weeks and they remain my prayer, first for Nepal and then for the other areas where God is sending us. T...
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Together, a world apart The Turk and the American may be a world apart culturally and spiritually, but they share a love of cherries and friendships with Kurdish people. Governments cannot divide them – even though we know our fights are not against flesh and blood but evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world (Ephesians 6:12). Turkey is an amazing place, steeped in Biblical HIStory. We have followed in the footsteps of Paul. This was the birthplace of the early church. It is where the seven major churches of early Christianity were founded. That was before the rise of Islam. Be...
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No branch can bear fruit by itself Megh Gurung, Climbing For Christ’s missionary to Nepal, shared his “passion and vision” for work in a region that will be new to C4C. He planted a church in 2017 in Pokhara, a popular tourist destination in Nepal’s West Region. Climbing For Christ will trek far from the beaten path (remembering we GO where others cannot or will not), but there is a strategic purpose for GO-ing to much-visited Pokhara. “The house owner doesn’t want to rent to the Christians,” Megh said of the church plant there. “I want...
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They have not heard ‘God is love’ A brother in Christ with a heart, like so many of us, for Muslim people was speaking about the church being at a turning point — “if not now, when?” He told his audience, which included hundreds of Muslim background believers, that he was pained by the fact that Muslims hear five times a day (during the call to prayer) “God is great.” “But they have heard ‘God is love’ not once.” He described as enormous the gap between Matthew 9:38 and Revelation 5:9. Matthew 9:38: “Therefore beseech ...
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Dreaming and envisioning Christianity in Turkey Ali was born in Turkey to a Muslim family. He met a woman who took him to church and invited him to come to a conference. The conference speaker came up to Ali and asked to pray for him. The speaker laid his hand on Ali, and Ali suddenly felt an indescribable peace and joy. When he came back the next day, a group of people laid their hands on him, and this time Ali felt his legs give out from under him. As he fell, he felt himself in front of a powerful, majestic being. His body started shaking, and he heard a voice telling him: “I am the ...
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Pulling down strongholds By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ We stood on a mountainside high above the Karnali River in the northwest corner of Nepal. We’d trekked up and down portions of this river higher up in the Humla district. Now we were proposing to follow the river out of the district, essentially walking from one airstrip to the next in the remote reaches as part of Mission: Nepal 2017. “The devil travels up and down the river,” said Nepali member Megh Gurung, a guide and pastor. “It is his stronghold.” The enemy has laid c...
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The Spirit has not permitted us to GO to Pakistan. We wrote last year about planning a trek there into the northern mountains only to have a travel ban forbidding foreigners placed on the area we felt led to for two years. By the time the ban was lifted our team-in-waiting disbanded. Not to worry, we know the Spirit is the administrator of missions. He chooses who will GO, and when, where and to whom they will GO. He opens – and sometimes closes – doors in His perfect time. (See Paul’s Macedonian call in Acts 16.) So we continue to wait. But not idly. The Spirit has led us...
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Megh Gurung visited his home village in Nepal to start the New Year. He has been back to Phulkharka in the mountains of the Dhading district several times since the devastating earthquake in April 2015, delivering aid provided through relief funding from Climbing For Christ. On the latest trip he encountered his former neighbor, a witch doctor who – angered when Megh and his wife, Bhim, converted to Christianity many years ago – “forced persecution on us.” Once, Bhim was physically taken from her home and dragged through the streets. But Megh and Bhim forgave their e...
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Pakistan is testimony to our approach for waiting on the LORD to lead us into mountainous places. We began planning a trek here in 2013 only to have a travel ban for foreigners placed on the area where we felt God sending us. The ban lasted two years. We waited. We are a Proverbs 16:9 ministry: “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” Now, God has opened the door. He is establishing our steps into the northern mountains of Pakistan. But we need at least four members with hearts willing to GO. “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, &ls...
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Climbing For Christ has been sent to Turkish Kurdistan to reach the lost – often sheep-herding families – living on and around the HIStoric slopes of Mount Ararat. PRAY: That God would send us a worker (Kurd or Turk) who is a Christ follower to serve alongside us in this field. GIVE: To support work among the Kurdish people and send laborers into this field. If you can help send a contribution to Climbing For Christ, P.O. Box 16290, Rochester, NY 14616-0290. Or CLICK HERE and give online via PayPal. In Canada, make checks payable to The Great Commission Foundation...
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Climbing For Christ will again send a team to Humla. It will be our fourth expedition to Nepal’s Far West in less than 2½ years. We have witnessed the growth of the church from seven known believers to more than 125. PRAY: For the church’s growth to continue. Christianity was illegal until 1953. Today, this nation of 29 million is 0.7 percent Christian. CLICK HERE for the Mission: Nepal 2015 Prayer Bulletin. GIVE: To support the purchase of land and the construction of the first church building in a Far Western district as well as a second church in the Mid-West distr...
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