Mission: Nepal 2019 (Part 1) By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ Wednesday, Feb. 20 Looking back at the Ganesh Himal. (Photos by Gary Fallesen) We said our goodbyes for now to the mountains of the Dhading and Gorkha districts and to our brothers in Christ and Mission: Nepal teammates Samuel, Sukman and Budhi Gurung. We made the long (in time, not miles) drive back to Kathmandu. The short distance – the first half on muddy mountain “roads” and the second half in traffic that resembles ants climbing an ant hill before dropping into Kath...
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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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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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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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Please join us as we lift up the people of Pakistan in prayer! C4C Pakistan Prayer Video from Climbing For Christ on Vimeo.

PRAY: For workers to bring in the harvest in a country that is 97 percent unreached, according to the Joshua Project. Nepal is 81 percent Hindu and 9 percent Buddhist, according to its 2011 national census. Christians account for only 1.4 percent of the nation’s 30 million people, the census claimed. GIVE: To the ongoing work being done in the Himalayas, including support of indigenous missionaries, the building of churches, distribution of Bibles, and assistance for orphans. Send donations to Climbing For Christ, c/o Mission: Nepal, P.O. Box 16290, Rochester, NY 14616-0290 USA. Or ...
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PRAY: For workers to bring in the harvest in Turkey, a country that is reportedly 97 percent Muslim – the majority of which is unreached. For more than 1,000 years this region was the heart of Christianity, but it later became a stronghold of Islam. The Christian population declined from 22 percent to 0.21 percent after 1900. Turkish and Kurdish believers probably numbered around 10 in 1960. This number rose to around 4,000 by 2010, according to Operation World. GIVE: To the start of work among the Kurdish people in eastern Turkey. Send donations to Climbing For Christ, c/o Mission: Ara...
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Pakistan has within its borders some of the world’s highest and most spectacular mountains. Some of the famous mountain ranges of Pakistan are Himalayas, Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Sulaiman, Toba Kakar, Kirthar and Salt range. Millions of people live in the mountains of Pakistan. This could be a 2014 expedition. We have been waiting on the Lord for His timing and open doors through which we will boldly walk. E-mail info@ClimbingForChrist.org if you are interested in trekking in Pakistan. In the meantime, Climbing For Christ is praying for and financially helping (...
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The goal for hiking in North America is to “leave no trace.” However, that is not the plan for Mission: Possible 2013. We will go back and find the footprints that Jesus has been leaving in our friends’ hearts since our previous trip, and then make new footprints farther into areas in the “Valley” previously untracked. Date: To be determined. Length of trip: 14 days. Team size: 4-6 people. Purpose: Return to the Valley (located between 14,000 and 16,000 feet and inhabited by nomadic people) and visit our friends from previous trips. Continue ...
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It's about the mission, not the summit By Gary Fallesen Founding president, Climbing For Christ “Mission, not mountain. “People, not peak. “Service, not summit.” As I limped up 3,700 vertical feet to Base Camp on the first day of our Mission: Ararat climb – “remember, Gary, this is the easy walk,” guide Adem said – I thought about my leg injury, our last climb here, and Climbing For Christ's purpose. Why would I pull a thigh muscle 10 days before an Evangelical Expedition? Why indeed. On the flight from the United States to Turk...
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Krishna Lama met Jesus Christ in Kathmandu in 2006. He accepted the Lord as his Savior. Then, after receiving discipleship training in Pastor Tej Rokka's SARA Church on the Rock, Krishna returned to his Central Nepal village of Dapcha and started a house church. On Christmas day in 2007, Sumitra Pariyar came to this church with her parents and one brother. Gopal Pariyar needed to carry his daughter to their first Christian worship. She had been crippled for many years after suffering a debilitating fever when she was 7 years old. The Hindu family had heard that Jesus could heal people. T...
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Watch the Mission: Nepal 2012 video below.