Imagine living in a country where you are definitely not in the religious majority for being a Christian. You might even be experiencing persecution from family, friends, or the government for your faith!
How encouraging it would be to meet once a year at a missions conference with other like-minded believers to worship God, hear the preaching of God’s Word, and rejuvenate. Yes, churches in Western countries are not the only ones that host missions conferences! Churches in Eastern countries like Nepal host them too and they are powerful in that context.
Koinonia Church Network Gathers in One Place
The Koinonia Church Network in Nepal is a fast-growing church-planting network. Their goal is to plant 500 churches by the year 2020 and they are well on their way. They have a strategy and each church in the network has at least one target area in mind where they are looking to make disciples and begin new church plants. All throughout Nepal these churches are popping up and believers are being added to God’s Kingdom!
Each year for the past 37 years, the network has invited anyone from every church to come to their annual missions conference. This year, in 2017, 185 people gathered from 57 different Koinonia churches. Pastors, elders, deacons, and other believers gathered together to hear from powerful speakers and enjoy a time of worship and fellowship together.
Conference Challenges Audience with Key Issues
This year, missions conference speakers spoke on the theme from Isaiah 6:8—“If You Don’t Go, Who Will?” Topics included church planting in the midst of persecution, the importance of good theology in missions, self-identity in Christ, sin and repentance, and more.
The speakers challenged the audience to even reach where it seems impossible for them because of language barriers, religion barriers, cultural barriers, or tribal barriers. It is more challenging to work for these people and to pray for them, but God’s global plan includes even these people. Someone must go.
Let’s pray these believers in Nepal will continue to live encouraged by what they heard at the missions conference and motivated by the Word of God to continue making disciples and planting churches.
