November 2025 Trip
It is such a wonderful blessing that God has allowed FirstLove Ministries to participate in His work in Nepal. By God’s grace, Grace Bible University (GBU) is growing and developing, equipping hundreds of pastors in Nepal. There are now 250 students enrolled in GBU, the vast majority being pastors in great need of doctrinal and ministerial training. We are grateful for Dr. Samuel Rai’s steadfast work as GBU’s national coordinator in Nepal.1
The overarching mission for GBU is to train and equip indigenous pastors. On the trip in November 2025, Drs. Paul Nelson and Edward Dalcour lectured and preached to 40 pastors in Chitwan. It was a three-day seminar. They used Dr. W. R. Downing’s newly published Systematic Theology as the textbook. The students came prepared, having read the textbook and completing their study guides before the seminar began. Each day after the lectures, the students engaged in Q & A sessions to reinforce and clarify doctrinal issues. Eddie Dalcour reiterated the doctrine of “Justification by Faith Alone” numerous times. It is important to note that the textbooks and study guides had to be translated into the Nepali language, and all lectures and preaching were accompanied with a translator. Pastor Ezra Chudhari was the hosting pastor. Afterwards, Dr. Stan Murrell’s New Testament Introduction with study guides were distributed for the next course.
Next, the team traveled eastward to Dharan for a three-day pastor’s conference on Sanctification and the Forgiveness of Sin. Randy Evans joined the team as a conference preacher. There were over 100 in attendance; most were young pastors. FirstLove’s indigenous missionary, Ramesh Tamang, coordinated this conference and brought 25 GBU students from eastern Nepal. The theme of the conference was designed to supplement our GBU course on sanctification. J. C. Ryle’s Holiness and Dr. Murrell’s New Testament Introduction were distributed to all the attendees. Again, all distributed literature was translated in Nepali, and a translator was necessary for all preached messages. Translation has been a hindrance in Nepal, but we have always trusted God to overcome this language barrier.
In between the two GBU conferences, the team spent one day visiting church plants in the Mahabharat mountain range (Lesser Himalaya). We traveled all day on a very rugged and rocky road, to say the least. At each church stop, we prayed with the pastor and some of the congregants. A few years ago, Samuel evangelized this mountainous area, which resulted in the planting of 20 churches (all Reformed Baptist). In one village, the entire town (29 families) came to the Lord in faith. It was an amazing account of God’s supernatural moving in the mountains.
Finally, the team visited the construction site of our new GBU study center in eastern Nepal. It has been under construction for two years. Very exciting! The study center is equipped with an auditorium, library, study hall, kitchen and dining room. It will accommodate about 75 students with sleeping quarters. The construction should be finished in about six months. Here at the study center, GBU will be teaching courses, training teachers, and giving conferences. Praise God!
[1] Dr. Rai has just been appointed Chairman of the Human Rights Commission in Nepal. This is extremely important because of the non-conversion law in Nepal. Currently, it is a 5-year jail sentence to evangelize and try to convert someone to Christianity.
February 2026 Trip
Brother Randy Evans traveled to Nepal in February 2026 to continue GBU training. The first task was to dedicate a GBU training center at a church in Manahati. Eight local pastors attended the dedication of two upper rooms for training.
The 3-day training for Know Your Bible was held at the Bethphage Church, Pastor Ejra as host. Pastor Rakesh and Pastor Percas, along with with Samuel assisting. We had 15 Pastors and 6 women attended as students. We started about 10am, and after we sang hymns and offered up prayer, we set the parameters and expectations for the next three days. The goal was to complete the Survey of the New Testament Student Guide and complete the “Review” sections only, and touch on the “Reflection and Discussion” sections, as was relevant to the materials and time allowed. For three days the lessons were taught and study guide answers reviewed. We were able to complete the survey of the all the books of the New Testament, from Matthew to Revelation. Samuel charged the brethren concerning the instruction and textbook, and closed with words of encouragement. Seven students; four men, three women, were handed certificates. The two translators were handed envelopes with certificates.
For the next two days, our agenda was to visit two separate churches, and provide an introduction of the Catechism on Bible Doctrine to each group of Pastors. The first church was in Kawasoti. He explained that the pastor was one of his students a long time ago, (~1997). Due to a misunderstanding of scheduled dates and times, between Samuel, the Pastor of the church and other pastors, only as small handful of pastors and students showed up. Because of this we did not hand out any catechisms, or student guides. Samuel stated he would do this at a later time when invited back by the pastor.
The last class was at the Majhabang Pabitra Church, Siddi 44200, Nepal. This was a more adventurous drive/ride. It took an hour and 15 minutes to get to the church, which was up a single lane, dirt and rocky road, on a very steep mountain. Several Pastors in their wives walked/hiked for two to four hours to the church facility for the study. Some of the Pastors from the Bethphage Church, Chitawan, joined us to support the effort. The students’ notebooks were well filled out with lots of pages filled with notes and answers; they appeared to be ready for the training. We completed an introduction to the catechism, and worked through the student guide Review sections, finishing up with the section on “The Scriptures as the Word of God”. The students were gracious and eager to learn, but sadly language, vocabulary and terminology were the biggest challenges/obstacles.
Continue to pray for all of efforts to train Pastors in Nepal, and that God would help us with the language barrier to ensure these precious men and woman are learning and understanding the great truths of the Gospel and the teaching of scriptures in all areas of doctrine and life.
