by John Hester as told to Barbara Tucker

Exciting was exactly what John Hester thought mission work would be—when he was growing up in a Christian home in South Hill, Virginia. He asked Christ into his heart at the early age of five and was regularly exposed to missionary stories, biographies, and visiting missionaries.

It’s funny and amazing, how God works. John’s future wife, Becky, was growing up in Leesburg, Virginia, also believing what an “exciting life” missionaries must have. She too had come to Christ very young—at five, through the influence and teaching of her parents. Since her father, Eugene Nichols, is a pastor, she was accustomed to having missionaries staying in their home and becoming friends with them.

However, it was not until college, at Atlantic Baptist Bible College (Richmond, Virginia), where she was studying Elementary Education, that Becky told the Lord she was willing to become a foreign missionary. But Becky knew that God would have to deal with her fiancé John before she would actually see the mission field.

John and Becky married in 1993 as soon as she completed college. For a year they served at Loudon Baptist Temple in Leesburg, Virginia, while they waited for the birth of their first son and for God’s direction in their lives. This came during the church’s annual missions conference in January of 1994. They viewed the BIMI video about Joe and Tanna Collins, their ministry in Nepal, and their sudden, tragic deaths in a plane crash (with their five children) against the Himalayas in 1992. Joe and Tanna’s testimony touched them as it has many others. John’s heart was also challenged by the preaching of Brother Ed Gibson. It was not long before the Hesters, with their three-month-old son, Benjamin, left Leesburg to attend Candidate School at BIMI’s World Missions Center in Chattanooga.

Arriving in Nepal almost three years later, they met a vastly different culture with both promise for the success of the Gospel and many obstacles to the Gospel’s advancement. As they soon learned, after committing their lives to Nepal, this secluded and economically deprived mountain nation is famous for three things: Mt. Everest, the birthplace of Buddha, and the religion of Hinduism. As John states, “The Himalayas stretch from east to west across the northern side of Nepal. Every year from September to March, people from all over the world visit this tiny nation. They trek, they raft, they climb mountains. Yet, what do they take back with them? They take Hinduism and Buddhism back with them. This little country is no bigger than the state of Florida, yet there is not a country in the world that has not been touched by the Hinduism of Nepal.”

Many times the struggles of new missionaries focus on the task of everyday living in primitive and unfamiliar surroundings. Katmandu, the capital of Nepal, is a class-based and caste-ridden society, as is all of Hindu Nepal, but it is also a city opening up to modern technology. John and Becky were able to obtain a car, washing machine, refrigerator, a gas cooking stove, telephone, and a computer to provide internet comunication. The only real day-to-day inconvenience is the quality of the water, which must be boiled and filtered before drinking. Getting consistently hot water through solar panels can be difficult, too.

The adjustments for John and Becky, though, were not so much physical as spiritual. John continues, “The hardest thing was moving from being in church almost every night while on deputation to being in church 2-3 times a week and not understanding a thing. We immediately went through a spiritual drought and starvation. Before arriving, we were constantly being fed God’s Word almost 24 hours a day. Then, we arrived on the mission field that was totally foreign. We knew nothing of the culture, the people, the language. We would go to church and not understand one thing. We would just sit and look dumb. It was like that for almost two years. It was hard. God greatly blessed us in adjusting to the culture and language, yet the spiritual drought was tough.”

The Hesters first job in Katmandu was to learn the language. In fact, that was their “official job.” Becky tells us, “I didn’t attend a school but had a very good tutor. John did attend language university for two years and that is how we stayed in the country. The visas that we had at the time were ‘study visas.’ A foreigner can actually study the Nepali language for three years this way. The government keeps close tabs on all the students and what they are ‘really’ doing in the country. They are also very wary of anyone doing ‘church work’ of any kind. The Lord has protected us though, and we know He is not finished with us here yet.”

Becky also had the daily demands of a growing young family—of boys. Jeremiah Earl Hester was born in September of 1995, and Josiah Allan Hester joined him in September of 1998. Becky hopes the next child, to be born in March, will be a little girl! Becky home schools Benjamin and will soon start teaching Jeremiah as well.

Were their childhood expectations of “an exciting life on the mission field” coming true? Yes, but perhaps not so much in the sense of physical adventures and world travel, although they were seeing parts of the world most Westerners know little about beyond TV documentaries about Mt. Everest. The Hesters were experiencing the excitement of daily opening and walking through the door of opportunity in Nepal. John says, “The door is cracked open just a little bit, and we need to squeeze as many missionaries into Nepal as we possibly can. In 1950, no one could get into Nepal. Now it takes some effort but just about anyone can come. Now is the time to reach Nepalis for Christ. The people are very receptive to the Gospel. Their hearts are tender and longing for something more than what their Hindu religion and tradition offers them.”

John and Becky communicate a true love and respect for their Nepalese friends. Hinduism inherently teaches them to accept their lot in life, their caste—which determines their economic, social, and educational level and future. The Hesters can see how this philosophy affects the Nepali. They are hardworking, honest, simple, curious, friendly, and tenderhearted. When a Nepalese person comes to the Lord, he or she is devoted to God’s Word and worship, not torn away from worship and service by what’s on TV that night or by the next possession to buy. On the flip side, it is difficult for the Westerner to accept the Nepalese resignation to life and lack of desire to improve themselves.

So how does a Western missionary, noticeably different in looks and struggling with the language, introduce Jesus Christ into a culture like that of Katmandu? The foreign missionary must echo the words of John the Baptist, “We must decrease as Christ increases.” Their presence can evoke strong emotions in the Nepali. John explains the process by which a church is planted:

“I spend a lot of time working one-on-one with trained nationals who are going to plant churches. We begin in a community by making a contact with someone who already lives in that community and shows an interest in the Gospel. We begin holding Bible studies in that person’s home, which usually attracts a number of people. After we have seen several people saved, we will baptize them. From the very beginning, the plan is to prepare a national to take over that particular work and eventually pastor it. When the time comes, we ordain the national, organize the church, and the church calls the national to be the pastor. During this time, I usually do not take any official part except in the baptism, ordination, and organization of the church.”

So far, John has been instrumental in helping grow Bhoudha Baptist Church and planting Teutapani Baptist Church and Itahari Baptist Church. The Hesters are involved with two other ministries: the Collins Children’s Home and a Bible Institute. John is accompanied in the Bible Institute ministry by Brother James Ortiz. The Institute, which started in the fall of 1998, currently involves a three-year program of study focusing on preparing young men to be pastors of new churches. The average class size is 12-15 men. Recently some classes were started for women who want to be involved in Christian service.

The work of John and Brother Ortiz could be characterized as much time spent in preparing young men to start and lead churches. “Once they have expressed a desire and are sufficiently trained, we go with them to a village and we start a new church. Of course, all this requires us to actively do soul winning, preaching, literature distribution, and so on.”

John’s day, which starts early with spiritual and physical exercise, includes three hours teaching English at an Academy, an afternoon doing office and Bible Institute work, and evening teaching Bible Institute classes or attending services. This means the daily lives of John and Becky Hester are busy, and yes, exciting. They are privileged to see Nepalese entering the kingdom of God and growing in grace. But John asks, “If a country as small as Nepal can reach so many around the world with Hinduism, why can’t a nation as big as the United States reach more Nepali for Christ? Is it because we no longer care? Have we lost our vision?”

Pray that the answer to that question is no, we are not losing our vision, and yes, Christians in the U.S. and Canada do care for the people of Nepal, and that those whom God calls will follow the example of John and Becky Hester.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Jonathon & Mandy Crews -  BRAZIL
Joel C & Brooke Daku -  KIRIBATI
Paul W & Martha Daku -  FIJI ISLANDS