Dear Friend

To Reach the End of the World

Matthew 28: 19-20 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Have you ever asked yourself where the end of the world is? Many say it is New Zealand or some other remote place. But from a purely natural perspective the hill tribes in the mountains are literally at the end of the world - they are the furthest away from the earth, aren’t they? -)

A small Follow Him team just came back from the nations of the Himalayas and we are simply excited of what God is doing there! We got to be actual witnesses of how unreached tribes were reached with the Gospel!

First we had a three day leadership conference in Mirik that is already located in the Himalayas and belongs to India (province of West Bengal). Then a bus day trip took us over rough and smooth further to Bhutan where we were able to minister at some underground churches. From there we flew into Kathmandu where we met with an apostolic network of young leaders that would like to work with us.

Come over and help us

For several years a young man has been on my heart. At the time he was the first Christian of a cannibal tribe. When I met him for the first time, I just sensed a connection, but it seemed that working together was not possible. In the last years his group has grown and they have founded over 50 new churches. Now they would like support and so I received a request for help in order for this movement to continue to grow in a healthy way.

This was one of the main reasons for our operation in the Himalayas. We want to fulfill the mandate and help the unreached tribes to hear the Gospel and get to know Jesus Christ. As we also had some students from Bhutan and the Indian Himalayas during our last Bible School in Thailand, it was obvious that we would combine this also with a visit to Nepal, as we had received requests for partnership in ministry.

In the entire Himalaya region there are hundreds of unreached tribes. According to the Joshua report only 26 of 377 tribes in Nepal have been reached with the Gospel. The remaining 351 are counted as unreached! The same in Bhutan, where 32 of 35 tribes are still unreached!

We sense the call also just right there, at the ends of the earth, to help so that the Kingdom of God is expanded and the name of Jesus is proclaimed! Have you ever prayed and considered if you should adopt one of these tribes where we work with prayer, finances or perhaps even with a personal visit? In that way you could help to reach out to these people! We have noticed over and over again how fruitful this also is for our own lives!!

Travel Report - revival conditions in Mirik

At present I don’t want to share much about our stay in Bhutan and Nepal, because it contains confidential information. What I would just say is that we are in contact with different underground churches and also the leadership in Nepal is very open to a closer working together. Please pray that we can be effective and don’t rush things. In the plane I also met with an aspiring co-worker of the Nepalese Foreign Ministry. They have a vision for the reconstruction of the country. She comes from a very influential Hindu family and as I prayed with her in the plane she said to me:

 "That touched me so deeply that I nearly had to cry. Please contact me when you come to our country again and I will open the doors for you in every way I can!"

Thank you for all the prayers in reference to this!

In Mirik, that is located in the Indian part of the Himalayas, we were able to experience together with about 130 pastors and leaders a tremendous time in the presence of the Holy Spirit. God broke through in our meetings and often people began to cry out loud as the Word of God was preached but also during the times of worship.

We experienced how people repented and also many experienced inner healing. The Spirit of God was working in a very personal way. I am so grateful that this time we were able to minister as a team and that my co-workers always stood alongside me in prayer, preaching and encouragement!

We not only experienced a massive work of the Holy Spirit. With confidence we can say that our students that attended our school last year have grown in faith and carry full responsibility for the work in their region. We want to work with them closer in the future and start up local Bible schools!

A pastor took our teachings to heart and also the personal words that were spoken to him. In the last twelve months he has begun to establish remote churches in the tea plantation where a lot of poor live. Multiplication and discipleship is happening. We are grateful to see fruit coming forth out of our schools in South East Asia that we carried out last year with the last available resources!

God is good and at this point I would like to thank you all for your support! Often we enter into a new region with the last cent and that is why we rejoice over any financial support, aware of the power of each prayer that enables us, keeps us and protects us to minister in these regions of the world! Thank you also for all your prayers for our families at home!

Thank you also to Mark Tanner, Claudio Killias and Nadine Singer for their company on this trip. God has done great things and without this wonderful team a lot of things would not have been possible! Thank you!

In His Service,

Claude Widmer