One night, as he fumbles down the stairs from his bedroom to go to the toilet, it feels like his body can not take any more. The cold concrete beneath his feet causes him to cough again, even though he knows how painful it is. He tries to hold it back, but right after shutting the door behind him, the coughing continues. He faints and holds on to the wall, not to fall. He thinks to himself: “Right now I’m about to die”.
In that moment, the words from two young men appear in Kumar’s thoughts. They had told him that they, during a trip in year 2000, had heard someone speak with excitement about a person called Jesus – a man whom could heal sick people. Those two men had become believers and were the only two Christians in this whole town counting around 20 000 people. Kumar thinks to himself; “I have nothing to lose, if I don’t get help, I will die anyway.” So, he opens his mouth and cries out: “Jesus, if you are real, and you can heal me, I will give myself to you.”

Kumar manages to pull himself back up to his bed, exhausted by the coughing and loss of blood. He falls asleep, and when he wakes up again, it is already far into the day. For the first time in long he feels rested; normally he wakes early because of coughing or because he needs to vomit. This day it feels totally different. The coughing has stopped, and his pain is gone. Something must have happened. Kumar tries to cough on purpose, but there is no trace of blood there. Strange, he thinks. The entire day goes by without him throwing up or coughing, and Kumar can sense his appetite is coming back. As the days goes by, his body gets stronger and stronger. He thinks back at the hopeless night when he shouted out to Jesus, and then he called for the two young men who had told him about the Lord. They came and talked with the former atheist for a long time before, and in the end, they led him in the sinner’s prayer for salvation.

Some weeks after this, AsiaLinks co-worker in Nepal, Daniel, comes to Kumar’s place. Daniel hears the news about what has happened and comes to visit. Although Kumar was neither baptized nor part of a church, the pastor feels he should invite Kumar to Bible School. Kumar accepts the offer, and comes for Bible School. That is a big test for him. He struggles with his new faith – with Christian traditions and dealing with the word of God – the whole period is full of challenges for the communist leader. Until one day, as a lightning from the clear sky, The Holy Spirit comes and fills Kumar. He falls on the floor under the power of God’s presence and remains stuck on the floor for a long time. God is doing a major change in his life. After a long time, he gets on his feet, and he is simply a new creation.

Kumar finishes his stay at the Bible School and goes back home. Together with the two men that led him to Jesus he immediately plants a church. When we visit his church, it is full of people inside, with even more outside the windows and doors. People get saved in every meeting, and we experience a hunger and a dimension of prayer that really touches us. It is a powerful experience to see what God is doing in this mountain country of Nepal.