keylong

The Village of Keylong as seen from the local Religious High Place

Team Yeshua made it to Keylong today for a night of acclimatization at 10,000 ft. We got here from Manali several hours faster than with our last volunteer team that came here in 2016. And 2016 was much faster than 2014 when my family and I got stuck for six hours because of a washed-out bridge. The kids were little and tracted everyone stuck there with us. I remember it vividly. Today there is a new bridge and a new tunnel, opened by the Border Roads Organization (BRO) in 2019. Yes, BRO cut a 5-mile tunnel right through a 16,000-ft. mountain, and it cancels out the long winding ascent and descent of the dangerous Rohtang La Pass.  The entire way today was smooth pavement, very different than 9 years ago.

Eleven years ago, Jamie and I, with three small children, experienced a very rough night in Keylong, the kind of night that made us never want to return. But, the Lord redeems things. He redeemed many things in Montana this summer, and He redeemed an 11-year-old bad night with a fruitful day today.

Josiah scarfs down some Magi noodles near Keylong (2014).

I never could have foreseen all those years ago that we would be back in this “end-of-the-earth” place for a day of divine appointments and Gospel encounters.  Suffice it to say the Word of God was shared today in five languages (English, Nepali, Hindi, Ladakhi and Hebrew). After arriving early afternoon, everyone grabbed a quick nap, and then we slogged a 6-mile accimlitization circuit that traversed a village area and climbed steeply to the Buddhist monastery standing guard over the town at 11,366 ft. I clandestinely crumbed the place as the team looked around … and I found a strange thing, something I have never seen before, nor would I have ever expected to see. On a windowsill of a Buddhist gompa, I found a tattered copy of the Gospel of John in Hindi. It was old and had been used, resting in a spot where I could see someone sitting down outside for an afternoon read. Is there a lama in that gompa seeking truth? How did that end up there? It’s a mystery but one that gives me great joy. You never know what the Lord is doing and where He is doing it without my help or the help of any other American Christian. I could only pause and think upon that great day revealed in Revelation 5 (the most important chapter in the Bible) when those of every tribe, tongue, nation, and people are gathered before the Throne and heralding “Worthy is the Lamb.”

Team Yeshua slogs up to the local Buddhist from the village of Keylong.

Someone in the Gompa had been reading this tattered copy of a the Gospel of John in the Hindi language.

Team Yeshua outside Shashur Gompa (11,366 ft.)

On the way down, we avoided the steep path and followed a longer roundabout way that amazingly put a Nepali Christian brother in my path, Ramesh. I offered him a Hindi Gospel tract and while speaking Hindi he answered with an English question: “Are you a Christian?” I then learned that we are brothers and that we could communicate in his native language. It was a brief but joyous time of fellowship on that stone path. We prayed together and for one another, he in Nepali and I in English. I gave him a few Nepali Gospels of John for witnessing, and he was glad we had crumbed the gompa. We hugged each other’s necks and noted that we would meet again soon when our Lord returns for His Church. It will indeed be soon. Hallelujah! Praise God for this encouraging encounter. The Lord has His people in the strangest of places.

Ramesh, a Nepali Christian Brother

A little further down the trail, I got to stop and preach openly in Nepali to a Nepali family. I gave the man of the house a Gospel of John and explained to Him that Christ is the perfect sacrifice. Only He can give us peace. He died on a cross for our sins and then rose again the third day. All along the way, the team distributed Hindi material to villagers and locals in the main market.

Preaching to a Nepali-speaking Family in their Language Above Keylong

Back in Keylong, while I was getting a $1.75 shave, I met an older man who was born here. Ashok spoke good English, and we talked about the many changes to the area since I first came through and had a rough night 11 years ago. I complimented him on his English and asserted that I wanted to give him something to help improve it even more—a personal testimony about how Jesus changed my life. I also gave him an English Bible. With a big smile, he touched it to his forehead and said, “Thank you, thank you.” My shave was done, and then he sat down for his.

I met Ashok in a Keylong barbershop.

Back at the hotel, as the team ate dinner together in the common area, another group was finishing their supper. They were speaking Hebrew. As I was finishing my masala chai, I turned by chair toward them and then boldly asked, “Are you all from Israel?”  What followed was a long conversation with Oded (a 58-year-old husband and father who served in the IDF during the 1980s) and Inbal (who has been to Ladakh many times since 2002). Both were born in Israel, and neither consider themselves to be “religious.” We spoke of many things, including the Messiah and Biblical prophecy. I spoke of Isaiah 53, Messiah’s sacrificial death for the sins of the people, His resurrection, and His soon return to sit upon the Throne of David. I warned them of the coming “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” and that many bad things will happen to Israel before they finally wake up and call upon their true Messiah. In that day, He will hear, and He will come (Hosea 5:15, Romans 11:26). Oded admitted that he just didn’t know about any of this stuff. I encouraged them both to seek out of the Book of the Lord and read for themselves. “You don’t need a rabbi to tell you what is true or what the Bible says. Look for yourself.” It was such a great conversation, but I didn’t expect either of them to receive anything from my hand. I was wrong. They both gladly took Hebrew Gospel tracts, and Oded was genuinely thankful for a Hebrew NT after I showed him Matthew 1:1 and affirmed it to be a testimony of Jewish eyewitnesses, his people, his ancestors. This group is on a motorcycle journey that will eventually take them to Leh. What a strange thing that the God of Israel put them into our path in a place I never wanted to return on a rough night back in 2014.

Oh, what a great day of Great Commission labor in Keylong, and it shall indeed be a good night with good sleep.” I never could have foreseen such a thing on a terrible night here eleven years ago. Sheer profundity!

Lord willing, we will reach Leh tomorrow night late, but not before crossing three very high mountain passes, one of them almost 18,000 feet above sea level. Thank you so much for holding the ropes in prayer for us and Team Yeshua. Now, “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8).

Here is some video footage from that infamous 2014 journey from Delhi to Leh in a minivan.  We got stuck spending a night in Keylong because of a washed-out bridge. Ugh: