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HOUSTON “Why do you grieve like those who have no hope?” Pastor Abraham Tamang asked the woman.
The Nepalese Hindu woman had lost her adult son to cancer and an infant granddaughter in the year to the same disease. But before his death, Dilli Ram Biswa and his wife were led to the Lord by Tamang.
Tamang established a relationship with the Biswa family when he was called to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston to translate for the family during the treatment of 2 1/2-year-old Bimala. The family was also in need of transportation. During the trips to and from the hospital and in their home, Tamang shared the gospel.
A native of Nepal, Tamang understands he has a unique message to share with those who immigrate to Houston from his homeland. Those living in Nepal practice Hinduism, Buddhism, and Manu Dharma. When immigrants arrive in Houston?a city with a 26 percent foreign-born population?they find their new home teeming with others who share their religious and cultural heritage. This has given Tamang and his small congregation a large field to harvest.
As the pastor of Houston Nepal Baptist Church, he was able amid sorrow to share the hope of an eternity reunited with loved ones as he performed a Christian funeral for little Bimala.
SBTC field ministry facilitator Silvano Paiva helped Tamang with the church plant and gave him counsel for the child’s funeral because it was the first one Tamang had performed.
“He did an excellent job of ministering to the family,” he said.
It was following the funeral of Biswa last month that Tamang was able to speak so frankly with the man’s grieving mother. In the Hindu and Buddhist religions, he said, there is no hope of reunion. Hindus believe in reincarnation and a person’s reincarnated state is an unknown in the present life and therefore without assurances of fellowship with loved ones.
Tamang told Biswa’s mother about the certainty of Biswa’s salvation and his presence with Jesus following death and asked if she wanted the same hope. That afternoon, Biswa’s mother and two sisters accepted Christ.
Buddhists, to some degree, believe in heaven and in the idea their destiny is tied to a life well-lived for others. Nonetheless, there are still no assurances of what comes after death.
But Tamang said he has the greatest opportunity to witness to those of the Manu Dharma faith. An offshoot of Hinduism, this sect is made up of the lowest caste members of the Hindu culture, the ones considered untouchable and insignificant. By showing the love and acceptance of the gospel Tamang said he is able to share the hope that is available to all who believe?in this life and the next.
