Something wonderful in the Christian sense is happening in Tibet, a region in China considered as the highest in the world and the home of Mount Everest, earth's highest mountain rising more than 29,009 feet above sea level.
Tibetans are mostly Buddhist, but there are also some Muslims and Christians, according to sources.
Last year, one Tibetan Buddhist priest embraced Jesus Christ and became a Christian pastor after seeing the love of Christ shown by a group of Christian workers who helped out and provided relief goods to the people of the region when a major earthquake struck the area, according to Joe Handley, president of Asian Access, a Christian organisation seeking to spread God's Word in South Asia.
Now, the seed of Christian love has grown. In an update, Handley reports that 62 other Buddhist monks have decided to follow the footsteps of the former Buddhist lama and are now following Christ as well.
And that's not all. "Just within the last year alone, [church leaders] are estimating that more than 200,000 people have come to Christ as a result of the labours of the Christian community there," Handley says.
What is causing this avalanche of Christian conversions?
Handley says this is all due to the work of Christian workers who provided hope and healing to the people of Tibet in the aftermath of last year's devastating quake. "They haven't seen Buddhists, Hindus, or other religious groups helping in the midst of the rubble. Rather, week after week, it is the followers of Jesus who have proved the test of time, sacrificed their own lives to serve and been the hands and feet of Jesus," he says.
Asian Access is playing a key role in this spiritual movement by training church leaders with the aim of establishing long-term spiritual growth in the region.
"Asian Access just has the privilege of coming alongside key pastors like the ones that have invested in this Tibetan priest's life," Handley says. "We invest deeply, building their capacity so they can reach their communities."
"God does amazing things when you invest in people and see them grow deeper in Him, grow stronger as leaders, learn how to reproduce other leaders, and then it spreads through church planting efforts in ways that are simply remarkable," he adds.
Asian Access is now seeking the prayer and financial support of Christians worldwide so that the organisation could nurture the spiritual movement in South Asia.
