A Young Widow in Nepal Sought Peace, So Did I

Please welcome Gospel for Asia…

As I was thinking about a story we shared about a woman in Kathmandu, Nepal named Shiuli,

I was thinking about my own life too. As part of my role here at Gospel for Asia, we share stories from places like Nepal, to let people know what God is doing in South Asia.

 

Shiuli lives among 700,000 in Kathmandu, yet she was entirely alone.

 

In this story Shiuli loses her husband, left to fend for her three daughters all on her own.

 

My life story is not as tragic, but what follows in her story is very similar to my story.

 

Shiuli goes on to seek peace through many religious centers in Nepal. She offers sacrifices and seeks peace from religious figures. She finds no peace.

 

I remember my search for peace, although I didn’t have the same struggles as Shiuli,

my predicament at the time felt horrific. I sought out many different ways to find peace, most led me to a dead-end or dark hallways.

 

Even though Shiuli sought out peace for herself, the messenger came to her. It was a typical place where Shiuli first found out about Jesus, women passing by shared about Jesus with her, they shared about how Jesus could take all her burdens.

 

When I was at rock bottom, I had many burdens, many problems and no peace. Amidst all the junk I was into, all I really wanted was peace but none of my solutions helped. It was my first year at college and I was a mess.

 

One night my friend stopped by and casually suggested to read the Bible. Nothing more, nothing less.

My friend left and I was alone. I read the Bible and God spoke to me, right where I was at,

as the total mess I was, God gave me peace.

 

The story of Shiuli is similar, she found peace in the Jesus these women spoke of.

All the other gods she looked to had offered her nothing. It was only in Christ that she found true peace.

 

As I serve here at Gospel for Asia, even though we are worlds away from the people we seek to help, we are closer than we think.

 

We have so many brothers and sisters around the world, and we all share in that true peace of God.

 

May we be lights along the way, to share that true peace only found in Jesus, whether stateside or in South Asia.

 

If you’d like to read Shiuli’s story in full, click here:

www.gfa.org/shiuli

 

Thomas