Facing Down Adversity with, Prayer and Love

Rupsingh Bhandari
May 2011

I am serving as a regional leader in the mid-western part of Nepal. I joined the Unification Movement eleven years ago, when I was just eighteen years old. It was difficult to remain a full-time member. I struggled hard to continue my life of faith. When I learned about God and True Parents, though, I absolutely made True Parents my model and followed Divine Principle, practicing it in my life of faith.

My Filipino wife and I take care of our region and its twenty full-time members, uniting in heart and excelling in our God-given mission. We've recently been blessed with a baby boy, whom we are doing our best to raise as a true son of Heaven.

I always follow my leaders absolutely and go wherever they send me wholeheartedly and without any hesitation. My leader sent me as a pioneering leader to Sikkim, India, where I remained for two years. Now, seeing that many people from Sikkim are serving God and True Parents, I am glad. My experience there provided many important lessons on belief and clinging to fervent prayers, through which I overcame trials. My faith became stronger and with the support of all the members, my mission was a success.

I was sent to this region in 2008 to pioneer again. Hindus and Muslims are in conflict in mid-western Nepal Maoists dominate the region politically. Also, the weather is extremely hot. Convincing people here is difficult because many don't believe in God, and those who do only listen to their own religion's views. I was scared when I first heard I would have to come here, but I believe that Heavenly Father and True Parents are always with me wherever I go.

I will never forget the members who came with me here to start this mission. They have tremendously supported me and tried hard even though they became sunburnt as they tried hard to witness to people. My wife, who has never experienced weather this hot, worked harder than I am able to express in words. Even though she doesn't understand the Nepali language and finds it difficult to adjust to the Nepali culture, she struggles to overcome and she is one with me in our mission. During the pioneering stage, members sometimes ran away. My wife and I cried, we wiped each other's tears and prayed for them. We always wanted our members to understand the path that our True Parents have taken through incomparable difficulties, in absolute obedience to God. Every time members leave, we witness to others and bring them to this godly mission.

Rupsingh Bhandari (29), seen here with his wife and son, is the leader of a region roughly the size of Denmark.

After we attended the first Original Divine Principle workshop held in Nepal, we felt compelled to witness to many people, in order that they can find God and True Parents and can realize their responsibility as children of Heaven. With young members who are still developing their lives of faith, we witnessed to many people in the area.

We are very far from the capital city where the Original Divine Principle workshop was held. Though covering that distance took many hours, we brought numerous guests. To convince them to attend the workshop, I had to give nine hours of lectures a day from morning until evening in such hot weather that beads of sweat rolled down my face. I sometimes continued without eating because new participants hungered for truth, and I felt that was more important.

Our full-time members also set conditions, as did my wife. She did three hundred full bows every day for a month and she increased it to four hundred the following month, though she was breast-feeding our baby and he was unwell at that time. Nevertheless, we did not lose faith and we never gave up. In the end, many people came to the workshop.

We strongly believed that if we sincerely fulfilled our responsibility -- through God and True Parents and the spiritual world, where our absolute, good ancestors dwell -- blessings would pour down on us. At the same time, we were lucky that our true elder brother Hyung-jin nim and true elder sister Yeon-ah nim visited Nepal. It was a blessing that my wife had the opportunity to testify about her life of faith to them during Hoon Dok Hae. That we are receiving so much blessing touches my heart. As the result of everyone's sincere dedication and devotion, from the national headquarters, our region won a prize for witnessing -- the very precious book Cheon Seong Gyeong, which Hyung-jin nim signed. Our members are inspired and happy to learn from it.

When our national leader, Mr. Ek Nath Dhaka], gave the Original Divine Principle lectures, which were broadcast live over nationwide television, our home members watched it with their parents and thousands of others watched it in our area. Many Nepalese were touched by the lectures and have begun coming to our center.