As I write this, I’m sitting in an apartment in a country that borders India. Several months ago, we discussed with the Adventist Church leadership in this country the possibility of partnering with them to reach the Gorkha people who live here. We thought we might do this after we had completed our work in Darjeeling. However, last month, our partners Jonathan and Karen Lovitt received a letter from the local branch of the federal Indian police telling them they had seven days to leave India (read their story on p. 12). The reason given for the expulsion was that they had been participating in illegal religious activities, but it was clear that someone with influence simply didn’t like Jonathan and Karen and wanted to cause them trouble. Ultimately, we could see satanic forces at work.

Not wanting to cause trouble for the Adventist Church in India and for our believers in Darjeeling, we decided it was best for us to leave India as well before the police had a chance to turn their attention on us. In spite of the turmoil caused by the sudden move out of India, we see God’s hand at work leading us through a door He had already opened. It is sad and difficult for us to leave the believers in Darjeeling, but as one of our faithful members told us on our farewell Sabbath, “There are many Hindus and Buddhists over there who need to hear the Gospel as well.”

Currently, renovations of the church building in Darjeeling are just getting underway. We were a bit worried about leaving the project unfinished. However, our faithful friend, Mr. W, a Nepali Adventist, along with his wife and daughter, will be moving to Darjeeling this month to help shepherd the believers and carry on the renovation. His wife had a dream several months ago in which she saw me calling her and her husband to come and work in Darjeeling. She believes the dream was from God. They are both committed to carrying on the Gospel work in Darjeeling. We are planning to visit them in Darjeeling later this month and check in with the church members to see how everything is going.

We may have changed locations, but our work remains the same—to reach the unreached Gorkha people for Christ. We believe that, in spite of Satan’s plans to thwart our efforts, God has an expanding plan for us in this part of the world.

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