What’s Your Name?
By J. Boe Ellis
KATHMANDU — We dodged scooters, motorbikes, dogs and thousands of people. And as the crazy, busy, bumpy, swervy, neighborhood street became too narrow for our hired SUV, our team got out and started walking the rest of the way through the shadows of the concrete apartments lining both sides of the dusty, dirt road.
We were headed to the end of the block where we could already see the sun shining on a 31 year-old pastor named Titus Karmacharya and his wife, Sabina, and on the
100 kids in an after-school program in this barrio referred to by our church planting partners in Kathmandu as “the slum.”
There was an unmistakable air of chaos, which is expected when you try to cram that many kids into a tiny space, but for these kids, the promise of a simple afternoon snack was enough to create a frenzy. The mass of mayhem pushed me up onto the front porch of the corner apartment, where a friendly family stood with me and watched as Pastor Titus and Sabina – just the two of them – were able to calm the crowd.
It was then the Lord introduced me to one of the richest people I have met, though she lives in one of the poorest areas in the city. She is 11. Her name is Prakriti, which she told me means “nature” or “beautiful.”
“What’s your name?” she asked. When I answered “Boe,” she fired back, “What does Boe mean?” And when I said I wasn’t sure, she asked curiously, “so, your name has no meaning?”
Prakriti is really, really smart. She is searching for meaning and demanding it of things. She does so in both her native Nepali and with fluent English, which is very rare here. She dreams of continuing her education and someday doing something amazing that will help others.
Prakriti has grown up in a culture that is nearly 100 percent Hindu-Buddhist. And yet, her light shines so incredibly bright in a dark place filled with idols and millions of false gods. It is no surprise to me how her kindness and curiosity so obviously point to our Father in Heaven, who created her in His image, who loves her, and longs for her to know the name Jesus, the name above all names, the name which means Savior.
Prakriti and her brother, Kushal, invited me in. As their mother was serving me a steamy, sweet cup of Nepali tea, I heard Kushal musing under his breath “who would have thought, I’d have an American sitting right here in my room?”
I seized that opportunity to lean in and look him in the eyes, and after a calculated pause, I assured him that my real identity, my name, was not American, or even Boe, but Christian. It’s a name that means follower of Jesus, the Son of the One true God.
Christian, I declared, is the name given to me by Jesus Himself and through no doing of my own. It is for me only to believe and trust fully on the work that Jesus has already done for me (Eph 2:1-10). Christian, I told him, is the name that doesn’t just have meaning, it gives meaning to an otherwise meaningless life.
From there, our conversation meandered for more than 20 minutes, though it seemed like only a moment, and then it was time to go.
Living a life on mission, whether in Nepal or across the street, is about praying for and sometimes even receiving moments like that. They are moments where the works of the Holy Spirit become distinctly evident as if a spotlight from Heaven had shined down and used your testimony in that moment to make some kind of difference for one soul and for the Kingdom of God.
In that slum on that day, we found more than a ministry opportunity with Pastor Titus, we found kids and families who are hungry for truth. We found new friends who were placed directly in our path because the infinite God of the Universe is the God of every detail. He pursues those who seek Him and He uses ordinary people like you and me to accomplish His Mission in the world.
What is your name? What does it mean?
As my brother and sister in Christ, I offer you this opportunity to join me in praying for Pastor Titus and the church the Lord has given him to shepherd in Kathmandu, to pray that the Lord would give that church family a piece of land and then the funds to build a building on that land so that more Hindus and Buddhists will find meaning in the name of Jesus.
Please, join with me in praying for Prakriti and Kushal that God would continue to reveal Himself as the preeminent truth in their search for meaning and give them too the name Christian. Redeemed. Delivered. Adopted. Child of God.
Please write to me at boe@gcpartnerships.org.
