was born into a Hindu family in Nepal.  My mother worshipped many gods.  My father had a sickness that would cause him to lose consciousness on a regular basis.  My mother did many “religious” superstitious things in order to see my father healed.  But nothing made a difference.

        Then one night, my mom had a vision of a man dressed in white.  He said, “I am Jesus.  If you follow Me, your husband will be healed.”  The next day, she was doing some housework, and a neighbor came by.  My mom told her, “Jesus is

the God we must follow.”  The neighbor told her, “Some missionaries are coming to our area.  Do you want them to come talk to you about Jesus?”

    Something in both my parents’ hearts said, “Jesus is the true God.  He is the One we need to follow.”  So they listened to the missionaries’ message.  When they left, my mother and father talked and prayed together with simple faith, asking for God’s healing hand.  They made a decision to follow Jesus.  From that moment on, my dad never had his sickness again.

        My parents raised me as a Christian, but all my friends were Hindu.  I saw both perspectives, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus was the only God.  I stood alone for Him in my school.  Everyone I knew lived enslaved to idol worship, but God in His mercy led me to abandon all idols.  You were not allowed to say you had become a Christian in my country – if you did, you would suffer great persecution.

When I was ten, I gave my life to the Lord, and committed to following Him no matter what the cost.  It was not an easy path I walked.  But every time I faced a hardship I would just get down on my knees and ask “God, can you help me with this?”  And He always did.

    My family was never taken to prison, but friends and relatives would refuse to eat the food we ate, or touch water that we had touched.  They said, “What do you get from following this Jesus?”  And we would say, “We have eternal life.  All that matters to us is knowing Him and following Him.”

We have eternal life. 

All that matters to us is knowing Him and following Him.

        My family lived with very little.  My parents received help from a child sponsorship program just to be able to feed and educate my sisters and me.  My grandparents were elderly and in extreme poverty.  My family could not afford to take them in, and yet we felt it was what God asked us to do.  My father told them, “if you come into our home you will hear about Christ and be part of prayer, devotion and worship.  My parents didn’t force them to become Christians, but invited them to sit and listen.  My parents talked to them about all God had done in their lives.  After four months, my Grandpa said, “Take me to church, I want to be baptized.”  He died six months later.  (My Grandmother came to the Lord around the same time.)

         There were four of us children, my parents and my Grandparents, all living in one tiny room.  We children slept on the kitchen floor.  When I think of it now, I realize how much God’s grace was upon us, because I have memories of that really hard situation actually being fun!

        My youngest sister, Neha,who is now eleven, was adopted into our family.  Neha’s father abandoned her mother while she was pregnant with her.  The mother was left alone with no support, and not long after Neha was born, she died of starvation.  Neha was found nursing on her mother’s body.  She was passed around from family to family for weeks.  When she was four years old, some women stopped by our house with her, trying to locate a children’s home and find an opening for her.  When my mom saw the little girl, something in her heart said, “This is to be your daughter.  This is what God wants you to do.”  She told the women, “I don’t know how we are going to do it, but this little girl is going to be part of our family.”

        God provided miraculously, because our family never would have been able to take on another child with what my Dad earned.  And my

dad was right there, supporting the decision all the way and trusting God.

In high school, I remember looking around and not wanting to live a life like everyone else did – my friends who were seeking the world’s pleasure.  I wanted a life that was different.  Slowly God called me to be different from the world, to do something different with my life.  My friends all pursued boyfriends, then marriage.  But I knew God had a different path for me.

    He has called me to work with children – especially orphans.  My vision is to open a children’s home that will not just provide food and education – but help the children reach their destiny.  A place that can train them for Bible college, teaching or music.  A place that will not just leave them on their own once they reach a certain age, but give them every opportunity they can possibly have to do great things for God.  We do not deserve God’s grace, but He gives it anyway, and I believe these children need to be treated with that same love – to be given the life they would have had with parents.

    I know that of myself, I cannot achieve this dream – but with God, nothing is impossible!  I choose not to worry about what people think of me, only what God thinks of me.  I can never please everyone, but I will seek to please God!

    Right now, I am blessed to be a chaperone with Children of the World.  We take orphan and needy children from impoverished areas around the world, and train them to sing and praise God – then we go on tour for a year around the U.S, raising awareness and money for children in need.  I was in the very first Children of the World choir as a child, and now for the last three years I’ve been on staff.  My role is to care for the children – make sure they have everything they need.  I help care for them before and after concerts.  I help to discipline them when needed, and teach them proper behavior.  I teach them to please Jesus –

not to make right choices to please us, but rather to please Him.

One of my great joys is doing devotions with the children.  Most of them have heard of God’s love and many have made decisions for Christ, but I desire to help them go deeper with God.  My goal is to help equip them for when they will return to their countries, so they can be an example of Christ to others.

    It is always such a challenge when certain kids don’t understand what it means to follow God.  I can’t force them, so my burden is to watch and pray until they do.  I remember that my ways are not God’s ways, and I ask Him for wisdom to give just what the children need.

    My greatest joy is seeing the children worship – those who truly know and love God.  Not just to see them sing and dance, but sincerely worship Jesus.  And when they know Him more and more, it is so fun to be on stage with them.  Even though we do over 200 concerts a year, each experience is new and beautiful when I hear them worship God – when I know they see God, know Him, and understand Him love.  It just makes me cry and smile. *