Jesus said,"On this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it", Matthew 16:18.
NLM:Intrtoduction
Bro. Prem Pradhan
Philemon Chhetri
Statements of Faith
Vision

Pastor Dr. Philemon Chhetri

 

PHILEMON was born in one of the mountain villages called Bojini in the district of Dolakha in Nepal to an orthodox Hindu family. His mother died when he was just four years old, so his father, a Hindu priest who used to get up at 3:00 a.m. to start his ritual worship everyday, raised him.When Philemon was about nine years old, his uncle returned to their village a born-again Christian. (He had left home to seek medical treatment in India for a life-threatening illness, and there he heard the Gospel and accepted the Lord.) Immediately all the villagers branded him as an "untouchable" of the lowest caste and sought to expel him from the village. But his uncle’s eldest brother pleaded to the other villagers to let him stay, and at last they reluctantly agreed. That uncle gave Philemon a little booklet called "The Way of Salvation. "When he read it, he felt as if someone was saying to his heart, "You are a sinner and you have to repent!" He discussed this matter with his uncle, who then shared the Gospel with him and led him in the sinner’s prayer. Afterwards, he gave young Philemon a New Testament, which soon became his dearest friend. He would often go into the jungle and read it secretly.Philemon’s family soon realized that he had become a Christian, and they tried to keep him away from meeting his uncle, who was the only other Christian in the village. But still they managed to meet together on Sunday morning and other evenings for a couple of hours, where they would read the Bible by the dim light of a kerosene lamp. Like his uncle, Philemon also became an untouchable: other villagers, including his own family members, did not want him to contaminate the village’s only water tap by touching it. This made life very difficult for him, but still he refused to give up his new faith. After several years, Philemon’s uncle decided to take him to the capital city of Kathmandu so he could attend school, as there were no schools near their village. It took three days of arduous mountain trekking just to reach the main road to catch a bus, and young Philemon’s feet were badly swollen by the end of the journey. The five-hour bus ride to Kathmandu was an exhilarating experience for him: he had never ever seen a single vehicle in his life before! After reaching Kathmandu, Philemon was admitted into a children’s home run by the late Nepali evangelist Prem Pradhan. There he was baptized and began attending school at the age of 11. The Lord soon put a great burden in his heart to share the Gospel with lost souls, and Philemon began eagerly witnessing to his friends, teachers, and relatives.After studying inPrem’s school  for three or four years, heavy persecution broke out in Nepal.Philemon fled to India along with some other believers, where he continued to witness actively for the Lord. In 1973 he enrolled in Bible school to prepare for the ministry.

After completing his studies, he began working in the Darjeeling Hills of northeastern India (known internationally for its fine tea) as an open-air evangelist, Bible teacher and pastor. In1985 he married Elishiba, whom he met on one of his gospel tour. For many years Philemon endured every manner of hardship for the Lord, including being stoned by enemies of the Gospel and living for years on end with his wife in a room no bigger than a closet. On his income of US $2.50 per month, he could not even afford to buy an extra sari (dress) for his wife, so she wore the same sari for three years. But the Lord rewarded him with many saved souls and a joy in his heart that no money could buy. In 1988 Philemon finally met Prem again after a gap of 19 years. Seeing that the young lad he baptized nearly two decades ago had now matured into an able minister of the Gospel, Prem requested Philemon to come alongside him in the ministry. After praying about this for three years, Philemon at last agreed and shifted to a new location to begin helping Prem in the work of New Life Mission In 1992 Philemon was led by the Lord to start one more church in the Darjeeling Hills in a town called Kurseong. Beginning with seven people, the church eventually grew to 200 as local Hindus and Buddhists saw the sick being healed and the demon-possessed being delivered. But even though the ministry was advancing rapidly there, the Lord spoke to Philemon’s heart once again and called him out of India back to his native land. So after an absence of more than 25 years, Philemon returned to Nepal in 1996 along with his wife and two sons. He began overseeing the work of NLM’s churches scattered throughout the mountains of Nepal and India. After Prem’s death in 1998, he assumed complete leadership of NLM. Today he oversees around 63 churches, 115 ministry workers (mostly pastors and evangelists), and 4 primary schools. But it’s no easy job, to be sure. Without electricity, telephones, postal service, or motor able roads in most of these mission fields, he has to oversee the work in the old-fashioned way: walking on foot in rugged terrain for days on end just to meet a single pastor. Clearly, Philemon has his work cut out for him by the Lord. And he couldn’t be happier.
MINISTRIES
Church Planting
Meeting Halls construction
Joel Faith Bible School
Supporting Missionaries
Leadership Conferences
Schools For Children
Sewing Program
Serving the Widows
Current Accomplishments

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