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Tibet: a Land of Beauty and Lostness December 21, 2006 By Timothy Stoltzfus |  TibetFast Facts | Location: Tibetan Plateau of western China
Size: 850,000 square miles (roughly 3 times the size of Texas)
Religion: 98% Buddhism, 1.60% Ethnic, .39% Nonreligious, .01% Christian
Population: 845,000
Politics: Tibet is a province-level autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China
Source: Joshua Project |
 In April of 2006, a GTO team led by Nate trekked into the wilds of Tibet. Tibet is surrounded by the world’s highest mountains, and is known as “the roof of the world” because its average elevation is 14,000 feet. Since 200 B.C., the Tibetans have lived in a society almost entirely closed to the rest of the world. For centuries, the treacherous Himalayan Mountains have made travel almost impossible. In recent years, however, the doors have opened to allow the rest of the world a glimpse of this hidden culture.
The nomadic lifestyle of the Tibetans, as well as limited transportation among their villages, makes it difficult for effective church planting and discipleship outside of the capital, Lhasa. Only a few small Tibetan churches exist. Tibetan Buddhism is strongly entrenched in this land; pray for God’s Spirit to move powerfully in the hearts of Tibetans.
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by Maria M. | A culture preserved, a people waiting
Home is high in the Himalayan mountain range for the Tibetans. This is a land where a gentle summer wind can come directly on the heels of a snowstorm, a land where massive rock cliffs tower above, where the wind blows with a fierceness this mid-western girl has never seen, where the air is dry and oxygen is sparse, where only an occasional scrubby tree is found, and where yaks are used to assist in most every human need.
 This was the land where I and five other North American travelers found ourselves headed earlier this year. As our rickety old bus crept over 15,000-feet mountain passes, I began to wonder what God had ahead of us on this trip. We each had gifts containing the gospel message in our packs and were going with one mission: to distribute these gifts so the Tibetans could receive the gospel message in their native tongue. We were excited to see what was ahead, and counted it a true privilege to have the opportunity to join God in His work in this very unreached part of northeast China.
I was amazed to discover the distinct culture that has been preserved. The rest of the world turns and changes, but none of that influence seems to reach the remote valley we visited. Most cannot even speak Mandarin, the national language of China. The talk of the town is whether they’ll get their tent weaved in time to head to the grasslands for the summer, or the big news of the fighting between the neighboring towns, or the amount of time spent earning merit by spinning their prayer wheels.
 What we saw was a people waiting... waiting to hear the truth. Meanwhile, they are searching for answers and purpose in places they’ll never find them. Their lives revolve around making merit, pursuing what they can do to please the Dali Lama and find special favor in his eyes. They plod along each day, driven by the dark hopelessness of Tibetan Buddhism.
Their smiles are so big, but their hearts are so lost. They welcomed us with open arms into their homes to drink tea and eat sampa, and yet they have no knowledge of the Savior. They live in the midst of incredible beauty, and yet give no credit to the awesome Creator. Their hearts are being pursued by their Father, but they don’t understand.
 I have had the privilege of going. I have seen the faces, tasted the yak butter tea, heard their language, touched the prayer wheel, felt the hopelessness of the dark road they are traveling. And I believe that in seeing, touching, hearing, and feeling, I have seen a new part of my Father’s heart for the nations. Now Tibet is so much more than a place on the map for me: it’'s our friend Kasangwamoo who fed us mama noodles and explained to us their way of life – in her well practiced English that she had learned in Lhasa; it’s the face of the man who was so excited to receive his gift he could hardly hold in his grin; it’s faces, and people, and names all of which are very, very special in God's eyes.
I’ll never forget the look of excitement that swept over his face when grandpa heard his native tongue from our gift of an audio message. Or the excitement that countless people had when they heard the tape telling the gospel message in their language. It was a look of pure excitement, and curiosity as to how in the world these strange white-faced people could have something in their language that they understand.
The day is soon coming – it has been promised by the Lord of the Universe – when every knee will bow before Him in all of HIS glory. But brothers and sisters, will it be too late? Will it be too late for the Tibetans? Will that be the first time that they will worship JESUS for Who He is?
There is a battle going on. And it’s a battle for the very heart of every person in this world. That battle includes the Tibetans. Our side is going to be victorious in the end, but as for right now, we’ve been given the privilege to get involved.
Brothers and sisters, let’s join the fight.
–Maria |
Rugged faces, far-away places
Before this trip, Tibet was just a far-away land with an exotic name, a place I knew existed on a map and which practiced some of the darkest Buddhism, but that was about the extent of my knowledge, until I went on a trip. I had the great privilege to travel through western China, close to the Tibetan border, into the mountains the Tibetans call home. It was a great opportunity to get a glimpse of their world, taste a bit of their culture, and understand a part of their life. Here are just a few of my favorite glimpses.
 The scenery was breath-taking every direction you turned. We were able to drive across, camp beside, and even climb parts of the gorgeous, majestic mountains that God filled that country with. No matter how many times I saw a new range of rugged snow capped peaks against the blue skies, one phrase kept running through my mind, “There is a God!”
The Tibetan people welcomed us in many ways. We received some of the finest hospitality, including many invitations for yak butter tea and an occasional Tibetan meal. They're very friendly, curious people and communicated well with hand motions, and so we made friends quickly. The little children are adorable, despite the dirty faces and runny noses, and after a few smiles and a little coaxing they lost their shyness and began repeating every English word we said.
 The sad part was seeing how deeply their false religion and practice was wound into their daily lives. Grandmas sat spinning their prayer wheels as naturally and constantly as we breathe, and all the women had prayer beads in their finger tips. While we were there, they held a festival in honor of an ancient Buddhist leader and they worked hard at stringing up many new prayer flags. The most exciting part was being able to give out gifts so they can hear the gospel message in their native language. So Tibet is not just a faraway land anymore, but a memory of rugged faces and kindness shown to me from a people that God longs for and desperately wants to call His own.
–Sara | 
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by Sara Y. |
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Michael M. | Highlights from Tibet
- Waking up in the morning with water bottles frozen inside the tent
- The beautiful mountains with snow on all the peaks
- Rapid weather changes: once we headed to a village with the sun shining bright, then the temperature dropped 30 degrees and it began snowing; in 30 minutes there was an inch of snow on the ground. Later, the sun came back out and all the snow was gone in 20 minutes. Then the wind picked up to 40 MPH and blew up a dust storm.
- Putting gifts in the hands of the Tibetans so that they can listen to the gospel in their own language
- Seeing the surprise and thankfulness on their face when they realize that the gift is for them
- Drinking yak butter tea
- Having the Tibetans stop in all day to look at our tents and our gear (just by stopping by to see us they made a new trail to our site)
- Our service Sunday morning at camp with some locals there
- Singing and praying with the Tibetans
 We shared the Gospel with them and saw their eager faces as some came back for another story time; we had a cassette with the Creation to Christ story and a picture book to go along with the tape. One guy was so interested that he came back four times to listen to the tape. A few older grandmas would come out in the morning with their friends just to listen to it. Many times they would be there before we were out of our sleeping bags. With their friendliness and warm hospitality it was heart breaking not to have enough gifts to give to every family. Their interest and eagerness to hear the Word of God was worth it all.
Please pray that teams will be able to go into these areas so God’s name will be proclaimed among the Tibetan people.
–Michael |
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Inside GTO
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