Mak—in Three Verses
Pastor Ryan joined the recent Pua trip in August and had the chance to spend some time with our missionaries, Mak and Narola. He reflects on the time spent meeting and getting to know Mak.
A team of seven headed to Pua from 20–24 August 2026 to conduct the quarterly English camp at Kathy’s Home. A heavy thunderstorm and flood had preceded the camp, so severe that schools were closed and the children had to busy themselves bailing out waters and mopping the floors at Kathy’s Home. Thankfully, the weather cleared up just in time for the camp, and we were able to proceed as planned.
Clockwise from top left: Beh, Kim Song, Ryan, Meei Fang, Sze Gar, Narola, Mak, Supakit, Noel, Mai, Joni and Grace.
It was also Pastor Ryan’s first time joining the trip. Apart from getting to know the children and teaching them, he also had the opportunity to get to know our missionaries, Mak and Narola, and the church in the village of Maesanan. Pastor Ryan reflects on the time spent meeting and getting to know Mak.
Mak—in Three Verses
Over the last year, many of you have told me about Mak. I pray for him often, and I recently had the chance to spend time with him in Pua.
Now let me introduce him to the rest of you—in three verses.
1. Romans 15:20
“I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation.”
This verse ignited Mak’s burden for missions. More than thirty years ago, he left his family and friends in Nagaland to pursue church planting in Nepal. He couldn’t shake the reality that so many had never heard the name of Christ.
Do you share that burden? Not everyone needs to go—missions requires senders and goers—but everyone ought to feel its weight. If you don’t, ask God for a heart like Mak’s. Better yet, like Christ’s (Jn 10:16).
2. Philippians 1:29
“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.”
Mak has suffered for the gospel. In the early 1990s, a Nepalese newspaper publicly reviled him for speaking about Christ. That persecution drove him out of Nepal and eventually to Pua. The past thirty years haven’t been easy either.
Do you consider your faith a gift, granted to you for the sake of Christ? How about your suffering? Mak would be the first to tell you it’s a privilege. Jesus himself said we’d be blessed for it (Matt 5:10–11).
3. Revelation 14:12
“Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.”
Mak has endured. He is still in Pua. Still preaching. Still discipling. Still investing in the lives of the children there. Still holding fast. Thirty years on, nothing about his work has become glamorous—and nothing about it has stopped.
How’s your endurance going? With your family? At your workplace? In your daily walk with Christ? God doesn’t build endurance in a few heroic moments. He builds it through thousands of ordinary ones.
Look Through Mak, to Christ
Ryan and Mak in front of the new church building in Maesanan which was completed only last December. That Sunday morning, Ryan preached a message from God to encourage the church in Maesanan.
Mak is a wonderful man, and I hope you get to meet him. But if you asked him about any of this, he’d tell you to look right past him. Because every one of these verses points to Mak’s Saviour.
Christ came and preached peace to those who were far off (Eph 2:17). Christ suffered for sins once for all (1 Pet 3:18). Christ endured the cross—and did not quit (Heb 12:2). Mak’s life is a small, faithful reflection of a much greater faithfulness.
So thank God for Mak. Pray for him. And then look through him, to Christ.
The next trip to Pua will be from 26–30 November 2026. Contact Beh (97886171) or Siew Kim (97525589) if you would like to join.