From Michigan to Nepal: A Story of Faith and Friendship

by Heather Auker | Dec 18, 2025 | Amplified Leaders, The Amplifier

How does a group of eight individuals from a church in Fremont, Michigan find themselves surrounded by 200 young Nepali believers on a mountain plateau, worshipping the Lord and greeting one another with the local Christian greeting “Jaimasi”? Or in a church building that’s only six months old, located in a remote Nepali valley where villagers live among rice fields?

Well, to put it simply…it’s because of their willingness to learn about the unreached, and to allow God to lead them out of their comfort zones.

Matthew Deprez, lead pastor of Inspire Church, experienced a significant shift in his heart over the past couple of years. Though Inspire had been giving to missionaries, he hadn’t felt particularly burdened by the need to spread the Gospel to unreached places.

That is, until he began to open his heart toward global missions in a new way. Matthew began to pray with Mike Morgan – who is both Inspire’s Worship Pastor and the Director of Executive Initiatives for Global Partners – and was encouraged to become more deeply engaged.

Because of Mike’s encouragement, and a nudge from the Lord, the two of them set out to visit Nepal in August 2024. It was after they developed relationships with individuals from the Church there, and saw the unreached country for themselves that everything changed.

Nepal has historically been a spiritually dark place – there weren’t any Christian believers until around 75 years ago. Mike explained that the country has never been under the Lordship of Christ, allowing darkness to run rampant. Though the Church is seeing growth, it’s a difficult place to plant seeds.

Since the initial trip in 2024, Inspire has continued to partner with The Wesleyan Church of Nepal, and Matthew has remained in close contact with those he met there. The goal moving forward is to make consistent trips to Nepal with other members of Inspire, both to learn from and to encourage the Church of Nepal in its growing ministries.

In October 2025, a team of eight from Inspire (including Mike and Matthew) set out for Nepal, excited to fulfill the promise to return. They had been asked to help with the National Youth Conference, so they came ready to teach, support, worship and fellowship. And, they just really wanted to see and hug their Nepali friends again.

This was the 10th year for the National Youth Conference – which was first started in collaboration between the local Wesleyan leaders and a Global Partners missionary. The Church in Nepal planned and organized the event to be centered around 1 Peter 2:9, and what it means to be a “chosen generation.” Two hundred people gathered from 20 different churches, and God moved in mighty ways.

The team from Inspire walked away with story after story of special connections and moments of prayer with attendees and local pastors. And overall, the team was struck and challenged by how passionate and vibrant the younger generation is.

In addition to games and dance competitions, Mike described moments of eager participation when it came to reading scripture aloud or praying for one another.

“[Oftentimes] everyone in that culture prays at the same time, so there was a huge roar of prayer and from the youngest to the oldest, everyone joined in,” he explained.

For Matthew, partnering with a young church has reminded him of the early church in Acts 2. Near the end of the chapter, we read that 3,000 believers were added to their number in one day, followed by a verse that says “and they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

Matthew said these four things are precisely what the Church in Nepal focuses on, whereas churches in the United States can over-complicate things at times. Seeing the simplicity of a young church, and the way it’s thriving, encouraged him.

In addition to participating in the National Youth Conference, the team also shared a meal with the National Church Board, connected with local pastors and visited a handful of churches.

Over the course of each visit, they experienced remarkable hospitality and walked away feeling inspired. But one experience in particular has left a significant impression.

Several teammates were drawn toward ministry in the villages rather than in the cities. One village they visited is nestled in a remote valley. A few hundred villagers live there among the rice fields. The Gospel is beginning to spread, new believers are being baptized – and among them is an elderly lady who was the first Christian believer there.

As the Inspire team worshipped in a church building that was built in the valley only six months prior, and later heard about an additional four churches that have developed among the surrounding mountain passes, they were awe-struck by what God is doing there.

“It was so moving to think about this woman being the first believer in her village, especially her faithful prayers for this new church building we were standing in and all the other churches that now exist in the neighboring mountain passes,” Matthew reflected.

While there, the team also walked down to a river where the church had recently baptized 34 new believers from the four surrounding villages. Matthew said “it just felt like holy ground.”

Now that this team has gone and seen Nepal firsthand, they’ve begun to be ambassadors for Nepal by sharing their experiences with the rest of Inspire.

As someone who wears different hats for both Inspire and Global Partners, Mike is very excited for the church to be engaging in global missions in this new and tangible way.

“… it’s really a reciprocal relationship that’s beginning to form, and I can’t wait to see how it continues. And that it would encourage us and challenge us to grow as disciples of Jesus, and grow our minds and hearts for the world,” Mike said. “God is moving. He’s active and He’s leading the Church there in Nepal.”

Matthew said Inspire already plans to return to Nepal in April, and they’ve been invited back to the 2026 National Youth Conference as well. In the meantime, Matthew said they’re working to keep Inspire updated on Nepal’s ministry, and to stay in contact with their Nepali friends.

Praise God for all He’s doing and will do, and for these cross-cultural partnerships that continue to unite the global Church.