With Soup and Linda Campbell
Report and Reflection by Ananda and Chiri Tamang
November 5-7, Pokhara, Nepal
During Papa Soup’s trip (October 28-November 11), we conducted two disciple making conferences, and two couples teaching times in two different cities where the seed of the Word of God was sowed heavily.
We thank God for all those whom He had foreordained before the foundation of the world to hear the Word.
We believe and the trust the result in God’s hand. Papa Soup and Mama Linda did what needed to be done, and now we let God do what he do with the seeds that have been sowed. Throughout this trip, Papa Soup and Mama Linda invested heavily on us (Anand and Chiri) throughout the trip, and we had a very heavy dose of ‘with me’ time
together, for which we are super grateful to the Lord.
However, the highlight was Couple’s Disciple Making Retreat held on November 5-7, at Landmark Hotel, a 4 Star Hotel in Pokhara, one of the most beautiful cities in beautiful Nepal. We brought 9 couples from across the country for this restful, relaxed and reflective retreat where they were provided with a lot of time to spend with each other, know each other by asking questions, confessing with each other and repent, and most importantly to go out on their own to enjoy boating, cable car ride to the mountain, and tour the beautiful city making memories. Among the 9 couples, 8 men are Anand’s disciples, and the ninth one is a third-generation disciple (Manish’s disciple). And among the women, 6 of them are Chiri’s disciples and other ladies are trying to join the process.
The three-day retreat gave all of us a time to ponder on our marriage, be thankful for our spouses, reorient our marriage to the biblical standard, and importance of living this out in such a way that people would notice God and his relationship with the church as Papa Soup says, “our marriage should be a tangible expression of Christ and his Bride.” It is an incarnate representation of Christ and his bride. The retreat concluded with a special couple’s banquet with photoshoot, couple’s dance, laughter, extended time on the table, etc.
Couple’s Dance at Banquet is here:
Several of the couples had never been away by themselves as husband and wife, and this is why also it was very special for them, and they are super grateful to Papa Soup and Mama Linda.
Few of them cannot even express enough how thankful they are to the Lord and to the process of disciple making that helped them explore biblical marriage through practical models set before them. And some of the couples have already started to teach and reteach what they have learned and committed to apply in their own marriage lives.
The following passages are the reflections of the retreat in their own words:
Baburaja and Sabita (These are disciples of our disciples, the wife continues to learn under Chiri)
Sabita says, “A very new and most heart-touching thing on this retreat is ‘the importance of the place of peace and presence.’” We should make our bed, the place of peace and presence where we have fellowship with God and each other. We should not take any negativity to our place of peace and presence, and as we started practicing this, it has brought a transformation in our marriage.
From the time we were at the retreat, we started practicing this, and we will continue to do so, and it has brought intimacy in our relationship with each other and with God. We will continue to live it out and teach others that we are discipling.
Silas and Rama (Silas serves as the pastor of a church that has seven churches in the mountains)
Silas and Rama say, “We had never heard about the place of peace and presence, it was new for us, but it truly touched our hearts. And the need for forgiveness in marriage was really profound, and its practice has brought a change in our marriage. We will continue to practice these learnings in our marriage and also teach others that are under our shepherding care.”
Samir and Sabitri
During those three days Samir did not go out, but
spent all of his time with his wife asking her questions
and listening to her. This is what Samir and his wife
have to say:
- “I learned that my wife’s safety is in my hands, and I
am ready to do whatever it takes to protect my wife,” says Samir. - “I will live Godly marriage and show my disciples
what I have learned.” - “Everything about the training was meaningful for
us, but it was the first time that we spent time together like this for a long time.”
Peter and Pooja
1. We do not talk about negative things in our place of peace and presence; instead we ask each other questions about how to serve one another best.
Peter and Pooja
2. We will teach a few couples in our church who are newly married.
3. We do remember the moment of forgiving one another’s sin, which was quite an emotional and life, and we felt instant change of our lives, a sense of freedom.
How are we doing these days?
4. Pooja and I are practicing the place of peace and presence in which we do not use our phones after 10 PM. We are trying our best not to talk negative things there, but love and positivity which edify each other.
Nim Raj and Karuna (This couple runs a Leadership Training Center in the Mid Western Region of Nepal to reach the most remote districts of Nepal)
- Husband and wives should be best friends as
they are the closest human beings on earth. - Their priority should be each other.
- This is what I had to learn and practice, and I
believe this needs to be taught to Nepali churches
because this is not understood by the Nepali
Christians.
Jeevan and Ayushma
- Submission is not a weakness but a courageousness and strength.
- We will practice this in our marriage and then teach the young people that we are discipling.
- Learning to practice the place of peace and presence during the retreat was the most important time and was a life-changing moment for us where we did not bring
negativity there, but positivity only. - We will continue to practice the place of
peace and presence in our marriage.
Manish and Rajani
1. Not only our fights, issues and misunderstandings but also the reconciliation should be seen by our kids.
2. We will teach what we are already practicing to our kids and the couples in our circles.
3. The moment of confession and repentance was a thrilling experience where we understood the importance of its ongoing impact in our marriage.
Ujjwal and Kabeeta
(Ujjwal is a business person witnessing in the field Kabeeta invests in the youth in their local church)
1. Biblical marriage is a covenant which cannot be dissolved by any civil law.
2. We are practicing the place of peace and presence where we do not talk about negative things.
3. We will teach those whom God brings into our influence about how valuable is husband and wife’s relationship.
4. The time we got to spend with each other during the retreat was very memorable and important for both of us. Thank you.
Dinesh and Sita
Sita says, “It is very important to forgive husbands and wives. Obedience is not a weakness but a strength. Reconciliation in family is very important for our kids to see.” Dinesh says, “I am deeply moved by Papa Soup’s teaching and the most striking statement that he made was ‘you should preach what you have already put into practice.’ I am going to put into practice. Now we practice our bed as the place of peace and presence where we ask questions to know each other more. Had I known some of the things when I got married first, our marriage would have been much easier.”
Anand and Chiri
The command for the husband is to love his bride as Christ loved, and the wife should submit and honor her husband. Time and geography may differ, but the command remains the same. And obeying the commands of God is the victory. If we are to get victory in all the temptations, then obedience is the key.
For wives, to be submissive is to become strong. Both husband and wife has to come together to fight against the enemy. We will teach our disciples that biblical marriage is a covenant and what it means to be faithful
in the covenant.
Some of the highlights were need for repletion during our dance, ‘click, click, click; we don’t quit,’ a disciple making principle. And time of confessing to each other our sins that we had overlooked was a very significant moment.
Thank You Papa Soup and Mama Linda!
Thank you Papa Soup and Mama Linda for bringing us all together where we had time of learning, laughing and loving our spouses in a practical way. In a culture like ours, being able to come together as couples to have solitary time just with each other, and to learn to be practical in our expression is a breakthrough. Chiri and I believe the truths learned and lived out will multiply in many couples who follow the participants. Thank you for the life modeled after the mandate in Scripture (Matthew 28:19). A strong downline of faithful disciples is being built through the every single investment you have done, every teaching you have taught us. On behalf of all the disciples at the retreat, Chiri and I express a heartfelt gratitude!
Anand and Chiri
S.A.L.T 