Ashok grew up in a Hindu family in a small village in Nepal. He came from the second highest caste— Chhetriya (Warriors). “I was so religious that I participated in all Hindu practices. However, I often thought that there should only be one God for all castes, classes and colors of mankind."
In 7th Grade his interest in Christianity was kindled by his English teacher, a single American woman and missionary. He said, “We all perceived Westerners as missionaries! Although she was strict, punctual and diligent in her work, she was also very loving and caring towards all of us. Her lifestyle led me to wonder, what in her religion caused her to change her life like this? After reading some books that I asked my teacher for, I eventually joined a small group fellowship, which included all foreigners except one elderly Nepali couple. I fell in love with the music and teaching! At that time, Nepali law prohibited all kinds of religious proselytization. If she was found encouraging me to become a Christian, she would be imprisoned and eventually be deported; and I would be in the prison indefinitely without any court trial.”
When Ashok was studying engineering in Kathmandu, the city capital of Nepal, God divinely used an unbelieving friend to help him go to a secret Nepali house church for the first time! The Nepali church experience strongly challenged him to know more about the Christian faith. It was the first time he saw a highly educated, high-caste Hindu following Jesus and teaching in the church. So, he decided to attend a one-week evangelistic outreach organized by Youth With A Mission (YWAM). In 1984, after six years of journey and despite the legal prohibition in Nepal, he finally decided to follow Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
Ashok continued saying, “I didn’t abandon my family & friends, and consequently they also never rejected me. Although life has not been easy since then, by God’s amazing grace and love, He has kept me confident in this pilgrimage to follow His mission for all people and it has been a very enriching faith adventure.”
In 1989 he went to the Philippines and finished Civil Engineering (BS) and Environmental Engineering (MS) degrees. It is here that he met Sabina.
“I came from a very devout Roman Catholic family in the Philippines," said Sabina. "I used to pray to the saints (especially to Mary) and was convinced that eternal life could only be gained by being a good person, doing good works, attending mass every Sunday and praying the rosary regularly. One day, during mass, God, in a supernatural way, showed me that Jesus Christ was no longer a little boy. He had died on the cross and is very much alive! From then on, I started searching for the truth. One of my professors and Ashok played an important part in guiding me, and I committed my life to Jesus in 1993.”
Sabina holds a PhD degree in Mathematics, and has taught in college and high school levels for about 13 years and worked as a Post-doctoral Fellow in research for one year.
In 1995, Ashok and Sabina married.
In 2003, God called Ashok and Sabina to go to another Southeast Asian country to bless one of the world’s largest unreached people groups. God blessed them with friends, discipling believers and starting a house church. Here they were involved in mobilizing and equipping national churches for the ministry among the unengaged and unreached peoples.
However, in 2006, at the prime of Ashok and Sabina’s ministry, their younger son, Ashish’s (6 years old) bones started to fracture. It took over two years for the doctors to diagnose that he suffered from Brittle Bone Disease. They share, “His situation got worse! He wasn’t walking at all for more than three years. By God’s grace, we found a Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles that offered free treatment for Ashish. Thus, we arrived in LA in September 2011.”
Since then, Ashish has gone through two major surgeries and now walks without any crutches or wheelchair - a divine miracle, for which they praise God. And, praise God that in a recent test, his bone density is now normal for his age. Ashok and Sabina share, “we continue to pray that God will completely heal his bones and remove the brittleness from his bones.” Due to this brittleness, Ashish continues to need to be very careful when he moves and continues physical therapy. Overall, he has had 17 fractures and five major surgeries, challenging circumstances for such a young boy.
Through a connection with one of their former team members, they learned of Lake Avenue Church.
They shared, “she gave us two names to contact – Pastors Roger Bosch & Scott White. They were very welcoming to us. Thus, we started to attend LAC from January 2012 and decided to become members in July 2012. We were immediately connected to Andy Pearce and started to get involved in Friends of International Students (FIS) ministry. We now attend Genesis class on Sundays and joined a small group.”
They shared, “In partnership with LAC-FIS & ISI, we continue to develop friendship with international students, Caltech scholars & their spouses, & other un-reached ethnic people through English classes, free after-school tutoring, Discovery Bible Studies (DBS), hiking and many social activities. We are blessed to be part of EWI and Perspectives classes. Ashok is also involved in pioneering initiatives in mobilizing Nepali churches to reach un-reached people groups through community development and micro-business approaches. Glory to God! We would appreciate your prayers as we continue to impact lives with God’s word and kingdom lifestyle.”
As for their two sons: Prem and Ashish were both baptized last August at Lake. They have made lots of friends here and are enjoying youth fellowship and events.
In closing Ashok and Sabina shared, “As Paul, we consider our life worth nothing to us, but worthy to finish the task the Lord Jesus has given us - the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. (Acts 20:24). All we need is our willingness and availability to be students in God’s school. So, with this identity and privilege, let’s go, and love God & love our neighbors, for the glory of God! Thus, we consider our life as a pilgrimage with God – truly a journey full of risks to the unknowns! Isn’t faith taking risks?
We strive to be willing and available for God’s call, and God always surprises us. We believe the ministry we are involved through LAC is God-intended, but unintended by us! We came here for the medical treatment of Ashish, but God is turning it to be even greater ministry opportunity."