Aadesh Biswa was born in a refugee camp in Nepal. At 13, Biswa and his family immigrated to Kansas City, Missouri.
Biswa soon began school in the U.S. where he felt the need to quickly learn English. He spent hours studying the language. His hard work paid off as he was accepted into a summer science program at the University of Kansas. While there, he enjoyed the academic focus and living in the dorm.
EDUCATION STRUGGLES
One day, after his summer session ended, Biswa went to his cousin’s house and overheard his uncle, who was a representative to the Nepalese community, talking with two men.
They were discussing an academy where students would learn and live in dorms, just as Biswa had done during his summer course. The men asked Biswa’s uncle if his son, Biswa’s cousin, would attend the school, Sunnydale Adventist Academy. His uncle said no.
“I don’t know why,” Biswa later explained. “This is the most disrespectful thing in our culture, but I interrupted them. I said, ‘I’ll go.’”
Biswa convinced two friends and his cousin to go with him. The group found SAA’s courses challenging and struggled to keep up with their classmates. After only one week, Biswa’s cousin left. Later Biswa’s friends left, leaving Biswa at SAA alone. Biswa stayed for one semester then he too left.
“When I came back home, to the high school that I was going to felt like I was back in a dumpster compared to what I had just experienced,” Biswa confessed.
YOUTH MINISTRIES
After Biswa left SAA, he felt impressed by God to start a youth ministry in Kansas City. He met with his evangelical pastor and told him he desired more youth involvement in the church. His pastor quickly dismissed the idea and Biswa felt unsure how he could accomplish what he felt called by God to do.
Toward the end of his sophomore year, Anna Coridan drove Biswa to visit friends at SAA. During the drive Coridan revealed that she felt called by God to start a youth group in Kansas City.
“I told her, ‘Anna, you’re not going to believe this,’” Biswa said. “So, I showed her what I’d been working on for months and she was like, ‘Let’s do it.”
Biswa and Coridan started a group where youth would play at the park and then meet in Coridan’s apartment to pray and have Bible studies. The group slowly grew to include more people and was eventually named NC4Y, New Change for Youth.
Later the Coridan family invited Biswa to attend a Revelation seminar by John Bradshaw. Every night there was an appeal to be baptized.
“I remember being convicted, every time Pastor Bradshaw would make an appeal,” Biswa recalled. “My whole body was trying to move forward, but my brain was like, ‘No.’”
Biswa did not go forward during the meetings, but he continued to hunger spiritually and decided to work as a Magabooker.
Biswa experienced spiritual growth in the company of other young people who were on fire for God. He felt called to return to SAA for his final year of high school. However, Biswa found himself in a difficult situation. The year prior he was awarded a $50,000 scholarship to any college, if he attended the same public high school he was enrolled in his junior year.
When Biswa told his mom he would rather attend SAA than keep the scholarship, she strongly discouraged Biswa from returning. However, he decided to follow God’s calling.
SECOND CHANCES
Upon graduation from SAA, Biswa attended community college but later dropped out so he could work to help his family pay bills.
During this time, Iowa-Missouri Conference Ministerial director Lee Rochholz came to Biswa’s house and offered Biswa the opportunity to attend SALT, an evangelism training program at Southern Adventist University. Rochholz explained that Biswa would return to the conference as a Bible worker. Biswa was shocked—this was exactly what he wanted, an opportunity to work for God and further his education.
“I knew this was an answer to prayer,” Biswa said.
At SALT, Biswa felt the genuine call for affirming his faith through baptism and was baptized by John Bradshaw. While he had silenced the voice years before to answer Bradshaw’s call for baptism, God gave Biswa a second chance to follow the still small voice.
After returning to Missouri, Biswa wanted to obtain a bachelor’s degree and then go to Andrews University for seminary. After some research, Biswa found a nearby community college that was reasonably priced. He applied and was soon accepted.
Biswa also applied for a full ride scholarship and won.
“Receiving the scholarship was a big confirmation not only to my family, but also to my community because of the [scholarship] I had [previously] rejected,” Biswa said. “Everyone was like, ‘What are you doing? You’re crazy.’ But now, I can say, ‘God takes care of what is His.’”
