Taking the Gospel to 18,000 Feet

Joost Bastiaans, media manager for TWR Netherlands-Belgium, traveled to Asia with four pieces of luggage containing everything needed to assemble a compact audio studio — and minister to Tibetans. 

Joost Bastiaans went from the basement of the world to the roof for the sake of the gospel.

Home for Bastiaans, who is the media manager for TWR Netherlands-Belgium, is 9 feet (2.7 meters) below sea level. But in July 2025, he was at 18,000 feet (close to 5,500 meters) above sea level.

Spending time in the region of Tibet*, the “Rooftop of the World,” is a feat in itself for those not accustomed to it. But it’s what he did before and during his four days in July that made Bastiaans the recipient of the National Religious Broadcasters’ annual International Strategic Partnership award.

The award was given during the organization’s annual convention on Feb. 18, 2026, in Nashville, Tennessee (U.S.).

“He had several obstacles that came up that God just miraculously pushed them over along the way,” explained Brandon Neal, director of Media Services for Guidelines International Ministries. Neal, along with Guidelines President Bonnie Sala, nominated Bastiaans for the award.
 

A ‘Chance’ Encounter

The partnership between Guidelines and TWR’s Bastiaans began with a “chance” encounter last year when both Neal and Bastiaans were in Southeast Asia. Bastiaans told Neal that he had been doing some media training, and that among his students was Pastor Lobsang** from Tibet. The pastor appreciated the training but said he really needed help putting it into practice in the field.

That sounded like the sort of project the media ministry of Guidelines could support, Neal said. They met with Sala, who agreed. Neal and Bastiaans then met regularly to work out the scope and a budget for the project, and Guidelines found donors willing to pay for it.

Meanwhile, Bastiaans was studying how to prepare for life at a very high elevation. The year before, Pastor Lobsang told him, a visitor to the Himalayas developed height sickness and had to be carefully transported back down while in a coma. So Bastiaans followed recommended medical practices to increase his red blood cells.

Ironically, outsiders in their 20s and 30s tend to have more difficulties in the Himalayas, Bastiaans learned, perhaps because of overconfidence. He was 47 at the time, and although in good health he was willing to take precautions. Once in Asia, he worked his way up in stages to allow his body to gradually adapt.

“I started at 9,000 feet, going up to 12,000 feet, stayed there for a couple of days, and then we went to 18,000 feet,” he said.
 

Compact Studio

Bastiaans arrived in India with everything needed to build a compact audio studio – more than 250 pounds of equipment – in four pieces of luggage. Although nothing he brought in was illegal, the equipment was unusual enough to likely prompt questions. Hoping to evade excessive scrutiny, Bastiaans attached himself to a group of local tourists.

“He was literally a head taller than any of them…  and so he really stuck out, but he was able to go through, and everything was fine,” Neal said, describing it as one of several ways God intervened.

Bastiaans and Lobsang assembled the studio using an aluminum frame, acoustic blankets, two Shure SM7B microphones, a RODEcaster Duo mixer and a basic MacBook Air laptop.

They then drove for two days over a rocky road to reach a village where people live as they have for centuries. “There’s no electricity, no showering for four days,” Bastiaans said, describing his time there. “You’re sleeping beside the sheep and in the small tent where the family lives for all their lives.”
 

Lobsang’s Story

Bastiaans and Lobsang brought food to share with the villagers, including fruit in an area where no fruit grows. But they brought something more valuable: the gospel.

Lobsang is a Tibetan whose parents sent him to a monastery at age 14 with the expectation that he would become a Buddhist monk. He was well on his way toward that path when he encountered some vacationing Christian missionaries, Bastiaans explained.

After a period of searching, Lobsang embraced Christianity – and had to flee his country. But after being trained in a Bible school in India, he felt called to bring the gospel to his own people. For three years, he traveled to the same village but wasn’t allowed to sleep in that village. In the fourth year, he was invited in. He now brings them an animated video showing the similarities and differences between Buddhism and Christianity.

On Bastiaans’ trip, he brought 500 solar-powered media players for the villagers. Lobsang, he said, is making recordings and Bible-based stories to bring with him next time.

As the two men traveled, Lobsang was careful to keep track of how Bastiaans was handling the elevation. “He checked in with me every day, like four or five times a day [to ask], ‘Are you doing good?’”

The local people also were gracious and kind, sharing freely with their guests and honoring them, Bastiaans said.

Ongoing Work          

TWR plans a continuing relationship with Lobsang, Bastiaans said.

Jesus called his disciples to bring the gospel to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). That surely includes the roof of the earth.    

The population of Tibetans in China is about 6 million. Of these, only 600 are Christians, Neal noted.

“The enemy would love nothing more [than] for these people … to never hear the gospel in their own language,” he said.     

Pastor Lobsang created all of the content being shared with the people in the region of Tibet “because he understands how to best reach his people,” Neal continued. “I think just equipping him and empowering him to do what he needs to do so that he can carry out God’s calling on his life, that’s so important.”        

Images: (top, banner) Shepherds tend to their flock in the region of Tibet, (middle, right) A woman visited by the TWR team in the region of Tibet. 

*Bastiaans was not in Tibet itself.

**Lobsang is a common name in Tibet.