“It’s been sporadic at times, [our] communication from our ministry partners in Nepal, but we are hearing and also getting some videos and pictures of the flooding that’s going on. [The damage has] just been devastating,” says John Pudaite with Bibles For The World. 

Nepal has seen rapid urbanization in recent years, but not matching development. Pudaite says that their partners are among the nearly 2 million people in the hard-hit capital of Kathmandu. 

“[Nepal] just never planned to have a city with this many people in it, with the necessary flood controls and water runoffs and things like that. So they (our partners) are sheltering hundreds and hundreds of people, also feeding them,” Pudaite says.

Bibles For The World works in areas where there is restricted access to God’s Word, where copies are scarce or among peoples where Christianity is beginning to take root — such as Nepal, Cambodia, areas of India and other Asian and SE Asian nations.
(Photo, caption courtesy of Bibles For The World)

“These are people who just have nowhere to go. Their homes are still underwater. You know, they’re probably lost pretty much all of their possessions because of the flood damage.”

Bibles For The World primarily distributes Scripture to local pastors and missionaries. Their warehouse appears to have escaped damage, but many of their partners’ churches and ministry centers have been flooded. 

The challenges are steep, but for local Christians (who make up less than 1.5 percent of Nepal’s population), Pudaite says, “This is a incredible opportunity for them to show Christ’s love and reach out and just pray for the people of Nepal, predominantly Hindu, who may respond to this outpouring of love from our brothers and sisters.”

Pray that more Nepali people will hear the gospel of Christ even through this disaster. 

To sign up to receive a free prayer guide for the Hindu world from Bibles For The World, visit our resource page. 

Header photo of the Himalayas from Kathmandu, Nepal  (Photo courtesy of Bigyan Khanal via Unsplash.)

Nepal endures the rainy season every year, but this year’s deluge looks slightly different. Chitry* with A3 says, “The rain was delayed this year, and people are really struggling. Farmers were planting rice, but suddenly, heavy rain poured in Nepal.

“17 people already died, and I’m not sure how many will be [affected] because this is the beginning of the rain of this year.”

(Photo courtesy of Balendra Sah/Instagram)

A3 is training pastors and church leaders in Kathmandu this week, but “Some of them (pastors and leaders) may not be able to come to the session this time because roads are [washed out and there is] no transportation available right now.”

One pastor will be walking five hours to reach a nearby city, where he hopes to catch a bus to Kathmandu. If a bus is not available, he’ll have to walk five hours back home.

Ask the Lord to protect Christian leaders trying to attend the A3 training session.

“Please pray for those who are struggling because of the flood. Some of them lost their house; some houses were damaged. Their economic situation will be affected,” Chitry says.

Formerly known as Asian Access, A3 develops and empowers Christian leadership networks in strategic regions like South Asia. Learn more here.

*Pseudonym

Header and story images depict flooding in and near Kathmandu, Nepal. Photos courtesy of Balendra Sah.

Nepal was hit with a 7.8 magnitude earthquake
Saturday April 25.

Nepal (MNN) — Rescue workers from around the world are converging on Nepal. Saturday’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the country just 50 miles northeast of Kathmandu, damaging an unknown number of buildings, killing many, and injuring thousands.

Survivors say it was like trying to walk on a boat during heavy seas.

Gospel for Asia has work in Nepal and workers on the ground. GFA President KP Yohannan says the death toll isn’t going to be good. “Our leader said to me, ‘It’s going to be in the thousands.’ And usually the information only comes later because there’s not communications. It’s a remote mountainous region.”

The earthquake hit just before noon local time on Saturday, April 25, the day Christians attend their weekly church services. Yohannan says, “We have 450 congregations scattered around the country. But between Kathmandu and Pokhara where the earthquake hit, that is one area where we have a significant number of churches and [20] Bridge of Hope Centers.” Bridge of Hope Centers are places where GFA workers assist poor children.

Yohannan tells MNN that early reports indicate five churches have been damaged in the quake, but he told us he wouldn’t be surprised if that number increases. He is very concerned. “How many churches [were] damaged: that is another major concern.  Every church that was destroyed means there were people in the church worshipping.” That could mean an increase in the number of Christian casualties in Nepal.

“People by the hundreds were worshipping…in those churches. And so, we are seeking to find information. Our leaders are walking and talking, trying to find out how many are dead or other churches affected.”

In terms of emergency response, Yohannan says GFA workers were prepared for this. “We have training going on continually for crisis. That is the reason why immediately our people could be mobilized right there in Kathmandu, reaching out to the suffering people.”

GFA relief workers are already delivering water, food, clothing, and more. Yohannan says Jesus is mentioned as people begin asking questions about why they are helping. “God is a god of compassion, mercy, and caring: for the suffering, for the widows and orphans. I think our response to the suffering world is very significant, and this is how they are going to see that we care for them.”

As Christians offer help and compassion, Yohannan believes it will open doors for the Gospel.

Between 30 and 40 of Gospel for Asia’s missionaries serving in Uttar Pradesh, an Indian state bordering Nepal, are headed toward the quake-ravaged area to help.

In the meantime, prayerfully consider donating generously to the work of GFA. Your support will help them provide much-needed physical aid and provide a platform to tell victims about Jesus, the only One who can give them eternal comfort.

If you’d like to help, click here to get prayer requests, updates, and to support GFA.

Transportation, schools and
businesses were closed in the capital city of Katmandu. The
strike is meant to disrupt things badly enough that the coalition government collapses
or gives in.

Danny Punnose with Gospel For Asia
says the strike's end is a brief reprieve. The Maoists have a stranglehold on the country, and they know it. "It kind of cripples the country until
they get what they want. Basically, they want absolute power so that whatever they
say goes, so they'll keep calling strikes until they get what they want."

This bandh is the latest disruption created
by the Maoists. It seemed, for a time, that they had succeeded
in their bid for power. Two years ago,
Maoist officials led the 22-party coalition that governed the country. Their
control ended a few months after it started due to a disagreement over the
firing of a high-level Army officer.

The Maoists are now calling for the resignation of
the country's prime minister. Another issue at the forefront of the political
unrest is the country's unfinished constitution. Nepal was formerly a monarchy
with a state-sanctioned religion. The first step toward democracy came with the
elections in 2008.

The newly elected officials were tasked with
writing a new constitution, one that would turn Nepal into a secular nation. The Constituent Assembly needs to finish a draft
before its term expires May 28, but there's been little progress forward. 

Punnose says the strikes make travel impossible, and Gospel
for Asia-supported missionaries can't work. "A lot of our church services had to be temporarily canceled
because of the danger of actually making it to church alive." However, GFA Radio is broadcasting the Gospel
on stations across the country, including the government's Radio Nepal.

Gospel for Asia leaders in Nepal
are asking for prayer for their country. Punnose says they're also asking prayer for believers. "Pray that the believers in Nepal would
stand strong. They'll never ask you to pray that the persecution will stop, or
the difficulties will stop. They will always ask you to pray that they would
stand strong in the faith and that they would be a good witness."

Click here for more on GFA's work
in Nepal.

"The Christian population there is very small, so the work is tremendous," John Lowrey of Christian Resources International says about the country. "There is just so much to be done–so much evangelism to be done, so much pastor training to be done."

Pastor Reuben Rai does his own ministry in Kathmandu, Nepal while also working full time. Because of his limited resources, Rai began to search the web. When he stumbled upon CRI, he immediately contacted them. CRI was amazed by all Rai had been doing on his own.

"[Rai] takes his materials all over Nepal," says Lowrey. "Some of the stuff he literally packs up on mule-back and goes up into the mountains to some very remote villages and sets up training programs for pastors and does things to help churches and does evangelism and youth ministry. So he's doing a great work for the Lord with practically no resources or financial help."

In an effort to help, CRI has decided to put their next Road Trip project toward Rai's ministry. The three-stop Road Trip will be in Bellevue, Michigan, Marshall, Michigan and Goshen, Indiana on February 17, 18, and 19 respectively.

The Road Trip works like this: CRI travels to three "pit stops." While they are there, people in the area bring their used Christian books and Bibles, each with one dollar and a personal note inside, to the CRI trailer. Once CRI finishes the Road Trip, they send all of the collected resources to Kathmandu, Nepal, along with some tracts in the native languages. Then materials are distributed through Rai and those helping him, believers are encouraged, non-believers hear the Gospel, and many are saved.

Of course this is an abbreviated version of the process, but that is more or less how it works. For this particular Road Trip, CRI would love to have any last-minute hosts to add one more pit-stop in February to provide maximum resources for the people of Kathmandu.

If you do not live near one of these pit-stops but would still like to participate, just send your Christian books, Bibles, bucks and notes to CRI directly. Click here or call 888-CRI-WORD to donate or send books.

If you would like to host a pit-stop now or in the future, e-mail John Lowrey directly at john@cribooks.org.