Nepal & Tibet

Nepal Tibet

We learned that we should not depend on a church building, rather we should concentrate on people. People matter to God, not the church building.

—Pastor Shalva*

NEPAL & TIBET IMPACT REPORT 2020

THE LOVE OF CHRIST IN ACTION

$63,127 Total 2020 Ministry Expenditures

55 Missionaries Supported

700 New Believers

Nepal is the beautiful home of Mount Everest! It also borders Tibet, where we support ministry in the border region. With a population of 30 million, Nepal has the distinction of being one of the few countries in the region never to be colonized. As such, it has maintained a rich cultural history, despite being landlocked by the two most populous countries in the world—India and China. Until 2008, Nepal was the only Hindu kingdom in the world. In recent years, the church in Nepal has become one of the top ten fastest-growing in the world. The 55 men and women we support are spread throughout the country, and primarily in mountainous areas. Pastor training and disaster relief have also been key areas of focus, with several recent projects also focused on women’s empowerment and children’s education. Our country director, Pastor Shalva*, explains what ministry looked like in 2020:

“During this COVID-19 time no new fellowship started, but fellowships were extended by missionaries into smaller groups for safety. City pastors started Zoom meetings and village pastors started visiting people at their homes. We learned that we should not depend on a church building, rather we should concentrate on people. People matter to God, not the church building. In this pandemic, missionaries saw the difficulties people are having as they traveled to help people in new places. They knew they had to do something— not only preach the Gospel, but also do action-oriented activities. Not just to bring people to the Lord, but also express the love of Christ to the people through action, as well as pray for them.

People were losing jobs and the church needed to address their needs somehow, but the church also had not many resources. The church coordinated with the local government for these poor communities, to provide some support. We are very much thankful for Harvest Bridge. In the COVID-19 pandemic, it has helped us to survive as well as lead and support the people among whom we are doing ministry. We could also buy some kilos of rice and lentils to give to those who were in a very critical situation (about 60 families—270 people). We were able to help 180 of the poorest of poor children to be able to go back to school by providing school necessities. We also provided training to 40 destitute women by helping them with four sewing machines and supplies to make and sell 50,000 face masks. Our missionaries altogether baptized 300 disciples, and about 700 people received Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It was wonderful. With lockdowns in 2020, most of the pastors and believers had a wonderful chance to read the Bible and pray. I think they grew spiritually this year more than last year. We are excited to continue serving the Lord in 2021.”

Many of the 180 children helped are like Binayak, a 12-year-old fifth-grade student in a rural mountain village. Pastor Manak*, says:

“His father works as a mason, and his mother works in other people’s fields. Binayak loves to study and learn new things in school, but his parents can barely manage to afford study materials and uniforms. They managed to admit him into a government school, but there were many things lacking, due to which he couldn’t study like he had hoped. His parents were still struggling to fulfill the family’s basic needs, as they couldn’t work due to the pandemic. Binayak wanted to self-study at home, but his parents couldn’t buy him notebooks to practice on. The study materials that we distributed have encouraged and helped Binayak to study without any obstacle and to pursue his dreams for a better future. The family are Hindus, but since support came through our local Church, the testimony has been a huge deal for our village.”

Pastor Natesh* shares one way his church expressed the love of Christ through action this year:

“Rima*, aged 27, was born and brought up in a traditional orthodox Hindu family. She got married at the age of 23. After she got pregnant at 24, her husband took her to the hospital to find out the gender of the baby, which is illegal. It was a girl, so he physically and mentally abused his pregnant wife and forcefully got the child aborted. Rima was very sad and she had nowhere to go. Her parents said that she had to stay with her husband and do whatever he told her. She got pregnant again at 25, and it was also a girl. She tried to fight her husband to keep the baby, but instead he physically abused her so badly that a miscarriage took place. She got pregnant for a third time, but she didn’t tell her husband this time. Instead, she decided to run away. This is when I met her.

I shared the Gospel and my testimony with her. She told me about her problem and that she had nowhere to go. I talked to a sister from church and asked her to help Rima by hosting her for some time. She agreed and took Rima with her. The next day we helped her report against her husband at the police station. She got a divorce from her husband and he was fined for over $1,000, which she received. Rina confessed her faith in Christ and is currently staying at our church. She cleans the church and helps with other things as well. She hopes to rent a room as soon as she finds a job and serve the Lord along with her child, no matter what the gender may be. She is full of hope and faith in Christ.”