Damage assessed in Nepali villages

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The following update came from Pastor Narj Garung who pastors in Pokhara, Nepal. Pastor Narj accompanied Pastor Rajan Neupane on a journey to visit Pastor's in Nepal associated with thier ministries.

NEPAL EARTHQUAKE UPDATE

From May 25 to 27, 2015, P. Rajan and Shree Babu from the Kathmandu church and Min Raj and I from the Pokhara church, teamed up to visit some areas affected by the recent earthquakes.

Our trip duration was three days, beginning our travel early morning on Monday and ending late in the evening on Wednesday. For the most part we traveled by jeep, going by foot on one occasion to reach a village where there was no road access.

Our focus was to meet our contact in five districts; Sindhupalchowk, Dholkah, Sarlahi, Makwanpur and Nuwakot. And our objectives were to encourage our contacts, assess needs and share the Gospel as God gave opportunity.

Sindhupalchowk

This district located north east of Kathmandu has the highest recorded fatalities from the recent earthquakes, more than 3000. On our way to the district capital, Chautara, we saw nearly all of the traditionally built houses destroyed, even many modern concrete buildings were either damaged or destroyed.

John Sapkota, our contact, is from a village called Pipal Danda, located 10 minutes away from the district capital. John is a team member from our Kathmandu church. After the first earthquake on April 25, he rushed to his home village. He was there when the second quake struck on May 12.

All but one of the houses in John’s village have been destroyed or badly damaged. They have food ration to last them another three weeks. They are now living in temporary shelter in form of tents and make shift sheds but need more secure housing before the heavy monsoon rain arrives in June-July.

John lost 17 relatives, including his grandmother who died of a heart attack as a result of the first quake. He is the only believer in the village. We are making arrangement for immediate relief to be sent to his village in the form of food and essential materials. We are also praying for a small team to join to assist with the rebuilding work, as well as help John minister to the spiritual needs of the villagers. There is a potential for a church to be planted in this village.

Dolakha

This district neighbors Sindhupalchowk and the border between the two was the epicenter of the second earthquake. As we drove through the district we saw most of the older traditionally built houses were either damaged or destroyed.

We met our contact Hom Bahadur Khadka in Malu, a small village along the road. He and his wife, both eldery, are now living in a make shift shelter as their house has cracks and is unsafe to live in. We handed over Hom Bahadur 25 tarps to be distributed to household in a village further up the mountain.

Hom Bahadur is an itinerant preacher, visiting homes, which are scattered, in the surrounding hills and sharing the message of Christ. He is a former politician and is known most people in the district because of his integrity and selfless help to the villagers. Pray for Hom Bahadur and his wife, as they minister to those who are living in fear. Pray also for the repair of their house.

Sarlahi

From the mountainous terrain of Dolakha we descended down to Sarlahi district located in the southeast of Kathmandu. On the way we saw many traditionally built houses damaged or destroyed. Only building made of concrete were left standing.

Our contact Navraj lives in a village called Kudule, half-hour drive along a dirt track from the main bazaar. He together with his wife and three small children are living in a make shift shelter after their house collapsed. The entire crop from last year’s harvest that had been stored in the attic was lost. The grain had gone in the ground and had sprouted green shoots.

Navraj is a village church leader who has successfully planted a church of around 30-40 people, 15 minutes from his home. He is a gifted minister faithfully sharing the good news in his community and following up those who have come to Christ. He is also a skilled builder so we have commissioned him to build a model earthquake resistant house using local materials. If this is successful then we hope to build similar houses for others who have lost homes. Please keep Navraj and his family in prayer.

Makwanpur

From Sindhuli we entered the fertile plains of Terai and drove on the main east west highway to the neighboring Makwanpur district located south of Kathmandu. We did not see much damage in the plains but as we entered the hills we saw many houses that were either damaged or destroyed.

In the town of Manhari, we met three of our leaders, Ram Krishna, Sanu Lal and Subba who all lead small village churches in the surrounding areas. Together with two of them we went to the village of Twolbang, which was an hour hike along a riverbed and then a two hour clim up a steep hill. Here another village church leader Sagar lives with his wife and three small children. Their house is damaged and the church building where the believers meet also has many cracks in the walls.

All of these village church leaders are from the Chepang tribe who just a few decades were living in caves and foraging food from the jungle. Many have now have come to Christ and are slowly being integrated into society. Please pray for them, especially Sagar whose house needs to be repaired. His church building may need to be rebuilt because the walls do not have any kind of pillar support and the cracks may widen causing the building to collapse. The building materials are stone joined with mud mortar with only a thin layer of cement plaster on the surface. The roof made of corrugated iron sheets are also rusting and are being held down by simple wires and nails. Pray also for Subba’s parents who live in the same village. Their house has been badly damaged.

Nuwakot

From Makwanpur we headed to Nuwakot a district located northwest of Kathmandu. As we drove along the Trisuli River that flows through the district, we saw that apart from the concrete built houses, nearly all of the traditionally built houses were either damaged or destroyed.

Our contact in Makwanpur, Mohan lives in Kharanitar, what use to be a small bustling town. When we arrived, we found he and his wife repairing one of their two homes, both of which had collapsed. The concrete church building that had recently been built only suffered some minor superficial cracks.

Mohan leads two churches, one in the town where he lives and the other in a village further up in the hills. He told us the village church has been damaged and is need of repair. Pray for Mohan as he rebuilds his home and leads his flocks in these difficult times. The church building in his town is also being used as a distribution point for relief materials for those who are most in need. Pray for souls, as this is a unique opportunity to minister Christ to those who are lost and looking for hope.

Gospel Sharing

When we stopped for lunch in the town of Pangretar between the border of Sindhupalchowk and Dolakha, were able to share the Gospel with the restaurant owner. P. Rajan gave him some literature with information about the Christian radio program he hosts every week.

In Sindhuli we stopped at the town of Lalbhandi where one of the traveling team members, Shri Babu’s younger brother lives. We were able to share the Gospel with his neighbor Jwala a devoted Hindu. We had a lively but amiable discussion with him about religion, philosophy and life in general. He has agreed to receive a Bible and read it, which P. Rajan will send to him in the mail.

In Makwanpur, in the town of Manhari we were able to share the Gospel to a group of youths. We distributed some literature for them to read. We also prayed with the leaders for the lost to come to Christ in this time of crisis.

Prayer

Pray for our contacts, their churches and their needs. Pray also for those who we had opportunities to share the Gospel with.  If you need any further details, please do not hesitate to write. Thank you for the partnership in the work of His Kingdom.

P. Narj Gurung
Greater Grace Church Pokhara