Christmas activity

We had a Christmas drive to gather funds and called it FULL OF LIFE. We had some bags made and offered them to people for 30 Euros. The cost to make them was around 2 Euros. We said that we would give them the bag and give the contents to a child in Nepal, India, Kenya, Congo or Ukraine. Many people didn’t actually want the bags! But they generously gave funds for the contents. We haven’t got the reports in yet with all the photos etc., but we were able to send money to all of the places mentioned about. We are supporting 14 orphan children in Nepal. They have got new school bags with the necessary school equipment. They also got new shoes, school uniform, warm winter jackets and quilts for their beds. Four children got beds! Many others were given similar things.

In India, we support a children’s home and there too all the 120 children got new shoes, but besides that, AIDS orphans were helped with clothes and school things. 200 children in Kenya got new shoes. 200 children in Congo got a new school uniform. When you think that they hardly have anything else to wear, this is quite something. They wanted the children to know that the uniforms came from us, so they had HOPE (our organization) printed on the t-shirt. Unfortunately there was a mishap and they forgot the letter “E”. HOP – considering that in French, you don’t pronounce the “H”, we have been relegated to being “OP”! In the Ukraine 200 families were provided with food parcels.

We were so pleased that we reached our goal and were able to bless so many people!

NEWS FROM NEPAL

Christians Plan Missionary Campaign. There are little more than 600,000 Christians in Nepal, less than one percent of its population, yet according to a Christian publication, Christianity Today, Nepal has one of the fastest-growing Christian populations among Asia’s 51 countries. A recent meeting of more than three dozen senior Christian missionaries at “a quiet resort just outside of the capital city” was devoted to forming “overarching strategies for the Himalayan region [Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan]” to encourage this growth. These included targeting “people not yet reached”; establishing a presence in the “neediest geographic areas”; and encouraging and promoting an indigenous Nepali missions movement. The areas of Nepal that were deemed to need most attention were its northern Tibetan Buddhist districts, the far west, and some districts in the Terai. As part of this campaign, the missionaries hope to “place personnel in national organizations or in government-sponsored positions.” They aim to establish churches on several different levels, from primary to discipleship, and give the missionary movement a “bi-vocational” character by combining its “church planting vocation” with projects that give it a “credible presence in the country,” such as hospitals. They recommend that their members seek non-tourist visas for entry into the country since “we believe it is easier to live and work in the Himalayan region as a resident expatriate.” Student visas that later could be converted might be considered as an opening option. Nepal, the world’s only official Hindu nation, allows freedom of worship but forbids proselytizing. The International Hindu Federation strongly condemned the Christian missionary plan after news of it was released, stating that any activity aimed against the national religion is a serious crime. The Christian effort may have been inspired by Pope Paul II’s call for greater evangelization in Asia and a need for “aggressive conversion” there. (Kathmandu Post, January 10, 14; February 10)

Sacrifing to the Wrong Goddess. For many years, locals have been sacrificing goats, buffaloes and chickens before a statue of the goddess Durga in Dev Daha Bhawanipur in Rupandehi district in south central Nepal. Recent excavations have revealed that the image is not that of Durga at all, but of Maya Devi, the mother of Lord Buddha. Buddhists, who are opposed to the taking of life, have tried to stop people from sacrificing animals there, and although the practice has decreased, it has not totally stopped. With its newly discovered identity, the statue has become the second most important place of Buddhist pilgrimage in Nepal, after Lumbini. “We tried to stop animal sacrifice at Dev Daha,” complained a leader of the local government, “but our efforts have gone in vain. We sought help from the District Administration Office and the Department of Archaeology but to no avail. Now we have formed a struggle committee to fight the evil practice.” (Kathmandu Post, January 20)

Police arrest NDA chief

Shekher Ragmi
BIRATNAGAR: Nepal Police arrested Ram Prasad Mainali, chief of the Nepal Defence Army (NDA), an underground outfit, along with another four persons with weapons from Saranavatti, Jhapa on Saturday.
Organising a press conference, police announced the arrests of Mainali and Police Biswash aka Tribhuvan Yadav, Morang commander of the NDA.
According to Debendra Subedi, SP of Regional Police Office Biratnagar, Mainali and Biswash ware arrested from Jhapa and Morang respectively by the Special Task Force of Morang. He added that cases like killing, abduction, and possession of weapons would be filed according to their criminal activities. The police have found a pistol and 14 rounds of bullets, a revolver and five rounds of bullets, a dozen cell phone sim cards, different pamphlets and warning letters.
The NDA is responsible for the explosions in Assumption Church in Bhanimandal, Lalitpur on May 22, a mosque in Biratnager on March 29 and the Nepali Congress central office on August 11, 2009. Five persons were killed in the Lalitpur and Biratnagar incidents.

Bombs in Nepal

Just, this morning (Saturday, 23rd May), a bomb explosion has killed two people and wounded at least 12 others at a church in Nepal,

The bomb ripped through the Church of the Assumption (Catholic) in the town of Lalitpur, south of Kathmandu, the capital, on Saturday.

The wounded people have been rushed to a local hospital and police are investigating. A witness who was attending the church service said a bag was left lying on the floor and someone moved the bag to make some space and it just exploded with a loud noise.

A Hindu extremist group, the National Defence Army, left a note found at the scene.
The National Defence Army, which says it is fighting to restore the nation's Hindu monarchy abolished in 2008, has previously claimed responsibility for the killing of a missionary in eastern Nepal last July.

About 500 people were attending a service at the time of the blast. A 15-year old student, Celestina Joseph, and 30-year-old Pabitra Paitri died in the bomb blast. Five of the injured are in serious condition.

Nepal - India - Sri Lanka

I was away for six weeks in all. This was quite a long time. The time past for me very fast and I seemed nearly always to be busy.
The first two weeks I spent in Nepal and I have written quite a long report of my time in the mountains down below.
From there I went back to Kathmandu, the captial.
I was to stay in a hotel which was on the other side of the city from where we had to go to pick up my luggage. That shouldn't be a problem.
But it was. Some people group were protesting because they thought they would not be properly represented in the political talks that are going on. Therefore they closed the border with India. That's were the fuel enters the country.
We couldn't find a taxi to take us because of the shortage of petrol. In the end we offered to pay a taxi driver double and he was willing to take us.
So the second round of seminars started.
Just as in the village the people are hungry and open to God's word in Kathmandu. It was thrilling to see about 150 people gather and listen to my preaching and teaching.
As we have now experienced many times God baptised them in the Spirit.
That was very encouraging for me.
The two day seminar with the Eternal Life Church went by very quickly. I preached on Saturday (the day when the churches have their regular gatherings) in a small church outside of Kathmandu. The church met in a home that had been converted into a meeting place. There was no sign for the church and we had to walk quite away after getting of the motor bike (I haven't been on a motor bike for ages!). This just reminds us that Nepal is by now means an Christian country and sometimes the Christians are treated with hostility.
Sunday was a free day. I used that day to do some more preparation for my teaching in Sri Lanka.
My friend Satya came to see me on Monday and introduced his wife to me. Satya had travelled with me the last time I was in Nepal. He is a good friend. He had been a fervourent anti-charismatic until Jesus baptised him in the Spirit. Now he is an ardent charismatic! Because he has a job, he couldn't come with us this time.
We spent the morning together and then they accompanied me to the airport.
I was so encouraged by seeing them.
They encourged me to write down the teaching so that they could translate it into Nepali and circulate it around the country. I really should do that.