#130 - nepal - opportunity in crisis

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June 2015 - Newsletter #130June 2015 - Newsletter #130June 2015 - Newsletter #130June 2015 - Newsletter #130June 2015 - Newsletter #130

Nepal: A New Day Dawning

AsiaHarvest

‘Put in the Sickle, for the Harvest has Come!’ (Mark 4:29)

2Asia Harvest June 2015

A few years ago, I (Paul) attended meetings in Kathmandu, the capital city of theHimalayan kingdom of Nepal. On the final afternoon a few co-workers and I shareda meal at a rooftop cafe overlooking the city. Looking out over the teemingmetropolis of one million people, surging like ants amid ancient Hindu templesand narrow lanes, I said to my friends: “I hope Kathmandu never has a bigearthquake, because if it does this city is going to be one big pile of rubble.”

I didn’t need to be a prophet to say such a thing. It was simple common sense.Kathmandu was a city resembling a bowl of tangled spaghetti, with 300-year-oldbrick buildings leaning at various non-vertical angles, huge ancient Buddhist andHindu temples, towers and shrines, and jumbled wires and pipes protruding fromwalls. Nepal obviously had no workable building code. The city looked like a houseof cards that one strong tremor would easily topple.

Unfortunately on April 25th my fears proved true, when a massive 7.8 earthquakestruck Nepal. At the time of writing the death-toll is nearing 10,000 people.

Since that time we have provided regular updates to those on our Email list and viaour facebook page. We realize many of our supporters do not receive updatesfrom us electronically, so in this newsletter we would like to provide a pictorialreport of how Asia Harvest has helped the people of Nepal since the earthquake.Thanks to the generous support of many, and the tireless work of Nepali Christianswe are privileged to work with, we have been able to help thousands of survivorswhile sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

After the first gigantic quake struck, hundreds of Hindu and Buddhist templescollapsed, killing thousands of people. Ancient towers used for idol worship camedown in a matter of seconds. Why did all this happen? Does God have a purpose inallowing disasters like this? Well, Jesus knows something about falling towers. Heonce told a crowd, “...those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell onthem—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish” (Luke 13:4-5).

Whenever natural disasters strike, they ought to serve as a warning to the rest ofus, reminding us that our lives can be snuffed out in an instant. We inhabit anincreasingly unstable world, and God wants us to live in a state of repentance andreadiness for the Coming of the Lord, or for when disaster unexpectedly strikes....

From the Frontlineswith Paul & Joy Hattaway


Just before lunchtime on April 25th, a massive 7.8 earthquake struck Nepal. Theimmediate rescue efforts focused on the capital city of Kathmandu, wherethousands of people were crushed to death below collapsed buildings. AsiaHarvest supports 107 Nepali missionaries through our Asian Workers’ Fund.Within hours many of them had joined in the rescue efforts.


Within 48 hours we sent an initial $40,000 from our Persecution & Relief Fund toenable our co-workers in Nepal to buy water, food, blankets, medicine and tarps tohelp the injured and homeless. They have shared the Gospel with as many peopleas possible, demonstrating the love of Christ through both action and words.


We helped Nepali churches provide two hot meals per day to 2,000 homelesspeople in the city of Bhaktapur. Each meal cost just $1.07 to buy and prepare, butfeeding that many people adds up quickly, and we needed $60,000 to help sustainthese shocked survivors for an initial two-week period. Donations began to floodin, enabling us to meet our commitment in Bhaktapur. This allowed us to focusour attention on more remote areas....


Our partners found that some of the rural areas north of Kathmandu werecompletely destroyed, with at least 90% of the buildings collapsed. The twopictures immediately above are before and after images of Langtang village.The earthquake triggered a massive landslide that levelled hills and mountainsand wiped the entire village of 300 people off the face of the earth.


The remote northern areas where we support many Nepali missionaries wereimpossible to reach. All roads were destroyed, donkeys were unable to get acrossthe rubble, and even tough local Christians who set out to deliver relief on footwere forced to turn back after finding the trails had been wiped out. The only wayto reach the northern valleys was by helicopter. Our co-workers were able to hirethe above helicopter, and delivered tons of relief to these isolated people. Formany, the aid was literally a matter of life and death.


A New Dawn for NepalAt the time of writing this newsletter we have provided food, shelter, clothing andmedicine to more than 6,000 people in Nepal since the disaster first struck. The GoodNews has been proclaimed to multitudes of Hindus and Buddhists who had neverheard His Name before the earthquake.

Lord willing, we will be helping the quake survivors for months to come as the recoveryprocess continues. If you would like to contribute to this great need, you can send adonation—either by credit or debit card via our website, or by mailing a gift for thePersecution & Relief Fund. Thank you for your prayers and generous support!

We started working in Nepal 25 years ago, in May 1990. Looking forward, please praywith us that this disaster will result in a great boost for the kingdom of God in theHimalayan kingdom. Nepal is home to 340 different tribes and ethnic groups, ofwhich 328 are considered ‘most unreached’ (less than 2% Christian). Please praypeople’s hearts will be more open to the claims of the Gospel, and that the spiritualstrongholds that have kept millions bound by idolatry will crumble as the Truth isboldly proclaimed.

We have a wonderful opportunity to share with you, and we welcome yourpartnership. We currently have Nepali missionaries trained and needing supportamong 5 of the most unreached people groups in Nepal. These groups inhabit thenorthern areas that suffered the most in the earthquake. Please prayerfully considerhelping these vibrant Christians reach these isolated groups. You can support one ormore of these workers with a gift of $25 per month each. If you have a preference,please note the name of the group(s) you would like to help reach when you sendyour gift to the Asian Workers’ Fund.

A prayer card of the worker being helped will be sent to each donor. The 5 unreachedgroups in northern Nepal we have evangelists ready to reach are summarized below.

GHALE24,000 people1% Christian

LOBA19,000 people

<0.1% Christian

HELAMBUSHERPA

24,000 people<0.1% Christian

TSUM7,000 people

<0.1% Christian

NUBRI5,000 people

<0.1% Christian


We are currently supporting 1,020 Asian evangelistsworking among 642 unreached tribes and ethnic groups.

The Asian Workers’ Fund assists indigenous church-planting evan-gelists who are involved in strategic ministry to unreached peoplegroups in Asia. These servants of the Lord have committed theirwhole lives to the Gospel but are hindered by lack of finances.

You can help support these dedicated workers for $25 per montheach. A prayer card and occasional updates are sent to all regulardonors of this project.

Asia is home to many ethnic groups where people have beendeprived of God’s Word, sometimes for decades. The Asian Biblefund provides the Scriptures in numerous languages in South-east Asia, North Korea, the Indian subcontinent, and elsewhere.In China our China Bible Fund functions as a separate project.

Each Bible costs an average of $2.70 to print and deliver.

ASIAN BIBLE FUND

Current Total: 587,262 Bibles printed in 52 languages.

We are partnering with house churches in China in a long-termproject to provide Bibles for Christians. We receive countlessrequests for God’s Word from church leaders throughout thecountry. These Bibles are distributed free of charge, equippingthe Body of Christ and helping add fuel to the revival in China.

Each full Chinese Bible costs just $1.80 to print and deliver.

CurCurCurCurCurrrrrrent Tent Tent Tent Tent Total: otal: otal: otal: otal: 7,434,9497,434,9497,434,9497,434,9497,434,949 Chinese Bibles distributed. Chinese Bibles distributed. Chinese Bibles distributed. Chinese Bibles distributed. Chinese Bibles distributed.CHINA BIBLE FUND

ASIAN WORKERS’ FUND

Current Total: 9,156,315 Chinese Bibles printed and distributed.


Project Smile helps children from poor families in Vietnam whowere born with disabilities such as cleft palates, cleft lips andclub feet, as well as others who need operations for burns, can-cerous growths and other conditions. The cost of helping a childvaries depending on the kind of surgery required, but each giftof $60 changes a child’s life. A laminated prayer card of a childhelped through Project Smile is sent to all donors.

Because of your partnership we are supporting 382 living martyrs.

“A martyr has been defined as “a Christian who chooses to suffer death ratherthan deny Christ or His work... One who sacrifices something very important to

further the Kingdom of God and endures great suffering for Christian witness.”

The Living Martyrs’ Fund supports pastors and evangelists inChina, Vietnam and North Korea who are unable to work be-cause of injuries or illness caused by persecution. They and theirfamilies face extreme poverty and hardship. Through a gift of$35 per month you can help support one of these living martyrs.A prayer card is sent to every supporter of this project.

LIVING MARTYRS’ FUND

Your generous support has so far helped bring smiles tothe faces of 14,517 children in Vietnam.

PROJECT SMILE

Over the years Asia Harvest has provided assistance to the vic-tims of natural disasters that have struck Asia. In addition toproviding aid through medicine, tents, blankets, food and wa-ter, rebuilding homes etc., the Christians we partner with takeevery opportunity to share the Gospel, and many people havecome to know Jesus Christ. This project also provides physicaland spiritual relief to Christian communities and familiesthroughout Asia who have been affected by persecution.

Transforming lives from ashes to beauty with God’s love.

PERSECUTION & RELIEF FUND


Asia Harvest Addresseswww.asiaharvest.org / [email protected]

NORTH AMERICA: 353 Jonestown Rd #320, Winston-Salem, NC 27104, USA

AUSTRALIA: 36 Nelson Street, Stepney, South Australia 5069Bank details: CBA 06-4410-10255537 (Asia Harvest)

NEW ZEALAND: P.O.Box 1757, Queenstown 9348Bank details: ASB 12-3154-0092327-00 (Asia Harvest)

EUROPE: Stiftung SALZ, Johannes-Kepler-Str. 6, 71083 Herrenberg, GermanyIBAN: DE93 6426 1853 0060 0080 08 / BIC: GENODES1PGW

MALAYSIA: STAMP Bhd., P.O.Box 8036, Pejabat Pos Kelana Jaya,46780 Petaling Jaya, SelangorBank details: HSBC 352-029615-101 (STAMP Bhd.)

SINGAPORE: Clementi Central P.O.Box 119, Sinagpore 911204

UNITED KINGDOM & IRELAND: AsiaLink, Mill Farm, Fleetwood Road,Wesham PR4 3HD, England

Bank details: CAF Bank 40-52-40, Account No. 00014929 (AsiaLink)

#130 - nepal - opportunity in crisis

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