Nepal Earthquake Update

Saturday, April 25, was like any other day - in Nepal Saturday is "Worship Day". Pioneer missionary Tara Bahadur Shrestha was preaching at a Christ Group in his home in Kothey Village in Sindhupalchowk district near the Tibetan border when suddenly the ground shook violently and the building swayed. Realizing it was an earth­ quake, Pastor Tara yelled to the entire congregation to rush outside imme­diately. No sooner were they outside when the house collapsed! " By the grace of God we were all saved," he said.

He stood and surveyed the earth. He looked and startled the nations Yes, the perpetual mountains were shattered, The ancient hills collapsed His ways are everlasting. -- Habakkuk 3:6

Sadly, his son-in-law who was preaching at another Christ Group several miles away was killed along with seven other believers when the building collapsed on them. More than1,300 people died in this district and thousands were injured. It was one of the vvorst affected areas.

"We were forced to shelter our entire family under a small plastic tent, it was very difficult. Thank you for providing tin roof to build our house and a place for regular worship center."

Chettra Bahadur Baramu is one of EHC Nepal's most senior pioneer missionaries. He hails from Thumi village in Gorkha district in west Nepal, epicenter of the 7.8 earthquake that rocked the Himalayan nation.

He and his family were in church when the quake hit and demolished 99% of the houses In their village!Thousands are still living in plastic tents which do not hold up well in the rainy season that followed the quake! 'We prayed, and God supplied our need. We want to thank the donors for helping us to buy tin roof."

One of EHC Nepal's field staff, Jit Bahadur Tamang, has a vision to reach every home in Dhading district with the Gospel. He leads a Christ Group of over 200 members in Jharlang village. His house also collapsed, and as there are no roads to his village,and it is a two-day journey up and down mountain treks to reach the nearest market, the EHC team took three days to carry six bundles of corrugated iron sheets for him to rebuild his house!

"I am so much thankful to God and the persons who provided us financial support to purchase tin roof!"

The Nepalis were still reeling from the devastation when on May 12 the region was rocked by a second major quake measuring 7.3 magnitude. The epicenter was 47 miles east of the capital, Kathmandu, and triggered massive landslides. Nearly 9,000 have been killed in both quakes to date.

"Thanking you so much for lifting us in all your prayers. I and my family are safe. We are told to be outside house until the shaking is totally stop. That's why we are still outside house from the day of earthquake disaster.We are facing difficulty to manage everything. However our living God is helping us in every way of our life. Thousands of people killed and injured.Due to difficult geographical locations relief teams are not able to reach in many places. Please continue pray for those who are in a difficult situation especially in mountain and hilly villages." This was the initial response from our EHC Nepal national director, David Lepcha, from Kathmandu.

EHC Nepal - with help from EHC (Asia) -­ is hoping to provide corrugated iron roofing for 50 families who lost their homes in the quake. For US$400 we will be able to provide two bundles of corrugated iron roofing per family. This will be enough to build two big rooms and include transportation costs and minor repairs.

His appeal: "One of the prayer concerns is: Please pray for the field staff who have lost their houses. If we could help them financially to rebuild their homes that will be great help for them." And you, our faithful partners, res­ponded with your generosity! We were able to raise more than HK$70,000 to help them buy corrugated iron sheets to build new homes and worship centers. On behalf of our EHC Nepal team we thank you and pray God's blessings on you and your families!