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¿Qué está haciendo Dios en Nepal durante la pandemia?

Kimberly Mer — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 20:18:44 +0000

Hemos estado recibiendo algunas historias de nuestros misioneros y líderes nacionales sobre lo que Dios está haciendo en medio de la pandemia. Estamos compartiendo estas historias con ustedes deseando que sean de animo y también recordarles el seguir levantando a nuestros hermanos y hermanas en Cristo alrededor del mundo en oración.

Esta historia proviene del pastor Amen Thapa, presidente de la Junta Anual Iglesia Evangélica Amigos-Nepal EFC-Nepal (por sus siglas en ingles). Amen y su familia viven en Katmandú.

Cuando COVID-19 comenzó, estábamos preocupados porque se hablaba de muchos síntomas diferentes y muchos de nosotros teníamos algunos de ellos. ¡Gracias a Dios que ninguno resulto positivo de COVID-19!

Toda nuestra gente perdió su trabajo y algunos de nuestros miembros se enfrentaron a la falta de alimentos y dinero para el alquiler. Incluso algunas iglesias tuvieron dificultades para pagar su renta. Afortunadamente, algunos de los miembros de nuestra iglesia con buenas condiciones financieras pudieron brindar alivio a los que tenían mas dificultades. Pudimos proporcionarles necesidades básicas (comestibles, artículos de aseo personal y dinero para alquiler y medicinas). EFM también ha proporcionado fondos de ayuda para que nuestras pesadas cargas fueran disminuidas. Nos gustaría expresar nuestro sincero agradecimiento a todos los que han apoyado y donado.

Se sentía tan extraño no poder reunirnos físicamente en nuestra iglesia. Era difícil saber cómo avanzar y no sabíamos qué pasaría con el ministerio y nuestros miembros. Tampoco sabíamos si sería posible conectarse y si podríamos contactar a los miembros. Con el paso del tiempo, Dios nos dio sabiduría e ideas para continuar su ministerio.

Personalmente, nunca sentí que yo era bueno con las redes sociales y siempre he tratado de evitar dar mi entrevista a periódicos y revistas cristianas. Pero ahora, al menos una vez a la semana, estoy predicando en medios como Zoom, Facebook, Messenger, etc. Antes del cierre, prediqué en persona a al menos 150 personas, ¡pero ahora predico a entre 1,000 y 2,000 personas porque se unen a la página de nuestra iglesia todas las semanas!

También tuvimos, a través de Zoom y Facebook en vivo, una maravillosa y bendecida Conferencia Juvenil virtual 2020. Proporcionamos internet para la mayoría de los participantes de la región. Se reunieron para ver en vivo más de 500 personas de 12 países, incluido Nepal. Ahora tenemos más de 4,000 espectadores en la página de Facebook de nuestra iglesia. También planeamos llevar a cabo una Conferencia para Mujeres, Capacitación de Escuela Dominical y una Conferencia de Pastores y Líderes en el futuro cercano. Agradecemos sus oraciones por estas conferencias.

Queremos agradecerles a todos por sus fervientes oraciones y apoyo. Estamos contentos de tenerles y compartir con ustedes nuestros momentos difíciles y tiempos buenos.

Además, EFM sigue recibiendo donaciones para nuestro fondo de emergencia hacia los esfuerzos de ayuda relacionados con COVID-19. Si desea contribuir en este momento, puede hacerlo haciendo clic aquí o utilizando el botón a continuación.

P. D. Desafortunadamente, nuestro formulario de donaciones en línea solo está disponible en inglés en este momento. Sin embargo, si usted cambia la configuración de idioma a español en su navegador, debería traducir el formulario. Estamos trabajando para agregar un formulario de donación en español pronto. Gracias por su paciencia y comprensión.

Donar en línea aquí. Asegúrate, por favor, de anotar que te gustaría que tu donación sea designada para la Ayuda de Emergencia COVID-19 (COVID-19 Emergency Aid).
Donar con tarjeta de crédito por teléfono al 303-421-8100.
Enviando un cheque marcado con la designación de Ayuda de Emergencia COVID-19 a EFM, PO Box 771139, Wichita KS 67277

The post ¿Qué está haciendo Dios en Nepal durante la pandemia? first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

What is God doing in Nepal during the pandemic?

Kimberly Mer — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 16:00:38 +0000

We have been receiving some stories from our missionaries and national leaders about what God is doing in the midst of the pandemic. We are sharing these stories with you so that you can be encouraged and also remember to keep lifting up our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world in prayer.

This story comes from Pastor Amen Thapa, president of EFC-Nepal. Amen and his family are based in Kathmandu.

When COVID-19 first started, we were worried because there were so many different symptoms and many of us had some of them. Thank God that they did not result in being positive for COVID-19!

All of our people lost their jobs and some of our members faced lack of food and money for rent. Even a few churches had difficulty paying rent. Thankfully, some of our church members with good financial conditions were able to provide relief for those who were struggling. We were able to provide them with basic needs (groceries, toiletries, and money for rent and medicine). EFM has also provided relief funds so that our heavy burdens were lessened. We would like to express our sincere thanks to all the supporters and donors.

It felt so odd to not be able to meet physically in our church. It was difficult to know how to move forward and we didn’t know what would happen with the ministry and our members. We also didn’t know if it would be possible to be connected and if we would be able to contact members. As time passed, God gave us wisdom and ideas to continue his ministry.

Personally, I have never felt I was good with media and have always tried to avoid giving my interview to Christian newspapers and magazines. But now, at least once a week, I am preaching on media (Zoom, Facebook, Messenger, etc.). Before lockdown I preached among 150 people in person, but now I preach to 1,000-2,000 people because they are joining in on our church page every week!

We also had a wonderful and blessed virtual Youth Conference 2020 via Zoom and Facebook live. We provided internet for most participants from the village region. There were over 500 gathered from 12 countries, including Nepal, watching live. Now we have over 4,000 viewers on our church Facebook page. We also plan to conduct a Women Conference, Sunday School Training, and Pastors and Leaders Conference in the near future. We appreciate your prayers for these.

We would like to thank you all for your fervent prayers and support. We are glad we have you, whom we share our hard times and good times with.

If you would like to receive on a regular basis prayer requests and praises for how God is working I encourage you to sign up for EFM’s monthly prayer letter. You can do that by clicking on the button below.

Also, EFM is still receiving donations to our emergency fund for COVID-19 related relief efforts. If you would like to contribute at this time you can do so by clicking here or using the button below.

The post What is God doing in Nepal during the pandemic? first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

June 2018 Prayer Letter

Kimberly Mer — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 20:32:42 +0000

May was a busy month for a yearly meeting in Nepal called “Evangelical Friends Church-Nepal.” This is the yearly meeting that EFM missionaries John and Sangi Vanlal established along with many Nepali Friends leaders. Today, it has more than 40 established churches and an average attendance of around 3,000. A year and a half ago, John and Sangi retired and returned to their home in India. EFC-Nepal continues to move forward under the leadership of Pastor Amen Thapa and an executive committee.

Pastor Amen recently reported that in the months of April and May, 130 new believers declared publicly their decision to follow Jesus Christ by taking water baptism. That is a huge step in a country like Nepal where Christianity is not legally recognized and where the government has anti-conversion laws in place. Persecution is pretty much guaranteed for these new believers.

On May 24, there were nine students who graduated from three months of training at EFC-Nepal’s Bible school in Kathmandu. There will be another group of students who will receive training in the second half of this year. These students go back to their churches and communities in order to help with pastoral and evangelistic work.

In May, several from EFC-Nepal also did a Luke 10 trip to the Far West of Nepal where the need is great for the gospel. Along with EFM missionary Samson Retnaraj, they are exploring ways to plant churches in this vast area using CHE (Community Health Evangelism) methods. We look forward to hearing more details about how this trip went. Pastor Amen simply said, “It was an awesome mission trip.”