Madhesh Province: LEAD and prayer seminar in Chapur, Rautahat organized by Friends CHE Nepal.

Evangelical Friends Church Paurahi held a ceremony and a picnic program at Jaruwa River Chapur, Rautahat where ten new members made public testimonies of baptism.

Public testimony of baptism program for EFC Ghurmighat, Siraha (four new members participated).

Tea and dinner meetings with key leaders at Janakpur for Prayer 777. Strong religious challenges occur in this region often. Our visit has been a great encouragement for our leaders.

We had the EFCN Kathmandu Regional Yearly Meeting at Heavenland Children Center in Kurintar, Chitwan. We had 357 participants from eleven districts of Bagmati and Gandaki Province and executive members and other regional leaders were present, and the program lasted for 3 days. We also had team members from Wabash Friends Church, USA as visiting guests. In the program, Pastor Manoj and Renuka Praja (EFC Dhanwangairi) were declared as recorded pastors, Pragya Thapa (Dhulikhel), Jiwan Praja Dhanwangairi), Budhhi Bdr Praja (Darang), and Bijay BK (Sindhuli) were assigned as associate pastors (license holder or licensed to do ministry).

On the left, a woman came 18 days after giving birth to attend. She walked five hours down the hills from Darang to Dhanwangairi and caught the bus to reach the conference venue. On the right, Renuka Praja, Pastor Manoj’s wife from Dhanwanggairi Friends Church is in her last stage of uterus cancer but still walks hills for three to four hours for ministry. She sang a song and made others dance and she has been a great encouragement for all the participants by sharing her powerful testimony.

The graduation ceremony of the three-month-long Bible School.

The Students’ Outing with Teachers.

A combination of youth seminars and cultural dance.

Praise God…

• For the graduation ceremony of our three-month-long Bible School and for those who started the three-year course of Bible College.
• For the Mission trip to Madhesh Province which included a Leadership Seminar and public testimonies of baptism from fourteen new members.
• For the EFCN Kathmandu Regional Yearly Meeting held on September 19-21, 2023 where local churches collected funds.
• For the Combined youth seminars, pastors and leaders prayer meeting, and the combined women’s seminar.

Please pray…

• For our upcoming mission trip in Gorkha, Chitwan in October.
• For the Bible College and the students who will be attending.
• For new church planting in new mission fields.
• For sick people: Hom Maya pastor’s wife of Gorkha Friends (heart and kidney), Pastor Hare Ram BK of Tintale, Dhanusha (kidney and heart), Renuka Praja, pastors’ wife of Dhanwangairi Friends (last stage cancer), Sami of Thali Friends (kidney damage), and Aysuh of Kathmandu Friends (cancer).

Thank you. God bless.

Pastor Amen and EFCN Family

If you would like to support the ministry of EFC-Nepal, you can:

• Give online aquí. Please make sure to select “Ministry Partner: EFC Nepal”.
• Give by credit card over the phone at 303-421-8100.
• Mail a check marked with EFC-Nepal designation to EFM, PO Box 771139, Wichita, KS 67277.

The post EFC-Nepal July to September 2023 Ministry Report first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

B. and D. A. are retiring from almost 30 years of missionary service with EFM in Nepal. They have left behind a large group of churches that are faithful to the Lord Jesus, sustainable in regards to their own leadership and economic resources, and are also constantly evangelizing and planting more churches. B. and D. look forward to staying in touch with them and making occasional visits in the years to come. In the meantime they are getting ready for a few months of deputation which will give them the opportunity to spend time with many like you who have been praying for them and giving towards their financial support.

If you would like to read their retirement newsletter or see their video about the ministry transition in Nepal, please envíe un correo electrónico a nuestra oficina!

Their upcoming deputation gives us all the opportunity to rejoice over what the Lord has done in and through them. We will also be able to contribute towards a love offering for them. This is a tangible way for us to express our love and appreciation for B. and D. So please be praying about what the Lord would have you give towards this offering. Please see the instructions below for how to make your contribution.

• Online. Visit https://catalog.friendsmission.com/bda. Make sure to select the designation “Missionary | B. and D. A. Love Gift”.
• Tarjeta de crédito. This may be given online (as stated above) or by calling the EFM office (303-421-8100) to give your information to a live person.
• Check. Mail a check to EFM, P.O. Box 771139, Wichita, KS 67277. Make sure to mark your check as “Adhikary Love Gift”. Pay to the order of “EFM.”
  The Lord bless you and continue to use you for his kingdom purposes!

Your fellow servant in Christ,

Dan Cammack

Field Director

The post B. and D. A. Are Retiring! first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

The following story is shared by our Friends in Nepal and shows how a life was impacted by your support! If you would like to help make a difference in the lives of people like Arun and Babli, here’s how:

Arun and Babli are CHE trainers who have a unique children’s ministry in Aurahi of Dhanusa district. After their marriage (which was against their parent’s wishes) both invited the ire of their non-believing families and were attending the local church. Babli initially started to bring the young female children together and recite songs and tell Bible stories to them. The children learned these songs of worship and liked coming together every day to their house. Soon the mothers also accompanied the children, and it became a bigger group. Arun & Babli discovered that most of these children were Musahars (a Dalit group). The group grew bigger and got more involved as Arun and Babli were trained to teach using children’s CHE lessons which were laced with Bible studies. They also encouraged Bible studies in the family. Last year six of these girls took the bold step of making a public testimony of baptism and were formally led into the family of Christ by Arun. After graduating from high school, one girl (L*) even enrolled in a Bible School nearby for a 12-month Bible training. During this time, accompanied by, Babli she even went about evangelizing with in nearby communities which were majorly Musahar communities. God is bringing about transformation in these communities using these little angels of change

The post A Story of Transformation from Nepal first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

From Madhesh Province:

• The Gospel was shared with 200 people.
• Forty-five new people came to the church.
• They trained 130 children.
• They distributed mosquito nets.
• There was an awareness program on the law and constitution of the country.

From Koshi Province:

• New people are coming to church and some of them are ready to make a public testimony of baptism.
• They distributed blankets.
• They distributed gospel shoes and jackets.

From Karnali Province:

• The church is growing in many areas.
• They started a new church near the Indian border among the Indian people.
• They had 25 people make a public testimony of baptism.
• Pastor Ravilal’s son, Moses, was selected for the National Rugby Sports team.

From Bagmati Province:

• They had three new believers make a public testimony of baptism.
• The Kathmandu Regional Pastors Leadership had a prayer meeting held at EFC Thali.
• There is a newly planted church in the Sindhuli District of the Bagmati Province. Its leader Bijaya BK is under persecution from a neighboring church and from nonbelievers. People started coming to the church because he had organized a Christmas Evangelistic program.

Prayer warriors in action on the terrace in the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu.

A closer moment with God during “Mountain Prayer” at Switzerland Park, Kathmandu.

Please pray for:

1. All the churches to have spiritual growth, renewal, and unity among leaders and believers.
2. The ability to plant new churches and cell groups in all districts of Nepal and for land and buildings.
3. The new mission fields of Rajbiraj and Bara district on the Indian border.
4. The building project for EFC Nepal Headquarters and Kathmandu Friends worship and training center.
5. Our Bible School (FSTCL) and its plan to have a three year course start mid-April for new students called by God and teachers.
6. All the plans and programs in 2023, locally, regionally, and nationally.
7. Our pastors’ and leaders’ health.
8. The Yearly meetings based in Provincial to be held on time.
9. The National Youth Conference, Women’s Conference, and Sunday School Seminars to be held and for speakers/preachers and teachers for these events.
10. Janakpur Evangelical Friends Church to find land and a building.
11. Those who made a public testimony of baptism on Easter Sunday.

Thank you,
Pastor Amen and EFCN Family

The post EFC-Nepal January-March 2023 Ministry Report first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

B. and D. A. | Serving in Nepal

Thank you so much for your prayers and your support. We are very grateful in our hearts.

God continues to give us favor inside the jail each time we go there to visit our believers. Each time we go there, there is a new police chief but each time we get favor to get in and talk with the inmates.

This time we were even allowed to take our mobile phones and you can see the picture inside the jail. We don’t know how this works except by the sheer mercy of our God. No reading materials are allowed but we always take in Bibles and lots of tracks and the jailers don’t stop us.

In the second picture, you can see we are handing over t-shirts to the police to give to the inmates. We had also taken three audio Bibles and when inspected the police chief asked us about them and we said it was audio Bibles. To our surprise, he asked if he could have one for himself to listen to the word. We gladly gave him one. Pray for the police chief to come to Christ.

There are now 25 male believers inside this jail and two women believers. Each time we go there, we are allowed to share the gospel for 45 minutes. We have been recently allowed to go to the women’s side of the jail and preach the gospel there. Women are now starting to come to Christ.

Please pray for this amazing work inside the jail.

Blessings,

B. and D. A.

EFM’s Field Director Dan Cammack was just in Nepal last month, visiting with B. and D. A. and celebrating the passing of the baton of leadership from B. and D. to a local Nepali leader who has been in training for many years. While there, Dan was able to participate in village evangelism and spend the night in one of the villages! Here Dan is sharing about the yoke of Christ with a yoke of oxen right in the background! 

Download this month’s prayer letter here…

The post March 2023 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

P* was a Hindu from an impoverished family. The society around him did not treat him well since he was poor, which disgruntled him. One day, he heard the gospel from local leaders. The message was about how Jesus loved all equally. This message drew him in and he wanted to hear more. Eventually, the full gospel was presented to him and he accepted Christ as his savior. The villagers and his family didn’t like that and began to come against him. They persecuted him y his family cut him out of his inheritance. Soon he had to move to a new city where there was a Friends church. He felt called to ministry and the local leaders started training him. Now, P* is one of the best leaders in that church. He has brought many Hindus to the Lord y helped establish many churches. He has also trained and raised other leaders.

If you would like to help make a difference in the lives of people like L*, here’s how:

The post A Story of Transformation from Nepal first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Did you know that every single donation and prayer makes a difference for our missionaries and those they are helping? Our goal is to ignite hope one relationship at a time.

The following story is shared by our Friends in Nepal and shows how a relationship was changed from your support.

L* was born to a Musahar couple who worshipped idols and spirits. She came to the Children’s group organized by A* and B* y over a period of three to four years learned about Jesus Christ as Saviour. Finally, she accepted Christ as her personal Saviour and was helping in leading other children from her community. She took a public testimony of baptism in 2020 and this year, in 2022, got the chance to attend a ten-month Bible school in Hetauda. She came back during the break to get involved in evangelistic activities with B* and A*.

If you would like to help make a difference in the lives of people like L*, here’s how:

The post A Story of Transformation from Nepal first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Samson and Priscilla Retnaraj | Serving in Nepal

Arun and Babli are our CHE trainers who have a unique Children’s Ministry in Aurahi of Dhanusa district. After their marriage (which was against their parents’ wishes) both invited the ire of their non-believing families and were attending the local church. Babli started to bring the young female children together to recite songs and tell Bible stories to them. The children learned these songs of worship and liked coming together every day to their house. Soon the mothers also accompanied the children, and it became a bigger group. Incidentally Arun and Babli discovered that most of these children were Musahars (a Dalit group). The group grew bigger, and we got involved as we trained Arun and Babli to systematically teach using Children’s CHE lessons which aligned with Bible studies and encouraged Bible studies in the families as well.

Almost all Musahars in Nepal live in the rural areas. Musahar are primarily bonded agricultural laborers, but often go without work for as much as eight months in a year. Children work alongside their parents in the fields or as rag-pickers, earning as little as ₹25-30 ($0.35-0.40) a day. The Musahar literacy rate is three percent overall and falls to an abysmal one percent among women. By some estimates, as many as 85% of some villages of Musahars suffer from malnutrition. With scant access to health centers, preventable diseases such as malaria, TB, gastroenteritis, and kala-azar are prevalent.

A few years down the line, many children from this group and others in the community enrolled in the local government school for a formal school education. Now we have about seven or eight who have graduated from high school and are attending the local ‘church’ in Arun and Babli’s house with their mothers also in attendance. The male members of the family did object initially but soon the changes seen in these girls made everyone happy and wanting to get involved. Last year six of these girls took the bold step of making a public testimony of baptism and were formally led into the family of Christ by Arun as the local church leader. After graduating from high school, one girl even enrolled in a Bible school nearby for a 12-month Bible training. During this time, accompanied by Babli, she went about evangelizing with ‘supervisors’ in nearby communities which were majorly Musahar communities. God is bringing about transformation in these communities using these little angels of change.

Please pray for this fellowship as it grows in the future and that the grace of God abounds in this community and enables many of them to come out of human bondages and serve with joy and pride in their hearts as they now serve their newfound master – Jesus.

Thank you all for your love and prayers for our ministry!

Samson and Priscilla Retnaraj

Download this month’s prayer letter here…

The post September 2022 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

The following story is shared by our Friends in Nepal and shows how one relationship was changed from your support.

U* was a strong and healthy man who was also a thief. In the daytime he had a regular labor job and at night he used to rob and loot people’s homes. This is common in villages here in Nepal. He started hearing the gospel in a village. The gospel was very striking to him as it talked about the power to change lives. He did not like the life he was leading and wanted a changed life. At nighttime, when the gospel used to be preached in the dark corners of the village, he used to hide in the dark and listen. The Holy Spirit started convicting him and after a few months, he gave his life to Christ and became a Christian. God also started calling him to ministry and he started training. He has brought many people to the Lord. He went to Malaysia to work for a few years and was very involved in the local church during his free time. The church appointed him to gather Nepali people where he was working. He gathered people every week and took them to church. Now, he is back in Nepal and serving the Lord and working in ministry.

If you would like to help make a difference in the lives of people like U*, here’s how:

The post A Story of Transformation from Nepal first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Open- air Preaching in Chitwan and a New Fellowship in Nuwakot

Blanket Distribution

Two-Day Pastors and Leaders Seminar in Nawalpur

Kathmandu Regional Prayer Meeting

Distribution of Goats and Piglets

New Fellowship started in Bhojpur and a Visit to New Ministry Fields
The new ministry fields are Bhojpur and Udaypur and were visited by Pastor Indra (with Rhododendron) and Leader Ajambar and family.

Public Testimony of Baptism
Trekking, Trailing, Teaching, and performing public testimonies of baptism.
Matthew 28:18-20. People are hungry for the word of God and the Gospel no matter what circumstances and situations.

Altogether 123 people took a public testimony of baptism in the month of March.

There were 71 in Darang, Makwanpur, 47 in Chitwan, and five in Tintale, Janakpur who publicly declared their faith.

Here we are enjoying hilly food on the top of the mountain.
We spent time walking, trekking, and trailing.

Land donated and Dedicated by Pastor Akkal to build a Church Building
in Parewakot, Chitwan

Pastors standing drinking water at a well project site, 200 have benefitted. (Left)
Honey from the rocky mountain was offered to us and gave us energy to climb mountains. (Right)

Finally, we have recruited nine new students for this new session of one year Bible School.

Please Pray:

1.  For spiritual revival and harmony of Pastors and Leaders.
2. For regional and national seminars, conferences, and trainings.
3. For wisdom and knowledge and sound health for Friends Churches.
4. For new mission fields: Bhojpur, Taplejung, Udaypur (East Hilly Region), and Pokhara (West).
5. For our building project: EFCN Headquarters and Kathmandu Friends’ worship center and Training center.
6. For the risk of the economic crisis in Nepal. There has been a shortage of cooking gas and fuels.
7. For the upcoming local government election to be clean and fair.
8. For the new session of our Bible School.

Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel.

Philippians 1:5

Pastor Amen and EFCN Family

If you would like to support the ministry of EFC-Nepal, you can:

• Give online here. Please make sure to note that you would like your gift designated to EFC-Nepal.
• You can give by credit card over the phone at 303-421-8100.
• You can mail a check marked with EFC-Nepal designation to EFM, PO Box 771139, Wichita KS 67277.

The post EFC Nepal January-March 2022 Ministry Report first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.