nepal earthquake relief
Following the devastating April 25th Nepal earthquake that has claimed the lives of more than 8,000 people, Full Proof Gospel Ministries, having had a presence in Nepal for more than a decade, has jumped right in with the help of our national partners to bring aid and use the opportunity to declare and spread the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only real help in times like these. To date, and through the generosity of many faithful believers, God has provided $24,000 through this small ministry to help on the ground in Nepal. Below are a few reports from one of our national partners, reports from both the Gorkha District (i.e. near the epicenter of the quake) and the Sindhupalchowk District (i.e. the worst hit area). The monies the Lord provided through FPGM are helping to purchase all of these things and to cover the cost of getting the supplies to these remote areas, areas where we know there are believers who need help. Moreover, none of this goes out without the declaration of the Gospel and the free distribution of the Word of God in the Nepali language. Praise God for all the Project Jagerna Scripture portions that are going out in areas they haven't gone out before. Thanks to all of you who have given to help these efforts in Nepal. I'll let my brother and dear Nepali friend of many years speak for himself below:
may 4th report
Dear praying friends and families. Greetings from the Himalaya!
We would like to thank you very much for your continous prayers and help for this time in Nepal. We just came back from Thokarpa, Sindhupalchowk. We had bought 50 bags of rice (30 kg each), 4 bags of beans (25 kg each), 50 kg of salt, 50 warm blankets, and 27 tarps. We left on May 2nd at 5am. Our truck took a long route to the village, but we chose to hike. It took 6.5 hours for us to climb up to the village on a very hot day. On the other hand, our truck broke in the dirt uphill, but the Lord provided a bigger truck in the middle of nowhere, in a forest. Then our local brothers transferred the materials onto the new truck and made it to the village next morning. So on May 3rd, we gathered the villagers who had lost their houses and had nothing to eat. I preached the gospel first and gave out Gospels of John and tracts. Then we gave out all of the villagers, about 150 houses, the things we brought. The neighbours shared the bags of rice, and mostly the children and elderly also got the warm blankets. Many were begging for few kg of rice as they did not have anything to eat. They were saying, "We should have died in that massive earthquake, because we now suffer for food and shelter." We gave out everything we had, even the biscuits and chocolates for our children to those who had nothing for their children. While we were hiking down, we met some mothers of another village. She went to the village office in the hope that she would get something to eat from the government. But they did not give them anything. Such was her fate for four days. She said, "Now, when I go back home emptyhanded, my three children will start to cry." Then my children gave some money, biscuits and chocolates even though they had not eaten any thing since the night before. The Lord gave all of us the strength to hike down. Nobody was hungry. We drank a lot of water on the trail, and we ate some snacks after 2 days on the way back.
Also, there were 8 earthquakes more than 4.0 in magnitude on the day we were hiking. It sounded like a bomb was blasted under the earth, and it shook badly. We felt two of them when we were hiking up in the forest. We felt three on the night May 2nd and the one at 3:30am was very big. I could hear the sound of a 4.5 magnitude tremor and expected that the house we were staying at would shake badly. We never felt like this in our lives. But the Lord kept us. At one point, the villagers almost mobbed us, but we gave out at least one thing to those who came in the hope to get some relief.
So far, they are saying that more than 7,300 have died in this disaster; and this number will probably continue to climb.
Please pray for us as we go to another village area in the Gorkha district. There are a few new believers there, but other villagers are not giving them the tarps they need badly. So, they are suffering for their faith. The wind and rain is making their lives miserable. So we are going to bring the tarps today, after almost 3 hours. I just heard in the TV that they are not loading the relief materials because today is a holiday! They are corrupt! People are dying without food, and the government officers are observing holidays. So sad!
We covet your prayers. Pray that we can help physically and give them Jesus, the medicine for their precious soul. We have been helping people since the day after the earthquake. The Lord has been good to us. We are planning to go back to Sidhupalchowk district, up north from where we were yesterday. Please pray for the Lord's provision and safety so that we can preach the Gospel and hand out relief materials that the Lord provides.
In His field,
Bishnu and Bimu DSMA Nepal
may 5th report
Dear praying friends and families: Greetings in the Name of our Lord Messiah!
We would like to thank you very much for your prayers and kind support to help buy relief materials. We left for Gorkha District Monday afternoon and came back last night. We got there at 11:00pm to find out that we had to sleep out under a tarp. The worse thing was that there was the fear of leopards. One of the dogs of that house was taken by a leopard a few days ago and the same was trying to get another dog. Some of our team members slept in the car, but my family tried to sleep in the tent with the local believers. I could not sleep as the dog kept barking the whole night. Once, the dog tried to come into our tent and made some noise in the tarp. We thought the leopard was trying to get one of our team members, so I jumped at that corner with my highest voice. Everyone was crying high, but it was a great relief to find that it was just a dog. We could not sleep the whole night, but the next morning we went out to the village for preaching, and later we gathered the people who were desperate just for a tarp. The houses were damaged inside, and they were sleeping out in the field. So, we preached the Gospel first and then gave out the tarps the Lord had provided through you. Thank you very much for this partnership. We told them about how the Christian people had compassion on them and provided for these traps. They need more tarps in another village. We'll probably go there later. The Lord gave us safe trip back. Now, we are planning to buy rice and beans so that we can leave for Sindhupalchowk tomorrow morning. We covet your prayers as the Gospel goes out with the relief materials.
Thank you very much for your prayers.
Yours in His field,
Bishnu and Bimu DSMA Nepal
may 8th report
Dear praying friends and families: Greetings yet again from the Himalaya!
Praise God for His faithfulness and kind help. We would like to thank you very much for your continuous prayers and support. The Lord helped us to go to a very remote village of Karthali, Sindhupalchowk District. There were a few believers there among 168 houses. We preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ first and then gave out many Gospels of John. Then, the Lord helped us to reach the village with a fully-loaded truck. The dirt road was very steep and along sheer cliffs. The worst part was that a big chunk of the edge of the high mountain was cracked and seemed that it would fall down at any time. But God took us through safely and helped us to reach the suffering people with the Gospel. Then, we were able to give them 36 bags of beans, 20 bags of beaten rice, 180 litres of cooking oi,l and 60 blankets. That food will help them for about two weeks. The spiritual food of the Gospel, however, will last for eternity in those that repent and believe.
More than 3,000 were killed in Sindhupalchowk District, but only two people were killed in this particular village. One of them was a pregnant mom. She was out and went back to the house to save her sleeping daughter. Meanwhile, the house fell upon her. But, her daughter was already taken out by her husband. It was so sad to hear the story and to see many villages fallen down to the dust. Very sad! But, we could encourage them with the Gospel and the hope that is in Christ. They were very happy to get the food items. Every house got a litre of cooking oil along with 5kg of beans and 2.5 kg of beaten rice. The elderly, over 60 years of age, new mothers, pregnant women, and disabled people got blankets. Among those beans, two bags were given out to two tent villages. One of these shantytowns was literally in a river bed that was mady by a rock avalanche last year. They all got the Gospel. Please pray for the salvation of these people.
We continue to covet your prayers as we make efforts to help the affected ones and give them the Gospel; many of these have probably never heard the Good News of Jesus Christ before.
Once again, thank you very much for your love, concern and prayers.
Yours in His field,
Bishnu and Bimu DSMA Nepal
some faces of those helped
your continued assistance is needed
Praise God for the $24,000 that has come in already for efforts like described above! But alas, my brethren, there are many needs, particularly amongst believers who already know some form of persecution and are being neglected by the government relief efforts. If you haven't given already, and if the Lord should lay it upon your heart, we are asking that all who want to help Nepal send funds to Full Proof Gospel Ministries. You can send a check (i.e. made out to FPGM) to P.O. Box 791 Conover, NC 28613 or DONATE ONLINE (www.fpgm.org/donate). All contributions are tax-deductible for United States citizens, and upon request, FPGM will send you a tax-deductible receipt for aggregate contributions at the end of this calendar year. MAKE SURE TO NOTE "NEPAL" WITH ANY CONTRIBUTION. WE WILL INSURE THESE MONIES GET DIRECTLY INTO THE HANDS OF OUR NATIONAL PARTNERS WHO CAN BE TRUSTED TO USE THEM WITH PROPER STEWARDSHIP AND FRUGALITY. AND, I GIVE YOU MY WORD THAT THEY WILL GO TO DIRECTLY HELP BELIEVERS IN NEED. FOR NON-BELIEVERS, ANY HELP, WE COMMIT, WILL BE ACCOMPANIED WITH THE GOSPEL AND THE WORD OF GOD.
We believe it is the responsibility of believers to help their brethren first. And, please do not give to big organizations that will fund the rebuilding of pagan temples and pagan religions. Don’t give to Christian ministries who will pour in humanitarian aid without preaching the Gospel or giving out the Word of God. This is not helping Nepal. More than food, blankets, medicine, etc., Nepal needs Jesus. And even a small donation of $50, about a tank of gas here in America, can go pretty far in that part of the world.
Brother Ricky and I are heading to South Asia next week. We will be in Delhi and Ladakh, making preparations to receive our summer volunteer team. However, we will have a two-week window to go into Nepal and help with the efforts on the ground. Stay tuned for news from the ground. And, please pray for our travels and this summer's volunteer team.
For the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ,
Jesse Boyd, President Full Proof Gospel Ministries