From Floods to Floodgates -Nepal

By Sanjeeb Sahu

Sindhupalchowk was the hardest-hit district by the 2015 earthquake and has since become more prone to landslides. On June 11th, the monsoon arrived, and with it came a disaster of a flash flood on June 15th. In Pemathang, there are two mountains with a valley. There was a landslide on both the mountains and the debris accumulated in the valley below for two to three days. It suddenly erupted and all the debris of sand, water, and wood started sliding downwards. Our evangelist, Arjun Shrestha, did not know what was happening. People saw that the river water was rising. On June 15th, everyone was inside their houses when someone noticed the mixture of sand and wood coming towards the river and city. There was such a panic that Arjun said that he had no time to think.

Everyone ran for their lives and went to higher ground. Arjun saw the muddy water pressing towards the bridge near his house and later it was totally destroyed. That whole night, no one slept. Some were crying, some were searching for their loved ones, and the army with sirens was shouting, “Go away, Go away!” Arjun lives on the third floor. The first two floors were completely submerged in mud and water.

Our church is situated in a higher area, so Arjun and his family took shelter there. He gave shelter to around 40 people, both believers as well as non-believers. We praise God that none of our believers died, but they lost their homes and all their possessions. In Helambu area, around 40 people died. A church we had visited once there was totally destroyed.

I will never forget the evening when we were finally able to contact Arjun. He came outside and cried a lot. It was hard for me to see his pathetic situation. He said, “I am crying in front of you. But I maintain a strong composure in front of my family and others.” He needed to be strong for others.

I contacted Ron Barnes, our General Director, and we praise God that he raised a generous donation for the purpose of helping these people. The funds were sent to Arjun and he immediately purchased some dry rations from shops which were not destroyed by the flood. He has distributed dry rations, vessels, gas stoves, blankets, mattresses, and mosquito nets to many people in need. He purchased aluminium sheets and gave them to people, as they needed protection from rains. He also gave monetary help to many.

The locals formed a committee and collected money and hired bulldozers to remove mud and sand from the buildings and clean the houses. But no one stays in the low-lying areas of Melamchi anymore. Exactly a month after the first flash flood, there was another flood which destroyed more houses. The people are living in tents or have gone to their relatives’ places. There is still the danger of more flooding. Everything is not normal yet. People are discouraged. All their documents, things, money lies under the mud. They have lost everything.

Just before this happened, we had written in our update that a new church was started in Ratamata village. They were worshiping near a house with no roof over their heads. We sent a Project Request to our Source of Light office for the need to build a small room for this purpose. We are so thankful that this urgent crisis which raised awareness of this need led to money being raised for building a church in Ratamata village.

Arjun has started church services even in the middle of the covid crisis. They have two shifts, 8–10 a.m. and 11 a.m.–2 p.m. About eight people who received shelter from Arjun are now coming to the church.

Please pray for Arjun Shrestha, the believers, and others in Melamchi. We would like to plant more churches. Pray our believers may not be discouraged but be strong in the Lord, share the good news to others, and comfort them. This place needs more evangelists and $100 monthly support per evangelist to share the Gospel.

We have watched God provide even more than we could have imagined, when it was needed the most. In a time of flood, God opened the floodgates of His blessing.