Volume. XXIX, No. 49
Sunday, 07 June 2015


Pray for Nepal


(An Account of the 25th May 2015 earthquake and petition by Suraj Kasula, a Nepali Christian currently living & studying in Scotland, taken from http://www.desiringgod.org/)

Saturday 25th May afternoon was a dark hour for the people of Nepal. The 7.9 earthquake struck hard, turning houses into dust in seconds. Historical monuments and some ancient temples were levelled to the ground. The highways were badly damaged.
Most of the houses in Nepal are over thirty-years-old — built with dirt and bricks (and dirt and stones in the remote villages). The houses are compact and built into one another forming continuous walls on both sides of paths and roads, especially in big cities like Bhaktapur, Kathmandu, and Lalitpur that constitute the Kathmandu Valley. The Valley is densely populated (2.5 million people, about a twelfth of Nepal’s total population). In spite of the epicentre being in the western part of Nepal, the worst damage hit the valley.
The valley is full of ancient temples built in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, tourist attractions protected as historical sites, but now either completely destroyed or badly damaged.

It is reported that in some remote parts of Nepal, the quake triggered landslides that swept away a whole village. It also triggered an avalanche at Mount Everest, killing at least 17 mountaineers, and seriously injuring 61 climbers. The quake hit in the middle of church services (services are on Saturday), killing 35 known Christians. But church buildings in Nepal are modern and small, which prevented larger damage.

My parents are safe, but we lost some friends. Our house in Bhaktapur is collapsed. Our church building is slightly cracked. The death rate is rising hour by hour. It is estimated that between 8,000 and 10,000 people have been killed by this atrocity.
The strength of the earthquake meant people had a small chance of running out from their houses. Those who did manage to run out could not find open spaces immediately. People stuck inside the houses were killed by the collapsing structures, and those who did manage to run out from their houses were killed by falling roofs. The destruction of fragile brick houses was a prime reason why the death toll is skyrocketing.
On top of this, in densely populated places like Bhaktapur, the earthquake hit when people were celebrating the indoor festival of Dugu Puja. Relatives from all across the region gathered together in homes to observe this feast, and most of them would have been drunk. The celebrants who died, which would have included many children, died in the middle of the feast.

And still many tremors are being felt, sixty to eighty tremors have been experienced in these three days; some as strong as 6.5 on the Richter scale. Houses that were only slightly damaged by the first hit have collapsed in these aftershocks. No one dares to go back inside the standing houses because of the ongoing fear of more quakes. People sleep outside in tents. And the crazy thing is that it is raining — the monsoon is at hand!

The earthquake hit the whole country and the national tragedy is compounded by a lack of food, water, and shelter. People’s lives are at risk now simply from a lack of necessities. The government cannot supply the needs.
We have a small church building, and because it is small there is less risk of a total collapse. We opened the church for those who need shelter, and many are coming. One woman and her newborn baby are sheltering in one of the Sunday School rooms. But those at the church are also in need of food and water. The electricity has stopped and that means the water has stopped.

Most of the people hit by this tragedy in Nepal are Hindu. They blame their gods whenever disaster hits, and they will do the same again. The Hindu gods are untouched by suffering. By contrast, Jesus draws near and sympathises with those who weep, because he knows human suffering and human tears. And as difficult as it is to imagine right now, the suffering Jesus Christ endured on the cross to pay for God’s wrath on behalf of sinners exceeds the sorrow of the whole nation of Nepal right now.

Viewed through this prism of the cross, Christ is exactly what my nation needs now. We tend to think that gospel would be ineffective or inappropriate to preach while people suffer so deeply. But it is the other way round. The gospel is the message of a broken Saviour who is relevant to reach into broken lives right now. He is the only true comfort my country can have in this suffering.
So as you consider sending immediate financial support, and the physical needs are great, please join me in praying that this dark tragedy will open up new doors of ministry and make new ways for the hope of Jesus Christ to shine even more brightly in the nation of Nepal, bringing with it the message of hope, consolation, and restoration.

Provided by Dn Wai Kin Wong.

More Lively Hope

 

Announcements


*Kitchen Roster - Leader: Today: Volunteer. Next Lord’s Day: Dn Colin Gan.
*Special thanks to Bro Joseph Selvanayagam who had faithfully served the Lord as our Sunday School Superintendent from Sep 2013 till May this year.
*New Sunday School Superintendent is Bro John Wong.
*Rev Alfred Ngoma is the Sunday School Supervisory Pastor.
*Ladies’ Fellowship on Sat, 13 June at 2 pm will be a cooking demonstration (dessert) by Sisters Jasmine Tanuwijaya & Mira Herliani, students from Le Cordon Bleu Australia.

Praise & Thanksgiving
Journey mercies: Rev Tracy Minnick (Cardwell,Qld); Bro Tien & Sis Stephanie Lee & family (Qld); Bro Lucas Yiew (S’pore); Sisters Daphne Lai, Michelle Lee & Mable Quek (Mt Gambier/Adl); & others arriving safely at their destinations.
Church activities in the past week.
Visitors & new worshippers.
God’s daily mercy, guidance & blessings.
Last week’s 29th Anniversary Thanksgiving Service; Speaker: Rev Tracy Minnick; AFG Seminars & YAF Talk

Prayer Items
Health & God’s healing - Dr Gary Cohen (USA), Dr SH Tow (S’pore); Rev George van Buuren; Rev Patrick Tan (S’pore); Rev Edward & Sis Lehia Paauwe; Grandpa Ki (S’pore); Bro Colin & Sis Kathleen Creaser; Preacher Zhang (Sihanoukville); Bros Herbert (Dilly) Anderson (Kenya), Raymond Ang’s father (S’pore), Surish Dharmalingam (Laos), Elton Law, Tien Lee’s father (Penang), Kang Fun Tan (Sis Felicia’s father - S’pore) & XiHeng Wu (China); Sisters Nita Chong, Margaret Hooper, Myung Ki, Grace Gan’s father (healing), Queenie Lau (Canberra), Choon Fong Lee (KL), Margaret Pearson, Yashu Qin’s father (China), Christabelle Selvanayagam, Corinne Teng, Susan Weng, Mavis Wong’s mother (salvation & healing) & May Zhang; Mr Swee Liang Ng; Mr Mang Soo Ong; Bro Peng Cheong Wong; Mr Lucas Lee; Mr Tony Zhang; Mrs Maggie D’Mello (Mumbai); & others in affliction.
Special Prayer: Mrs Janet Jara (Chile); Mrs Pat Johnson (W Virgina); Grace Ma (illness).
God’s healing: Sis Wol Hee Kim & DaHee (S Korea). 
iSketch & Tell Ministry: Pr Hai Seng Lim’s ministry in Melbourne & preparation for missions work in Singapore & Malaysia (June).
Cambodia Missions - Rev David Koo & Ministry; Life University (Sihanoukville).
New Life BPC (London) - God’s guidance & encouragement for congregation.
Batam Missions: Sis Ang Liang Phoa & Ministry.
House of Hope, Cebu: Rehabilitation & salvation of drug addicts.
Providence B-P Church, Mawson Lakes - Ps David & Sis Susan Weng, & congregation.
Youth & Assistant Pastor for Hope B-P Church.
Journey mercies: Bro Tien & Sis Stephanie Lee & family (Adl); Bros Samuel Ki (Europe) & Lucas Yiew (Adl); & all those who are travelling.
Health in pregnancy: Sisters Julie Tan’s daughter (Katrina), Mag Kim (UK) & Josephine Wong.
Final weeks of pregnancy: Sis Emily Zheng - for safe delivery of baby.
Interpreters of sermon into Mandarin.
Jobs: Those seeking for jobs in Adelaide.
Persecuted believers in Islamic countries.
Protection & Preservation of Israel. Salvation of Jews.
God’s guidance: purchase of property for church.
Australia: God’s wisdom for our political leaders. People to repent and to turn to God.
Bundaberg, Qld: Sis Wendy Liang
Mt Gambier: Sis Natalie Cheng.

 

 

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14 Bedford Square, Colonel Light Gardens, South Australia 5041