Greetings from Kev in Kathmandu - Newsletter 6

Hello,

Yes, I’m back in Kathmandu, but let me first update you on the rest of my adventures in India.

The schedule for the rest of the visit (since Newsletter No.5) was busy, with church preaches planned in for each remaining Sunday.

First off was a visit to Rongchong Pentecostal Church.  This is some distance from Kalimpong and getting out of the car I suddenly felt as though the air was very hot and heavy – was I about to be ill ? – no, we had just descended a lot in altitude and were now in a valley !!!   As we had arrived early, I was taken up the village to see the hanging bridge.  Actually there are two.  The present bridge was built in 1968 and there are the skeletal remains of the older bridge alongside.  It reminded me of a scene from an Indiana Jones film, but at least no enemies appeared waving swords !!  We had been asked to make the message 1 hour, including translation and the timing went well.  Dr. Sada’s niece, Chandra Rai, did the interpreting and I am grateful for the hard work she put into this task, both here and at the house fellowships – including reviewing the messages before-hand to make sure the translation went smoothly.  Afterwards, I was really encouraged when Dr. Sada told me how pleased people were that someone from “outside” had been to visit.  Normally, all preaching is done internally.

Next Sunday there was the visit to Kamjher Presbyterian Free Church.  We had a steep treck down the hillside from the road to the church and on the way I was shown the various crops grown in the area – including tomatoes and chilli.  I was also taken on a visit to the pigstye.  It was rather muddy underfoot, but there was no risk of “paddling” mud from the pigstye into the church, as everyone took their shoes off and left them outside.  However, one member of the congregation had to rush out during the message to rescue shoes from the torrential rain which had started (it is the monsoon season now).

The biggest preaching adventure, though, was to Nokdarh.  Although only around 50 miles from Kalimpong, the journey requires 2 overnight stays, because of the nature of the jeep service (that is the bus service !!!).  As we were high in the hills, it was very misty and windy.  Dr.Sada and myself spent the two nights in the church vestry (it does have beds!).  In addition to doing the preaching on the Sunday, I was able to attend two local house fellowships at which Dr. Sada was speaking.

On arriving back on the Monday morning, it was all go to prepare for departure early on Tuesday to catch the overnight coach to Kathmandu.  The normal route to the Nepali border was blocked by a landslide, so the journey was longer than normal, but we made it.  It was good we travelled when we did, because I heard later that all routes were closed by landslides and would take around 10 days to clear.  This is a common problem during the monsoon, but such a delay would have caused a real problem to my plans.

Although it was hard to say goodbye to everyone in Kalimpong, I was given a really warm welcome back in Kathmandu and soon got back into the swing of things – housefellowships, my final church preach on 4^th July and then a visit back to Asmita English School, to give some talks on earthquakes.

Following the earthquakes, people in Nepal are gradually putting their lives back together, but the work of re-building is still ongoing and will be for a long time.  I know Pastor Min Raj is grateful for the support given by so many people during this time.

So it’s proving busy right up to the end – but that’s what I came to do and I’m pleased to have been able to experience the different areas of ministry in the two countries with their different church histories. This will be the final Newsletter, since my flight out is on 12^th July.

With best wishes and many thanks to everyone for their prayers,

                                                                                                            Kev

At Rongchong Pentecostal Church, with Chandra Ria interpreting

Back in Nepal - Thursday House Fellowship

Greetings from Kalimpong - Newsletter 5

Hello,

A lot has happened since the last Newsletter – it seems a long time ago that I wrote it !!!

As you will have heard on the news, on May 12th, we had another large earthquake in Nepal.  The bible school suffered some further damage (we later noticed more cracks) but remained standing – this was just as well, as I was in my room on the top floor at the time.  Again, everyone moved out under canvass in a repeat process to the previous month.  Nationally, the second quake caused some additional casualties and further damage, but I’m pleased to say that everyone I’m working with was safe and well.  It was noticeable, however, how much extra fear it caused.  Although some of us moved back into the bible school after 3 nights, many of the students remained under canvass for a much longer period.

We endeavoured to keep lessons going this time, using the canteen (single storey) for quite some time.  I was able to complete the Bible Survey module and have the students take the final exam on the day before I travelled to India on 29^th May.

Some members of the congregation were now wary about using the church (on the 1^st floor of the bible school), so everyone met in the school yard – with some shelter being provided by tarpaulin sheets tied between the surrounding buildings.  I was invited to preach at one of these services and on a later occasion, speak to the youth group after the main service.

And so to India….

I travelled from Kathmandu via a 15 hour overnight coach journey to the eastern border town of Kakarbita.  From the coach park it’s a rickshaw ride (or a long walk) across the river bridge which forms the Nepali-Indian border.  I entered India for the first time ever and duly reported to immigration.  Formalities completed, I was picked up by Dr. Donald Sada, who is my project partner here. He’s an elder in the Presbyterian Free Church and we drove, via Siliguri, up to Kalimpong, arriving in the late afternoon.  Kalimpong has been described as a “hill station” – it’s actually quite a sizeable town.  It is extremely hilly – the good point about this is that the temperatures are very pleasant.  There is also a lot of mist and even fog, partly due to the altitude and also the season (it’s the start of the monsoon).

I needed to hit the ground running!  I attended church on the Sunday morning and was then asked if I could give a talk to the Men’s Guild in the afternoon.  This wasn’t planned – Dr.Sada was due to be the speaker and I was simply going to be introduced.  However, many of the men were keen to hear what I might have to say, so I was asked to do the talk instead.  There then followed talks to House Fellowships on Monday and Tuesday – the latter group having a “basics of salvation” theme.

I was also able to give a talk at The Grace Academy – which is a school for children of parents who are unable to afford normal school fees (they just pay a nominal amount). I impressed upon the students the value of learning and development (using Luke 2:52 as the basis) and tried to encourage them with my interest in science, especially as I had been taken to visit the Kalimpong science centre the day before.  Afterwards, the Senior Pastor told me that science is currently not very popular – but I guess I’ll never know if I made a difference!

In addition, there have been visits to different pastors and also to people to do prayer for healing.  It all made for a very encouraging start and I am grateful to Dr. Sada for all his hard work in showing me around and setting up the program.

My accommodation is within the boundaries of the old mission compound and I find it quite moving to think about those early (largely Scottish) pioneers.  Back in the 19^th Century, travel and communications were, of course, very different and I admire their commitment and sacrifice.  Their work was clearly not in vain, as their legacy can be seen in the hospitals, Christian schools and active churches.  I’m attached to a Presbyterian church which has a membership of around 300, 38 church plants and 7 pastors.  I assumed it must surely be the largest church in town – but apparently not!

On Saturday we went to visit the Darjeeling region, passing tea farms and calling at the Darjeeling War Memorial.  On the return trip, the car we were travelling in suddenly swerved and hit the side of the road.  Fortunately, we all escaped serious injury, although Mrs.Sada sustained a painful cut to the face.  The car was a different matter and we had to wait around 5 hours for it to be repaired.  By this time it was very dark and rather wet.  Setting off again, we could hardly see the road in front, because of the horrendous fog and the dark - the prospect of being driven to Kalimpong along these hillside roads (journey time is 2 to 3 hours in the daylight) was not appealing.  Very soon, though (and this may have been a God send) the car broke down and it was clear we could not make Kalimpong that night.  Some people in a passing vehicle moved the car to a safe place and helped us find somewhere to spend the night.  Early the next morning we arranged alternative transport to Kalimpong, while the driver (who we had hired along with the car) remained to sort out repairs.

We arrived just in time to get ready for me to be picked up by the landrover for church.  I was preaching at one of our associate churches and had been asked to deal with the subject of “Why?” – in connection with the Nepal earthquakes.  There are close links between this area and Nepal and the local language is, in fact, a variation of Nepali.  This church has a good size building, but also has a nice problem – they can’t fit everyone in.  There were people standing outside!!!  I was shown the work in progress for a new church building on the site.

So it’s been a packed start to my time in India and it really is beneficial to gain fresh experience of working in a very different environment, with its long Christian heritage.

With best wishes and many thanks to everyone for their prayers,

                                                                                                            Kev

One of several Christian schools in the area

The Senior Pastor at Cornerstone Church with the building under construction

Greetings from Kev in Katmandu - Newsletter 4

Hello,

Many thanks to everyone for their concern over the last two weeks since the earthquake.  I am pleased to say that we are all safe – Pastor Min Raj and family, the bible school students and the children from Angels.  Thanks, also, for practical support given to Pastor Min Raj’s appeal fund – I know he very much appreciates everyone’s help. 

The quake struck during the Saturday service – the whole building started shaking and continued to shake.  Everyone moved towards the door and I remember falling over and having difficulty getting up again due to the moving floor.  The building was safely evacuated (the church meets on the first floor of the four storey bible school building).  I met up with Min Raj’s family outside another building nearby, which serves as a community centre and waited as the aftershocks kept coming - the ground would shake and telegraph wires swing.   Most buildings in the immediate neighbourhood remained standing, even if damaged (the bible school included).  This is because they are mostly new and built to be earthquake resistant.  Two buildings did collapse.  One belonged to a church family and I accompanied Min Raj when he went to visit them later that day.  The scene, sadly, resembled something out of a war zone.

On Saturday night, it was considered unwise to sleep in the bible school because of the aftershocks, so they brought out blankets and mattresses and we (the students, warden and myself) all bedded down in the courtyard for the night.  This worked, sort of, until around 12.30 in the morning, when it started to rain.  We all moved to the floor of the canteen opposite, which being single storey, was a compromise between safety and dryness – we just rushed outside whenever an aftershock occurred.  The following day, we built a shelter on the adjacent hillside, using bamboo poles and a tarpaulin which the warden had acquired.  This was safer, but proved too small for everyone, so some of us continued to use the canteen.  Whilst building the shelter on the hillside, we noticed the big military transports flying in and out of Kathmandu bringing aid – it was a real joy to see them.

It is areas with older, traditional buildings which have suffered most.  In one nearby village, another church family lost their home. When we visited them, we reported to the relief control point at the centre of the village and were allocated a guide – we could not get down the street due to collapsed buildings, but had to be escorted through gardens and forest to meet up with them, encamped in the back garden.  I had preached at a House Fellowship in their home not long ago.  This family were safe – but in that village, nine people lost their lives due to collapsing buildings.  I have heard of other villages where all houses have been destroyed.

Schools in Nepal are closed for 3 weeks.  In the bible school, we moved back in 4 days after the quake, but classes were then suspended until 10^th May.  Most students have gone home.  Of those that remain, some have been afraid to sleep in the bible school and have used the canteen.  After classes resume, I will continue with the Bible Survey module and since things were previously going well, I should be able to complete, with only a little extra teaching time, prior to my journey to India on 29^th May.

Pastor Min Raj has been very busy co-ordinating some of the relief work, via local pastors - sending out tents and rice supplies.  Rice is very much the staple food here and is usually eaten three times a day, with it forming the bulk of the meal.  He is also involved with supporting the members of the congregation, many of whom have been affected in different ways.

I was asked to preach the message in church on the Saturday after the quake – a difficult balance between dealing with what has happened and giving encouragement for the future.

Please remember:-

Families who have lost loved ones – family ties are very strong here, so the loss of family, or extended family members will strike especially hard.

People trying to re-build or repair homes – resources are often scarce, especially finance, so this will be a real challenge for many.

Pastors and churches seeking to help and support their communities at this time.

With best wishes and many thanks to everyone for their prayers,

Kev

In good spirits regardless – students at “The Shelter”

House destroyed at Chandanpur village – This is further away from Kathmandu, but I was able to visit the hilly region this week

Safe and well – the children from Angels, with another shelter (their building is in the centre background behind the trees – it survived the quake, but couldn’t be used until the danger from aftershocks had passed.

This update was sent before the more recent earthquake on Tues 12 May, however, we have heard since that Kev remains safe and well!

Greetings from Kev in Kathmandu - Newsletter 3

Hello,

A lot has happened here in the run up to Easter:-

  

Visit to Gorkha

One of my highlights for March was a visit to Gorkha, to preach in one of the small rural churches there.  I spent two nights as guest of Pastor and Mrs. Tamang and was delighted to preach in the church on the Saturday morning.  Large numbers of Christians live in this part of Nepal.  Once there are a number of believers in a particular neighbourhood, they tend to re-group and form an independent fellowship within that neighbourhood – so the churches just….re-produce, naturally.  Although these churches are often small, there are lots of them!.  There are exceptions, of course and before leaving on the Sunday morning, I was able to meet James, the young pastor of a 150 strong congregation – and also listen to his gospel radio broadcast, recorded in Gorkha the previous day.

With Pastor and Mrs Tamang at Gorkha

It was a wonderful opportunity to visit rural Nepal, including padi fields up close.  After the Saturday service, I was taken on a visit to the historic hilltop palace – home of the rulers of Gorkha.  It was one of these, King Prithvi Narayan Shah, who, in 1769, unified the country, creating the nation of Nepal. The views were spectacular – well worth climbing the 1,500 steps to get there!!  As well as being of historic significance, the site is, however, still in use as a place of Hindu worship and animal sacrifice.

Easter in Kathmandu

Back in Kathmandu, I felt it was a real privilege when Pastor Min Raj invited me to preach at the Good Friday service.  Part way through the message (theme: “the darkest hour”), the sound of thunder was heard and several students rushed out of the church.  Had the message given offence? – thankfully not – they’d just left their washing on the roof to dry.

Easter Sunday started with a 6am service followed by tea, biscuits and hard boiled eggs.  Afterwards we joined a procession and rally in the centre of Kathmandu.  I was staggered by the number of people taking part and the number of churches (approx 100) involved.  Many of the churches brought banners (carried between two poles) with their church name on.  As the procession made it’s way towards the city centre, other churches joined – like tributaries joining a river !!  Although the procession included people of all ages, I was struck by how many were in younger age groups – a really encouraging sign for the future of the church in Nepal.

Developments

The Prayer Room - Under Construction

The painting company have now completed work on the bible school building and have done a good job - a huge improvement on the temporary coating which was applied when the building was completed last year.  In the end, there was no need for my assistance on this. Since the painter had previously submitted a quote for the job, inclusive of all labour charges, it was felt that there was just no point in me doing work which the painter was getting paid for!!!

Permission has been granted to build the prayer room on the roof of the bible school.  An official from the municipal authority visited the site one morning and gave permission to proceed, on the spot.  A refreshingly straight-forward process of planning permission !!!  The builders started work the same afternoon.

The church has acquired land for a future building and vehicle access was created last week with a JCB (yes, they get everywhere!).

In March, I was invited to attend the parent’s day at the Asmita English School.  Having made several schools visits earlier in the year and taught some classes myself, I have got to know many of the teachers.  In addition, the children from the “Angels” orphanage attend this school.  I was very impressed at the standard of the performances.

Sponsorship, from a variety of sources, has now been promised for five of the twelve places at “Angels”.  Encouraging progress and something to give thanks for.

Ready for school - the children from 'Angels'

Several more students have now joined the bible school, after completing exams elsewhere, so the class is now full (actually, slightly more than full!).  The Bible Survey module has got as far as the book of Jonah, which is roughly where we should be at this point.

Pastor Min Raj kindly took me down to the Central Immigration Office in Kathmandu yesterday, to enquire personally if there was any way to increase the limit on my visa beyond 150 days total for the year – there isn’t.  We therefore extended my existing visa up until 30^th May, so that I can complete the teaching in bible school.  I will then travel to India, returning to Nepal in late June.

With best wishes and many thanks to everyone for their prayers,

Kev

Announcement from Rich & Alex Webb

Dear Scunthorpe Baptist Church,

We wanted to put in writing the announcement made on the morning of 15 March 2015, both to be clear about what we have said and also to enable those not present to know what was announced.

During this week I accepted the call to be the Senior Pastor of Upton Vale Baptist Church (UVBC), Torquay and as a result I have handed my resignation as the Lead Pastor of SBC to Paul Clark, the Chairman of the Trustees. Though there is clearly much that is yet to be organised, our intention is to move over the summer.

We recognise that this may be a shock and that you may have questions. Please feel free to ask us whatever you need to, but we hope that the following may make things a little clearer.

First, we love SBC and we are really sad to be leaving. We have felt such love and support during our 10 years here and had come to believe that we would be here forever, which is not something that felt like a tough calling! We are so grateful to God for all that we have been through together and all the awesome ways in which we have seen the Kingdom come.

Second, through bible verses, prophecy, wise counsel and other circumstances God has made it clear to us that it is time for a new season, both in our lives and in the life of SBC. Though we have been sensing God’s unsettling we did not enter into the Baptist Union’s formal process for finding a new church, but were approached by a Regional Minister and asked to consider the role at UVBC. As a result of pursuing that possibility it became still clearer that God was calling us to something new. This was confirmed by the members of UVBC voting with an overwhelming majority to call us to minister there.

Third, we will not play any part in the process of discerning who will be the next Lead Pastor at SBC. This is not because it is unimportant to us; in fact we care deeply about it and believe that there are exciting things to come for you in the future. Nor is it because we don’t have a view on what the right thing is. It is simply because we believe that ministry should be ‘freely offered and received’ and that that it is therefore right that the local church discern the way forward without outside influence or perceived pressure.

We will continue to pray for God to do great things at SBC, believing that though this is the end of a season, it is also the beginning of a new and exciting era in the life of the church. Thank you for your love, support and prayers for us over this past decade.

Rich and Alex Webb 

Greetings from Kev in Kathmandu - Newsletter 2

Pastor Evans (left) preaching at an outreach event

Outreach in West Nepal

Thankyou to everyone who prayed about the February outreach in the Kailali region, near the town of Dhangadhi in West Nepal.  No bundes occurred to disrupt the events and the weather was great.  Although it is the dry season here, it can still rain – and it did – but on the day after the last meeting!  The main outreach speaker was Pastor Philip Evans (Oasis Church, Anglesey) whilst the morning teaching sessions were given by Pastor Margaret Evans (Oasis Church) and Anton Rogers (Poynton Christian Fellowship).  Over the course of 3 days, 2,500 people made commitments to follow Christ in response to a very straightforward gospel message.  Philip also invited people to pray together to receive healing and afterwards the stage was lined with those waiting to give testimony to the healing that they had received.  We later did prayer for healing with individuals – and we were kept busy.  At one point, I found myself working without an interpreter – which proved interesting !!!!  Please pray for these new Christians and for the local pastors who have the job of looking after them.  Sixteen local churches worked together on this crusade – the pastors are often relatively young in both years and Christian experience.  They also need to earn a living as the churches are, at present, far too small to support a pastor.

Bible School

Starting this week, officially named Calvary Bible Institute, this looks like working out much better than expected.  There is a module called Bible Survey, which includes an overview of each book of the bible.  Fortunately, some of the material I brought out with me gives an excellent basis and so it has been agreed that this is what I should be teaching.  I’m thankful for the way this has turned out for me –  it could easily have been a disaster.  I have planned out the module at 60 hours teaching time and have been allocated 4 hours timetabled teaching per week, with additional classes on Sunday afternoons as required.  In addition, the students have morning devotionals, 6.30am each morning and I will be doing a brief bible message each day, probably based on a daily reading book.  I need an interpreter for these as the bible school operates entirely in Nepali, since many of the students come from other parts of Nepal, which are far less westernised than the Kathmandu area.

  

Bible Messages

This continues to be an important focus for me and is working out well.  So far there have been 3 messages in 2 churches.  For one of these, the route involved crossing a stream  via rounded stepping stones and, in the process, manoevering around someone who had decided to do her washing whilst standing on the stepping stones.  Thankfully, I avoided turning up drenched – especially as I wasn’t preaching from the book of Jonah.  I also do a couple of house group messages / bible studies each week.  This is really interesting since apart from all I learn in preparing the message, I have an opportunity to see different aspects of Nepalese life – particularly the traditional houses, which are very different from the more modern buildings in some parts of Kathmandu.

Orphanage Work

Passing the orphanage can take a little time now – since I am regularly greeted with questions as to how “Kevin Uncle” is !!!!  I am gradually getting to know the children better.  There is a particular need to pray for the future funding of this work.  The present funding, sponsorship by a business in Kathmandu, will cease shortly so an alternative source(s) is urgently needed.  This could be via an organization or individual child sponsorships.  Pastor Min Raj has particularly asked us to pray that God would raise up the right UK based person to organise and co-ordinate this work.

Technology

Wi-fi access is available in a number of locations so communication should, in theory, be straightforward – I have been able to send and receive some e-mails, especially now that I have obtained a new internal battery for the laptop.   However, my e-mail seems to be very intermittent and unreliable – so apologies for any delays with replies.  I sense the need to avoid getting frustrated or distracted by this – it is all too easy to spend a lot of time and energy trying to sort it out.

India

I am still due to visit India for around a month to comply with Nepalese visa requirements.  We are enquiring with immigration if there is any alternative, since this break will clash with the bible school term – so watch this space !!!

With best wishes and many thanks to everyone for their prayers,

                                                                                    Kev

Announcement from Iain & Kate Drysdale

February 2015

Dear SBC,

After a time of prayer and reflection, Kate and I have decided that we will be moving on from SBC in the coming months and I will be leaving my role as Care Pastor. We are aware that this will come as a shock but hopefully our explanation of the journey we have been on will show how we believe God is at the heart of us feeling called to move on to serve Him in a new area .

Over the last year, we have had a growing sense that God was calling us to go on a journey. As we talked and prayed, we realised that God was calling us to move on to another area. After prayer, reflection and wise counsel from a number of people, we believe God is calling us to move to Hull and be part of Bodmin Road Church, a church reaching out to the Bransholme Estate. They are buying a disused pub building on North Bransholme, with the hope of using it to meet the needs of this part of the estate and to hopefully, in time, plant a church there. We have been asked to consider being part of this work. This excites us and we believe it will enable us to fulfil our heart to be at the centre of ministering to and meeting the needs of a defined area with social and economic challenges, enabling people to discover their God given potential.

While it is a step of faith, we believe we need to move on in the coming months. Kate will, of course, be able to carry on her role at Smith & Nephew in Hull. Millie goes in to her final year at primary school in the coming months and we need to get both girls settled in a new school from September at the very latest.

We will be very sorry to leave SBC but we also know we must be obedient to what God is saying to us. We hope you will see it is the way this church has invested in us that have brought us to the position of feeling ready and equipped to answer His call. All of us are so grateful for the support, opportunities, guidance and love that have been shown to us by you over the last ten years. It is likely that we will leave SBC at the end of May 2015. 

Should you have any questions, we would be happy to answer them.

In Him,

Iain & Kate Drysdale