Mission Moments: Nepal
Land purchased for a ‘city on a hill’
By Gary Fallesen
President, Climbing For Christ
A happy man: Pastor Harka shows his joy and the document certifying ownership of the land he is standing on. Soon, we pray, a church building will stand there. (Photo by Megh Gurung)
We rejoice at the news that land has been purchased for construction of the first church at Simikot in Nepal’s Far West district of Humla. “I am so excited,” said brother Megh Gurung, who represented Climbing For Christ at the proceedings.
Megh and Pastor Harka signed the deal, completing the US$19,300 purchase. Funds are now being raised for the construction of the church, estimated to cost $1.3 million Nepalese rupees (more than US$12,000). After funds are raised Harka said it will take five months to complete the building. It is our hope that we will dedicate the church next September on Mission: Nepal 2016.
Climbing For Christ arrived in Humla in November 2012, landing on the only pavement in a district that is roughly the size of the U.S. states of Rhode Island or Delaware. From that mountainside air strip in the district headquarters of Simikot, we set out on foot trails in Nepal’s highest district (average altitude: 3,000 meters/10,000 feet).
Pastor Harka and his wife, above, outside the rented room that has been home to the 8-year-old church at Simikot. Below, Gary praying in March 2015 over the land where Harka proposed to build a church. (Photos by Gary Fallesen and Jordan Rowley)
The day we first arrived in 2012 we learned of a single house church that existed in a district with a population of more than 50,000 predominantly Buddhist people. We met three brothers in Christ and the next day we worshiped with the church: 8 believers.
We returned in September 2013, April 2014, and March 2015, continuing to share the Good News in villages and encourage the growing church. During Mission: Nepal 2014, Pastor Harka shared the idea he had about building the first church in Simikot as the body was outgrowing the room they were renting.
“In my mind I could see a church where there was none,” I wrote in the Mission: Nepal (Spring) 2014 Trip Report. “I could envision the small planes that provide the only way in and out of Nepal’s Far West district of Humla touching down on the short runway and its passengers seeing a cross in a place that serves as the jump-off point for followers of Hinduism and Buddhism making the pilgrimage to the holy Mount Kailash [in Tibetan China].
“In my heart, after visiting Humla three times in 17 months, I know the importance of such a church. Both symbolically and HIS-torically.
“You are the light of the world,” Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 5:14. “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
Gary has had Harka’s back in Humla since Mission: Nepal 2014. (Photo by Brandy Fisher)
Climbing For Christ has been used by God to build churches in three locations (two in the Central and one in the Mid-West) in Nepal. Humla would be the fourth – and our ninth overall (including three in Haiti, one in Mozambique and one in Peru).
Climbing For Christ’s primary purpose is to GO and deliver the Gospel in the mountains of the world, where other missionaries cannot or will not go.But in serving the physical and spiritual needs of the people we encounter, God has called us to build the Church and build churches. We are sent to enlarge the body of Christ (often in places where the name of Jesus has not been heard) and construct structures in which this growing body of believers will worship and glorify our Great God!
The work God has empowered and blessed us to participate in the past three years in Humla fits our purpose and calling. We ask you to pray for this land and the construction of a church, knowing that Jesus is building His church and Jesus is protecting His church.
“…and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
– Matthew 16:18 (ESV)
यसैले म भन्दछु, तिमी पत्रुस हौ। अनि म मेरो मण्डली यो चट्टानमाथि बनाउनेछु। मेरो मण्डलीलाई हराउन मृत्युको शक्तिहरू सामर्थ हुनेछैनन्। – मत्ती 16:18 (Nepali Bible)
Helping Hands
Support the building of the church at Simikot by sending contributions to Climbing For Christ c/o Simikot Church, P.O. Box 16290, Rochester, NY 14616-0290 USA. Or CLICK HERE and give online via PayPal.
In Canada, donations also are tax-deductible. Make checks payable to The Great Commission Foundation, and on the memo line add Climbing For Christ CANADA/Simikot Church. Mail your support to: The Great Commission Foundation, #3 – 1335 Trans Canada Way SE, Medicine Hat, AB T1B 1J1. Or give online at http://tgcfcanada.org/donate. Mark your contribution: “Climbing For Christ CANADA/Simikot Church.”
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