Key points:
- Asian Christian leaders call for prayer, humanitarian support and sustained solidarity with affected communities.
- UMCOR said it stands ready to support the response efforts of United Mission to Nepal and other partners in the region.
- A United Methodist missionary serving in Nepal reports on relief efforts and longer-term plans in the region.
Hundreds are dead and nearly 2,000 people remain unaccounted for after catastrophic flooding and landslides struck the Nepal-Tibet border region. The disaster has prompted churches and mission partners to mobilize relief while Christian leaders across Asia call for prayer and sustained solidarity with affected communities.
The Rev. Jung Eun Grace Moon, general secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia, expressed grief for those who have lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods and called on member churches and ecumenical partners to accompany communities devastated by the Aug. 26 disaster.
“Our hearts are heavy with grief as we remember the people of Nepal and Tibet in this moment of profound suffering,” Moon said. “We mourn with every family that has lost a loved one; we stand with those who are still waiting for news, and we grieve with communities whose homes and livelihoods have been swept away.
“In the midst of such overwhelming pain, we pray that the people of Nepal and Tibet may know that they are not alone,” she added. “We are together in this hour of anguish.”
How to help
Donations can be made through UMCOR’s International Disaster Response Advance #982450. Money from this fund is used to respond to disasters around the world.
The Christian Conference of Asia said experts believe the flash floods were triggered by the massive collapse of part of a glacier in the Himalayan border region. Debris entered the Lhende Khola River, generating a sudden surge of water, sediment and boulders. River levels rose by as much as 9 meters — nearly 30 feet — within 30 minutes.
Damaged roads and bridges have cut off communities and disrupted communications, while unstable terrain and the threat of additional landslides and flooding have complicated search-and-rescue efforts.
Local churches respond despite isolation
The Rev. Chandra Danuwar, pastor of Nepal Prayer Church, told UM News that conditions remain critical and that many isolated villages cannot be reached by road.
“Major roads, bridges and access routes have been completely destroyed or blocked by landslides, so there is currently no way to reach many of these isolated villages by road,” Danuwar said. “Transportation is at a standstill, making physical relief delivery very challenging.”
Local churches and Christian families also have been affected by flooding and displacement, but church members are finding ways to help their neighbors.
“Since heavy transport can’t get through, local church members and youth are helping on foot where possible,” Danuwar said.
Nepal Prayer Church and its branches are collecting emergency offerings to purchase dry food, tarps and clean water and to support immediate relief efforts.
Danuwar asked Christians around the world to pray for roads to reopen so aid can reach stranded families, for comfort for those who have lost loved ones and homes, and for protection from post-flood disease. He also called for support to expand relief efforts and help rebuild devastated communities.
United Methodist mission partners mobilize
United Methodist mission partners also are mobilizing to respond to the disaster.
The United Methodist Committee on Relief called for prayer for those affected by the flooding, especially families of those who have died or remain missing and people who have lost homes and livelihoods.
UMCOR said it stands ready to support the response efforts of United Mission to Nepal and other partners in the region. United Mission to Nepal, or UMN, is a mission partner of UMCOR.
United Methodist missionary Katherine Parker, who serves in Nepal with UMN, said the organization is joining a rapid-response effort to assist more than 1,000 affected families in three to four municipalities in Dhading District. United Mission to Nepal is partnering with CIRDS, an organization it also worked with following Nepal’s devastating 2015 earthquake.
“Given the scale of the disaster, widespread mobilization and coordination efforts are underway to reach affected families across multiple locations,” Parker said in an update shared by the Greater Northwest Area.
“The videos and images coming from the affected areas are heartbreaking, and the growing lists of those who have died or remain missing are a source of immense grief and anxiety,” she said.
UMN staff members have traveled from Kathmandu to the region to assist with assessments and on-the-ground coordination. Longer term, UMN plans to support school recovery efforts in the Nuwakot region. Parker, who is currently outside Nepal on home leave, remains in close contact with her UMN colleagues.
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The difficulty of reaching the disaster zone also was described by the Rev. David Cho, a missionary of the Korean Methodist Church who has served in Nepal since 2018 after 20 years of mission work in India.
Cho said the Nepal-Tibet border region affected by the disaster is part of the area where his mission team serves. He described it as rugged terrain marked by deep Himalayan gorges, where floods and landslides are recurring threats. But the magnitude of this disaster is unusual even for an area accustomed to natural disasters, he said.
Cho’s mission team has been able to get within about 30 kilometers, or 19 miles, of the disaster area but has been unable to go farther because access routes have been cut off. A team based in Kathmandu also has been unable to reach the hardest-hit area, he said.
Cho said repeated natural disasters have left many Nepalese living with a deep sense of fear. He asked United Methodists to pray that people affected by the disaster may find comfort and courage and be freed from fear through the Spirit of Christ.
A call for sustained solidarity
Moon called on churches to move beyond expressions of sympathy and accompany affected communities through relief, recovery and rebuilding.
“CCA calls on its member churches, member councils and ecumenical partners to uphold the people and communities of Nepal and Tibet in prayer and to accompany them with timely relief, compassionate presence and sustained support for recovery and rebuilding,” she said.
Moon also said the disaster underscores the connection between environmental change and human vulnerability. She urged Asian churches to renew their commitment to creation care, climate justice and disaster preparedness and to stand with communities whose lives and livelihoods are increasingly exposed to environmental change.
The Christian Conference of Asia, one of the world’s oldest regional ecumenical organizations, includes 99 member churches and 17 national Christian councils representing more than 52 million Christians across Asia and the Pacific.
For Christians responding in Nepal, the immediate challenge is reaching people whose communities remain isolated by the disaster. For the wider church, Moon said, the moment calls for prayer, presence and continued accompaniment.
“In this time of profound loss and suffering, may God’s comforting presence draw near to all those affected, embrace those who grieve, strengthen those who search and serve, shelter those who have lost their homes and kindle a light of hope amid the darkness,” she said.
Kim is director of Korean and Asian news at United Methodist Communications. Contact him at 615-742-5470 or [email protected]. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digest.
