Dear Family and Friends, Thursday, 4-30-2015, 10pm
Thank you for the outpouring of care we have experienced from you for the earthquake victims in Nepal. We have received and transferred $20,000 today, and have already begun distributing relief funds to pastors who will take these funds to the hardest hit districts, primarily the seven mountain districts around Katmandu. Sadly, many believers have died in Kathmandu and these mountain districts.
Please pray that the remaining believers may experience the grace of God to trust his good sovereignty and love him in the midst of great suffering. At least eighty percent of all the village homes have been destroyed in all seven of these districts, some districts up to ninety-five percent. They were made of mud and stone and simply could not stand up against an earthquake of this magnitude.
We have prayed, sought counsel, and talked for two days and believe that the best strategy is to work through local pastors in each district who will be able to distribute help not only to their own village but also to the villages surrounding them. This is a great opportunity for Christians to show Christ’s love for others, so please pray that the believers here have faith to trust God with their own great needs and to love their fellow villagers who have often persecuted them.
So many times in history God has chosen the suffering of his people to display the glory of his grace. Pray that it may be so now in Nepal. And pray that as we put God’s amazing grace on display that many would believe in Jesus Christ for salvation during this season of trial.
Please be in prayer for my three friends and brothers from Kathmandu. They need our prayer covering throughout the day tomorrow (beginning on your Thursday evening around 10pm-we are ten and a quarter hours ahead of you). They will start at 8am and will head out on motorcycles to the hardest hit district, Sindhupalchawk, about 80 kilometers away from Kathmandu. Over 1,300 people have died there in the quake with the vast majority of houses destroyed. In order to get a first-hand look at the need and how best to help, they will travel to see 2-4 pastors in different villages. Please pray for our safety in their travel because rocks and land are still loose and sometimes falling. Please also pray for the Lord’s hand to help them connect with these pastors. We have not been able to contact a couple of them and trust they are not dead. And finally, please pray that the $2,000 they will carry with them will get into the pastor’s hands. Mobs have stopped relief trucks and stolen everything from them so we need the Lord’s protection from angry mobs who are desperate for help. We know it is a risk, but people are starving so we are putting our trust in the Lord. If you feel moved to pray at different times through Thursday night, we would appreciate your intercession.
We truly want Christ to be exalted, so please fervently hold these brothers up in prayer. Thanks.
Sincerely,
Paul
Finish The Mission 