Sword & Trowel 2017: Issue 1 COMPASSIONATE WORK CONTINUES Update from Pastor Samuel Rai, Canaan Baptist Church, Pokhara, Nepal I


N AUGUST monsoon fl oods swept through regions of Nepal, Bangladesh and northern India. Incessant rains through the second week of August led to devastating fl oods and landslides in Nepal. Pastor Rai wrote – ‘I could not control my emotions with the heartbreaking disaster now following the earthquake of two years ago. Due to continuous rainfall many people have lost their lives in fl oods and landslides, with families displaced and households destroyed.’ The worst affected areas are the foothill regions and the plains to the south, which are the main agricultural areas. Crops have been washed away and there has been a huge loss of live- stock. Many clean water supplies were


destroyed and there has been extensive damage to roads and bridges. The Nepalese government cannot cope with the magnitude of the needs. With a special concern for Christians in daughter churches, Pastor Rai sent out survey teams to assess needs in 50 villages in the Chitawan, Makawanpur, Rautahat and Sarlahi districts, south and south west of Kathmandu in the Central Region of Nepal, where some 730 houses had been destroyed. They revisited with relief supplies in


the fi rst week of September. From 22nd to 28th


August a team went out with


trucks to fi ve communities in the Mo- rang and Sunsari districts in the East Region of Nepal with a variety of items to be distributed according to need. Items distributed included cooking pots and plates, rice, dahl, mosquito nets, medicines, soap, tarpaulins and blankets. In all some 2,200 families were helped.


In one location 8,000 metres of fl ex- ible water pipe were provided to restore the supply from a spring. A further 27,000 metres are needed to complete the system. The aim is to give water pipes to families who will then install


page 18 Compassionate Work Continues


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