2019 Resources

2 Food and fundraising3 Changing scene in Nepal4 Our project partner

5 Ideas for children6–7 Worship resources8 Puzzles placemat

www.operationagri.org.uk

Learning for life in Nepal

Family worshipSee ideas for services on pages 6–7. Give out leaflets and gift envelopes.

Harvest supperPrint page 8 of this booklet as placemats (photocopy or print from the DVD). Serve rice and curry: lentil or chicken (not beef: Nepalis avoid it due to Hindu customs!). Recipes are on the DVD. Show the longer video and run a quiz about it.

Tea partyServe spiced tea (in a saucepan boil water, tea, milk, and crushed cardamom pods. Strain and serve). Serve spicy samosas from an Asian shop, or make nimki (see below). Have the powerpoint running and give out leaflets and envelopes.

Nimki: Knead 500g flour, ½ teasp cumin powder, ¼ teasp salt with 3 teasp oil, and water as needed. Roll out, fold in half, 3 times. Cut in 3cm diamond shapes. Deep fry in 2 cups oil. Serve hot or keep in a box.

Could you volunteer your skills?• Be an OA rep for your church or area: give out magazines or run an OA stall at a Church conference.• Promote OA’s Presents with a Purpose scheme for gifts to friends or relatives.• Use your hobby to raise funds for OA: making jam, greeting cards, gardening, home tutoring.• Help OA to promote support by means of social media.• Offer your professional skills as an advisor or trustee of Operation Agri.

F00d and fundraising

£65

Thank you for supporting Operation Agri. These ideas can help you plan an Operation Agri event, at harvest or any time. More resources can be ordered from OA’s website or the address below.

Children’s Bring and Buy SaleThe project gives books and educational toys to schools. Raise funds for OA via a Bring and Buy sale of children’s toys, books and clothes – clearing cupboards! Involve the community. Offer any items unsold to a playgroup or charity shop.

What does it Cost?Here are examples of some of the project costs:

Please note that gifts to this appeal may be used for other Operation Agri projects as well as in Nepal.

Toothpaste and brushes for a health training event

2-day training in book-keeping for women’s savings groups

3-day training for 30 farmers on keeping cattle and buffalos

Set of educational resources for a school

£280

£80

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MESSAGE TO YOUR TREASURERSome treasurers kindly reclaim Gift Aid for Operation Agri and include this in the cheque. As this reduces our admin costs, Operation Agri gives authority to churches to do this.Please send your cheque to Operation Agri’s London address stating it is for the 2019 Appeal. It helps if you use the form in the resource pack. Or use BACS transfer: (sort code 12-20-29, a/c 00142961) and please email: admin@operationagri.org.uk so we can identify your gift.Make cheques payable to ‘Operation Agri’. All gifts are acknowledged. (Please do NOT send gifts for Operation Agri to Baptist House at Didcot). Thank you for your help.

OPERATION AGRI ADDRESSMalcolm Drummond, AdministratorOperation Agri, 361 Firs Lane, Palmers Green, LONDON, N13 5LX. Tel: 020 8803 0113 (day, evening, weekend) Email: admin@operationagri.org.uk www.operationagri.org.ukACKNOWLEDGEMENTS MCDS is a partner of BMS World Mission. Grateful thanks to MCDS leaders for arranging the filming. Filming and editing: Promise Media Nepal, and J motion Towcester.Photos: MCDS, Promise Media, and BMS World Mission.Contributors: Gill Ashley-Smith, Martin Butterworth, and Dr Mark Galpin.Design: sarahprenticedesign.co.ukPrint: Papaya Group.

VolunteersOperation Agri is a Christian charity run mainly by volunteers. We have no overseas staff, but support projects in several countries, run by Christian-led partner organisations. Some are linked to BMS World Mission, including MCDS whose work features here.

We help bring lasting change to struggling communities, showing Christian love in action.

If you or someone you know could help, please contact Malcolm Drummond (below).

© Operation Agri 2019. Operation Agri resources may be freely reproduced in connection with fund-raising or promoting awareness of Operation Agri’s work. A Christian development agency. Registered charity No 1069349.

Learning for life in Nepal

£20

Learning for life in Nepal 3

Introduction to NepalOverview of the country at the top of the world

❛In 2015, devastating earthquakes hit a huge area in the

Himalayan mountains and all around the

capital, Kathmandu.

❛changes in the way that local Government is organised.

Mission workIn past years, BMS World Mission workers from UK came to work alongside other missionaries in Nepal, and Operation Agri supported a number of their projects. Today, foreign mission groups have had to adapt – they must work through local organisations rather than directly.

The Nepali church is catching the vision of reaching out to people through practical help and social care. They have to work in consultation with the local government, to reassure officials that the work they are doing is really helpful to the perceived needs of the communities.

Earthquake In 2015, devastating earthquakes hit a huge area in the Himalayan mountains and all around the capital, Kathmandu. Thousands died, and quarter of a million homes, schools and historic buildings were damaged or destroyed, plus roads, water supplies, livelihoods and communications were badly affected. The after effects, and rebuilding work, still pose a huge challenge to many rural communities.

Nepal is at the top of the world! Snow covered Mount Everest, and the Himalayan mountains attract many people to trek through spectacular scenery. The mountainous ‘foothills’ below the snowline, are less well known, but also impressive, and challenging for those living there. With little flat land to farm, people often grow food crops on narrow terraces, where it may be hard for even small cultivators or animal drawn ploughs to have access.

Nepal is a poor country, though striving to improve. It is rated 149 out of 189 on the United Nations Human Development Index, but many rural areas of Nepal would rate much lower.

There are many ethnic groups in Nepal. It is a meeting point of cultures, particularly Indian and Tibetan. Religion is majority Hindu, but with Buddhists, and traditional animist beliefs, as well as Christians. Church growth, though impressive, tends to be mainly in cities and a few other areas.

History For a century, from the 1850’s, Nepal’s rulers shut the country off from the outside world, as a Hindu Kingdom. Almost the only outside contact was that the British Army in India recruited Gurkhas from Nepal as soldiers! Then in 1951, the border opened, and Nepalis who had become Christians in India, began to enter and start small church fellowships. Foreign missions were allowed to do medical and technical aid work, but not to evangelise. But some Nepali Christians suffered persecution or imprisonment – accused of trying to convert people from Hinduism.

Recent changes In 1990 massive street protests brought the start of democratic change. Christians were released from prison, and began to witness openly – the church grew dramatically. In 2001, turmoil and murders in the Royal Family, and the rise of Maoists, led to civil war. Then in 2007 Nepal became a republic, no longer the world’s only Hindu Kingdom! Nepal has recently become a ‘Federal State’ with big

Learning for life in Nepal

Learning for life in Nepal

Serving disadvantaged communities

savings groups and would like to form a cooperative from these groups. The Chest project is continually involved in developing the community over these three years.”

• Improving infrastructure such as toilets, water tanks and pipes. Health awareness sessions on nutrition, common illnesses, child birth, vaccination, and (as in the video) caring for your teeth!

• C hildren’s education – equipping schools with resources for the youngest children, encouraging sports, teaching healthy living, clean environment and awareness of what to do in disasters like fire or earthquake.

• Women’s self-help savings groups are encouraged, to support each other in improving their lives.

• Experts are brought in for training in skills, as requested by the people – anything from growing mushrooms or vegetables, to making pickle or soap, to keeping chickens or cattle.

Dipendra Rai, CHEST project leader for the work in Ikudol, says “We are focused on uplifting the marginalised community through different activities. We constructed drinking water supplies, and have given health related training, and livestock training. We gave educational resources to schools, and organized quiz contests, and environment awareness. We engage in capacity development, providing training on leadership and bookkeeping. Right now we have three

The Nepal Baptist Church Council set up MCDS, the Multipurpose Community Development Scheme, as a practical

outreach programme of Christian

service to help disadvantaged

communities, showing respect

and care for all, including those often considered low status or neglected.

Operation Agri and BMS World Mission have partnered MCDS for many years. Each MCDS team works in a particular area helping village communities, usually for 3–4 years in agreement with the local authorities.

The CHEP team, Community Health and Education Programme, recently started work in Rukum, a poor and remote area in Western Nepal, with OA’s support.

The CHEST team, Community Health, Engineering, and Social Transformation, features in the OA videos this year, and is currently working in Ikudol, south of Kathmandu, an area hit by the 2015 earthquakes.

An overall aim of both teams is to improve the health, well-being and skills of the people, and increase their ability to work together for their community. This can involve:

MCDS our project partner

Spiritual impactThe MCDS teams make it clear that they are Christians, but take care not to do overt evangelism, which would be frowned on by the local authorities. But their way of working is noticed by the people! The CHEP team reported at the close of their previous project last year:

“First and foremost is our action as being a disciple of Christ. Love, integrity, participation and forgiveness have been our core values along with honesty, transparency and accountability. Due to this, approval from the government sector, the partnership with government agencies, the accomplishment of work on project timeframe has become easier.

Also MCDS recruits local people from Christian faith and non-Christian faith, which also helped in making them know who Christ is, with our practice, our action and our perception.”

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Learning for life in Nepal 5

Ideas for children

Mountain muralUse sheets of coloured paper and felt pens to create a Nepal mountain scene, and use it to promote your Operation Agri event.

Jesus told us to love our neighbours – not just those close to us, but anyone in need, as the good Samaritan did (Luke 10:25–37). Operation Agri is helping families and children in Nepal who suffered from earthquake disaster, to improve their health, safety and education.

Equipping schoolsMany schools have very little equipment. Operation Agri’s partner, MCDS, provide lots of resources which really help children enjoy learning. Could you learn two alphabets and two sets of numbers – Nepali and English!

Healthy teeth – or toothache? Our strongest bones are our teeth! God created them to last so we can eat! • Ask children – do you brush your teeth regularly?• Does a dentist check your teeth? • Villages in Nepal are unlikely to have dentists. A bad

toothache may mean pulling the tooth out!MCDS show mothers and school children how to brush teeth well, then give out fluoride toothpaste and brushes for everyone to use. They say:

Earthquake! Landslides! Fire!Nepal suffered serious earthquakes and landslides that destroyed many homes and schools. MCDS are helping people to know what to do in such emergencies, including lighting strikes and fire! They put up boards showing what to do. (See children's powerpoint on the DVD).• Guess what these instructions say for fire?*• Have you had a fire drill at school or church?Get children to create their own warning board for your church.(*Answers: Help everyone to get out; don’t stay upstairs; in smoke keep low and crawl out; use a fire extinguisher; to escape you may need to break a window; keep windows shut if the fire is the other side; use your phone to warn friends; phone the fire service.)

Share verses about trusting in God when afraid: Joshua 1:9, Psalm 20:1, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 121:1

Earthquake damaged school

• brush every tooth all sides, • brush in circles, not up and

down, • don’t rinse your mouth; let

the fluoride stay to protect your teeth!

• They also give lots of advice on what to eat to stay healthy.

Maybe get some leaflets from a dentist and have a tooth-brushing session!

6 Learning for life in Nepal

new types of crops and engage in other activities to provide an income, training communities to take better care of themselves to avoid disease and illness, improving the learning experience of school children.

All of these contribute to transforming a community. The learning that takes place is not just learning of the head (knowledge) and the hands (practical skills), but also learning of the heart (attitudes and values). Challenging and changing the in-built discrimination in society is an important part of any project focused on learning and change.

ResponseJesus showed in His own ministry God’s concern and priority for the poor and marginalised. We are called to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and be people of justice and compassion. We have the opportunity to support work which is bringing justice and compassion to the marginalised in Nepal. Such support is an important part of our own response to the call to ‘seek justice’. Just as the Israelites were reminded of what God had done for them in liberating them from Egypt, we are also called to remember what God has done for us. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, He has demonstrated His grace and compassion, saving us from sin and death and bringing us into His Kingdom. We must learn to respond to those less fortunate than ourselves not from a position of power, but from a position of humility. God has shown us grace, we must respond by showing grace to others, we must ‘learn to do right’ and to ‘seek justice’.

Dr. Mark Galpin is the Postgraduate Programme Leader at All Nations Christian College, Hertfordshire. Mark and his family lived in Nepal for many years, and he became Executive Director of the United Mission to Nepal.

Worship resources‘Learning for Life’ sermon ideas from Dr Mark Galpin

Isaiah 1:17 is a specific lesson on ‘Learning for Life’. Often we associate ‘learning’ with formal education but thankfully we don’t only learn in school. We are learning all the time, sometimes consciously and at other times we don’t even knowit is happening. Sometimes we learn to do things one way, but need to unlearn as it is not the right way (e.g. a bad driving habit).

This was the case for the people of Israel. They were so used to doing wrong and disobeying God that they needed to learn again what it meant to ‘do right’ (v 17). Isaiah starts with a vision from God calling people to repent (v 16): “Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!” What does ‘right’ look like? It involves “seeking justice, encouraging the oppressed, defending the cause of the fatherless, and pleading the case of the widow”. Despite their spiritual activities (sacrifices, worship and prayer) they were not living according to God’s commands.

Learning for life The Israelites needed to re-learn what it meant to be God’s people. It was not just about spiritual activities, but about how they operated as a society and particularly how they treated the poor and marginalised among them. They needed to actively seek justice, get alongside, encourage or relieve the oppressed, and to actively pursue justice for the marginalized (represented by orphans and widows). The re-learning that they needed to do would not only result in ‘life’ for themselves (experiencing God’s blessing instead of his discipline) but also ‘life’ for those around them, both the neglected and marginalised, and life for other nations too, as Israel became the blessing that God had called them to be.

This project that Operation Agri supports in Nepal involves various aspects of learning – helping farmers learn to grow

“Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage

the oppressed. Defend the cause of the

Fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” (Isaiah 1:17)

Learning for life in Nepal 7

Hymns and worship songsSF =Songs of Fellowship 1–4BHB=Baptist Hymn BookBPW=Baptist Praise and WorshipMP= Mission Praise

Beauty for brokenness SF2-664, MP-806For the fruits of His creation SF3-1234, BPW-123, MP-153Give thanks with a grateful heart SF1-124, MP-170 God of the mountains SF3-1248Hail to the Lord’s anointed SF1-150, BPW-142, BHB-80, MP-204I will speak out SF1-280Make me a channel of your peace SF1-381, BPW-634, MP-456O God our help in ages past SF-415, BHB-71, BPW-389, MP-498We give Thee but Thine own BHB-530You’ve put a new song in my mouth SF3-1689

Operation Agri hymns: (Words and powerpoints on the DVD).Praise God whose grace (tune SF1-520, BHB-444, BWP-391 or 570, MP-631)Look and see what God is doing (tune SF1-377, BHB-595, BPW-559, MP-449)

This is the day that the Lord has made SF1-553, BPW-21, MP-691Nepali version as sung on the video(see powerpoint words on the DVD). Aajaa ko din, aajaa ko din, unle shri je ka, unle shri je kaRamaudai jau, khushi manau, ra Ananda garau, ra Ananda garau.Aajaa ko din, unle shri je Ka, ramaudai jau ra khushi manau.Aajaa ko din, aajaa ko din, unle shri je ka

Prayer Read Psalm 41:1–3

Lord – you bless those that have regard for the weak.• We pray that the work of the project team in Nepal will uplift the weak• May they bring your hope and your justice in the communities they serve.Lord – you promise to protect and preserve those who help others. • We pray for the team to travel safely on difficult roads. • May they have good relationships with local authorities, so the work

continues without hindrance.• We give thanks that the communities are now better prepared for any

future emergencies like landslide, fire or earthquake.

Lord – you want to bring health and healing for people. • We pray that the clean water, and health training that the team are

providing will have a lasting impact on the welfare of families.• We also pray that the team’s Christian values will shine through in what

can sometimes be spiritually hostile places.

Help us, Lord, to ‘have regard for the weak’ both in our own community, and through our prayers and support of our fellow Christians in Nepal as they serve needy communities, by showing Christian love in action.

In Jesus name, Amen.

Mendo Singtan says: “Other organisations gave health training, but it was ineffective. MCDS were different: clarity, content and follow-up were really good. I’ve learnt so much on family hygiene and tips to be free from cholera.”

Meet the people – invite five readers to give these reports

Jyoti Thapa says: “People came to teach about savings and credit, but we didn’t understand their intentions and they didn’t explain about interest on our money. Then MCDS helped us form a group, with training that was easy to understand and build trust. Now we have 35 members and the training I had on group management, plus bookkeeping, gives me confidence.”

Hari Prasad says: “I had been working abroad to earn money, but wanted to work at home so I started farming cows and buffalos, but knew very little about it. After MCDS gave Livestock Training I am confident to expand. I sell 70 litres of milk a day now, and can support my family without going abroad.”

Answers to back page Quiz: 1 c) 8 mountains. 2 a) goat. 3 b) mountain – Everest! 4 c) rhododendrons.Numbers and Calendar: year from April 2019 = Nepali year 2076 =

Sangita says: “I teach the youngest class at school, but they often didn’t come as we had no teaching materials, and just used blackboard and oral way of teaching. But MCDS provided carpets and educational kits which attracted children to come regularly. They now learn the basics through playing with the kits.”

Gitananda says: “We had scarcity of water for years. The government tank, built 25 years ago, is now totally damaged. MCDS helped build a 10,000 litre reservoir tank, so now we have plenty of clean water.”