Volume XXXIX June/July 2015 No. 4 NEPAL EARTHQUAKE Following the April 25 earthquake in Nepal, we in- quired about the safety of our Nepali ministry partners. Pastor Anand sent the following e-mail. “anks for your kind concern and prayer! We all are well here by the grace of God but we are living in panic like we have never experienced before. Our church building has been badly damaged but the children’s home is okay. We cannot enter our house due to strong aſtershocks. ere have been more than 70 af- tershocks. Even writing this e-mail there was a 5.5 quake. We are living outside in a small tent. Last night there was rain and cold, no good drinking water, no electricity and a shortage of food. We will be living outside in a tent probably until next month. Four church members houses are completely dam- aged in Champi village and lots of houses collapsed in front of our eyes during our Saturday church ser- vice. We rescued two villagers from rubble and took them to the hospital but they died due to suffocation and injuries. With our church youth we tried to rescue other villagers but due to continuous aſtershocks we had to abandon it. Seven of our neighbors have died. Kindly send us some funds for Champi village believ- ers who are homeless quake victims. ey lost every- thing and need water, food, tents, etc. as government officials are not yet helping the victims.” A second e-mail from Pastor Anand: “We are so thankful to God for giving us new life to serve him from this deadly earthquake. Even though our church was badly damaged the building stood and didn’t fall and crush us. All our church members as well as our children were saved by the hands of the living God. We are very thankful to you, HOH family, Ps. Vijay and his family, as well as all brothers & sisters in Christ for praying for us and for the quake victims in Nepal. Please keep in prayer that tremors will cease by the grace of God and our children will have enough cour- age to live inside the house. Also for God’s provision of physical and spiritual needs for homeless quake victims in affected areas of Nepal.”
Transcript
Vol. XXXI No. 5 February 2010
Volume XXXIX June/July 2015 No. 4
NEPAL EARTHQUAKEFollowing the April 25 earthquake in Nepal, we in-
quired about the safety of our Nepali ministry partners. Pastor Anand sent the following e-mail.
“Thanks for your kind concern and prayer! We all are well here by the grace of God but we are living in panic like we have never experienced before.
Our church building has been badly damaged but the children’s home is okay. We cannot enter our house due to strong aftershocks. There have been more than 70 af-tershocks. Even writing this e-mail there was a 5.5 quake.
We are living outside in a small tent. Last night there was rain and cold, no good drinking water, no electricity and a shortage of food. We will be living outside in a tent probably until next month.
Four church members houses are completely dam-aged in Champi village and lots of houses collapsed in front of our eyes during our Saturday church ser-vice. We rescued two villagers from rubble and took them to the hospital but they died due to suffocation and injuries. With our church youth we tried to rescue
other villagers but due to continuous aftershocks we had to abandon it. Seven of our neighbors have died.
Kindly send us some funds for Champi village believ-ers who are homeless quake victims. They lost every-thing and need water, food, tents, etc. as government officials are not yet helping the victims.”
A second e-mail from Pastor Anand:
“We are so thankful to God for giving us new life to serve him from this deadly earthquake. Even though our church was badly damaged the building stood and didn’t fall and crush us. All our church members as well as our children were saved by the hands of the living God.
We are very thankful to you, HOH family, Ps. Vijay and his family, as well as all brothers & sisters in Christ for praying for us and for the quake victims in Nepal.
Please keep in prayer that tremors will cease by the grace of God and our children will have enough cour-age to live inside the house. Also for God’s provision of physical and spiritual needs for homeless quake victims in affected areas of Nepal.”
Vol. XXXIX June/July 2015 No. 4
HOPE HORIZONS is the newsletter of HERALDS OF HOPE, INC. A non-profit corporation proclaiming the living HOPE in the living LORD through the living WORD. It is mailed free to all those who will care and share. Write: PO Box 3 Breezewood, PA 15533-0003 Phone: 717-485-4021 E-mail: [email protected]. Web: www.herald-sofhope.org In Canada: PO Box 371 Fort Frances, ON P9A 3M7
Sun. Jun. 7 10:30am Pleasant Ridge Church of the Brethren Needmore, PA
Sun. Jun. 7 6:00pm Burning Bush Mennonite Church Bedford, PA
Wed. Jun. 10 7:00pm Morning View Mennonite Church Singers Glen, VA
Thu. Jun. 11 7:00pm Oak Hill Mennonite Cumberland, VA
Sun. Jun. 14 9:00am Womelsdorf Mennonite Church Womelsdorf, PA
Sun. Jun. 14 7:00pm Faith Community Fellowship Harrisonville, PA
Sun. Jun. 21 7:15pm Mountain View Mennonite Church Salisbury, PA
Sun. Jul. 12 10:30am Knobsville Church of the Brethren Knobsville, PA
Sun. Jul. 19 10:30am Zion Mennonite Church Etna Green, IN
Sun. Jul. 19 9:30am Faith Community Chapel Topeka, IN
Tue. Jul. 21 7:30pm Salem Mennonite Church New Paris, IN
Thu. Jul. 23 7:30pm Toto Mennonite Church North Judson, IN
Sun. Jul. 26 10:30am Fair Haven Amish Menn. Church Goshen, IN
Sun. Jul. 26 9:30am Milford Chapel Milford, IN
Note 1: Some programs have the same date. J. Mark will be sharing at one location and Bob at the other.Note 2: Ohene Kumi, our ministry partner from Ghana, will be sharing at the events in green type.
Upcoming HOH Programs
FEATURED PRODUCT 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World
This annual worldwide call to prayer began in 1993 and continues today. Join thousands of Christians in prayer for the Muslim world during Ramadan (Islamic holy month). To learn more about praying for Muslims during Ramadan please visit www.pray30days.org.
To order your 30 Day Prayer Guide call our offices 717-485-4021, or toll free 1-866-960-0292, or e-mail [email protected]. (HOH has purchased a quantity of book-lets.) A donation of any amount is appreciated.
Ohene Kumidirector of
Torch MinistriesAccra, Ghana
Some people have the mistaken idea that what I give to God is His, the rest is mine! But one goal of giving is to remind us that all we have belongs to God. Paul tells us in I Corinthians 4:7 that we do not have anything, except what we’ve received from God. That’s a difficult concept for North Americans. We take pride in our self-sufficiency, our ability to take care of ourselves. “I worked hard for it, it’s mine, and no one is going to take it from me!”
The Israelites were commanded to tithe in order, “that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.” (Deut. 14:23.) The fear of the Lord is something every Christian needs to understand. When we don’t recognize His lordship, we put our own interests and ideas ahead of His. This leads to a focus on the material, and like Israel of old, we fall into idolatry. Proverbs 9:10 says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Giving generously demonstrates that we understand the principle that everything we have belongs to God.
God is no cheat! He rewards those who serve Him with a pure heart. Jesus Himself gave us the principle in Mark 4:24. The measure we use to give to others, that same measure will be used to give to us. If we want God to bless us, we need to be generous with others.
There is no established rule to guide generosity. Rules are for those who want to do the minimum. Generosity requires an understanding that God is able to meet my basic needs if I obey Him. Generosity requires sensitivity and obedience to the Holy Spirit. He will guide each Christian to do what He wants.
Sincerely in HOPE of the Gospel,
HERALDS OF HOPE, INC.
THE PRESIDENT’S VIEW
GIVING WITH GENEROSITY
J. Mark Horst, President
According to World Relief, the international service arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, Christians in North America in 1998 had a combined annual income of 10 trillion dollars, 10 trillion! (It must be much higher today.) And the United Nations estimates it would take only 30-40 billion dollars a year to provide all people in developing countries with basic education, health care and clean water. How much is 30 billion dollars? This amount, 30-40 billion, is spent on golf every year! Now before you and I look down on Christians who play golf regularly, we can substitute our favorite hobby, or whatever things we spend money on that are not a basic need. Are any of us doing all we can to minister to the least of these?
In II Corinthians 9:6-15, the apostle Paul outlines several “graces” of giving. In the next three issues of Hope Horizons I’ll use this space to explore those graces.
The first grace of giving is generosity. Paul begins his teaching with a very simple analogy: the law of sowing and reaping. The harvest is in direct proportion to the planting.
The word sparingly, in our English Bibles, carries the meaning of stingy. If you are stingy when you plant, you will have a poor harvest. Conversely, if you sow generously, all things being equal, you will have a bountiful harvest.
Verses eight to eleven expand on this idea of sowing generously. But how do I know if I’m giving generously? A basic starting point is the tithe. Some may protest; that’s law and we’re under grace. True; but remember, Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek long before the law was given! Under the law the tithe was required. Shouldn’t we, under grace, be able to do above what the law required? Jesus taught that principle in the Sermon on the Mount. Grace was given so we could live by a higher standard than simply what the law required!
God is our example in giving. Verse eight says, And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. Can you see the generosity of God? Did God give 10%, 15%, or 20%? God is ABLE to make ALL grace abound. The key word is, able. But whether He does or not depends on us. Too often, we don’t give Him the chance to demonstrate His super-abounding grace! One reason we fail to give generously is, we do not understand the generosity of God toward us.
HOPE CHILDREN’S HOME - KATHMANDU, NEPAL
Sunita 10 yrs. Anjana 11 yrs. Samikchhya 12 yrs.
Sagun 12 yrs.
Lalita 14 yrs.Sharmila 22 yrs.
Pasang 16 yrs.Esther 19 yrs.Rita 22 yrs.
Rachel 23 yrs.
Sandesh 5 yrs.
Ruth 14 yrs.Asha 21 yrs.
Bishnu 13 yrs.
Each year from Pastor Anand we receive an updated photo and "profile" on each of the orphan girls in Nepal.
Sandesh: He is the younger brother of Sagun. Their father is dead.
Sameera: Her father died & her mother is suffering from paralysis.
Sunita: She sings songs in our home from morning to evening.
Anjana: She wants to be an English teacher in the future.
Samikchhya: She wants to be a health worker & serve poor people.
Sagun: She likes to do painting and Sunday school action songs.
Bishnu: She is very active in household work & is helpful to others.
Lalita: She wants to be a missionary & serve the Lord in foreign land.
Ruth: She has a vision to open an orphanage in her remote village.
Pasang: She wants to be a nurse like “sister” Esther & serve the Lord.
Esther: She is in 2nd year of her nursing course in west Nepal.
Asha: She completed tailoring course & applied at a garment factory.
Rita: She is taking special training for teaching profession.
Sharmila: She sings in the church choir. Pray for a husband for her.
Rachel: She’s in final yr. of acquiring a Bachelor degree in sociology.
