Nepal (MNN) ― 11 years ago this week, Nepal's Maoist guerrilla war began with an attack on a police post. It has officially ended with the insurgents laying down arms under United Nations' supervision.
Interserve's Doug VanBronkhorst says, "It's a time of transition, but it's relatively peaceful in Nepal right now. The Maoist insurgency is more or less over and they're working some sort of new, shared government."
June elections will see an assembly chosen, charged with the task of re-writing Nepal's constitution. From there, the constituent assembly will decide if Nepal's monarchy continues.
There is a shift toward independence that's being felt by ministry teams, too. VanBronkhorst says because they go with the mindset of being a Christian professional, the church has steadily been growing for a time like this. "There's a transition in Nepal now, too, from the traditional NGO expatriate organizations being led by foreigners to them being led by Nepali Christians and the Nepali church taking the initiative in some of those programs."
Yet, there's a lot that western Christian professionals can still provide working alongside some of the new emerging Christian Nepali NGOs. It's training, mentoring and discipleship, all rolled into one ministry.
Interserve works with educators for expatriate children as well as local schools and universities. They also collaborate with other organizations to increase effective student work, as well as provide programs for English as a Foreign Language.
On the other side of their ministry, Interserve provides medical, nursing and dental training. That's also supported by community development/Micro-enterprise Business education.
Please pray for maturity and unity among church leaders. Pray too for excellent training programs for new leaders. There are many opportunities available to support their work in Central Asia. Short-term teams are forming. Click here if you want more information.
