May you, O’Lord give me the wisdom so that this piece of wring would only highlight what the Lord wants to convey to the churches. May it not lead to create confusion unto readers. May it lead us to think and consider the strides that we have taken up in the mission and if necessary our heart would be receptive for your glory alone. My ancestors come from the Himalayan only, and I feel very much obliged to invest the rest of my life in the hilly area of mid and far west region. I always pray-ed that my heart may consider it as a privilege to serve the most High. Coincidently, I had to migrate to India and there I was surprised how many Nepalese from Karnali region are in India. Unfortunately, such huge groups in India are not being considered as ‘migrant.’ While living in the plain area and studied in and out of Nepal, I did not have much time and opportunity to visit and have a taste of Himalaya region. Its been a couple of years that I have been spending my time with the churches and communities in Karnali and far west communities. Speaking with church leaders and pastors of those region gave me a clear sense of burden as to how we can help the existing churches and pioneer new churches. This paper would try to bring some of bitter truths for you all but may I humbly request you to think and pray if the Lord wants to bring better out of this bitter truth. Let me tell you friend, my heart is heavy and broken as I am drafting this paper. May the Lord do the rest.
Some of the untruths:
I understand the fact that the Karnali and some part of the far west are the most difficult areas of Nepal, in terms of demography. This, however has made the people’s lives in onerous, and there is also limitation in everything. People from the mainstream land does not have a direct access to these areas, though the public road and other means of transportation has connected part of these areas. Its true that such hardship has also affected a part of people’s health and education. Having seen those realities, people from the mainstream Nepal and the abroad start their judgments. Such speculations are mostly based on their own imaginations or what they experience from their own senses. The most sad thing that we have seen and observed in Karnali and Far west region is those people come up with the solutions immediately, just looking at the surface level. If somebody says that the people who live in the far west and the mid west-hill side are poor, I would call it as an utterly untrue. We have failed to define the poverty so far in Nepal. No matter how many NGOs and INGOs did their attempts to solve their situation. Nobody deals with the issue that makes the people poor. To me, I consider their solutions have been a prime obstacles of growth and development of Karnali and the Far west community. In reality, people in Karnali and Far west are not poor, rather so called civilized people (wonder if we are) have labeled them as a poor people. The poverty in those regions is nothing to do with only economy or infrastructure and such. Had it been this problem, I am sure that the government would have been able to solve it by now. Such realm is hard to reckon by the government agencies or any other development agencies. I call it as the issue of ‘the world-view.’
Let me share some of the experience that I come across while visiting one community in Karnali. For the sake of confidentiality, I would not disclose the place and the community that I am addressing here. The district headquarter is overloaded with many national and International development agencies, seemingly the most of the well-constructed houses have got the organization’s hording boards. While visiting the community, I saw three different water pumps which were constructed in a consecutive row. The first-one was constructed in 2014 by one of the INGOs, and it was damaged after a year. Having seeing the need of clean water, another INGO came in contact with the community in 2015, and they constructed a new-one just near by the damaged water-tank. You would be surprised that the second-one did not last for a long. It was not cared well by the community. In the early of 2016, water pipe got damaged and stopped working. After some months, outsiders came to the community and realized that the locals desperately in need of good water tank. Without any second thought, they designed the project for constructing the new water tank for the community people. The plan became ready, The budget was released, and the third water tank became ready in the late 2016 on the same spot where two were lying in dysfunction. I was traveling together with project coordinator of the INGO under whom the third-one was constructed. I asked him, “Why did not you renovate other twos. You could have saved 90% of the budget which you invested just in the third-one.” “Well, we could have done that way. But their name and logo was engraved there. We had enough money for the new one and we wanted own own logo on the tank. Therefore we constructed it.” said the project coordinator. Later, we went to have some talk to the community people. We were near to the water tank. I asked one of the community member pointing towards the water tank, what would have happen if the third-one get collapsed. He smiled in confidence and said, “Chinta kyan arnuhunchha. NGO-aru aikan banai-alla-an.(Why do you worry on this. Ngos will come and construct new-one.” Remember, I was talking to a person who owns two-story-building. He sometime earns more than a half-million-rupees just in one season of the year. This is how we have defined the development, saying people from the Karnali are poor.
What is the problem after all in the mid and far west of Nepal? Who initiates the development? Who should be more involved in the change? Here, we are to endorse our way of ‘change’, diminishing local’s capacity, strength, resources, innovativeness. This is another problem that we have created in the development circle. In fact, such thoughts are well discussed in the meeting and workshop hall. I wonder if we ever think of having apprenticeship way of doing and learning about development. O’ books and learnings, you have made me so rigid that I do not have time to listen to people at the ground. You have blinded me utterly.
Let me turn to the other side of the story. I did not want to discuss more on the development side rather want to focus on the church growth and how the missional process is going through in mid and far-hills in Nepal. The illustration that I brought above is to give a framework on how the churches in the mid and far west-hill area also also influenced, hence created their own world-views on mission. A part of such influence is because we have failed to teach people the Bible, instead we loaded in them the Christian religion only. We failed to spend time and relate ourselvesw with the leaders but we just tried to become their problem solver. We probably provided the provision to construct the church building, furnitures and others, but utterly neglected people and their hearts, the essence of God’s word and ministry which supposed to be our primary concern. We probably provided many seminars and workshops, but failed to spend time and share the sound biblical understanding and discipleship. For this, Nepalese churches will have to pay the price. The kingdom of God does not run like an organization, or a project, or an event. Its much broader than we can ever imagine of. The Lord owns the Kingdom. It does not function with our mind and strength. The spirit of God gives us grace so that we can become an instrument in the the Kingdom of God.
I know that we have not gone so far from the history. How the mission is linked from the mainstream Nepal to the mid and far west-hills. To those who have been in Karnali area know very well what I write here. For others, these words probably do not give any sense. Let me start with the bible passage here. This is so that I would be circled around the text while trying to bring different images to elucidate my thesis here.
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)
Dr. Rajendra Rongong writes that the churches began to grow rapidly after 1989 in geometrical proportion. And this growth does have an influx of denominational influence from outside. We Nepali churches were turned to be in trap of the influence of outside. The focus of the mission somehow slightly tilted towards the denomination-centered than working together for the Kingdom. Let us look at the existing churches in the Himalayan regions of the mid and far west area. What would you experience in those areas when you make a visit? We have not really dealt the root cause rather we just expect a group of people gathered in one place and church hording-board hanged on the wall. We have tried to change a religion so far. Who am I now? You and I answer that I am a Christian. What makes me a Christian? I probably stopped going to temple because I am a Christian. Instead, I go to the church every Saturday. I probably will not wear 'om’ ring on neck or hand because I am a Christian. But I do not mind to replace it with the cross . We stopped saying ‘ram-ram,’ or ‘hari-oham’ because I am a Christian. However I have been saying “Hallelulha’ and Jaimashi.” I no more observe ‘barta’ (fasting) because I am a Christian. But we do observe oopwas (fasting). Isn’t it interesting that we have even adopted new vocabulary ‘oopwas.’ I used to give alms to the people, and offering to temple in the past but I do not give any offering to the temple because I call myself as a Christian. ‘I am a Christian’ have changed the object. I give it in the church every Saturday. I wonder many a time these forms and activities that I do observe veru carefully try to control my whole being and I call it as ‘Christian’. The Lord Jesus never intended someone to make that kind of Christian rather he wanted to see a change in the life itself. A transformation that Paul has described in the book of Romans 12. Who is leading us? Is our heart that is transformed or Is it our forms that we have been doing every now and then? And the missional problem that I have observe in the mid and far-hills of Nepal is that the most of the mission agencies have made the churches on the second category that I have mentioned.. There is much emphasize on the change in the forms but rarely any gives focus on the real change which our Lord Jesus cried on the Cross. These forms have create confusion, conflict, split, zealous within the churches. If the leader is not happy in one denomination, he or she does not mind to be sold in other denomination. Those outsiders ( including Nepali) are eager to have their name tag on the church wall.
I even hear rumors and talks in mainstream areas where they even question the testimony of the church leaders of remote area. Saying this, I am neither defending leaders from hill areas, nor want to pamper the mission leaders from mainstream areas. We equally share the mistake that happens in the ground. How many times did we ever visited them and spent time with the churches in those remote areas? How many miles of hills that we have ever crossed, sleeping on road side, sacrificing the privileges. Have we ever lived in the limitation like the way our leaders in those areas are living every now and then. If we have not done so, we probably do not have a right to blame them. On the other hand, our leaders who are under one mission is likely to change it if they get some extra benefits and facilities from other mission agencies. Remember those mission agencies do arrive from outside. If the churches will continue to promote their own mission and groups relying on the outsiders, the churches in Nepal will have to pay the cost one day. I am not against of outside support but a kind support that is being done from outside is not healthy to Nepali churches. I met one foreigner who constructs the church building provided the church owns the land. Then he demands the church hall needs to be constructed in his style. Later he would bring a wooden cross and hang on the wall. I know that Nepali churches in remote area may not be in position to construct the church hall, and there is a high chance that our Christian leaders would easily say ‘yes.’. What happens at the end? There emerges a group of people who follow Christian religion. That foreigner may turn like a tiny god to our Nepali Christians. After all he provided all the provision that was required in the name ‘poor Nepalis.’ Such helps would never make the Nepali churches healthy.
There is an alternative!
So what can we do? Do we keep blaming one-another? I understand that there might be shortcomings in my approaches too. But what we need to invest is a sound biblical teachings to our upcoming generation who can think in a different scale than the present generation. Let us not underestimate the Nepali churches and their potentiality who owns the capacity and strength to change the world. We probably need to think how it is going to be the best for the people. We probably do not need to construct church ‘building’ rather we can give more investment on the churches at the moment. We all are striving to build the kingdom of the Lord, serving one Lord. If so, then why do we divide ourselves as if we are serving our own tiny kingdom. We probably need to change the module that we have adopted in the mission from outside. What if we could do similar of what Paul did in the mission. Isn’t that possible in our context? Have we ever tired? I have seen many pastors who have done an excellent work through their jobs and professions. They have never been a burden to anyone in the mission, having been an example for many in the community. The Lord delights in their work. Let us have gut to say ‘no’ to outsiders, including Nepali-foreigner too.
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