Compassion — Blog — Floyd & Sally McClung

The earthquake devastation in Nepal keeps getting worse - more than 8,000 dead and many more missing and injured. Are the earthquakes in Nepal judgment from God, like one Christian blogger suggests? No way. Some believe the predominantly Hindu country is being judged by God. Obviously, God has a right to judge any nation any time He pleases, but I don't like such "hind-sight" prophetic utterances. They are without compassion.

I visited Nepal the first time in 1974. The Nepali church was small back then, about 1500 people. Today it is more than 600,000 people - and growing! A contagious, nation-transforming church!

I don't relate to the so-called prophets who jump on bad news after a calamity or disaster and state emphatically, after-the-fact, that these events are God's judgment.

Why would God judge a nation where the church is exploding in growth and having such a huge impact on people's lives? Nepali people are open to the gospel, not resisting it.

These so-called prophets of doom have a limited perspective, and often judgmental attitude.

When Sally and I lived in Afghanistan in the early 70's, we trained and sent a team to pioneer a ministry to back packers in Nepal. Many young people came to Christ through that ministry. Including many Nepalis.

We continue to be involved in Nepal through our All Nations workers, including sending more than $24,000 for food and shelter from South Africa and the United States in the last few days.

I have included an excerpt from a report by one of our All Nations workers below... it is incredibly moving.

NEPAL NEWS

This is the old man who has lost his house and 11 family members. He just easily said, "Madam, I don't need a house. Use that money to send food to my village." It’s been 12 days and his village has not received one grain of rice. We have arranged with a different organization to take them food Sunday but he really wants to take them some today. This picture is him preparing to take food and water to his village. Please keep giving if you can. The need is so great!

We have done some immediate relief work with food and stuff, but what we are mainly concerned about is how to get people back on their feet so they can work and feed themselves again. Lots and lots of organizations have come in with food and tarps and things, and we’re really thankful for that! But what about a few months from now? That’s what we are worried about.

Our focus has been on helping our own people and our own neighborhood, because nobody is helping them. So basically we are building or helping build homes for at least seven families. I just had a meeting with one group of five families who are relatives that all lived in mud houses. We discussed what we can do, what we can salvage from the wreckage (mud houses), and that soon we will be digging them a well (maybe even today) and then when we can start the demolishing process, it will be mostly in their hands.

The other person we're helping is Babita’s family, our first believer. Their mud house looks okay from the outside but the inside and supports have completely crumbled. For the time being, their family of five is living with us. Another family of three, a mother and her two children, are permanently living with us because their mud house was also destroyed but it’s not their own land.

These are some of the kids that Heather and Maika, our All Nations workers, are helping.