In an interview with BMS editor Andrew Dubock, Ian Chadwell describes how Christian medical professionals worked together and quickly mobilised others to treat hundreds of people in remote regions who were desperately ill with diarrhoea and cholera.
Ian says, “There has been a building of momentum from Christians across Nepal, who were reading in the newspapers about the situation, seeing a slow response from local services and wanting to do something.
“For a long time, the Nepali Church was very much concentrated on outreach, church planting and meeting people’s spiritual needs. This is not the first [event like this] but the scale seems to be quite different.
“The response has been staggering. The cost of sending two Nepali teams (over £11,000) has been raised almost entirely by Nepali churches.
“That’s significant – we wouldn’t have been looking at this ten years ago.
“They see this as a valid way of being Christians and I’m really excited about what’s going on here.â€
Ian especially asks BMS supporters to pray that this wouldn’t become “a one-off initiative that happened because of a particular event, but that the Nepali Christian medical professionals can see how they can be involved in the futureâ€.
He adds: “I’d love to see Christians develop a passion for not just meeting crisis situations but in an ongoing way.â€