Canadians responding to Nepal earthquake
“They are friends and family. We see it as half our congregation is in Nepal, the other half is in Winnipeg.”
Just as Winnipeg pastor Nathan Rieger was standing to speak during the morning worship service in Kathmandu, Nepal, the earthquake struck and the ground began to shake.
The earthquake measured 7.8 magnitude with the epicentre between Kathmandu and Pokhara.
Rieger, a pastor from the Winnipeg Centre Vineyard Church was in Kathmandu with four others ministering to the Vineyard churches in Nepal, with whom they have a 20 year relationship.
Fellow pastor Andy Wood spoke to ChristianWeek from Winnipeg, explaining they often have teams in Nepal visiting the 22 churches that have been planted there by Winnipeg Vineyard outreaches. Some teams stay for months at a time, at the main Vineyard church in Kathmandu, but others in Gorkha where locals were hard hit by the devastating quake.
“It’s not just a ministry,” Wood says. “They are friends and family. We see it as half our congregation is in Nepal, the other half is in Winnipeg.”
The team had left for Kathmandu to run a mobile bible school for pastors and church leaders when the earthquake began.
In one village, out of 100 houses, five remain intact Wood says, after making contact with Rieger. The houses that haven’t collapsed are too unstable to go near, he says. Many people are fearful of going inside as after shocks continue to rock the country.
Currently, Rieger and the others are helping coordinate the aid response, as Winnipeg Vineyard Centre has become the connecting point for many Vineyard members worldwide, coordinating donations and communication from people on the ground in Nepal. The biggest need is for food and shelter.
The courtyard and residences at the Kathmandu Vineyard are packed with people who cannot return to their homes Wood reports. Staying warm, providing food and comfort are first priorities.
Aid organizations like Samaritan’s Purse and World Vision are also on the ground responding to the devastation.
“There’s a lot of hurting people here,” Patrick Seger, response team leader for Samaritan’s Purse says in a post on their website. “I saw a number of needs out there, a number of dead people, a lot of structures had fallen. A lot of people lost their homes and lost their incomes. They’re trying to figure out what they’re going to do.”
According to Samaritan’s Purse more than 5,000 people are known to have died, and there are fear that number could double as officials dig through the rubble. Over 8,000 were injured. Tens of thousands are homeless. Some 8 million people have been affected.
“There are a lot of people sleeping out in the streets,” Seger says. “They are fearful of the buildings and don’t want to sleep inside. They are sleeping in the rain because they don’t have any other shelter.”
With $300,000 in funding from the Canadian government, Samaritan’s Purse distributed 2,700 relief packages to meet the basic household needs of families harmed by the earthquake.
World Vision is responding and targets 100,000 people in the worst-affected areas of Bhaktapur, Gorkha, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Lamjung.
Nepal has long ranked at the top of the list of places most vulnerable to earthquakes, according to experts. Before the earthquake, World Vision was implementing earthquake preparedness training for communities and workshops for schools to help reduce the risks associated with earthquakes. This preparedness work was done in Lalitpur and Rupandehi Districts for about 65,000 people.
Thankfully, Kathmandu Vineyard suffered no fatalities but Wood says there have been injuries within the communities.
Of the Himalayan Region Vineyard churches affected, Gorkha is the worst, he says. Reports indicate the village is levelled. Aid will need to be airlifted into this village. Kathmandu and the nearby villages of Champi and Gotgaon are also majorly impacted.
About 40 Vineyard families have lost homes, including pastors and leaders. A team from Kathmandu travelled to Champi and Gotgaon to assess the damages. Though with monsoon season beginning, it’s expected heavy seasonal rains for the next three months will make transportation and relief work more difficult. Landslides also become a concern as the ground quickly becomes saturated.
“The sides of mountains can become unstable, it’s quite a devastation situation,” Rieger says. “There isn’t one person who hasn’t been affected. Almost everyone knows someone who has died.”
However, he says the people of Nepal are daring to hope, and people are coming together to encourage each other during the tragedy.
“You are not alone,” is the message going around the Vineyard members in Nepal, Woods reports. “God is with you – and we, your Vineyard family, are with you.”
Looking ahead Rieger says clean-up and demolition of unstable and unfixable structures will have to occur. Fittingly, the team members with Rieger include volunteers with experience in construction, and are working with locals to create a safe template for demolition. Finally, much further down the road, Rieger says they will move into rebuilding mode.
The church is asking for prayer, as well as donations either by cheque to the Winnipeg Centre Vineyard and designated to “Earthquake Fund”, by electronic bank transfer by calling 204-582-2900 or through Paypal to winnipegcentrevineyard@gmail.com. All funds will go directly to aid and relief efforts in Nepal.
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