Dear Friends,
I am writing this letter from Nepal, the week before Thanksgiving. It’s been a very full past three weeks, as our leaders in the country have been carrying out church savings group trainings for about 75 church leaders in two different regions. These groups provide vulnerable families with a place to safely save money, access small loans from their pooled savings, and care for each other’s needs. As we partnered with another organization, Hope International, to bring this curriculum to our local leaders here, this year I have served as a go-between – a bridge, if you will – between the two parties. I also took this trip to observe, because we want to see if this is a good fit for leaders in other countries who also want to grow their savings group ministries. Over this whole year, it’s been deeply exciting to see the long-held vision of our Nepali leaders to grow and multiply savings groups begin to come to fruition through this new partnership!
That is one of many things I’m grateful for this year. Partnerships. Growing partnerships with organizations like Jesus Film, SowHope, and Hope International, along with deepening partnerships we’ve had for years, as is the case with The Voice of the Martyrs and Global Commission Partners. These partnerships have helped church leaders in South Asia to do even more of the good work they have set their hands to.
I am also so thankful that after almost two and half years of no travel, I and our other staff have been able to take several trips to visit many of our leaders in person in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Bhutan. I am thankful that during this long season of a pandemic, the military coup in Myanmar, and many natural disasters, that you, our individual supporters have not become fatigued in giving, but have increased your generosity. I am thankful for our many prayer partners over this ministry. One of my favorite things to hear is that a church or individual is praying through our prayer calendar! I am thankful for each of the men and women we support and for the diverse gifts and approaches to ministry they each have. I am thankful to our Lord for providing for our physical and spiritual daily bread.
Thank you for being in this ministry with us! I pray this Advent season is one of peace and joy.
Happy Thanksgiving!
In Christ,
Kate Therese
Executive Director
“We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.”
Read on for recent updates and ministry stories from Kashmir, Myanmar and Bhutan
“Two months back, one of my friends shared his testimony with his doctor of how God healed him from serious disease through my prayer for him. The doctor asked him about me and took my contact number from him. He called me and invited me inside the hospital to meet me. When I went to meet him, he welcomed me gladly and asked me about my religion. I shared the Gospel message with him. He got surprised and said, “Even though I am a doctor, I got the truth through you who are a rickshaw driver.” After that he often meets me, and now he is in the faith. Through him, I go to many hospital-admitted patients, talk to them, and pray for them. I thank God for that.”
Shahzad*
Kashmir
“Recently, I was invited by a Hindu family to the evening prayer program in [a] village. They planned to persecute me. I prepared to attend and went. When I arrived, there were more than 30 people, excluding children. I was asked to sit in middle of their gathering. I gave thanks to Jesus and sat. They started questioning me, one after another, asking why I was not respecting idolatry and all. They told me that I had to offer flowers to their god Siva that day. I explained why we should not worship the idols that are made from human hands. After more than an hour of sharing, I started to get respect. They all kept silent as I spoke, so I got precious time to preach the Word of God. Finally, they let me go without any harm.”
Paul*
Bhutan
“The past quarter, I struggled because of the politics and the civil war in my area. It was worsened day after day, and the Myanmar army warned us not to go outside of the village. Both sides were fighting and all the villagers lived with great fear. In the midst of such fear, the army arrested many innocent people, took them to the jail, and tortured them. The coup made everything harder in our lives in Myanmar. But the Lord kept us safe and provided for our daily needs. I thank the Lord for your faithful prayers for us and your continued support to do the ministry here.”
Min*
Myanmar
Happy Thanksgiving from the HB Family!