On Wednesday, August 26, flash floods broke out across Nepal, leaving chaos and destruction in their wake. Scientists believe that a glacier broke loose from high in the Himalayas near the Tibet-Nepal border. The melting ice mixed with rocks, boulders, and mud to create a concrete sludge. Videos show this sludge mixture barreling down from the mountain, over 40 miles, sweeping away bridges, buildings, cars, and people with  tremendous force.

It’s believed that more than 1,500 individuals are missing, and over 165 people have been reported dead. However, according to a local Christian worker, due to the remote nature of some of the villages affected by the flooding, not everyone is registered. So, it is extremely likely that the numbers are much higher than this, and they will continue to rise.

With rescue efforts already underway, CNN reports the threat is still ongoing. Many fear a secondary flooding event because the initial floods and landslides have “created a new lake, increasing the risk of landslides, mudslides and flash floods, with the three days of rain ahead.”

The collapsed earth is forming unstable dams and is liable to break. Thus, an already desperate circumstance has become all the more urgent.

Though it is too early to definitively confirm, many are attributing the initial glacial collapse to climate change. Temperatures across the globe are on the rise, especially in this region of the world. Floods of various origins are being seen with increasing frequency and magnitude. Scientists and researchers will continue to study this calamity to determine the series of events that led to its exact cause.

Regardless of the root cause, the situation remains dire. The more news breaks about this catastrophic event, the more horrifying the reality of the situation becomes. Incomprehensible devastation.

Communities, livestock, and families destroyed in the blink of an eye. It’s hard to fathom. Honestly, it’s one of those things that’s so hard to believe, you want it to be false. Yet, it’s very much real.

The spiritual reality of the crisis

Having visited Nepal and worked alongside fellow believers there, my heart is grieved. Nepal is part of what mission organizations have labeled the 10/40 window. Joshua Project describes this window as “the rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, approximately between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude.” This window contains the highest concentration of Unreached People Groups (UPGs) and Unreached Unengaged People Groups (UUPGs).

Nepal has 194 people groups, totaling 29,288,000 people across the country. Of these 194 people groups, 183 are considered Unreached. This represents about 25,913,000 people, or 88.5 percent of the population. Most Nepalis are Hindu or Buddhist.

With this in mind, the loss of life is always something to be grieved. Yet, it feels a bit heavier knowing that so many who have died or been lost in the Nepal floods did not know Christ.

As I’ve received updates from my friends serving in Nepal, I’ve been encouraged by their faith. They are deeply grieved by what is going on. They ache alongside their friends and communities. Yet, in the midst of tragedy, they are sharing stories of how God has rescued and protected some of their national partners. God has not forgotten Nepal.

Responding as a church across the globe

So, where does that leave us? What do we as believers do when disaster and destruction strike?

We know from Scripture that these things will continue to happen until Jesus returns. Jesus Himself said that natural catastrophes will be a sign of the Last Days in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:3-8). But that doesn’t make them any easier to deal with in the moment.

Halfway across the world, it can feel like this disaster is just out of reach. You might find yourself thinking, “There’s nothing I can do,” and whether you want to admit it or not, you might even feel tempted to disassociate or move past this catastrophic event altogether. I get it. It’s the easier thing to do.

Yet, as believers, we have a higher calling. We are connected by the universal Church, and therefore, as our brothers and sisters grieve, so we must grieve too. This grief is not in vain, nor is it devoid of hope. It is a grief that should stir in us the desire to pray and a desire to go.

Tragedies such as this remind us that we are God’s ambassadors to a lost and dying world (2 Corinthians 5:20). Tomorrow is not guaranteed (James 4:13-14). People are dying, and they’ve never heard the hope that Jesus has to offer. So, we must pray for their salvation (Romans 10:1; 2 Peter 3:9), we must pray to the God of the Harvest to send laborers (Matthew 9:37-38), and we ourselves must be willing to go and share the gospel (Acts 1:8; Romans 10:14-15).

As John Piper once said, “You have three possibilities in world missions. You can be a goer, a sender, or disobedient. The Bible does not assume that everyone goes. But it does assume that the ones who do not go care about goers and support goers and pray for goers and hold the rope of the goers.”

Which of the three will you be?

 

 

Denison Forum