The last 3,5 years Hope and I have been working with a Bible College in Nepal, and this story is frankly too big to be limited to a few lines in the ‘projects’ tab on our website. So, I decided to write a bit more about this college.
When we lived in Nepal we got to know Benjamin Khadka, he was introduced to us by a mutual friend. We were asked if we were interested in helping to start a new Bible School, and though that wasn’t our first focus, we did agree there was a need for a different Bible School, prayed about it and got involved from before the start.
At the moment I am a board member, teacher and sponsor to this college.
This college is aimed at preparing students for practical ministry. They will not graduate with a theological degree, but with a degree in practical ministry. They will have received teaching on all kinds of subjects, things that they will encounter in ministry. Not just Biblical and theoretical themes, but instead a lot of themes that touch every part of life. We teach on the role of husbands and wives in marriage according to the Bible, on teamwork, on leadership, on hearing and understanding the voice of God, on the working of the Holy Spirit, on different cultures, and so on.
We do this because we believe it is our duty to deliver students to the mission field who are prepared to actually DO missions, instead of being theologically sound but not having a connection to the actual work.
When we started over 3,5 years ago we had 9 students, 3 young men and 6 young ladies. By now, this first batch has graduated and the school now has 55 students.
As you can imagine, we’re grateful for the growth of the school and its facilities, and we are starting to see the first fruits of the school we started. And that’s a huge blessing!
The first group of students finished their theoretical classes about 8 months ago. During their school year they have 2 semesters of theoretical classes, and in between they will travel back to their home town to help the local churches in ministry. This leads to about 6 months of practical classes during their 3 years of school, which is then follows by another 6 months of practical experience in some sort of internship with existing ministries and churches. In total, this comes to a year of practical experience next to the 3 years of classes.
So, the first group of students finished their classes, and the second group has now teamed up with the first group and they have been sent out throughout Nepal to plant new churches and ministries in the areas where it is needed and where they feel called to go.
At the moment this means that there are two churches being pioneered, a ministry reaching youth/children, and some students have felt the Lord call them to stay in Kathmandu to help with the running of the Bible School.
As you can imagine running a school with 9 students is something different from running a school with 55, especially since these students are coming from rural areas in Nepal, some had to travel for days to get to school, so you understand that ECC needs to offer them a place to stay as well.
As a board member it is my responsibility to, together with the rest of the board and the staff, provide for good quality classes and good care for both staff and students. We try to raise the quality of the education we offer, by building extra classrooms, by providing PC’s with a solid internet connection, by building a library and by building the right support for the students, be that in the expansion of the dorms, or by hiring more staff to take care of the students’ needs.
At the moment we have just purchased quite a lot of new PC’s, since we were desperately lacking in that area. As teachers we would like to see the students do some assignments as well, and less than 10 PC’s for 55 students (and staff) is simply not adequate.
So, we dipped into the budget for the rest of the year to provide our students with PC’s, trusting that the Lord will provide beyond what we can hope for.
And so far, He did.
As you can imagine, I am very much involved in this college.
First, as a founding member of the board, from before the start of the college.
Second, as a teacher at this college for the last few years, both in person and now long-distance.
And Third, as a missionary to Nepal, seeing our students step out into the fields where God has called them to serve, it is amazing to see this happen.
Of course, the college has grown a lot. Not just in students, staff and teachers, but also in expenses. We are looking for sponsors who want to help these students through college. Most of the students come from poor areas in Nepal, and that on top of Nepal already being one of the poorest countries in Asia. Their churches are faithfully supporting the students they send to the college, but most can not raise more than $10 a month, while the expenses per student are a lot higher.
Please contact us if you want more info on the school or on how to support them.
Thank you!
www.eccnp.com