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Diaspora digest 05 focus on india (may 11)
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and theft, to name a
few…” (Alois)
While INF/N contin-
ues to tackle these
problems from
within the country,
IMI is working with
churches in Delhi
and NW India at the
other end of the
migrant trail.
Alois is currently on
a well-deserved
home leave /
assignment in
Switzerland.
For more details see
pg 3. If you wish to
read his complete
report, please contact
the IDI office in ISO.
“Imagine you live in
the barren and pov-
erty-stricken moun-
tains of West Nepal.
Cold winters and soil
washed of nutrients
mean that the narrow
terraces on the steep
hillsides do not
produce enough food
to feed your family,
one minor illness often
cripples families for
years as they often
need to sell the only
asset they have to buy
medicine / treatment.
What would you do?
Many generations of
people have migrated
each year to the
adjoining mountain
states of India to earn
money as labourers
on roads, building sites
and farms. In recent
years this migration
has become a flood as
civil war has made life
in their home areas
too dangerous. Many
no longer go and
return each year, but
go to stay. Nowadays
this is not just a
challenge for young
men, but a necessity
for single women, as
well as for whole
families. There are
risks of disease, abuse
from unscrupulous
employers, officials
Important new research on Nepali
Migrants in Indian Metro-cities
Janak BC, who him-
self first went to India
as a migrant, has just
completed some
research on the
problems faced by
Nepali migrants in the
big cities of India.
More recently, Janak
has been studying for
his MDiv at UBS
Pune, where there
are several other
Nepali students. His
research was part of
his 7-month college
Internship during
which he also
planned and
organized several
Adult Literacy
classes for migrants.
Anyone interested in
reading Janak‟s 120
page report please
contact me for an
electronic copy or visit
my office to see the
hard copy.
Janak has recently
visited Accham and
is now doing further
research for his
degree on the situa-
tion in the villages
from which the
migrants originate.
FOCUS ON INDIA
Indian Migrant Initia-
tive already shows
results.
Alois in the mountains
(of Switzerland)
Janak‟s research on
Nepali Migrants in
India metro-cities.
Finishing well!‟
NeMUN registered in
Nepal.
Who‟s going to Hong
Kong?
Inside this issue:
Migrants in India 1
Important new
research on Nepali
Migrants in Indian
Metro-cities
1
Profiles of Indian
Mega-cites
2-3
From Mugu to
Shimla (IMI)
3
NeMUN 3
What the Bible
says...
4
NeMUN & Mitra
Niwas contact
details.
4
Handover—
Finishing well!
4
HIMGLO 2011 4
Migrants in India
INF DIASPORA INITIATIVE
Diaspora DigestDiaspora Digest May 2011
No. 5
Alois von Flüe
Janak BC (L) with
fellow students
URGENT
PRAYER
POINT
Please pray for 3
(non-Nepali)
leaders of the
International
Church in
Qatar.
There may not be many dedicated
Nepali fellowships in Pune, but
some of the Nepali students from
UBS are dedicated to helping the
ministry in at least two* of the
churches.
2. Mumbai: 15 lakh Nepalis—7 Nepali churches
Many Nepalis also attend Marathi Churches. Although there may only be about
7 churches, some have several
associated groups and many of the
pastors are involved in church
planting as well as various kinds of
integral mission, such as slum
ministry, assistance to cancer
patients,
1. Pune: 7 lakh Nepalis—3 Nepali Churches
Page 2
Diaspora DigestDiaspora Digest
Although Janak records meeting leaders from only 2 Nepali churches, there are
likely to be more as he only visited Chennai and did not include it in his detailed
survey.
4. Chennai: >4 lakh Nepalis—? 2 Nepali churches
Pradip & Philomena—
Nepali Missionaries from
NIM, Lalitpur to Pune Poona Nepali Sangati
(Ps Pradip) Emmanuel Church*
(Ps Milan)
Nepali Masih Sangati*
(Ps Daniel)
NO PHOTO
Abhay Sharma, Peter Rai (1), Yapeth Lepcha, Gyan
Solomon (non-Nepali), Peter Rai (2), Narayan, James Nepali “Bangalore
has the
largest
number of
Nepali
Christians in
India.”
Although not included in Janak‟s survey, there are several real encouragements about Nepali ministry in
Bangalore. This city has the largest number of Nepali Christians in all of India. As far as Janak discovered
there is also a determination for the pastors to work together.
3. Bangalore: 5 lakh Nepalis—7 or more Nepali churches
Mumbai Group
Kolkata is significantly different from the other mega-cities of India in regard to
Nepali migrants . As far as present information goes, there are large numbers of
ethnic Nepalis, but many of them are Indian citizens who have secondarily migrated
from the hills of Darjeeling in West Bengal. This inevitably means that their
problems are very different from the more recent migrants in the other cities.
5. Kolkata: ??
1
4 3
5
2
5
Tailoring Class
Janak concentrated much effort on
Delhi where he also helped Alois.,
especially with the Computer
Classes.
Many of the Nepali churches are
linked in the United Nepali
Christian Association (UNCA).
From Mugu to Shimla
and they go to places like Shimla, Solan,
Kalka, Dehra Dun,& Kotwar.
Some are seasonal migrants:
others stay migrate further
into India to one of the mega-
cities. Most work as porters.
Many of the migrants
benefitting from the IMI
project in NW India come
originally from remote areas of
MW & FW Nepal like Mugu
5. Delhi: ? 5-14 lakh Nepalis—>26 Nepali churches
Page 3
No. 5No. 5
“Sadly, there
are still often
strained
relationships
between
Nepalis of
Darjeeling and
of Nepal
origin.”
The board has representatives
from Malaysia, Korea, Qatar,
Emirates, Saudi and the UK and
we are working hard to develop a
NeMUN, the new NGO formed
to unite and help (ex)migrants all
around the world [especially those
who go and come from SE Asia &
the Middle East] is now registered,
which means that INF can more
easily partner with them.
There is a regular monthly prayer
fellowship in Kathmandu and an-
other in Chitwan—soon we hope
there will be a third in Jhapa.
network of contacts in as many
other countries as possible. One
special burden is to ensure that
Nepali churches in Nepal know
about this fellowship and about
the Mitra Niwas guesthouse so
that the ministry can become
increasingly effective. We are also
seeking to forge links with secular
organizations working towards
safe migration—this will help
facilitate advocacy.
Nepalese Migrant Unity Network registered with GoN
NeMUN Logo
Group of leaders in Delhi
Stephen Rai, ML & Lydia Tamang English Class
Computer Class
Other leaders include Ramesh
Bista (UNCA Chair) & Satish
Chhetri
See also pg 4 for NeMUN
contact details.
Ask Val for NeMUN
brochures in Nepali &
English.
“Nepali people in Nepal and beyond experiencing fullness of life in Jesus Christ, and serving with others to promote health, peace, justice and harmony with God
and his world.”
INF MIGRANT INITIATIVE (IDI)
Phone: +977-1-55-21183
Fax: +977-1-55-26928
E-mail: [email protected]
PO Box 1230
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Joyce & Richard Odell
very poor migrant families. If
you know of a church near you
that would like to explore part-
nering with one of these churches
do let us know and we can send
details.” [This offer is particu-
larly relevant to those over-
seas but maybe others will be
challenged by it…]
Richard writes again, “The
„Nepali Diaspora‟ is a phenome-
non that INF is being increasingly
challenged by, as a high percent-
age of the nation‟s young men
and women leave the country to
labour in India and elsewhere in
Asia, or as refuges or migrants
with professional skills in the
affluent „West‟. When we have
settled down in the UK we feel
we might have something useful
to contribute to these people.”
In June Richard and Joyce
Odell leave INF (in Nepal) for
retirement (or perhaps it
should be re-tyre-ment?) in the
UK.
Richard has almost completed
handover of the management
of the IMI Project to Val., who
unfortunately does not have
RO‟s financial skills and so will
find it harder to support Alois.
Richard says, “IMI is now 9
months old and already develop-
ing valuable relationships with
Nepali churches in N India who
have a vision to help Nepali mi-
grants in their area. When he
visited India recently Richard
was impressed with these
churches‟ responsible use of
resources and high level of
commitment to helping often
Handover—Finishing Well!
HIMGLO 2011
Plans are well advanced for the
next HIMGLO conference to
be held in Hong Kong in the
middle of September this year.
Some may remember the last
conference in Pattaya, Thailand.
I for one am hoping that the
Nepali Diaspora will be better
represented this time. [In 2009
many migrants were unable to
attend due to visa and finance
problems.]
Contact Val for more details.
“Nepali people—
Missionary people”
What the Bible says...
There are many verses in the Bible that speak about MIGRANTS
though the terms used are „aliens‟, „foreigners‟, „strangers‟ etc
and in Nepali, परदेशी or बिदेशी rather than the term प्रवासी used
in Nepal today. Perhaps the most important verse in the Bible is
Ps. 146:9: (ESV) “The Lord watches over the sojourners.”
Once in the UK, Richard plans
to do some research into mi-
grant work and then they both
hope to get involved with min-
istry among Nepalis—
WATCH THIS SPACE.
Now that I am working
full-time as INF Diaspora
Co-ordinator I want to
use DD as a regular
monthly news medium
of Diaspora happenings.
If you know of any sto-
ries, news, prayer needs
etc that could be
included, please let me
have them. All
suggestions for improve-
ment also welcome. I
want this to be a truly
shared forum and not
just my efforts!
I am also working on
updating and digitalizing
all the Diaspora re-
sources available in ISO.
When this is completed I
will circulate a new list
and as all will be in
Word or pdf format
they will be available for
everyone to read.
Val Inchley
From the Editor
The Lord
watches over
migrants.
Nepalese Migrant Unity Network:
Board Chair—Sapana Basyal
EPC 2028, PO Box 8975
Satdobato, Lalitpur, NEPAL
Phone: +977-1-55-26913
Email: [email protected]
Mitra Niwas Guesthouse:
Host / Hostess—Devendra & Ram Maya Joshi
Satdobato Chowk, Lalitpur
Phone: +977-1-55-26913
Mobile: 9841 026 339 or9803 424 011
Email: [email protected]