FIRST CHRISTMAS CHURCH RESOURCE BACKGROUND NOTES PAGE 1 OF 9 These notes are a series of questions and answers to help you learn more about the First Christmas resources. They include details of the history of Nepal and slavery, more in-depth notes on the case study and some useful additional material to help you answer questions that may arise from the film and the other resources. Glossary Sagoal Tearfund s local partner in Tikapur and Shivnagar Shivnagar a community of families that live just outside Tikapur Tikapur a small town in south-western Nepal Contents What is the need in Nepal? 2 What is the background to Shivnagar? 2 What is bonded labour? 2 How were the people of Shivnagar set free? 2 Why don t the people of Shivnagar own their land? 2 Why does Shivnagar need support, and how is the church providing it? 3 What is church and community mobilisation? 3 Who are Sagoal? 4 How do Sagoal and the church help Shivnagar? 4 What is the Love your neighbour animal programme? 4 How is Shivnagar being spiritually transformed? 4 How has the church grown in Tikapur and Shivnagar? 4 How does the community, including those who are not Christian, view the work of the church? 5 Why do the men in Shivnagar leave their families to work in India? 5 How do the women cope without the support of their husbands? 5 Who are Uma and Puspa? 5 What is Uma s background? 6 How is the church supporting Uma and Puspa? 6 How do Uma and Puspa care for their pig, and what s her name? 6 How did Uma join the church? 6 Does Tikapur church only support Christians? 7 Who is Pastor Madan? 7 How does Tearfund support Madan and Tikapur church? 7 How can I pray for Nepal? 8
PAGE 2 OF 9 What is the need in Nepal? Nepal is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world around a third of all Nepalis live below the poverty line. Agriculture provides a livelihood for three-quarters of the population and accounts for about one-third of Nepal s Gross Domestic Product. Other industries mostly process agricultural produce such as pulses, jute, sugar cane, tobacco and grain. Since 2006, following years of persecution, churches in Nepal have been given new freedoms. There are now an estimated 800,000 Christians in 6,000 congregations in Nepal. What is the background to Shivnagar? Shivnagar is a poor farming community of around 300 families, situated just outside the larger town of Tikapur, on the plains of south-western Nepal near the border with India. Just ten years ago, every man, woman and child who now has a home in Shivnagar was living in a form of slavery called bonded labour. Despite slavery being officially abolished in Nepal in 1926, in this region bonded labour was still widespread. This form of slavery was based on poor families being tricked into debt many generations ago by wealthy landlords debts that proved impossible to pay back. What is bonded labour? Bonded labourers are non-beings, exiles of civilisation, living a life worse than that of animals, for the animals are at least free to roam about as they like... Justice PN Bhagwati, Indian Supreme Court judge, 1982 Bonded labour - or debt bondage - is a little-known form of slavery, but it is the most widely used method of enslaving people across the world. Someone becomes a bonded labourer when they are forced to work to repay a loan. The person is then trapped into working often seven days a week for very little or no pay. The value of their work is invariably greater than the original sum of money borrowed but not accounted for. So there s no escape and the debt is handed from generation to generation. This was the predicament of the people who now live in Shivnagar. How were the people of Shivnagar set free? Protests and outrage from human rights groups convinced the government to end bonded labour in Tikapur district in 2001. Overnight, the masters were forced to release their slaves. But the people s first weeks of freedom were spent without homes or employment during Nepal s two-month monsoon season. Why don t the people of Shivnagar own their land? While the government promised the former slaves land rights, this has been sidelined because of ongoing civil and political instability. After initially dissipating, a determined, burgeoning community eventually gathered together on abandoned land near Tikapur. Although the land was not theirs, they set up home together as Shivnagar they call themselves the freed community, but they are still outcasts in the eyes of the people around them.
PAGE 3 OF 9 Why does Shivnagar need support, and how is the church providing it? Used to restricted but regulated lives under their masters, the now-free people of Shivnagar struggled to produce enough food or earn money to feed their families. Without any education, none of them could find work in Tikapur. Following a flood, many of the families fell ill but did not have money for medical treatment. That s the state in which Tikapur Christian Church first found the people of Shivnagar. Pastor Madan, who leads the community outreach work, met with the community leaders and mobilised his church. They set up a medical camp to treat more than 80 people who were sick. This demonstration of love in action opened up the community, most of whom do not share the Christian faith, to the love and care of the church. Over the last four years, supported by Tearfund s partner Sagoal, the church has set up programmes and schemes to educate and train community members and help them to provide for themselves. It has started them on a journey to true freedom through church and community mobilisation. What is church and community mobilisation? Church and community mobilisation is a way to encourage communities to use the skills and resources they have to help themselves. Tearfund has seen that working with and through local churches brings real, lasting change. This approach to community development is called church and community mobilisation (CCM). It s a process that is built around the local church awakening itself and its community to be able to work their own way out of poverty as is happening in Shivnagar. Church and community mobilisation follows three distinct steps: 1. Awakening the church Instead of creating dependency, this approach shows individuals that they can make a change themselves. The church leadership and their congregation begin to see the role of the church as relating to both spiritual and material needs, through Bible studies. A core team is identified and a clear church vision for this integrated ministry is developed. The selected team is trained to help the church identify its needs through Bible studies. 2. Mobilising the community The team is equipped to facilitate a process of church and community self-discovery, including detailed information gathering. The community is helped to plan a way forward working as one with the church. The team is equipped with skills to manage projects which may develop from this phase. A community plan is drawn up. 3. Project implementation in the community Working as one, the church and community deliver the community plan. Tearfund does not fund the delivery of this plan. The CCM process teaches the church and its community how to fund it themselves. Our role, through expertise and funding, is to enable this process to develop and become self-sustaining. What the former slave people of Shivnagar lack in formal education, they more than make up for in determination to make the most of their freedom. When the team from Tikapur church arrived in Shivnagar in 2007, they did not come to preach and give out tracts. Instead, encouraged by Tearfund s partner Sagoal, they lived out the unconditional love and practical support that they had studied in the Bible and seen in the person and example of Jesus.
PAGE 4 OF 9 Who are Sagoal? Sagoal takes its name from the Nepali word for being together, reflecting their desire to work closely with churches and communities. Sagoal s church mobilisation project works in partnership with local churches in the western regions of Nepal including Tikapur Christian Church. Formed in 2004, Sagoal has a vision to help churches be agents of positive change in their communities by engaging in integral mission. Thanks to Sagoal s training and support, the leaders from Tikapur church knew that the first step was to meet the community s expressed needs, and to work with it in the long term to develop a structured community plan. How do Sagoal and the church help Shivnagar? It was clear that as people kept in slavery the community s most pressing need was for education. Because the former slaves have no rights to the land where they live, the government will not provide them with a school or teachers. Sagoal and the church supplied materials and expertise so the community could construct their own school building. Sagoal also trained the teachers and paid their wages for the first year, until they secured other funding. What is the Love your neighbour animal programme? To enable the former slave families to feed and provide for themselves, the church set up an animal programme. The Love your neighbour scheme, administered by the church, gives struggling families a young pig, goat or buffalo. When the families have reared the animal to maturity, if it is male they sell it, and if it s female they sell its offspring at the market. From the first litter or sale, the family gives back an animal or enough money to buy one to the church to give to the next family. How is Shivnagar being spiritually transformed? With the church now respected and loved by the community, its members have the opportunity to share their faith when asked. Now 16 families are Christian and there are small groups of believers who gather in houses during the week to share worship and fellowship. One of the next steps is for Tikapur church to help the Shivnagar Christians to build their own church. The Christian community is full of stories of miraculous healing most people tell of how they came to faith through prayer and miraculous dreams. But the church would not have been welcomed into the village without first offering practical support and expertise. Through ongoing support, the church helps the whole community including the Christians to provide for their material needs. How has the church grown in Tikapur and Shivnagar? In 1971 two Christians met in Tikapur to celebrate Christmas. In 2010, 900 believers from all over the district came to celebrate a festive meal on Christmas Day. Around 16 families who attended the feast came from Shivnagar and most of them had come to faith in the last four years.
PAGE 5 OF 9 How does the community, including those who are not Christian, view the work of the church? Over those years the people of Shivnagar have had their lives transformed, thanks to the church. Children are educated, and increasingly men and women have skills to work and share their produce together for better prices. Shem Parasad, the community leader in Shivnagar himself a Hindu has this to say about Tikapur Christian Church: The church loves and cares for my people. I like the church. Why do the men in Shivnagar leave their families to work in India? Compared to the lack of infrastructure and opportunity in Nepal, India is rapidly developing (although there are still large pockets of extreme poverty across India). There are far more job prospects in India, even for unskilled workers, and the pay although still low is better and more consistent. There are no border or work restrictions and India is around 20 kilometres from Shivnagar. While this is a relatively short distance, it would not be possible financially or practically for workers to commute daily from Shivnagar to India. So young men often husbands and fathers will leave for many months to work across the border. While they usually promise their families to return once a year, they do not always keep their word. And although the men seek work in India for the financial benefits, they do not always send money back to support their families. Often they simply keep their earnings to cover their own outgoings leaving their wives and families to fend for themselves. How do the women cope without the support of their husbands? With no benefits or other support available, the women do not always have the opportunity (because of childcare needs and lack of skills) to work to provide for their families. This leaves women trapped in a desperate situation, and the church s Love your neighbour scheme offers a way to overcome this problem. The programme provides women (and men, and couples) with a means to support their families, and they can look after the animal provided for them by the church from home. The sale of an animal can provide enough food for a family for six months, and leave enough to purchase further livestock to keep and pass on to neighbours so the financial benefit is enormous. Who are Uma and Puspa? Uma is a 27-year-old wife and mother who lives in Shivnagar, near Tikapur in Nepal. She is still married, but her husband lives and works across the border in India. Uma s husband does not regularly offer financial support, and although he is expected to return annually, he does not always come back. This leaves Uma as the sole earner to look after her only daughter Puspa, who is 12 years old. Puspa, who attends the primary school set up by the church, misses her father and often asks when he will return. They live in a basic mud house that Uma and Puspa built themselves using materials such as soil, wood and plants that they found on the land they call Shivnagar.
PAGE 6 OF 9 What is Uma s background? Uma comes from a long line of slavery both her parents and grandparents were in bonded labour. Uma was 17 when bonded labour was abolished; she was not allowed to attend school by her masters, so her literacy is poor. Thanks to the school provided with help from the church and Sagoal Puspa is much better educated and often reads Bible stories to Uma. Before coming to Shivnagar four years ago, Uma worked as a low-paid maid in a house in India. Like all the residents of Shivnagar, she returned to the area near her home because she heard that the government was planning to give land to the freed bonded labour communities. Land is very important to achieve status and stability in Nepal and it would mean a securer future for the former slaves. But the community are still waiting to be given the land by the government. How is the church supporting Uma and Puspa? Without consistent financial assistance from her husband, Uma was forced to borrow food from her neighbours to feed herself and Puspa. The church identified Uma as a deserving candidate for their Love your neighbour scheme. There are two main criteria for joining the scheme: first the family must be very poor and in real need for assistance, and second they must demonstrate they have the determination to work hard to look after the animal they are given otherwise there would be little value in giving them the animal. Uma and Puspa were given a young piglet to rear. They fed and took care of this piglet until it grew to maturity and then they sold the pig at market for 15,000 rupees (about 130). With this money they were able to buy enough food for six months, as well as two other piglets. One piglet they gave back to the church to give to another deserving family in Shivnagar the other they kept for themselves. How do Uma and Puspa care for their pig, and what s her name? As the pig they have now is female, they will be able to keep her for a long time and will benefit greatly when she produces a litter of piglets (by mating with another pig in the village). Uma treats her pig as a family pet, taking good care of her. Uma has named her pig Donkey, because that is the animal she has always wanted! Donkey lives in a small wooden shelter opposite Uma and Puspa s home. Uma takes Donkey for regular walks around the village to exercise. In between times when Uma is waiting for piglets to sell, she is able to borrow money from the church saving scheme. There is a small amount of interest charged on the loan, but all the money is used to support the community. All the profit from the loans will be used to support the people of Shivnagar the church receives no financial benefits from the savings scheme. How did Uma join the church? Uma became a Christian after experienceing the healing power of God. She tells the story of how, at Christmas time three years ago, she was lying very ill in bed, shaking with a fever. Because there are no medical facilities in the village and it is too expensive to get treatment in Tikapur, most illnesses remain undiagnosed in Shivnagar. If someone falls sick their only support is a traditional village healer; other than that they must fend for themselves. Uma describes her condition as so debilitating that she was unable to lift herself up out of bed. This was very worrying for Puspa. One night when Uma was very ill in bed, Puspa heard carol singers nearby from Tikapur church. The group led by Pastor Madan visit Shivnagar around Christmas to sing traditional songs and carols and offer a blessing to the community.
PAGE 7 OF 9 This was a year or so into the church s outreach to Shivnagar, so the community including Uma and Puspa had seen and recognised that the church was full of good people offering life-saving support to the community. Puspa had also heard that people from the church had prayed for other ill people, and that they had been healed. Uma describes how she somewhat reluctantly agreed to allow the church to pray for her. But she also decided that if she was healed she would follow Jesus. So Puspa hurried to find the singers, and they immediately went to visit Uma s home, where Pastor Madan prayed for Uma and blessed her. The carol singers left to continue their activities, and shortly afterwards Uma felt so much better that she threw off her blanket and, as Uma says herself, believed she was healed. Now both Uma and Puspa are active members of Tikapur Christian Church, attending meetings in Tikapur, and they are part of the small group who meet weekly to share prayer and fellowship in Shivnagar. They pray together as a family and because Uma s reading is poor Puspa reads stories from their precious family Bible, which was given to them by the church, along with a hymn book (the only two books they own). Does Tikapur church only support Christians? No. The church s initiatives in Shivnagar are for all people in the community, particularly those in greatest need, and are targeted specifically at people who are determined to help themselves. People are encouraged to use their own resources, rather than leaving them dependent on the church. Uma and Puspa are a Christian family who receive support, but the majority of families supported by the church in Shivnagar are not Christians and do not attend the church meetings. Who is Pastor Madan? Pastor Madan has a colourful history. Brought up in a relatively wealthy family in western Nepal (one of his ancestors was in the Nepalese royal family), after finishing his education he set off to explore the world. Madan found faith in Jesus while in America and felt God calling him back to serve poor people in Nepal. Initially he trained, and then worked, in community development. Later Madan combined his practical skills with his passion to share the whole gospel as one of the pastors in Tikapur church. His career and calling is to reach out to the desperately poor people in his community, people like the former slaves of Shivnagar. When we first came to Shivnagar, we didn t proclaim the gospel, Madan explains. We met with leaders and ate with them building good relations. We asked how we, the church, could help this community. They were hopeless and we came with hope. How does Tearfund support Madan and Tikapur church? Madan works closely with Tearfund s partner Sagoal to continue a community plan to help the people to live sustainably, have enough food, and be educated for the very first time. Church and community mobilisation the process of awakening the church and mobilising them to work with and support their community is a passion that drives Pastor Madan to reach out to the many communities of former slaves that surround his church, such as Shivnagar.
PAGE 8 OF 9 We love them, Madan explains. That s why we are offering more than proclamation of the gospel. God loves us and we love them. Because of God s love, we are reaching out to Shivnagar. Our intention is not to convert people. Our intention is to love them. But, through that love, Madan has seen more than 16 families come to faith and join the community of the church including Uma and Puspa. Trained in community development as well as theology, Madan has a vision to meet the needs of the former slaves of Shivnagar. He wants his church to help the community to help themselves to release and rely on their own resources. He knows that s the only way they will be truly set free. How can I pray for Nepal? Please pray for Sagoal, Tikapur church and the people of Shivnagar here are some background and prayer points to help you do this: 1. For Sagoal Many churches in Nepal have little awareness of integral mission, and some feel their own poverty inhibits their ability to help others. Sagoal s plan is to build the capacity of these churches to develop relationships with their local communities and mobilise their own available resources to bring spiritual and material change. Sagoal believes true transformation comes only by the power of the Holy Spirit, so it encourages prayer for Nepal. Pray for churches in Nepal as they demonstrate the love and compassion of Christ to their neighbours. Pray for Sagoal s workers as they help Nepali Christians to bring spiritual and material transformation to people living in poverty. 2. For Tikapur Christian Church Tikapur church plans to work with Shivnagar in the long term, offering a sustainable way to lift the community out of extreme poverty. Already, through the existing schemes and programmes, it has offered new life and hope to the community. Over the next five years, the church plans to develop and deepen its work. Here are some details of the Shivnagar Community Plan, to help you pray specifically for the community: Provide vocational training for men and women (in areas such as livestock management, bicycle repair, plumbing, tailoring and knitting) and distribute pigs and goats so those most in need have better income-earning opportunities. Provide non-formal education for illiterate women and help them to form a savings group. Register the school in Shivnagar with the government and provide furniture and toilets for it. Organise a Christmas programme in the school and share the gospel with the children and their parents. Assist the Christians in Shivnagar as they establish their own church fellowship. Please pray for each of these plans individually, and for Tikapur church to continue to be welcomed and trusted by the community leaders who do not share their faith. Ask that, as they deepen the spiritual aspects of their work, the community will be open to Christians meeting and worshipping in Shivnagar.
PAGE 9 OF 9 3. For Shivnagar As you pray for the community s development, please also lift up Shivnagar as its people seek to have their community recognised by the government. This would help the people to be accepted and allow them to benefit from government schemes, such as the provision of free teachers for their school. The community leaders often meet to discuss how they can put pressure on the government to grant them land rights. The community is frustrated because of the lack of progress, and many suggest they should take more direct action to raise awareness of their cause. Please pray that they will make the right decisions and that the course of action they pursue will be peaceful and encourage the government to be sympathetic and act swiftly to give them the land. 4. For Uma and Puspa Pray for this family as they still struggle to have enough to eat, and for clothes and other basic necessities. Pray for the health of Donkey, their pig, that she will produce a litter of healthy piglets that will benefit not only Uma and Puspa, but many others in the community. Uma is looking to increase her skills and find further ways to provide for their household. She has a close friend and fellow Christian, Dhandevi, who lives a short walk down the road. Dhandevi, also a struggling mother, has recently set up a bicycle repair business from her home. Uma is helping Dhandevi with her business and wants to learn mechanical skills to help with the business. Please also lift up Uma as she learns more about Christianity, and ask God to help her to grow in her faith and understanding of the Bible. Puspa enjoys school and is doing well with her studies. She will soon move to secondary school and the family will need to provide her school fees. Pray that they will find enough funds to carry on her education and that she will continue to develop her faith as she learns more about Jesus. Pray also that the family will be reunited and that Uma s husband will return and bring some desperately needed extra finance. He is also a Christian but does not always return to visit his family. Pray for him as he struggles alone in India, that he would remember Uma and Puspa and long to provide for and be with, them.