Bee happy Now the church is buzzing Nepal 2 July 2018 The 2015 earthquakes devastated communities across Nepal. As well as the sad loss of life, the quake destroyed infrastructure and livelihoods in many villages. Manish is the local church pastor in a community in Lalitpur, a remote mountainous district in central Nepal. The earthquake damaged the main water source. Now, collecting water takes 30 minutes, and four trips are needed for an average household to get enough to wash and drink – leaving little time and energy to get more for cattle or to irrigate the land. 'TO SERVE GOD IS MY GREATEST JOY.' HIDDEN TALENTS This left the farming community in dire need of extra income to feed and provide for families. What they didn’t realise is that they had a God-given resource all around them that could cause a bit of a buzz... Tearfund’s partner is helping the church and community come together and seek solutions to the problems they face. They formed a group with Pastor Manish to look at biblical principles about how they could use the resources God had given them. Manish was particularly inspired by studying the account of Jesus feeding the 5,000 in Matthew 14. He saw that with only five loaves and two fish, Jesus was able to feed so many people. This challenged him, and he remembered a skill he already had. 'MY CHURCH IS GETTING MORE INTEREST FROM LOCAL PEOPLE.' A HIVE OF ACTIVITY Manish’s long-lost skill was beekeeping. He’d learnt about it a few years before, but never considered it a way of generating extra income. The training from Tearfund’s partner changed his outlook and helped him recognise that the bees were his loaves and fishes – a small offering that God can use and multiply. He explained his vision to the group and offered to share his skills. He is now the community beekeeping trainer, and he has had many pupils. Before the project, Manish had one beehive. Now he has six, and 14 families are involved in beekeeping – they hope to increase this to 35. The organic honey has proved a hit at the local market and has even found its way to Malaysia. ‘To serve God is my greatest joy,’ says Manish. The beekeeping has attracted attention beyond the church group. ‘My church is getting more interest from local people. People see the progress.’ The boy in Matthew 14 gave loaves and fishes. Our partner staff provided a way forward. And Manish shared his beekeeping skills. What can you give? Whatever you do, your prayers, gifts and actions can release potential and bring change where it’s needed most. Count me in In 50 years we've seen millions of lives restored. But with your help there's more we can do. How will you join us in 2018? Pray + YOU Be part of one million prayers raised to overcome extreme poverty Pray Now Act Get involved in 50,000 actions taken to overcome extreme poverty Act Now Give Help release five million lives from material and spiritual poverty Give Now Your prayer makes a difference My name is and I’m praying this prayer to overcome extreme poverty. From the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby Gracious and generous God, you became poor so that we might be enriched by your love, and you gave the world’s wealth and resources as a common inheritance of all human beings. We pray you will strengthen your church to be a beacon of hospitality for the poor. We pray that, seeing the light of Christ’s love, the nations and peoples of the world may fight not to kill, but to outdo one another in care for the poor, and in actions of gracious generosity. Through Him who for our sakes did not grasp the wealth of heaven, but instead gave all to live for us as a slave, and die for us in pain, Jesus Christ our risen Lord and Saviour. Thank you ! You’ve helped us get one prayer closer to one million prayers raised to overcome extreme poverty. You can continue praying with us by signing up to our weekly One Voice prayer email. Name Title Mr Mrs Miss Ms Rev Dr Sir Pastor Master Professor Sister Lady Lord Rev Dr Rev Canon Captain Rt Rev Major Father Venerable Very Rev Other if other x First name Last name Email address Phone (Optional) Phone Time of day Anytime Daytime Evening Please complete if you’re happy for our lovely Supporter Relations team to call you occasionally about how your support is changing the world. I would also like to receive News and Appeals emails from Tearfund Our supporters are very important to us. We value you as partners in our mission to follow Jesus where the need is greatest. You don’t have to provide your information, but we’d love to contact you to share updates of how people around the world are overcoming poverty and keep you posted about our news, activities and appeals. You can change how we communicate with you at any time by emailing info@tearfund.org or call 020 3906 3906. If you are already receiving updates from us then we will continue to communicate with you in the ways you’ve asked us to. We promise never to pass your details on to another organisation for marketing purposes. We will store your personal data securely and use this information to deliver what you have asked us to and communicate with you in the ways you have chosen. Your data may also be used for research, screening and analysis purposes to help us provide the best possible service. If you want to find out more, you can read our full privacy policy. Your action makes a difference We’d love you to send a message to ask the World Bank to invest in local, clean, renewable energy for people living in poverty. Let’s shift the balance of the World Bank’s funding away from fossil fuels. Quite literally bringing light to the darkness. Read Full Petition Dear UK Executive Director, I welcome the World Bank’s current support to provide access to energy for people living in poverty and its Climate Change Action Plan. Access to electricity means women can give birth safely at night, children can study in the evening and farmers can pump water to grow food for their families. The quickest and cheapest way to improve access to energy for people living in poverty is through energy like solar power which is local, clean and renewable. This will bring light to dark places, without damaging God’s creation and contributing to climate change. However, I am concerned that the Bank is continuing to support fossil fuel development. This cannot continue if we are to meet the Paris Agreement goals to keep global warming to 1.5C. Given the UK’s global leadership on climate change, I urge you to call on the World Bank to phase out fossil fuels by 2020 shifting the balance of its funding, away from fossil fuels and towards local, clean and renewable energy which will lift millions of people out of poverty and send a signal to other investors to follow a zero carbon path. Yours sincerely, Sign Petition Name Title Mr Mrs Miss Ms Rev Dr Sir Pastor Master Professor Sister Lady Lord Rev Dr Rev Canon Captain Rt Rev Major Father Venerable Very Rev Other if other x First name Last name Year of birth (Optional) Address House number or name Enter manually Email address To make your petition submission legal we require these details. We are collecting your details here solely for that purpose. Thank you ! You’ve helped us get even closer to 50,000 actions taken against global poverty in 2018. You can hear about more ways you can take action with Tearfund by signing up to our fortnightly Tearfund Action email. Name Title Mr Mrs Miss Ms Rev Dr Sir Pastor Master Professor Sister Lady Lord Rev Dr Rev Canon Captain Rt Rev Major Father Venerable Very Rev Other if other x First name Last name Email address I would also like to receive News and Appeals emails from Tearfund Our supporters are very important to us. We value you as partners in our mission to follow Jesus where the need is greatest. You don’t have to provide your information, but we’d love to contact you to share updates of how people around the world are overcoming poverty and keep you posted about our news, activities and appeals. You can change how we communicate with you at any time by emailing info@tearfund.org or call 020 3906 3906. If you are already receiving updates from us then we will continue to communicate with you in the ways you’ve asked us to. We promise never to pass your details on to another organisation for marketing purposes. We will store your personal data securely and use this information to deliver what you have asked us to and communicate with you in the ways you have chosen. Your data may also be used for research, screening and analysis purposes to help us provide the best possible service. If you want to find out more, you can read our full privacy policy. Your gift makes a difference It will bring change where it is needed most – restoring hope, dignity and possibility. £7 £7 a month for a year could provide a family in Nepal with access to clean water. £12 £12 a month for a year could enable two people to learn business skills and flourish. £34 £34 a month for a year could reforest a village providing resilience to global warming. Your gift will go where the need is greatest to bring an end to extreme poverty. or make one off gift Thank you for helping restore lives. We won’t stop following Jesus where the need is greatest. You can learn more about Tearfund’s work and stay in touch by receiving our news and appeals emails. Name Title Mr Mrs Miss Ms Rev Dr Sir Pastor Master Professor Sister Lady Lord Rev Dr Rev Canon Captain Rt Rev Major Father Venerable Very Rev Other if other x First name Last name Email address You can change your preferences at any time – just email info@tearfund.org or call 020 3906 3906. We promise never to pass your details onto another organisation for marketing purposes. Your data may also be used for research, screening and analysis purposes to help us provide the best possible service. If you want to find out more, you can read our full privacy policy. Posted by Tearfund Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Tearfund Share on Facebook Share on Twitter