Partnership Overview

For a number of years Niranjan and Sonu Adhikary, BHW partners, have been concerned about the dependence a lot of Christian ministry in Nepal had on external funding and resources. They subsequently developed a Nepali way of doing and funding ministry and have been encouraging people to think differently. Part of this was to establish a Resource Centre at Nawal Parisi (NEP02b) to provide loans for members to establish businesses to support themselves and also generate funds to support church planters. This project is an extension of that and provides larger loans to a few key people.  

History of Partnership

Bright Hope World first met Niranjan in 2003 while he was a student at the South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies (SAIACS) in Bangalore. Following his return to Nepal we have supported a number of projects in both Saptari and Nawal Parasi. The community development partnership in Nawal Parasi which was commenced in 2008 has been particularly successful with numerous components and has been self-sustaining since mid-2011. A key part of this is the Resource Centre which enables the members to access loans for the development of their own businesses and farms for the purpose of increasing income to the Resource Fund and to create new employment opportunities. The vision was to generate many self-sufficient projects to resource the poor and enhance the health and growth of the church in Nepal and this has certainly happened. 

However, there are now a few beneficiaries who are seeking loans larger than what the Resource Centre is able to provide and so in mid-2020 Niranjan approached BHW to see if we could assist with providing funds for these larger loans.  

Beneficiaries

The initial beneficiaries here are the two families mentioned below who will receive the first two loans.  

What We Like About The Partnership

- The strong leadership structure and the generosity of the leaders
- The clear strategy that has been developed
- The holistic nature of the whole partnership
- The strong network of trainees that provides the context for this partnership 

Key People

Leadership Profile

The key people are Niranjan and Sonu Adhikary. They live in Kathmandu. After training at University Niranjan was employed by Campus Crusade for Christ. He developed into a leadership role there, especially in training people. After marrying, they decided to go to SAIACS for further training and while there decided that on returning to Nepal he would look for a totally different model of doing ministry. He was, and is, very concerned about the dependence that much Christian ministry in Nepal has on outside funding and resources. He wanted to develop a Nepali way of doing and funding ministry so he began training people in a different way. Many of these people have gone out into difficult areas to plant churches. 

Niranjan continues to provide leadership and oversight to the training programme, and gets involved in resolving issues when they arise. Niranjan and Sonu are also involved in leading a small church near their house.  

Vision And Annual Strategy

The vision of the Resource Centre was to create a fund that would generate many self-sufficient projects to resource the poor and enhance the health and growth of the church in Nepal. This project is an extension of that vision and provides larger loans to a few key people. 

Annual Budget

The budget for 2020/21 is US$6,050

Initial Loan Beneficiaries

Shankar and Samaya Tamang

Shankar and Samaya have previously been loan beneficiaries from the Resource Centre. Their first loan of NPR50,000 (US$600) was to start a vegetable garden and the second of NPR75,000 (US$900) was to expand the garden. They made some savings and took another loan of NPR25,000 (US$300) which they used to start a poultry farm and chicken meat shop. This is operating successfully now. They buy batches of 300 chicks to maintain a constant supply and have 1,000-1,200 birds. They sell approximately 30-40 kg of meat per day. They have also tried raising goats but these were not very successful so they stopped this. 

They are both from a Buddhist background and were initially expelled from their village. However, things are OK now and Shankar's brother, who is now a pastor, has a church of about 100 people in the village. They live in a village that was completely levelled in the 2015 earthquake, not one house was left standing. They were out in the fields at the time. They lived in the temporary housing that BHW funded until they were able to rebuild their house which is still temporary. Many people became Christians after the earthquake. The church had some tithes stored up and in front of their “building” was some clear space so they put up temporary shelter and shared what they had with the whole community. This caused the attitude of the community to change. Ray of Hope sent a tent, rice and a sewing machine and this made all the difference to the people. This resulted in great growth in the church in the village. 

Both Shankar and Samaya work in the business. They get up at 5am and water the vegetables from the small borehole and pump they have. They have joined up with two other families who are graduates of the BTC training programme (Niranjan’s leadership training programme). They have hired almost 2 acres of land although they have their own land in another place. They live about 40 km from Kathmandu. 

The seven people in the three families have their own area to work on but they help each other at various times throughout the year. 

Shankar and Samaya have two sons, 9 and 10 years old. Shankar went to work in a gas plant as a scaffolder in Bahrain to make some money but that didn’t work out. The income was very poor and the promised overtime did not eventuate. He soon came home, got the first loan and since then they have not looked back. 

Currently they face a number of challenges. They are constantly being ripped off by the wholesalers who try to lower the prices all the time. They do not have the time to sell directly in the markets and they would not be allowed to sell there as they are all controlled by the mafia. There is also a constant threat of disease in the garden and bird-flu and other diseases in the chickens.

The chickens are ready for slaughter at about 45 days of age. They sell them for around US$3 per chicken and make about US$2. People are very envious of their success and tell them they are doing very well and should increase their business and their land area. If they had not received this help he would probably be somewhere else like Malaysia working to keep the family alive but now he likes being at home where he can encourage the family, children and relatives and send the children to school. They have small savings and see their children as an investment. 

They are keen to start another shop, a larger one that is hygienic with coolers, a deep freeze, scales, a proper benchtop and a chopping block. They will sell chickens, vegetables, buffalo and goat meat. 

In addition to their two children, Peter also lives with them. His parents were killed five years ago in the earthquake. He is now 19 years old and helps them on the farm. He was one of the people supported by BHW through Ray of Hope in the aftermath of the earthquake. Peter knows how to butcher and the plan is that he will help them in the shop. 

They are asking for US$3,000 for this next stage of development. They would repay the loan over three years, the first year there would be no repayments. 

Indralal 

Indralal lives in Makawanpur, 400km east from Nawal Parasi and then a one-day walk, with his wife and six children. He is a farmer but also pastors a church in that area. 

He is keen to get a loan of US$2,500 to enable him to generate income for his family and other believers, so that he may serve the Lord and his people through his church ministry without any financial burden. 

Two other families will join him to run their buffalo and cow farming operation and hence will also be financially assisted by him receiving this loan. 

Indralal has worked with Niranjan and his team for many years and one of their other pastors recommended his name for a loan from the Resource Centre. In the past he has worked well in vegetable farming but is now keen to venture into buffalo and cow farming. He repaid his initial loan from the Resource Centre a few years back.