The team at Anandaban Hospital are facing the most challenging time in its history.
‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.’ Isaiah 43:2
Peter Waddup, CEO - The Leprosy Mission Great Britain
The flagship leprosy hospital that you continue to support so faithfully has stood firm on a mountainside in Nepal since 1957. Because of you, it is a beacon of hope to people suffering from a disease synonymous with unimaginable cruelty. Its incredible staff team are no strangers to natural disasters. Yet the very existence of Anandaban Hospital has, this week, been threatened like never before.
If you’ve seen the news reports, you’ll know that deadly monsoon rains hit the Kathmandu valley. The district surrounding the hospital sadly bore the brunt of the downpours. Can you imagine the terrible fear as Biblical flooding and landslides ensued? At least 200 people have been killed, and many more are unaccounted for. Children will have been orphaned; family breadwinners will have been lost. The tragedy unfolding is heartbreaking.
The floods caused a devastating landslide at Anandaban on Saturday. Some of the buildings on site were destroyed. Weighing most heavily on our hearts is the survival of the precious patients who are so dear to you. Although they are safe from danger in the main hospital building, the borewell pipes have split. As I write, water is running out. Food supplies can’t reach the hospital either as mud and water cover the roads. Only the army can get through. It is an increasingly desperate situation.
Communication is patchy but you’ll be pleased to know that Shovakhar Kandel, who has led our work in Nepal for many years, is updating us via WhatsApp when he can. It is easy to despair when Shovakhar, a calm man who has witnessed so much, says this is the greatest catastrophe Anandaban has faced. I must confess to leaving that particular call feeling pretty hopeless.
But then I reminded myself that Anandaban means ‘forest of joy’ in Nepali. My heart was somehow lifted by this simple encouragement! From the damage of the 2015 earthquake, to the recent fires which you will have read about in the latest New Day, God has been there. As I look back to how He has protected this most precious place of healing over the years, I’m reminded that He has used you, his people, to provide what is needed.
And now, once more, together we are called to stand shoulder to shoulder with the team and patients at Anandaban. Very soon we will be launching an emergency appeal to build a disaster relief fund. Please will you pray that this is successful so that we can support the hospital in its hour of greatest need?
And if you feel you would like to give now, you can do so below.
As we lift our patients, staff and the people of Nepal to the Lord, I believe we will, once again, see His hand of protection. I pray that through your generosity, the beacon of light that is Anandaban will continue to shine. And that it will shine brighter than ever before in the name of Jesus.
