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: diaspora@world.inf.org

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: nepalmigrantunitynetwork@gmail.com

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: dvemaya@gmail.com