Nepali Believers Strengthen the Foundation of Living Water Community Church

When the Darjee family arrived in Chicago in January, 2010 from a 17-year sojourn in a Nepali refugee camp, a Nepali-speaking MCC church community worker welcomed them into the local Mennonite Church, Living Water Community Church.  MCC worker Amos Shakya had arrived in the U.S. two years earlier under Youth with a Mission sponsorship, coming with a desire to extend evangelism and discipleship training to recent Bhutanese/Nepalese refugees.

When the Darjee family arrived in Chicago in January, 2010 from a 17-year sojourn in a Nepali refugee camp, a Nepali-speaking MCC church community worker welcomed them into the local Mennonite Church, Living Water Community Church.  MCC worker Amos Shakya had arrived in the U.S. two years earlier under Youth with a Mission sponsorship, coming with a desire to extend evangelism and discipleship training to recent Bhutanese/Nepalese refugees.

Amos’ journey with Jesus began with a Gospel tract handed to him by a stranger on a path leading to the cornfields near his village. He was captivated by the message in the tract that quoted John 3:16. Several months later, he moved to his sister’s home in Katmandu and decided to attend the church identified on the back of the tract. As the Lord spoke into his heart at this church, Amos sought baptism four months later. He dedicated himself to work, Bible study and outreach activity for three years before entering a six-month formal training program on faith discipleship conducted by Youth with a Mission (YWAM)-Nepal. He then accepted a staff position as Campus Minister with YWAM-Nepal with a focus on evangelism and faith discipleship. Additional certification programs with YWAM took him to Bangalore, India and Bangkok, Thailand.

In August 2008, he entered the U.S. as a student at the Bible School for the Nations conducted by YWAM-Wisconsin. He next worked on evangelism and faith discipleship among recent Bhutanese-Nepali refugees in Boston, MA. On a trip to Chicago, he felt drawn to reach out to the growing Bhutanese community there. He stayed with Bhutanese friends who had been attending Living Water Community Church. He made connection with LWCC leadership while also growing acquainted with more of the Bhutanese/Nepali community in Rogers Park.

Living Water Community Church, a Mennonite church planted in 1995 to reach the multicultural Chicago neighborhood of Rogers Park, found itself well situated to welcome these new immigrants and house English classes conducted by the Nepali Association. MCC’s Church Community Worker program enabled LWCC to add Amos to its part-time paid pastoral staff from September 2010 to August 2012. Partnering with his dynamic wife Roma, whom Amos wed in 2011, the Shakyas lead a Nepali house church which worships and studies the Bible Saturdays in their native language. Many of these house church participants also attend Living Water’s Sunday morning English service. Twelve Bhutanese adults have been baptized into membership in LWCC since Amos came on staff. They reach out eagerly to family and friends, increasing growth in the mother church.

The Darjee family’s journey to faith in Christ makes an interesting case study. Father Buddhiman (“Bhuddi”), mother Tanka Maya and their six children were forced off their farm in Bhutan by soldiers just as planting season ended in April 1992. With their limited funds, they rented a truck with another family and fled to Bader, India. After a brief stay with relatives, they rented another truck and sought refuge in the United Nations’ “Beldangi 1” camp in the Jappa state of Nepal. Their entire Lhotshampas people group had been expelled from the largely Bhuddist country of Bhutan in an ethnic cleansing action against Nepali-speaking Bhutanese. Nepal did not want these 100,000 stateless people either, and denied them opportunity to find work outside the camp.

During their first two months in the camp, cholera took many people’s lives. Tanka was constantly ill. She sought prayer from the Hindu highest priest in the camp, but did not find healing. She began attending church with friends in the refugee camp, hoping to find healing there. Her husband, a Hindu priest since the age of 20, said to her, “Fine! Go get healed.” Tanka accepted Christ and was baptized. Over time, she noticed some of her illnesses departing. When Tanka arrived in Chicago, she still experienced some illness. A Bhutanese Christian friend, Sukmaya, brought her to Living Water where she met Amos and began her discipleship journey to more deeply understand and follow Jesus. Now mostly healed of her illness, Tanka radiates joy, a giving spirit, and a warm welcome to others.

When her husband Buddhi saw the change in Tanka’s life, he became interested in becoming a Christian. He studied the Bible with Amos and other believers and was baptized in October 2010. In his work as a tailor, he would often talk to customers about Christ. Their oldest son Tikaram “Tika” also became a Christian because of the changes he saw in his mother, father, siblings, wife and children who had all become believers. Earlier when his wife Chandra started attending church in Nepal, he became so angry he said he would build a dividing wall in their house and live on a separate side from her. Since he was baptized, Tika has noticed a difference in his thinking and in his capacity to love others. His favorite scripture is Jesus’ parable to build one’s house on rock and not on sand.

The Nepali believers add to the strong foundation being built at Living Water to welcome people of many nations. Members of the Nepali house church lead worship at Living Water once a month with scripture readings and prayer offered in Nepali. This service has become an important outreach to non-believers in the neighborhood. They have taught other attendees how to pass the peace of Christ in Nepali. They also hosted the church’s annual Christmas caroling party in several members’ homes, and presented a Nepali cultural dance at LWCC’s Christmas Day worship. Now attracting 25-40 worshipers per week (including many teenagers), the weekly Saturday Nepali house church changed venue from members’ homes to the Living Water Community Church meetinghouse on June 9.

The united body at LWCC rejoices over recently answered prayers for two important concerns in Amos and Roma’s family. As MCC’s two-year church community worker partnership grant comes to an end, LWCC members have voted to increase their financial commitment to Amos as a valued church leader. Their petition to the U.S. government to extend his R-1 religious worker visa to August, 2013, switching from sponsorship by Youth with a Mission-Wisconsin to LWCC, was granted on April 30. Three days later, Roma gave birth to their first child, Yarona (“sing” and “rejoice”) Jyoti (“light”) Shakya. Despite prenatal diagnosis of a heart ailment, Yarona was breathing on her own and able to go home with her parents a few days after birth. Through birth and new birth, God continues growing the multicultural family at Living Water Community Church.

For further information, contact Amos at amosshakya@gmail.com
–Sally Schreiner Youngquist and George Putnam

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