Nestled in with the other district-level government buildings at the District capital of Beshisahar are several renovated and new buildings with fresh white paint and blue corrugated roofs. This is the Lamjung District Community Hospital.

Eventually one gets over the newness of it all; the first renovated building being two and a half years old, and the newest building being only just over a year old. The reality settles in; it is, after all, simply a hospital.

Hospitals are where sick people come. During a normal day the halls are crowded with patients, often with a family member or two, waiting to be seen. In the evening those same halls are empty, but many of the 41 beds are not. Unless one has a fascination with sick people, as medical personnel seem to, it is rather unexciting.

But if one has eyes to see, one can see the kingdom of God there.

One indication that things are different is that this district hospital is functioning. Nepal is divided into 75 districts, and in a perfect world, each district would have a government hospital. Most, if not all districts, have a district hospital building, but in many of them no services whatsoever are provided. Unfortunately, those that do provide services that fall far below what the government plans call for.

The World Bank did a study of 30 hospitals in Nepal. By the time the research team came to Lamjung Hospital, the team leader, having seen so many hospitals, had no interest in even going inside, because it was being renovated and wasn't much to behold from the outside. But a local resident, in response to a question from her, said, "This place used to be like hell. Now it is like heaven." She went inside straightaway.

The final report of that study gave Lamjung Hospital very high marks; including noting that Lamjung spent 56% of its budget on salaries and 28% on medicines. Another district hospital in the study spent 71% of its budget on salaries and 5% on medicines. It is hard to get good care if there are inadequate medicines to accompany the diagnosis.

But a functioning hospital is not the only sign of the kingdom of God. While Lamjung Hospital is a government hospital in a Hindu country, the majority of the staff is Christian. The Christian staff, and anyone who wants to join them, begins each day with a 30-minute devotional time in the hospital meeting room.

Why is this so? The hospital is managed by a Nepali Christian organization, Human Development and Community Services (HDCS), which we work with. Amazingly, this ministry of HDCS is the result of the vision of a Nepali Christian with no formal medical training, Tirtha Thapa. Tirtha, HDCS' executive director, only has a graduate degree in theology. In 1997, representatives from Lamjung District asked him to start a "mission hospital" in Beshisahar. This very same district—his home district—had, years before, publicly and officially announced that he was unwelcome in it because he had become a Christian and had married a Nepali Christian. Now it was asking for his help. God led Tirtha to respond to this request to start a mission hospital by offering to revive the barely functioning district hospital instead.

Thus began a very new journey for all involved.

At the beginning, when Tirtha first went to the Ministry of Health to propose such an agreement, they asked if he had a funder to finance the renovations and equipping of the hospital. Not having one, he was told to come back when he did. Since he believed God was leading, he set up another meeting time and proceeded to draft an official agreement. A few months before that meeting, a friend told him of a European Christian mission group that was coming for a visit to Nepal. When Tirtha contacted them, they said they would be willing to visit Beshisahar when they came to Nepal, but he should not expect anything from it. Then, after completing their visit, they remained noncommittal, only promising to let Tirtha know their final decision within two months.

The problem was he needed to know within 5 weeks.

Then, two days before his scheduled meeting, the Europeans contacted Tirtha to say they would support the project with both funds and personnel. They faxed a formal commitment letter the next day. The following day he took it to the Ministry of Health for the meeting that had long since been scheduled. Soon thereafter the government approved the agreement,…

...and Lamjung Hospital was born.

The kingdom of God is there in Lamjung through the lives of the hospital's Christian staff living out their faith through compassionate, reliable and outstanding service for all to see. Meanwhile, HDCS is able to shine the light of its faith and service in the corridors of the government. The government has found itself pleasantly surprised by this unexpected and successful relationship with a Nepali Christian service organization. Finally, Lamjung Hospital has made Nepal's proportionally small but rapidly growing Christian community – a community that was once officially persecuted – proud that some of their Christian brothers and sisters are serving God and their country in such a publicly distinguished manner.

It is a joy and a privilege to be able to work with such a person of faith and vision, and with such a ministry of compassion and witness. Thank you for supporting us to make this possible.

Please join us in prayer for the Lamjung Hospital staff, the HDCS staff, and those God brings into all our paths.

Carole and Bucky Sydnor