Sending Gospel Hope and Opportunities in Nepal
For 38-year-old Biraj and his wife Padma, every day used to begin with uncertainty: Will Biraj manage to borrow equipment to plough a field and earn a daily wage? Will we be able to feed our three sons today? Can we buy them the supplies they need to go to school?
Living in a remote and rugged district in Nepal, Biraj’s family scraped for the means to survive. And because Biraj is deaf, the family faces challenges far beyond their poverty. Padma told us she did not know Biraj was hearing impaired before their arranged marriage—but they find ways to communicate using signs, and are doing their best to get by and provide for their children’s needs.
Finding Help Through Joni’s House
In the community where Biraj and his family live, people with disabilities are often marginalized and treated with disdain, even cut off from access to basic necessities. This is why the team at Joni’s House Nepal has gone looking for families living with disability like Biraj’s—to show them care, point to hope, and provide vocational training and tools for them to make a living.
The local team from Joni’s House knows that each family in rural Nepal has unique needs. After getting to know Biraj and assessing his family’s situation, Joni’s House gave him a tilling tractor to plough his own field and neighboring fields to earn steady income. Padma described how this key piece of equipment has made a meaningful difference in their life:
“We used to borrow a tractor from others for ploughing. We are very happy to get the tractor. With the money we earn we can buy the kids books and pens. Thanks to Joni’s House for the support.”
Hands-on Help and Lasting Hope
If not for the Joni’s House team going out to find families like Biraj’s and investing the time to hear their stories, they too often go unseen and forgotten—left to struggle with unmet needs and no hope for a better future. But when Joni and Friends partners meet these individuals and families living with disability, showing up with tangible help and a reason to hope again, everything starts to change.
Over three years, the Joni and Friends Nepal team has set out across an entire poverty-stricken district, seeking out people with disabilities to identify and meet their most urgent and deep-felt needs. Today 420 families have learned what it means to be seen, loved, and given new dignity. But across Nepal, and around the world, many more people living with disability are still waiting, many not even daring to hope.
Support Joni and Friends
You can make a difference for families in need with vocational and economic support—and lasting hope—that will transform their lives. Learn more about Joni and Friends.
