Creating a Sustainable Church in Nepal

After finishing his theological training, Sanjay felt ready to serve the Lord. The young Nepalese leader was feeling spiritually fit  and confident about going into full-time ministry.

But then the reality of that decision hit him.

“I want to serve in the church, but I don’t want to look forward to poverty my whole life,” Sanjay told Troy and Faith Bierma, missionaries with Christian Reformed World Missions in Nepal.

For Sanjay, serving in full-time ministry means not being able to care for his aging parents, pay for his children’s education, or save up for a home when he retires. Like many pastors in Nepal, he is stuck.

“Churches in Nepal are too poor to pay their pastors well, or even at all,” explained Troy Bierma. “You can pursue a calling to ministry, or you can take care of your family.”

As one of the people who trains Nepalese church leaders at the Evangelical Presbyterian Theological Seminary (EPTS), Troy Bierma hated the idea of setting his students up for a life of poverty. He also did not want these leaders to have to be dependent on western funds. So he proposed a change.

After looking into some options, Troy and Faith discovered the potential for training church leaders in aquaponics, a system of farming fish and using the nutrient-rich waste water from them to grow vegetables.

Together with an existing Christian aquaponic business in Nepal, interested EPTS students like Sanjay will soon be able to receive training in aquaponics and biblical business principles.

“Training in aquaponic farming is one way we hope to contribute toward a more sustainable church in Nepal,” said Troy Bierma.

What right now is only an unfinished row of bricks and wooden beams will soon be a flourishing aquaponics training center that will allow theological students like Sanjay to learn a skill that will make his ministry more sustainable.