Love your neighbour as yourself

Regular visitors may recall that last year (2025) we sent a Nepali braille Bible to Nepal Fellowship for the Handicapped (NFH). This was to replace one damaged in a flood a few years earlier and was made possible by donations from generous Compass Braille supporters.

Sadly one of the six boxes in which it was contained went missing in transit! Thankfully, however, we had funds to be able to reproduce these volumes and send them again. In December we were pleased to hear that this time the box arrived safely! Bonnie Thapa, founder of NFH, recently sent us pictures of blind NFH members enjoying reading these braille volumes.

Earlier in the year, for the first time in 30 years, NFH gathered for a three day retreat. Bonnie told us she wanted to organise this retreat not only for NFH members, but for their families also. Families with children aged 3 to 15 participated together with their parents. About six NFH members’ families came from outside the Kathmandu Valley, and NFH were able to help them with travel costs.

Bonnie writes, “There were about 46 of us in total staying at the hotel, in addition to the worship team, and two pastors who came to help lead worship and teaching sessions. Many of our NFH members had never experienced participating in such a large gathering before, and holding this event in a nice hotel was a historic moment for them.

“On the first day we had a time of worship and a teaching session. Prashant led the singing and worship time. His wife, who was also blind, passed away in 2022 when she was only 24 years old, leaving behind a nine-month-old baby. Pastor Prem Rai from Nepal Christian Church led the teaching session. The theme of our retreat was ‘Love your neighbour as yourself,’ from Mark 12:30-31 and Leviticus 19:18. After that, we split into two discussion groups (men and women) for 45 minutes to discuss the topic we learned during the teaching session.

“The next day, we had fun playing different games together and sharing our talents, such as singing and reciting poems. After lunch and afternoon tea, we again had a time of worship, a teaching session, and a discussion session in the evening. Pastor Mangalman Maharjan from Patan Church led the teaching session.”