July 2009

An accident in Nepal becomes opportunity for testimony of God's life

While driving into Nepal to make arrangements for upcoming medical outreach camps, Sanjeeb Sahu, National Director of HIM’s Help India Ministry, suddenly found himself in a difficult and unexpected situation. While slowing down to present papers for a Nepali police officer, an elderly man on a bicycle swerved in front of the car and, though Sanjeeb was driving slowly and also swerved to avoid him, was struck and run over by the front wheel of the car. The man was not killed, but suffered several broken ribs and a broken hip. They took the man to a hospital, and Sanjeeb went to the police station.

Sanjeeb’s wife Anita sent an email to notify the HIM family about the situation and request prayer for Sanjeeb and for the injured man.

“Sanjeeb at present is in the police station and he may have to stay there for at least two days, as the police said that he would be safe there. The police are very cooperative. Please pray for the man in the hospital that the Lord would heal him and Sanjeeb may be able to come out of this situation.”

The following day, news came that the man in the hospital, though doing well and talking, would need an operation soon. His family wanted Sanjeeb to pay a large sum to cover his medical expenses. In Nepal, a driver in an accident is not released until the injured person’s family signs an agreement that they are satisfied with payment.

Because of this, in Nepal it is also normal for the driver in an accident to deliberately kill an injured person rather than take them to the hospital, as a lump sum payment is easier to meet than the uncertainty of hospital expenses. When Sanjeeb was released two days later and went to visit the injured man to pray for him, the man was in tears.

“The old man said that if Sanjeeb would not have taken him to the hospital immediately he would have died [...] Sanjeeb also met his wife and asked her forgiveness for the incident which happened. The whole family was very happy and it was a beautiful testimony of the love of God to them,” Anita wrote.

Some of the doctors told the worker who was with Sanjeeb to let the man die, to which he responded, “He will not die. Our Living God has saved him. Otherwise we could not have brought him here.”

Sanjeeb said that because he was there to arrange medical camps, the police saw that he was concerned for the Nepali people and took good care of him at the station. “Almost every policeman in Nepal knows me now and every staff in the hospital ... But the best part was the way we handled the entire situation in a different way,” he wrote. The story was told in Nepali newspaper and radio, allowing news of the August medical camps to be widely known.

“What started as a tragedy turned into a blessing in the end. The beginning was the Worst and then the Best came and now the Best is yet to come.”

Pray for the healing and salvation of the injured man and his family, who have received Bible lessons in Nepali; for the salvation of the many people in the hospital and police station who were witnesses; and for the new work begun in Nepal to reach the lost and those in bondage.