Illegal Nepalese Dilemma

 Dilemma of illegal Nepalese in Korea

Many Nepalese come to Korea with the hope of earning money and securing their future, but the three year time period for their stay here as legal workers is just enough for them to pay back the debt by which they came to Korea and send some for their families to have few new items in their homes.  The first year is simply spent in getting used to the basics of life and work environment in a foreign land and some give up their dreams and return.  But those who manage to stay for three years; they get used to the culture and society and become accustomed to the way of life.  They pick up the language, and know in and out of their working environment.  When they are just about to live and work in Korea without much difficulty in terms of language, food and culture, time comes for them to go home. 

At the same time, the home country continues to go from bad to worse every year.  As they communicate to their family members, everyone suggests them that it is better for them to stay in a country like Korea illegally than coming back to Nepal where there is no hope of doing anything.  As the three year period comes to a close, they run away from their working places and start working as illegal workers.  Many companies do prefer the illegal workers than going through the hassles of hiring the legal ones; beside, the illegal ones already are good at work, language and adjustment where as the new ones will have to be trained all over again.  So, the illegal Nepalese workers have no problem of finding the employment.

There are about 3 thousand or more illegal Nepalese working in Korea, but the latest crackdown by the government has become so painful for these friends whose hopes lie in their being here so that they can continue to work and send money for their families in Nepal.  They wish to stay here for few more years so that they could save some for their future and at the same time wait for their nation to be a place where they could live and work without fear and uncertainty.

However, many Nepalese are caught by the immigration officials these days and some are already held in detention centers, waiting for their time of deportation.  They had plans, hopes and wishes, but all of them are now dashed, not because it is a bad thing to go home, but because, for Nepalese, home means, absolutely no job, insecurity, extortion by the Maoists and criminals and even kidnap and death.  The Maoists and criminals know that a worker from a country like Korea does have some money for them to extort.  As they wait in the detention centers, their minds become restless.  On the one hand, they hare happy to see their family members and loved ones that they have missed so much, but on the other hand, when they think of the over all situation in Nepal, they feel helpless and lost.

The political situation in Nepal is getting nowhere and there is a strong possibility of bloodshed and perhaps a total control by the Maoists.  Economically, there is absolutely no condition for any investment or entrepreneurship.  Except in the monsoon season, there is no electricity for more than 15 hours everyday, constant transport strikes and closers of normal life have completely paralyzed the nation.   Factories and businesses are being taken over by the workers who are being brainwashed by the extreme communistic ideology of Maoism; businessmen are running away from the nation for their lives.  Departmental stores and shopping centers have become like hunted houses because the workers demanded more than what the owners could pay them and government loathes them with heavy taxes.  Security wise, when one leaves home, one does not know when or whether he/she will be able to come back, and for those who do have wealth and property, life is very uncertain; the constant news of kidnapping and killing for ransom have taken away their sleep and hunger.  Parents wait anxiously for their children to return from school and breathe a sigh of relief when they see them safely home.

With this kind of a picture in mind, a Nepali feels safer in Korea even if it means living like a fugitive, but a thought of going home creates a panic.  Deep down in the heart, everyone wishes to go home but the present reality of Nepal sends a chilling sensation in the spine every time the thought of deportation comes to mind.

Academics with Affections

Academics with Affections

Coming from Hindu religious background and atheistic (communist) indoctrination, my journey into Christian faith was an adventure of academics and affections. I was born into a devout Hindu family that faithfully observed their religious duties and astrological signs. My father would not leave the house for any emergencies unless the signs in the sky were right for him to do so. For a man like that, the birth of the first son was a major event and every detail surrounding the birth had to be recorded in the birth-scroll (horoscope) as soon as possible. Two meters long scroll was prepared for me and unfortunately, the priest discovered that my birth had taken place in one of the most inauspicious moments in the Hindu calendar; my birth ushered father’s death. The only way to avoid his imminent death was for him not to see me (a Hindu father generally would not see his new born child until the priest prepares the horoscope). The priest explained that so long my father does not see me, he would live and gave them two options; either the mother should stop feeding the infant or give the infant away to someone never to be remembered again. I was lucky! When I was nine days old, my maternal grandmother took me away; eight hours’ journey to her distant village. I stayed with grandmother until I was 11, never knew where I had come from. By the time I was seven, I had begun to pray to various Hindu gods about my origin and destiny. Meanwhile back in my home, a different priest had a look at my horoscope, and he discovered that I was not at all a danger to my father! The first priest had made a horrendous mistake!

In my eleventh year, the news came that I had parents and I was going home! Reluctantly they did bring me home and for the first time I saw my father, brother and sisters! About mother, I had seen her before many times but nobody had told me that she was my mother. She used to visit her family and then take me in her arms and silently cry and I had no idea that she was my mother. Sadly, even after I came home, my father refused to look at me and talk to me and my joy of finding my family ended there.

As a bewildered teenager, I lost my faith in religion and got into a communist group. Spending few years in their indoctrination campaigns, I thought that I had found my destiny. But in an amazing way, I met Jesus Christ (which is a different story all together) in my 17th year and did I realize what life was all about; questions of my origin and destiny were settled forever and from the age of 19, I entered into the full time ministry as an itinerant preacher without having any formal theological training. Later I was persuaded to go for formal theological education which then led me to a reputed Bible College in a Southern Indian city of Bangalore. It was there in that college that my life was refined for a lasting Christian service; after four years I received my Bachelor of Theology degree along with academic excellence award. I had the privilege of being mentored by wonderful men and women of God from various parts of the world whose influence still adds new impetus every time I am reminded of. Some filled the place of my father and others filled the place of a brother but not every one of the mentors under whose ministry I sat was able to leave a lasting legacy behind; some were dry and detached from what they taught.

After 8 years of full time ministry in the area of theological education and church pioneering, I had another chance to go for Master of Divinity course at Torch Trinity Graduate School of Theology in Seoul where once again had the privilege of meeting many more men and women of God, some of whom had great academic achievements in their lives. But there were others, who also had great academic credentials, but their academic credentials were coupled with deep emotional affection for their students. As a mature student after years of ministry experience, I was greatly touched and impacted by their personal affections and academic excellence. I was able to re-evaluate and correct my own way of learning and teaching to my students.

Finally, another opportunity to further my theological education came my way and the Lord led me to do Master of Theology and Doctoral studies at Asia Life University in Daejeon. The university is relatively young and much of the infrastructure is still developing, but compared to the schools I have studied in and taught at, the ALU leadership and the professors possessed higher degree of affection for their students. The affection I found in ALU is coupled with high degree of respect toward students as co-workers in the kingdom of God regardless of their nationality and level of learning (which is a rarity in Korean context). Almost all of the professors have earned their doctoral degrees from prestigious universities in the US, UK and elsewhere, and have the reason to boast for their academic achievements. But they demonstrate such a depth of humility and camaraderie inside as well as outside the classroom that demands highest respect from their students. I am grateful to God for the privilege of being a part of such a wonderful place and I am sure the Lord will use these men and women of God to impact countless lives. It is my prayer that the professors that I have studied under in many of these schools would continue to strive for their academic excellence but would not forget to cap their academic caliber with affectionate countenance; without the affections of the heart, the dry and cerebral academics alone will not be able to leave a lasting legacy behind for their students to cherish.

As I reflect on the influence of my professors in my life, I am reminded of the two great Jewish Rabbis; Hillel and Shammai who had titanic struggles with one another for ascendency and influence during the either side of the first century. Hillel was known to be a man of great affection and tremendous influence among the Jewish populace while Shammai was a strict legalist who lacked compassion and wider following, but both were among the finest minds of their time. Shammai outlived Hillel and tried to eradicate Hillel’s influence by weakening the house of Hillel through all means, but according to the tradition, a voice from heaven nullified Shammai’s position on the Law (Yerushalmi Berakhot, 1:7) and till today, it is the position of Hillel that has survived as a testimony to the power of a teacher who possesses academics and affections.

One of the reasons why scholars and theologians lack affections in their academic life can be understood on the basis of their relationship with suffering. Hillel was born in Babylonia, and at the age of 40 he went to Jerusalem to study the Torah and for the next 40 years (Hillel is thought to have lived 120 years) he went through a lot of opposition, rejection, suffering and pain where as Shammai was on the side of persecuting Hillel and had relatively comfortable life compared to him and failed to express compassion to his fellow human beings. Most of the arm-chair scholars who have never faced suffering of any kind in life are wonderful to read but terrible to have relationship with. Such theologians neither can adjust in any local church nor are they able to run theological institutions and thus they resign themselves away from people in the company of their books. But of course in the area of scholarship, affection void of academic depth is equally ineffective to impact students’ life. I am fortunate to have met many wonderful people of God who have touched and transformed my deranged mind and damaged emotions so that today, every time I stand behind a pulpit, a podium or a lectern, I too wish to leave something behind.

Ministry at Sooyoungro Nepali Church, Pusan

During Chusok holidays, we were invited by Sooyoungro Nepali Church in Pusan to share the word of God. Our theme was "Living as Aliens", not just from one country to another, but our life here on earth is a pilgrimage, we are strangers in a foreign land until we reach our final home, a city whose builder and maker is God himself.


We also spent a day in a famous Heundae beach in Pusan!!