Christian aid reaches affected Nepal areas

Faith-driven relief efforts have mobilized worldwide, with Samaritan’s Purse Canada rushing more than 40 tons of emergency supplies to Nepal’s flood-ravaged Langtang Valley, while Aid to the Church in Need continues to assist local communities recovering from earthquakes across Colombia.

On Sept. 2, the Samaritan’s Purse 767 cargo plane landed in Kathmandu, Nepal, carrying an assortment of relief items that have been delivered to communities devastated by late August flooding and mudslides.

Flash flooding and debris flows ran through the Gyirong checkpoint on the China-Nepal border on Aug. 26, affecting dozens of towns along a 72-kilometre stretch of the Trishuli River. More than 1,200 deaths and 5,000 missing persons were confirmed in Nepal, with an additional 31 dead and 531 missing in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

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Fred Weiss, executive director of Samaritan’s Purse Canada, spoke about the teams of disaster relief specialists who took to the ground in Nepal to work with trusted Christian partners. 

“Those partners on the ground were able to respond immediately to procure local aid, providing supplies and food before our team got on the ground within 48 hours, and have been providing logistics and support to them,” he said. “Foreigners aren't allowed up into the affected areas, and so we are trying to assist them by providing materials and resources to help the hurting people they are reaching out to.”

Weiss added that the severity of the situation in Nepal is far greater than what major headlines may immediately lead on.

“ Families in the Langtang Valley area have been devastated, whole communities have been washed out and many people died in that flooding,” he said. “Many of the villages serving the small, tourist-driven trekking areas are gone. As of now,  3,000 households remain inaccessible, and anyone we can't reach with aid materials by road has left us looking at getting helicopters to help us fly in instead.”

Thankfully, Samaritan’s Purse’s prior support during the April 2015 Nepal earthquake, a mission Weiss was on the ground for, enabled relationships with local partners to be maintained and strengthened as they find themselves assisting once again.

Weiss shared that relief workers drive four hours from Kathmandu into the most impacted areas and then carry the supplies on foot into each community.

While the short-term priority is meeting urgent needs through their recent deployment of heavy-duty tarps, blankets, water filters, hygiene kits and solar lights, longer-term support will be considered once those immediate needs are addressed. This action plan follows that of 2015, when the Canadian team sent sawmills so locals could process timber from forests downed by a related glacier collapse and rebuild homes and shelters, with groundwork that continued through partners into 2018.

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As a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization, Samaritan’s Purse Canada also articulated the importance of the “why” behind its continued mission in the country, one superseding mere international relief.

“The most important thing is that we invite people to be praying for the people of Nepal, for the families that have been devastated, the lost and missing loved ones and also those on the ground responding,” Weiss said.

“We can offer materials and aid along the way, but we also want to offer the hope that is always in Jesus Christ. To lift up (the Nepali people) and point them to the Lord wherever there's an opportunity to do that, even to pray for them if they invite that, is our heart. That is how we really reflect Christ, to show love to these people who have been devastated and let them know we are there to help.” 

At the same time, Aid to the Church in Need has turned its attention to supporting Colombia, after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck large parts of the country’s western and central areas on Aug. 10.

With the epicentre recorded in the municipality of San José del Palmar, latest reports show the death count has risen to over 330, with an additional 4,500 injured and more than 466,000 people affected across five departments.

Hernán Darío Cadena, the leader of communication for ACN Colombia, said the organization is running fundraising campaigns, with donations first going to emergency and first-response aid, distributed to the affected dioceses and broader areas.

“We have teams visiting the damaged zones to assess the impact on churches, chapels, parish houses, and other church buildings,” he said. “Right now, roughly 30 per cent of parishes are seriously impacted, another 20 per cent lightly impacted, and some of the seriously damaged churches will need to be completely demolished.”

As immediate aid remains ongoing, support is also being considered for priests and religious to resume daily life, with ACN Colombia assessing and planning reconstruction aid in the coming weeks and months.

Mario Bard, director of communications for ACN Canada, shared his hopes for continued spiritual and practical support in an email to the Register.

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“We are inviting our benefactors and everyone to continue their generous support for the Church in Colombia following the Aug. 10 earthquake. We also strongly encourage everyone to pray for the Colombian people and for the local Church, its priests, religious sisters and laypeople, who are doing everything they can to accompany and console those affected, and to keep hope alive during this very difficult time,” he stated

As support and prayer from South America to South Asia continue, opportunities to support the efforts of both Samaritan's Purse Canada and Aid to the Church in Need are presented on their respective websites.

A version of this article appeared in the September 13, 2026 issue of The Catholic Register with the headline "Christian aid reaches affected Nepal areas"