This month at Calvary South OC, we are highlighting missionaries Pankaj and Tonielle Sakar, who serve the Lord with their family at Calvary Chapel Kathmandu in Nepal. Below is an overview of their missionary work as well as pictures and prayer requests we received from them.
Hello! We are Pankaj & Tonielle Sarkar! We live and serve in Kathmandu, Nepal with our two kids, Levi (7 years old) and Eden (4 years old). Pankaj is originally from India but has been living and serving in Nepal since 1996. Tonielle is from Orange County, CA and has been traveling to Nepal since 2006. We met on Tonielle’s first mission trip to Nepal and were married in 2011 and lived in America for 2 years before moving back to Nepal in 2013.
Pankaj is lead pastor at Calvary Chapel Kathmandu and also a founder and director of a worship ministry called Salvation Worship Ministries. Salvation is an evangelical, multi-denominational ministry that has a desire to disciple, train, and equip people in the area of worship and in teaching the Word of God. In addition to the church and worship ministry, Pankaj also helps with teaching and serves on the board of the Calvary Chapel Bible College that he helped start years ago. Two of the newest ministries that Pankaj started and is leading is the Salvation School of Worship as well as a mobile pastoral training program which goes to different areas of Nepal to train pastors in the villages.
Now that our kids are in school, Tonielle is getting more opportunities to serve outside the home. She serves as the liaison between the American and Nepali ministries we are involved with, helps with office work for the School of Worship and Salvation Worship Ministries, and helps oversee and run a Mommy and Me group for foreign missionaries and nationals in the area. She also recently started co-leading a biweekly women’s Bible study with a friend of hers.
We are blessed to have the opportunity to share a bit about ourselves and the ministries God has entrusted us with. Please join us in praying for the country of Nepal. Although there is an “anti-conversion” law and it is against the law to proselytize, God is moving, the Gospel is being shared, and lives are being changed.
Prayer Requests:
After a few months multiple bouts of pneumonia, Pankaj was recently diagnosed with heart failure due to an infection getting into his heart. He is on cardiac medication and is stable and feeling great. He has a cardiologist appointment here in America on July 20th where they will check his medication dosage amounts as well as check for any improvements in his heart function. Since the heart failure was caused by an infection, doctors believe that his heart will recover over time. Please pray for continued healing of his heart muscle and for good reports at the cardiologist on July.
With the cost of living increasing, school fees for two children, and loss of our largest supporter, we are in need of more monthly supporters for our ministries and family.
The largest need is rent for our ministry campus. We have one campus (4 buildings) that hold the church, School of Worship, Salvation Worship Ministry, and Bible College. We are struggling to raise the funds for rent and will have to give up the campus if we cannot raise enough funds in 2023. Pankaj and Salvation Worship has been at this location for over 20 years and it has been 8 years since the other ministries have been here. It is in a prime location and is well known to all around. The rent amount for the entire campus is roughly (depending on the exchange rate) $2000 per month.
Another need is help with our children's school fees. We have been blessed with the opportunity to send our kids to 2 amazing schools. Levi is attending an international, Christian school that was started specifically for missionary kids but is open to nationals and non-Christians as well. It is amazing to see him growing academically and spiritually and to see the sweet friendships he is developing. Eden is finishing her last year at a small, Nepali run preschool and we plan to put her in the same school as Levi in August 2023. So far, we have been able to pay for the school fees with the help of our US tax return funds. While we are grateful to have these funds available right now, we hope to raise monthly support to cover the fees and be able to put our tax return funds toward other ministry and personal uses.
There are other major needs that we have for our ministries (running costs, teacher payrolls, supplies, etc). If you feel led to help with the campus rent, our children's school fees, or any other ministry related needs, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or you can go to our ministry website to set up a one-time or monthly donation.
Email: SarkarsInNepal@gmail.com
Ministry Website: www.hopeforthehimalayas.com
Salvation Worship Ministries: www.salvationworshipministries.com www.facebook.com/salvationworshipministries
Calvary Chapel Kathmandu Facebook: www.facebook.com/CCKathmandu
School of Worship: www.schoolofworshipnepal.com and www.facebook.com/SalvationSOW
To help financially support the Sakar’s missionary work, click here and select “Pankaj and Tonielle - Nepal” under the Fund drop down.
