National Missionaries Respond as Flash Flooding Devastates Nepal

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At least 1,010 have perished. Thousands are still missing. Please pray.

On Wednesday, August 26, severe flash floods tore through Nepal and Tibet. There was no rain and no warning. Videos show people with only seconds to flee before bridges, roads, and power plants were swept away. The full extent of the damage is still unknown.

GFA World’s national missionaries serve in many of the hardest-hit communities in Nepal. Churches were destroyed. Homes were torn apart. Thousands of people we serve have been affected. Here’s one report we received:

“Pastor P … has been badly affected by the flash flood. His church building and house have been completely flooded. By God’s grace, he and his family were able to escape and are safe. However, at present, they have very little to survive with, except for the clothes they were wearing. Many families from his church have also lost their houses and belongings.”

So far, more than 4,000 people are missing and more than 1,000 people have perished in a flash of rushing water and mud that tore through the Nepal-Tibet border after a massive glacier collapsed in the Himalayan mountains. Rescue crews have been working around the clock. Hundreds of emergency workers, vehicles and search dogs have joined the effort in Tibet.

One GFA pastor serving in the region was able to escape the surging floodwaters, fleeing his home with his family, saving only the clothes on their backs and surviving on packets of noodles.

Another affected GFA pastor said, “We had received a warning about the flood just 30 minutes before it happened, but we did not take it seriously. Floods occur every year, but they had never reached our house before, so I thought nothing would happen this time either.

“But then, I witnessed something I had never imagined or seen before. A huge mass of water, mud, and debris came rushing down like a dark mountain, shaking and swallowing everything in its path.

“Before we could even pack our belongings, we had to leave everything behind and run uphill with our entire family to save our lives. It was one of the most terrifying and unexpected experiences of my life, which I had never imagined or seen.

“Although we lost our belongings and faced a frightening situation, I am deeply thankful to God for His mercy and protection. By His grace, He preserved our lives and kept our entire family safe.”

Harrowing videos show people running, trying to escape the impending danger, before muddy waves towering 27 feet high crash into their surroundings and sweep them away. Photos show survivors caked in mud as rescuers carry them to safety.

Our hearts break thinking about the ones who have passed away in Nepal and Tibet, especially those who have entered eternity never knowing the love and saving grace of our Lord and Saviour. Yet we know there is still hope for those who survived!

When a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal in 2015, GFA-supported workers responded immediately. They didn’t arrive from somewhere else—they were already there, serving through an existing network of hundreds of churches and dozens of Child Sponsorship centers.

Relief teams reached dozens of villages across six districts, many so remote that reaching them meant traveling by truck, on foot, or by helicopter—places most relief agencies couldn’t get to at all.

It wasn’t outside volunteers who carried it out. It was pastors, Bible college students, and church members already living in those communities. The same kind of network is responding in Nepal right now.

In 2025 alone, GFA World was able to distribute 200,000 dry ration kits to people in need. Your generous donation can make relief like this possible.

GFA World mobilizes thousands of national missionaries across Asia—and in Nepal, that network was in place before this flood hit. That’s why relief efforts started within hours, not days. National missionaries and local churches have been distributing food, water, tents, and other essentials to families who have lost everything.