As a special ServLife project this holiday season, Nepali Christians Bipin and Sarah Sharma are making beautiful, hand-crafted Christmas cards. A portion of the proceeds from these cards will be used to sponsor outreach in partnership with a local ministry in Kathmandu, Nepal. We hope you will use your Christmas dollars to build and encourage the Body of Christ in Nepal by purchasing these cards. To see the Christmas cards, Click Here.
Bipin Sharma grew up in a rural village in Nepal, one of Asia’s poorest countries. At age 14, he moved alone from his parent’s remote village to continue his education. Two years later his parents had sold all of the water buffalo and crops they could spare to support his education, and Bipin was left to fend for himself. He wanted to head for the big city “Kathmandu” to find work and pursue higher education. With the help of a friend, Bipin secured a job at a clothing shop in Kathmandu and with 40 rupees from his uncle (then equivalent to about 67 cents) off he went to begin his new life.
Over the next few years, Bipin worked a series of jobs in Kathmandu, surviving on sometimes as little as $20/month. After modest success in a couple of jobs and with dreams of financial security, Bipin took out a loan to begin his own printing business. It was an unstable time in Nepal, when a massacre in the royal family rocked the nation and turned fragile security into chaos for many. In the midst of a busy city, Bipin found himself feeling very alone and hopeless, burdened by a loan he could not pay back after his business failed. Smoking marijuana and contemplating suicide, Bipin could not shake the feeling that his life was vain and empty.
During this dark season, he had a Christian landlord who shared Christ’s invitation in Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Bipin tentatively started going to a local church, wondering if this could be true, and found that it was. In Jesus, he found peace like he had not known before. Over the next years he grew in his faith and attended discipleship and church-planting trainings. Through his church, he also met his future wife Sarah, whom he married in 2003.
In Sarah, Bipin found a partner who shared his heart for the Lord, work ethic, and honesty. Still burdened by the loan from the failed printing business, the newlyweds sold their wedding rings and other valuables to pay off the debt while leading a church plant in Kathmandu.
Bipin’s entrepreneurial desires remained strong, and a year and a half ago, he and Sarah started Hosanna Printers; a growing full-service printing business. Their family is also growing, they had their first child, a daughter, on October 16, 2006. Bipin and Sarah enjoy using their success to give back to others and currently support several local Nepali ministries. They have a heart for outreach, and Bipin also has a vision to help other Nepalis build successful businesses so that both individuals and the Nepali church can thrive without outside aid.