Faith Facts

• More than 40 Church of Christ members are missing after a catastrophic glacier collapse triggered deadly floods along the Nepal-Tibet border, killing at least 1,010 people
• An Alabama mission team escaped the disaster by just 30 minutes when police turned them back before a bridge was swept away by muddy floodwaters
• Despite the tragedy, Christian youth who lost family members traveled for hours on damaged roads to attend a faith camp, demonstrating unwavering commitment to Christ

More than 40 members of Churches of Christ are among the 4,600 people missing after a tidal wave of muddy water, earth and rock devastated communities along the Nepal-Tibet border. A team of church members from Nepal and Alabama could easily have been among them.

“We missed it by 30 minutes,” Jerry Ross said in a message from Nepal.

The associate minister for the East Colbert Church of Christ in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and a small team of fellow Christians were headed to the city of Dhading Besi on August 26 to host a gospel meeting. Before they crossed a bridge over the Trishuli River, a police officer stopped them, warned of rising floodwaters and “forced us to take shelter in a safer place,” Nepali minister Pramod Dhakal said.

“In a while, the connecting bridge to Dhading Besi was swallowed by the rising flood.”

“If the police hadn’t turned us around, we would have been swept away with a bridge or caught on the wrong side of the bridge, unable to get back,” Ross added.

The collapse of a high-altitude glacier near the China-Nepal border initiated an avalanche of ice and rock that dammed river channels and created a tsunami of mud, boulder and water along the banks of the Trishuli, the World Meteorological Organization reported. At least 1,010 people died, the Nepali government estimated. China reported additional deaths on the Tibet side of the border.

The missing church members worked at a hydropower facility along the river, said Krishna Oli, a Nepali minister who accompanied Dhakal and the Alabama Christians on their aborted trip. Nepal, a landlocked country that borders India to the south and China to the north, is home to the Himalayas and Mount Everest, the highest mountain on earth.

The floods destroyed roads and bridges across Nepal’s rugged terrain, cutting access to rural communities, including the hard-hit Rasuwa District. Oli made contact with Karpo Lama, a preacher in the affected region.

“He reported that the situation is becoming very difficult due to severe food shortages,” Oli said.

“All the roads are blocked because of the catastrophic floods, making it extremely difficult to bring essential supplies into the affected areas.”

Nepali church members Sanjaya Thapa and Markus Tamang are making their way to the Rasuwa District, Dhakal said. “They have started walking on foot on a Himalayan trail … which will take two days,” the minister said.

“They will go around and visit seven churches as much as possible to know the actual scenario and needs of relief and rebuilding. … Please pray for the safety of two brothers who dared to travel on foot caring for affected brethren.”

One Kingdom, a Louisiana-based ministry associated with Churches of Christ, works with Dhakal and Oli and is collecting funds to assist in relief efforts. The Nepali minister oversee Nepal Bible College in the capital, Kathmandu.

After escaping the floodwaters, the mission team continued its work. Oli reported four baptisms. The church members from Alabama made the prayerful decision to carry on with a Christian youth camp in Pokhara, a popular tourist town known for its scenic views of the Himalayas.

About 85 youths from flood-affected areas attended the camp, Dhakal said. With multiple bridges washed out, the youths had to take long routes, changing buses multiple times, to reach the event. Some lost relatives in the floods, the minister said, but “they were committed to attending the youth camp in Pokhara.”

As they begin the long process of relief and recovery, the ministers asked for prayers and support. “This tragedy has brought an even greater burden for prayer, pastoral care, encouragement and practical assistance to affected churches, families, and communities,” said Oli, who referenced Psalm 147:3, “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.”

“In the midst of suffering and uncertainty, the ministry continues to trust God, serve his people, proclaim his Word and encourage believers to remain faithful to Christ.”

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Faith Facts

• Pastor Robert Guanco died at Big Church Festival when a falling sign struck him, leaving behind a wife and family
• Six others were injured in the accident at the Christian music festival
• The tragedy has prompted deep questions about God’s providence and why suffering touches even sacred gatherings

The question every believer dreads came this week from a heartbroken 21-year-old: How could God allow a beloved pastor to die at a Christian festival? When a sign fell at Big Church Festival this weekend, it took the life of Robert Guanco—a faithful pastor, devoted husband, and loving father. Six others were injured in the tragic accident.

For Amy Orr-Ewing, the young man’s godmother, the question demanded more than platitudes. Her godson needed truth that could bear the weight of real grief.

This isn’t the sanitized Christianity of feel-good slogans and prosperity promises. This is the faith that walks through the valley of the shadow of death and still proclaims God’s goodness. It’s the faith that doesn’t crumble when tragedy strikes in the very places we gather to worship.

The death of Pastor Guanco has sent shockwaves through the Christian community. Here was a man serving God, attending a festival celebrating faith, surrounded by fellow believers—and yet calamity struck. The question echoes through the ages: Why do the righteous suffer?

Orr-Ewing’s response to her godson reflects a theology tested by fire. She didn’t offer empty comfort or pretend the pain wasn’t real. Instead, she pointed toward the God who entered into human suffering Himself.

Our faith has never promised us immunity from the brokenness of this fallen world. Christ Himself was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. The apostles faced shipwrecks, imprisonments, and martyrdom. The question isn’t whether Christians will suffer—it’s how we understand that suffering in light of God’s sovereignty and love.

The Guanco family now faces an unimaginable loss. A wife has lost her husband. Children have lost their father. A congregation has lost their shepherd. And the broader body of Christ mourns with those who mourn.

Yet even in this darkness, the Christian hope remains. We don’t grieve as those who have no hope. We believe in a God who conquered death, who promises resurrection, and who works all things—even tragedies we cannot comprehend—for the good of those who love Him.

This is not the time for glib answers or theological debates divorced from compassion. This is the time for the Church to surround the Guanco family with prayer, practical support, and the reminder that they do not walk this valley alone.

The accident at Big Church Festival reminds us that our gathering places are not force fields against the consequences of living in a broken world. Accidents happen. Signs fall. Lives are cut short. But God’s character doesn’t change based on our circumstances.

For the young man wrestling with how to reconcile this tragedy with his faith, Orr-Ewing offers a model of honest Christianity—one that acknowledges the pain while clinging to eternal truth. This is the faith that has sustained believers through persecutions, plagues, and personal loss for two millennia.

Pastor Robert Guanco’s life of service stands as a testament to faithfulness. His unexpected death raises questions we may never fully answer this side of eternity. But it also calls us to examine our own hearts: Do we serve God only when life makes sense, or do we trust Him even when it doesn’t?

The Christian community continues to lift up the Guanco family and those injured in the accident. In times like these, the body of Christ demonstrates its true strength—not in avoiding suffering, but in bearing one another’s burdens and pointing each other toward the hope that anchors our souls.

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Faith Facts

• Conservative principles derive their moral authority from biblical foundations, not secular philosophy
• The pro-life movement’s power stems directly from the Christian belief that life is sacred because humans are created in God’s image
• A Christianity-free conservatism removes the transcendent moral framework necessary for preserving American freedoms and traditional values

America’s conservative movement faces an existential question: Can it survive without Christ at its center? According to thoughtful voices within the movement, the answer is a resounding no.

The argument is straightforward and compelling. Conservative values—the sanctity of life, the importance of family, personal responsibility, and limited government—are not free-floating ideas that exist in a vacuum. They are rooted in a Christian worldview that recognizes God as the ultimate authority and human beings as created in His image.

Consider the pro-life position, one of conservatism’s defining moral stands. What gives it power and coherence?

“Take that away, and you take away all the power behind the pro-life argument.”

Without the Christian understanding that every human life bears the image of God from conception, the pro-life position becomes just another opinion in the marketplace of ideas. It loses its transcendent grounding and becomes vulnerable to the shifting sands of cultural preference and utilitarian calculation.

The same principle applies across the conservative agenda. Traditional marriage is sacred because God ordained it. Religious liberty matters because our rights come from our Creator, not from government. Human dignity is inviolable because we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Strip away the Christian foundation, and conservatism becomes merely a set of preferences—no more authoritative than any competing ideology. It becomes conservatism in name only, unable to answer the fundamental question: Why should we conserve these things?

Some have attempted to build a purely secular conservatism based on classical liberalism, natural law, or pragmatic considerations. But these frameworks, while valuable, lack the comprehensive worldview and moral urgency that Christianity provides. They cannot sustain a movement through cultural opposition and generational change.

History demonstrates this reality. The American founding was deeply influenced by Christian principles, even among founders who weren’t orthodox believers. The civil rights movement drew its moral force from biblical justice. Every major conservative achievement has been animated by people who believed they were advancing God’s purposes, not merely political preferences.

This doesn’t mean non-Christians cannot hold conservative positions or join conservative causes. Many do, and their contributions are welcome and valuable. But the movement itself requires a Christian center to maintain its coherence and power.

The implications are significant for how conservatives engage in public life. It’s not enough to win political battles or pass legislation. The deeper work involves cultural renewal—calling America back to the faith that made its freedoms possible.

A Christless conservatism might achieve temporary political victories, but it cannot preserve the civilization it claims to defend. Without the rock of Christian truth, even the best conservative ideas become sand, shifting with every cultural tide.

The path forward requires conservatives to embrace, not hide, the Christian roots of their convictions. It means articulating how biblical truth speaks to contemporary issues with clarity and compassion. It means recognizing that cultural transformation precedes political change.

America’s future depends not on a conservatism that awkwardly tiptoes around faith, but on one that boldly proclaims the lordship of Christ over every sphere of life—including politics, culture, and governance.

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