In Loving Memory

Written by Chris

We are built for community.

One of Black Kite Coffee’s ambitions is to be a place where friendships can flourish and where the kingdom of God can be seen more clearly. This means, like Jesus, not only do we ‘rejoice with those who rejoice,’ but we also ‘mourn with those who mourn.’

According to honest writers of the old and new testament, the difficult reality of life is that our time here on earth is short and transient, for ‘our days on Earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die.’  

It is with great sadness that we grieve the loss of Varsha’s younger brother, Bishal, who died of a brain tumour in February. Bishal lived and worked in the UK with his wife, Aparna, until December last year, coming back to Nepal to be cared for by Varsha, the whole extended family and his home church in Pokhara - and what a witness it was to He who is eternal love!

Bishal and Aparna’s relatively short time in the UK would, I am sure, have not been an easy one - such is the lot of young migrants, seeking to build a better life for themselves and their families, especially given the current political climate. They would however, have touched the lives of many people during their stay, my own family included. Not only did they meet other proudly British Nepalis, but they also became a cherished part of the congregation of St Mark’s, Gillingham - the global church welcoming them as family.

My parents and I were thoroughly blessed by time spent with Bishal and Aparna at a family holiday in Lyme Regis last year - perhaps the first time they had seen the south coast of England and definitely the first time they had eaten fish and chips on the beach and played ‘crazy golf!’

Whilst we deeply grieve the loss of Bishal, aged only twenty-nine, we are not without hope; the historical death and resurrection of Jesus revealed a hitherto hidden reality: death does not, in fact, have the final say. 

The bright green shoots of Black Kite’s potted coffee plant unfurl in a new spring. And so, we too, entrust Bishal to the all-encompassing love of God, eagerly awaiting a new ‘spiritual’ body in a new creation. 

Praise be to God.