Dale Nafziger

Miraculous Connections Amidst Crisis in Nepal

May 14, 2015 by Conference Office

by Robin Nafziger, Vincent Mennonite Church

How extraordinary–or dare we say miraculous?–is it that two people called to serve God on different continents, separated by almost 8,000 miles and twelve time zones, are both supported by Vincent Mennonite Church, and brought together to help one another and the people of Nepal after the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake first struck the region on April 25, 2015. As the aftershocks rise to a magnitude 7.3 quake this past Tuesday, God reminds us He is moving amidst the shaking mountains making connections for His children.

Dave Mansfield with Dale and Bethsaba Nafziger at Top of the World Coffee Shop located in Kathmandu Nepal (April 30, 2015)

Years ago, God had put in motion His plan to bring aid and comfort to the people of Nepal living in fear with the aftermath and aftershocks from the earthquake. Following God’s call to serve in Nepal many years ago, Dale Nafziger now resides in Kathmandu, the capital city, where he and his family witnessed and experienced the panic of this natural disaster very personally. Meanwhile, halfway around the world in Las Vegas, Nevada, Dave Mansfield followed God’s call to serve over a decade ago and remains in leadership at the YWAM base located there while also serving and leading with RescueNet, an all-volunteer international disaster response team. With approximately 90 volunteers from 16 countries, RescueNet has the capability to deploy a team to the site of a disaster within 24 hours of a request for aid.

Shortly after the earthquake struck Nepal, RescueNet was preparing to assemble a team of responders who were waiting to deploy once help was requested. As Dave Mansfield prepared the way for his team, one of the first calls he made was to Dale Nafziger, a fellow follower of Christ with ties to the same home congregation.

Through this connection, Dale Nafziger and his wife Beth were able to offer a location to Dave and his 16-member RescueNet team at Top of the World Coffee Shop in Kathmandu, which is owned and operated by the Nafzigers. The shop offered a place for the RescueNet team to store equipment, and organize their medics and children’s aid workers before sending them out to the heavily-damaged neighboring villages. Top of the World Coffee Shop also provided an opportunity for the RescueNet team to connect with Dale, Beth and locals seeking refuge and a sense of normalcy. Dale and Beth also gave the team access to people familiar with the language, the area, and the customs in order to allow them to accomplish as much as they could under difficult circumstances. In addition, Beth, a nurse, was able to provide contacts in the Nepal Christian Medical and Dental Association as well.

It is a monumental task to organize the right people, plan logistics and prepare the appropriate equipment to travel thousands of miles to an unfamiliar land to serve people you may not understand. Yet, God’s miraculous design allowed Dave and Dale to come together in Nepal at the time of the earthquake to support and encourage each other as they assist God’s children in a time of need, comforting the people of Nepal, building on the common bond of congregation, and the call of God.

Please continue to pray for the people of Nepal as they continue to recover from the original earthquake and repeated devastating aftershocks.

Business as Mission

June 19, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

Steve Hackman from One Village Coffee and Dale and Bethsaba Nafziger, missionaries in Nepal and proprietors of Top of the World Coffee, spoke at the June 14th Pastors and Conference Related Ministry Leaders Breakfast at the Conference Center in Harleysville.

All three have a passion for using business to reach others for Christ and to bring development to impoverished communities. Read about the Nafziger’s work in Nepal here or listen to Steve’s presentation in our podcast–at the end, you’ll also hear a little about a new coffee ministry beginning in Quakertown, Pa.

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Business as Mission (Steve Hackman).mp3[/podcast]

Relationships percolate at Top of the World

March 6, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

By Wil LaVeist of Mennonite Mission Network

Top of the World Coffee Shop’s primary mission is to be “God-honoring in every aspect.” Photo provided.

Entering the front door of Top of the World Coffee in Nepal, the aroma of fresh roasted brew draws you toward the corner of the café.

Across the brick-colored floor and beyond the black metal chairs and tables, a smiling Dale Nafziger works behind the coffee roasting machine, the source of the aroma.

It’s not Starbucks but even better, particularly for the soul. This coffee shop is the vision of Dale and Bethsaba Nafziger, long-term Mennonite Mission Network workers.

“It’s very different. It’s homey and cozy,” says Bethsaba of Top of the World, which they opened Dec. 11, 2011. “We thought a coffee shop would be a wonderful place to be with the people.”

The Nafzigers are fishers of men and women, only their bait is a blend of steaming cups, caring conversation and business integrity. They share God’s love through their business ventures. From selling frozen French fries, pizza and fruit juice to roasting coffee beans and pulling shots of espresso, they model Anabaptist principles and business ethics as a way of bearing witness to God’s love and power.

The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal is in South Asia between India and Tibet. Hindus make up more than 75 percent of the country’s population, while Christians are less than 2 percent. Economic life among Nepal’s 30 million citizens has been improving. While about 25 percent of the population lives on less than the international poverty level of $1.25 per day, or $1,000 annually, a decade ago the rate was 41 percent.

Dale with the Roaster — Dale Nafziger, a long-term mission worker in Nepal, with Top of the World’s coffee roaster. The coffee shop staff roasts all of the coffee the store sells. Photo provided.

Still, conducting business is tough in Nepal, the Nafzigers say. For many business owners—even Christians, unfortunately—paying bribes and avoiding taxes is believed to be as necessary as having customers. Taxes can be as high as paying a worker’s salary, Dale says.

The Nafzigers opened Top of the World (because they are in the Himalaya Mountains) just before Christmas in a residential neighborhood. Patrons have been steadily increasing, they say, but as with any business, it hasn’t all been a piece of coffeecake.

“We had an excellent first day, but after that we quickly confronted the reality of what it means to run a restaurant on a daily basis,” the Nafzigers write in their monthly newsletter update.

Two mission workers, Melissa & Jim*, arrived last September from Texas and from a different agency to join in the venture and handle day-to-day operations. Bethsaba is also a registered nurse and midwife, and both Bethsaba and Dale are leaders in church. Dale preaches and advises church leaders regularly.

Through the coffee shop and other business ventures, the Nafzigers aim to show that integrity is important, even if it costs more. As the deadline approached for completing Jim’s business visa, a bit of “speed money” would have expedited the process, Dale says. Jim and the Nafzigers declined to pay the bribe, and Jim’s visa was completed just 10 minutes before the deadline.

Consulting the staff — The Top of the World Coffee Shop staff is intentionally interfaith—Hindus, Muslims and Christians work side-by-side. Photo provided.

The Nafzigers are intentional about hiring people of different faiths and backgrounds. Three Hindus and three Christians make up the coffee shop’s six-member staff. “We meet the staff every day and pray with them,” says Bethsaba. “We never force them to pray with us, but we see them as being happy to come and pray in the morning.”

Bethsaba recalled an experience that illustrates the type of godly relationships they hope the coffee shop will foster. Before they met and eventually married, Reena and Prakash Thapa were working at the Nafzigers’ home. Particularly Reena witnessed the type of love that Dale and Bethsaba bestowed on their daughters, Shova, 14, and Sushma, 12. Reena Thapa felt devalued by her family, which is the case for many women in the culture.

The love she witnessed and received from the Nafzigers led her to accept Christ. Reena and Prakash, a carpenter, fell in love while meeting at the Nafzigers’ and now have a daughter. They now attend “Tejwasi” (Radiant) Church with the Nafzigers.

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The Nafzigers are supported by Franconia Conference congregations including Vincent, Providence, Doylestown, Plains, and Towamencin. Vincent is Dale’s home congregation and he still has family that attend there. He will be at the June Pastors and Leaders Breakfast talking about what he learned through his business at Top of the World.

*Names changed

Redefining success at the ‘Top of the World’

May 28, 2010 by

Bethsaba & Dale Nafziger
www.topoftheworldcoffee.com

I grew up in Vincent Mennonite Church, Spring City, Pa. I first went to Nepal, the land of Mt. Everest, under Mennonite Central Committee in 1979. Bethsaba, a native of Darjeeling, and I were married there in 1994 – where we currently continue to serve under Mennonite Mission Network. Until 2003 we happily served in various capacities under the United Mission to Nepal. Around that time, however, UMN had a number of entrepreneurial projects that they were looking to “spin off” into small private enterprises. Bethsaba “latched onto” one of those as an opportunity for providing jobs and employment to women living in our village. The opportunity was that of making frozen french fries. Our new company’s name was, appropriately, “Top of the World.”

Reena was one of our first Top of the World employees. She entered this life with “three strikes” against her: first she was a girl, second she was low caste, and third she had a hearing defect. While she worked Reena simply observed us. Then she began to ask questions…questions not at all of the nature one would expect to hear from an “uneducated” village girl. To make a long story short: Reena is now one of the key members of our local congregation.

In 2007 we added frozen pizzas to our product line. During that same year we added on coffee and re-registered our small company under the name “Top of the World Coffee.” A busy year and a half passed between company restructuring and the time we first began selling coffee. This time was occupied learning the coffee business, acquiring the necessary equipment, sourcing coffee, etc. Nepal is a landlocked country so everything either needs to be imported via airfreight, at considerable cost, or via India, at considerable risk. On November 16, 2008 we finally roasted and sold our first bags of coffee. It was a joyous occasion!

Frank A. Clark once said, “If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” That statement nicely summarizes our experiences in practicing “business as mission” here over the past seven years. Nepal is a stunningly beautiful country – given that it contains the highest mountains on earth how could it possibly be otherwise? The people are friendly, the culture is exotic…and the church here is growing at an amazing pace. Economically, however, it is also one of the most rigorous business environments possibly found on the face of planet earth. In addition to the issues that arise from Nepal being land locked, we currently struggle making and selling frozen foods with 12 hours “loadshedding” (daily lack-of-electricity), political instability, and perpetual shortages of essential supplies.

If economic problems alone are not sufficient, however, possibly our greatest area of challenge is that of business ethics. Fortunately, we are not alone in confronting these issues. We are part of a supportive network of national and expatriate Christian business women and men who call ourselves “Great Commission Companies – Nepal.” We meet weekly for prayer and also have regular monthly meetings. Luci Swindoll stated, “In God’s economy you will be hard-pressed to find many examples of successful ‘Lone Rangers.’” Based upon our situation here in Nepal, I couldn’t agree more! One of the issues that we regularly deliberate here is, “How do we define ‘business success?’” If one narrowly defines it on the basis of the teaching found in a traditional MBA…one may as well pack up and go home…or never even come to Nepal in the first place. Looking at success from a Kingdom perspective, however, makes the whole effort worthwhile. Just look at Reena!

Friends and well-wishers occasionally ask how they can access our products – as a way of supporting our efforts. Regrettably, they are not available in the USA…nor will they realistically be available there in the foreseeable future. Something that everyone can do, however, is pray. Beyond that people are most welcome to contribute to our continuing lives and service here under Mennonite Mission Network. Giving fills a very real need. Finally, our Top of the World Coffee does have business goals that I be happy to communicate via personal e-mail correspondence.

We are grateful to you, the churches of the Franconia Mennonite Conference, for your faithfulness in helping us to redefine business success here at the top of the world!

Dale Nafziger

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