Just last month, 3 Christian pastors were thrown in jail after attempting to baptize 12 new believers. Please share this article to raise awareness. During the baptism in the local river, a crowd of Hindus formed and began cursing and spitting at the Christians. They shouted threats and the police showed up and jailed the pastors for “forcing the Nepalese into Christianity.” Fortunately after days of questioning each member that was baptized, the police had to let the Christian pastors go due to lack of legal ground. However, if even ONE of the baptized church members had said that they were coerced into Christianity, the three Christian pastors would be imprisioned FOR LIFE.
Bells ring and I am angry. Gold is received and I am sad. Prayers are shouted and I feel sorrow. All of these are in worship of one of 330 million Hindu Gods. It is impossible to walk down the street without hearing any one of these. Bells are rung from sun up to sun down by those worshiping, golden idols are crafted on the streets in the form of calves and horses, and the saddest people pray to false gods who will never come to their rescue, will never bring them and their children food, will never give them a house, will never love them.
The Capitol area of Nepal is a valley between the Himalayan Mountains including Kathmandu (the capitol city) and Godavari/Lalitpur (where our host lives). All of these areas are almost exclusively Hindu, with various Buddhist temples spread out on the mountain tops. Over the last few weeks I’ve spent hours alone with God and together with others in intercessional prayer for His villages. I’ve taught the message 4 times: once to the first Nepali School of Worship to students living at the YWAM base, the second to 20 women and children crammed into a bedroom talking about the Power of Worship, the third as part of a three-day seminar my team held at the local church where we dissected The Great Commission, and the last was my testimony at church on Saturday (their holy day. Children go to school Sunday – Friday) to over 80 attendees.
Every day we lead worship, fellowship, testimony, and message at 2 or 3 house churches around the area. I’m not gonna lie, it can be exhausting to walk the 4-5 miles to each house, 2-3 times per day. My team and another team on my squad are housed 20 minutes outside Kathmandu. Another houseguest at the home is director of a YWAM base 8 hours north in the deep mountains of Nepal. I can’t use his name here for safety reasons, but he shed some light as to the political issues for Christians here. Here is some of his wisdom and some of the facts I’ve picked up over the month:
1. Nepal is located in the “10/40 window,” the area between 10 degrees and 40 degrees north where most of the un-evangelized nations are located.
2. It is home to 6 of the 8 highest mountains in the world, including Mt. Everest (world’s highest mountain). The mountains are dotted with Hindu temples and are held to be the home of the God Shiva, the “destroyer” and part of the Hindu trinity (3 main Gods of the 330 million Hindu Gods.) Buddhist monasteries are also found throughout the Himalayas.
3. Almost 99% of the population are Hindu, Buddhists, Animists, or Muslim and only around 1% are Christians.
4. The high peaks and the plunging valleys contribute to the isolation of the people. 10% of the country can be reached by road and the rest only by foot. The average Nepali makes only about $180 per year.
5. There’s still no electricity in many places and life is very basic. Where we were staying was close enough to the capitol that we got electricity 5-6 hours of electricity per day. But the government holds water and electricity hostage from villages if they begin to disobey. The house we stayed in collected rain water for their indoor use and we only used the government water to wash our clothing outside.
6. There are over 125 languages and dialects spoken among the 20 million people living in Nepal. Every one of the over 300 castes has their own language and only the younger generation speaks Nepali (the national language). The higher castes speak English. Some speak Hindi.
7. Shaking your head in America means “No”. Shaking your head in Nepal means “Yes.” I was very confused for the first two weeks why everyone was saying “No” when I asked to take their picture… Then they’d get mad when I didn’t take it.
8. Nepal was closed to any Western contact until 1950, and had strict laws forbidding conversion to Christianity until a few years ago. Proud of being the only Hindu kingdom in the world, Nepali law forbids proselytizing (the act of attempting to convert people to another religion or opinion) but this law is not currently enforced.
9. Hinduism and the caste system serves to provide order to billions of people. The goal of the religion is to stay in your caste, don’t try to do anything greater than your father, do the work that your caste is supposed to (some castes are responsible for paving the roads, some clean the toilets, some are rice farmers, some carry backpacks up the mountains – Sherpa Caste) and then you will reborn into a higher caste once you die. Being born as a cow is one step below Nirvana.
10. If you hurt a cow you are thrown in jail. If you kill a cow – maybe you hit it on accident with a car (the cows here literally roam the streets and homes) or you startled it and it fell off a mountain – you yourself will be put to death by the government and will be reborn into a horrible caste, only to work your way up again over many lifetimes.
11. The Brahman Caste is one of the highest castes. Most political, religious, and military personnel are Brahman. Most drive their BMW’s and speed past the tuk-tuk taxi drivers. There are extremely few Christians who were previously part of the Brahman caste as the Caste system gives them so much power. Brahmans lose that power when they become Christian and are jettisoned from their family and community.
12. Christianity threatens EVERYTHING that Nepal stands for, as Nepal is so firmly rooted in Hinduism to control the people. Christianity spreads unconditional love and acceptance for past sins and fosters personal and professional growth. People following the path God has given them means that they are not fulfilling the roles of their caste. If the castes convert to christianity, the Brahmans no longer have complete control over the many people.
13. In 2005, Nepal became a secular nation, transitioning from a Hindu nation.
14. That same year, 2005, Nepal was less than 1% Christian, but because it was democratic, the Christians here became overzealous and started their own political party to run in elections. This point is extremely important because it is probably singlehandedly responsible for many of the recent deaths and persecution on Christians. The Hindu and Buddhist parties began to think of Christianity as a threat to their power regime, and changed from an apathetic standpoint to an attack stance.
15. If you convert to Christianity, your entire family, extended family, caste, and friends shun you. You must leave and most never return. Most are homeless for a time after becoming Christian. Becoming a Christian is the BIGGEST life decision a Nepali person can make. Right now there are no legal repercussions.
16. AT THIS VERY MOMENT, the Nepali parliament is voting on a law that is expected to pass by the end of March 2015 that will criminalize conversion to Christianity. It will not be illegal to BE a Christian, but if you convert, you will be thrown in jail (it is unclear what other repercussions will be for those spreading the gospel).
Since democracy, there is a measure of “freedom of religion” and the gospel is being shared and many are believing. The doors that have been closed for so long are opening and the time is ripe for Nepalese to hear and believe in The Lord. Please pray that these doors are not slammed.
Please pray for Nepal
-Will
