Nepal (MNN) — A handheld, solar-powered MP3 player is opening doors for the Gospel in a former Hindu kingdom. Yet threats follow closely on the heels of opportunity.
While Nepal’s constitution guarantees religious freedom in theory, anti-conversion laws make it illegal for someone to change their faith. Local authorities often monitor Christian activity, and believers risk arrest, fines, or imprisonment.
Despite the dangerous context, Keys for Kids partners are requesting 1,000 Storytellers to help bring Jesus to unreached families.
“For $20,000, we’re going to distribute 1,000 Keys for Kids Storytellers to people who desperately need it, in crazy places like the Himalayan Mountains, where you can’t even get by car,” Keys for Kids’ Greg Yoder says.
Why Storytellers?
Partners request the Storytellers because these audio devices work well in Nepali culture. “In Nepal, reading is not at the top of the agenda. It’s listening. They’re oral learners,” Yoder explains.
“With the Keys for Kids Storytellers, they can have God’s Word speaking to them every day, all day, if they want to.”
As described here, the devices contain the New Testament and Keys for Kids stories in Nepali, making them especially effective for families. Children and adults often listen together.
Across Nepal, kids, teens, and families are eager to hear about Jesus in their own language. Storytellers make that possible — sharing Scripture through audio where books, electricity, and the internet aren’t available.
(Photo, caption courtesy Keys for Kids)
“What’s great about the Keys for Kids stories is that they always teach a simple biblical truth,” Yoder says.
“In places like Nepal, where 80 percent of their culture is Hindu and the others are predominantly Buddhist, they don’t know biblical truth.”
A $20 tool with lasting impact
Each Storyteller costs just $20, yet its impact is extraordinary. On average, 150 people will listen to a single device — gathering in homes, villages, and churches to hear Scripture and Keys for Kids stories together.
Local pastors see these Storytellers as a game-changer — but demand has quickly outpaced supply. Sporadic deliveries over the past six years kept Storytellers in stock. Now, however, church leaders have nothing left to give.
Help send Keys for Kids Storytellers to Nepal here. Most importantly, pray. Pray Keys for Kids receives the funding needed to produce and send 1,000 Storytellers to Nepal.
Pray also for Keys for Kids and its partners as opposition increases online and on the ground.
“We started advertising the fact that we needed to raise funds for this project on social media. Many Nepalese nonbelievers have taken to Facebook, and they’re saying things like, ‘Keep your religion in your own home country’ and ‘Don’t try to indoctrinate our children,’” Yoder says.
Header and story images courtesy of Keys for Kids.
