(Photo courtesy of Vision Beyond Borders)

Vision Beyond Borders supports the Church in Nepal through their woman, child, and pastor programs. We spoke with one of the pastors who works alongside them. He says while the second phase of local elections is supposed to take place soon, nothing is guaranteed. Two minor parties have threatened to boycott these elections, causing postponements.

The pastor explains the four major parties in Nepal. There is the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist), the Nepali Congress, Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-Centre), and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP).

This last party wants Nepal to revert back to the Hindu Monarchy that existed before it was abolished in 2008. The other three parties, he says, are much more accepting of religious minorities like Christians.

As can be seen from the results of the first phase, the RPP is not nearly as popular as the other three major parties. However, they do still have a significant number of supporters.

That’s why this pastor says, “When we see this election from a Christian perspective, there is a challenge for every Christian in Nepal. So we need to pray for this nation. Though there are three other parties who are not against Christianity, there is a challenge, and so we must pray.”

However, he knows they cannot fully rely on politics and the government. In politics, any outcome is possible. Change can take place at any time. But what the Church can depend on, is God.

“Whatever party will be there as a ruling party, we believe that God will open a door for us for evangelism, for Christian events, and so on.”

Opposition to Christianity

It seems to be a common theme in many countries — that religious minorities may face little discrimination in the cities, but in rural areas, there is greater intolerance. In Nepal, this was reflected in the first phase of elections in that in many of the bigger metropolitan areas, the RPP did not have any officials elected. But once you get outside of the cities, things change.

“Christians are facing challenges, not in the city areas, but in rural areas Christians are not allowed to share the Gospel. And [there] is one place there [that’s] known as ‘Christian-free nation’. They don’t want Christians to come into their district. They don’t want Christians to share the Gospel.”

Regionally, there are differences as well. The pastor says eastern Nepal is generally okay. But there are problems in the western and southern part of the country. He says some Hindus believe Christians are of the lowest caste.

“They don’t really persecute physically. They just want to stop the evangelism that’s taking place in Nepal,” he explains.

And so, while it appears that attitudes overall are changing towards religious minorities, we must continue to be in prayer.

“We request you all to pray for our nation. We can pray for our pastors and Christian ministers who are working in different parts of Nepal,” the pastor says.

He says to pray especially for those who are working outside of the cities and may face opposition. He asks us to pray for their financial needs, and for their evangelism to be effective. Furthermore, he asks that the Gospel would be freely accepted by villagers in remote areas.

“We want you to pray for the hearts of the people who have not even heard the name of Jesus; and we want you to pray for the pastors, the leaders, the Christian ministers who are working.”

Again, the pastor reiterates that whatever direction Nepal goes, Christians in this nation can remain confident.

“We don’t know what will be the result of this election. And whatever the election will be, we want you to pray that [the] Gospel and evangelism may not be hindered.”

To support some of the programs of Vision Beyond Borders, click here.

(Photo courtesy of Vision Beyond Borders)

Getting to this point hasn’t been easy for Nepal, since the last few months have been marked by riots and an import blockade from India on the southern border.

Greg Kelley with World Mission says change in Nepal is slow-going as generations and ethnic groups clash — and even change on the religious freedom front has been a struggle.

“Nepal is really trying to move into that place of religious freedom, but there’s a lot of challenges to that. For generations, it’s been a Hindu nation. So the persecution, interestingly, comes very much from a localized standpoint. What I mean by that is, when you give your life to Jesus in Nepal, it’s really your family where you feel the fiercest persecution. They will essentially ostracize you from the community.”

According to the CIA World Factbook, 1.4 percent of Nepalis identify as Christians out of the nation’s 29 million people. Kelley says, “We know the Church is much larger than that, but irregardless, it’s very small. So I think just from a priority standpoint, Nepal is filled with unreached people groups and it needs to be a priority for the Body of Christ.”

(Photo courtesy of Global Disciples)

Besides persecution, one other reason why ministry in Nepal can be difficult is that the country is marked by drastic terrains, including the Himalayas. Missionaries can have a challenging time getting through to hard-to-reach communities.

“It’s situated right in between India to the south and then China to the north, which makes it kind of landlocked and hard to get at. But the Lord has just been doing amazing things in Nepal in the last 20 years, and I think it’s no coincidence that it kind of coincides with their efforts to more embrace democracy.”

World Mission distributes about 1,500 units of their solar-powered audio Bible called the Treasure in Nepal each year. The Treasure comes loaded with Scripture in the Nepali language and other national dialects, and every year they see amazing responses to the Gospel.

“That starts in a listening group environment. So for World Mission, we’ll distribute one Treasure and that will go into the hands of a group of people about the size of 12. Then they’ll begin listening to the Gospels and our team members on the ground will follow up with them,” says Kelley.

(Photo courtesy of World Mission)

“We just received word back a few days ago of a brand new church that was established just from a listening group of the Treasure. Now these new Christians are coming together, they’re growing in fellowship with one another. But the reality is for most of them, their families will essentially disown them. So they, believe it or not, in their infancy in Jesus, are now launching themselves into kind of a missionary movement reaching out to their family members who are persecuting them. And that’s really evidence of the love of Jesus manifesting itself in places like Nepal.”

Sometimes, however, a community isn’t initially open to the Gospel message coming in. Or a village may have immediate physical needs that need to be met before they will readily hear the Good News of their spiritual Savior.

Often, the biggest need in a community is clean drinking water. Kelley says, “There’s lots of water available in Nepal run-off from the Himalayan Mountains, so it’s not an issue of access to water, but it’s filled with bacteria.”

World Mission has a ministry division called Zoe Waters. Through Zoe Waters, they install water filtration systems in Nepal.

“We just did a very large water filtration installation…. These water filtration units that we put in these communities have literally become a lifeline, and we combine that with our Treasure distributions.”

Doing so earns them an audience with the community, and then they simply let the Holy Spirit do the work of convicting hearts once the Gospel is presented.

During this quickening time of change and transition in Nepal, the stability of Christ is needed now as much as ever. It costs $40 for World Mission to send in one Treasure in the Nepali language. Click here to support World Mission!

And especially, Kelley asks you to pray. “We really appreciate people praying for us and Nepal, because our network of national leaders have such an amazing task and opportunity ahead of them. We just encourage people to pray for national leaders to grow in their own depth and their journey with Jesus…and also for safety, and just for the Lord to help us send more Treasures.”