What is God Doing in Nepal?

Nepal              

Population: 26 million

Capital:   Kathmandu

People Groups:  124

Main Religion: Hinduism 75%

All Christians:  1.9%

It is estimated that 40% of the 100,000 girls working as prostitutes in the brothels of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) are under the age of 18. Thousands of them have been taken there from Nepal. Many have been virtually kidnapped by evil men who persuaded them to go to India by promising that they would have good jobs there. Some have been sold for the equivalent of $20 by poor parents who could not feed their families. Often the parents are promised that their daughters will send money to them, but this never happens. Several indigenous Christian ministries in both India and Nepal have begun to rescue some of these girls from their miserable existences as sex slaves. And slavery it is. The young girls from poor families are lured to India by smooth-talking flesh traders who promise good jobs for them. Families desperate for the promised income unwittingly send their daughters off to their doom. They do not realize they are selling their children to become sex slaves. Once they are inside India, girls are raped and beaten into submission. They have no opportunity to contact authorities for help because of strict surveillance by their kidnappers and the pimps and madams who imprison them. Within a few years, most of them die from sexually transmitted diseases. One ministry in Nepal is fighting this practice with a strategy of intervention. Workers travel to rural areas of Nepal to show women a video on the flesh trade. They go door-to-door warning families about the dangers of sending their daughters to unknown "employment" in India.  Numerous other ministries are taking in girls they have rescued from prostitution, giving them a safe place to live. They also provide schooling and vocational training. All who come under their care are told of the saving power of Christ. Many have accepted Him as Saviour, and their lives have been transformed by His grace and power.  Missions Insider, August 2004

An evangelist working with the German mission agency AVC in Nepal reports "I work in the Gorkha district. I was recently called to a house where a man called Mithe Pandey had been possessed by evil spirits for nine years. His family had done everything they could to help him; all their savings had been spent on Hindu priests and witch doctors, to no avail. When I entered the house, I told Mithe about Jesus and his transforming power. Touched by God's love, he fell to his knees and gave his life to Jesus. To his family's astonishment, his symptoms - shaking, frothing at the mouth and cursing - vanished instantly. He was completely set free. The result was that his entire family, which had previously strongly opposed Christianity, came to believe in Jesus. There is now a lively church in the village."   Daniel Hofer, AVC, April 2004

During the past decade a Maoist insurgency has been operating in the mountain kingdom of Nepal. Both insurgents and security forces were present at a recent Hindu festival where a Christian minister was distributing gospel tracts. The Marxists approached him with questions and were told that there was only one fight, that between light and darkness, and that believers would win the war with love. The insurgents became interested, and more and more gathered to hear the missionary. This, in turn, attracted the security forces that also approached. The insurgents started to run away, but the missionary told them to remain and listen without fear. The security forces then questioned the minister about what he was doing and asked for some of the tracts to investigate. The missionary again shared the message and stated that peace would be returned to the country. Both sides heard the gospel and some in the security forces asked for prayer.  Missions Insider, March 2004

Christian missionaries in Nepal received two lessons in faith.  A husband-wife team has been working among Tibetans in Nepal. In the past, it had taken at least two years to establish relationships with local people before they had shown an interest in the gospel.  On this occasion, however, a Tibetan man who was teaching his language to the husband indicated to him that he wanted to believe in Jesus, even before the missionary had shared the gospel with him. The wife had been befriending three Tibetan girls. On only her fifth visit to their home, all said they wished to accept Christ.  Both missionaries questioned the new believers thoroughly, feeling the need to be convinced that their converts were for real. Later, God convicted them of their own unbelief in His work among the Tibetans and showed them that He had been actively changing the region's spiritual climate.  Missions Insider, February 2004

Some couples in Nepal braved floods and landslides to attend seminars that taught about relationships within the family as well as responsibilities to the local church and other believers. Christian workers are promoting Christian families in remote valleys of the Himalayas. Even many Christian Nepalese are not accustomed to talking about marital and familial relationships. After marrying, many husbands and wives fail to communicate. Instead of being supportive of each other, they often become alienated from their spouses and, eventually, from their churches. During the past year, one Nepalese ministry brought together 100 participants from far-flung villages in the mountain kingdom and held four family seminars. Many people repented and asked for God's help in applying the teachings to their lives.    Missions Insider, February, 2004

A ministry that operates chiefly among ethnic Nepalese reports continued success in evangelism and leadership training through December. A recent report indicated that the ministry, headed by a former Hindu priest, saw 12 new believers baptised in western Nepal in November, and another eight converts baptised in a newly planted church in the central part of the country in December. Meetings across northern India and in Mumbai (Bombay) brought the gospel to hundreds of ethnic Nepalese. In addition, 68 men and women attended an eight-day discipleship training course in central Nepal in December. Participants must complete a Bible correspondence course and show exceptional promise of wanting to become effective witnesses in their communities. To date, more than 290,000 Nepalese have enrolled in the basic course designed to introduce Nepalese of Hindu background to Christ.  Missions Insider, January 2004

A ministry that sends Bible correspondence course materials across Nepal reports that thousands of believers were encouraged last month when their leader, a former Hindu priest, spoke to about 500 believers in the 113-year-old MacFarlane Church in Kalimpong. Two-day retreats were held in central and western portions of the country, and a missionary with the organisation reported satisfactory progress from a church-planting mission. In some places, those taking the course have to walk all the way to the district postal headquarters to send and receive mail because many village post offices have been destroyed by Maoist terrorists. Christian workers have been forced from their villages by threats of death from the rebels, and in some cases the local believers must walk six hours to the next town for discipleship, fellowship and worship once a month. Although most of the country lives in fear of the Maoist rebels, students continue to send in their course work while local believers are being trained to lead local house churches.   Missions Insider, November 2003

Many Tibetans emigrated to India and Nepal after the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959. A Tibetan Christian leader in Nepal told Christian Aid some of them are finding the Lord and preparing for missionary service. One Tibetan believer is in his second year of a four-year study program. He was educated in Tibet and is translating portions of Scripture from Nepali into Tibetan to gain a deeper understanding of God's Word. Another Tibetan believer translated some discipleship training materials. Then he developed an eye problem and needed surgery. His eyesight was in jeopardy but another believer provided the surgery fee and now he is doing well. He is hoping to go to Bible college in India to better prepare himself for missionary leadership. The leader explained that the lack of training materials in the Tibetan language is a tremendous handicap. Also, translation of religious writings must be done at a whole different level from common, everyday speech. This presents an additional hurdle to translating and understanding God's Word. "Our vision is that Tibetan believers should have a chance to understand God's Word and be able to apply it in their lives, as well as for future ministry," the leader said. A ten-day training session for believers in September was postponed due to the Maoist insurgency distressing the country. Christian Aid, Missions Insider, November 2003

"In Nepal, when a Nepalese Christian travels to another village, it is normal for him to leave 10 new Christians when he returns home," said Bishop John Reid, a missionary sent out by CMS, during a meeting in Sydney, Australia, in June 1997. "Nepal is currently experiencing an unusual move of the Spirit," he continued. "For example, one man found a tract which two evangelists had left under his door. He was saved on the spot. The next day, he walked for 8 hours to reach the next post office to order more information. When he arrived, he found another man who had gone there for the same reason. When they returned to their village, they found another 15 people who had been saved in the meantime." As recently as 1952, there were very few Christians in Nepal, who were also severely persecuted. Now, even the government admits that there are officially a quarter of a million Christians in the country. According to Reid, most of the people are saved as a result of healings or visions. They do not react automatically to the gospel of sin and forgiveness because they have no real concept of sin, he says. What they really find relevant is the power of Christ in comparison to the dead idols. After being saved, they come to understand the concept of sin and forgiveness very well. Reid calls the Nepalese church "brilliant in its evangelisation and indigenous identity. Today, Nepalese pastors, who typically earn around US$180 per year, can be very easily mislead by Western churches which come to 'help'. Earlier, though, missionaries were not allowed to found churches, so the Nepalese church had very humble beginnings as Christian Nepalese returned to their home country from India." Reid believes that the enormous spiritual breakthroughs in Nepal have their roots in the prayer of European groups such as the Norwegian Tibet Mission which has been intensely praying for this region for years.  Cecily Paterson, July 1997

A small YWAM team visited Nepal and Bangladesh from 24 March to 13 April 1996. During their evangelism, they experienced phenomena which, according to their report, "The team had never experienced on this scale. During one evening meeting, the team offered to pray for their listeners, including many children from the surrounding villages. Many of the children were touched by the Holy Spirit and fell to the ground, where they had wonderful visions of a garden, the cross and Jesus. Some even had adventures in which they were part of the scene. One girl, for example, saw Jesus coming from heaven and giving her new clothes before inviting her to walk with him in a garden. Another girl fell down and began to sing. "In our team," according to one of the members, "there was a Nepalese student who had studied in Korea. He told us that the girl was singing 'Jesus loves me' in Korean. Later, the girl, who was completely illiterate and had never attended school, started to sing the same song in English. "The events attracted many more children and adults the next day, many of whom were Hindus. Everyone wanted prayer, and many fell down, cried, repented of their sins or saw visions, then excitedly told their friends and family what had happened, encouraging them to also go to the prayer meetings. Many people had questions which reminded us of Acts 2."    Herman Arentsen, May 1996

According to the Nepalese church leader Niconor Tamang, Nepal has experienced God's supernatural touch. In 1961, Nepal had no church and only around 25 known Christians. Today, it has over 2,000 local churches with an estimated total of between 200,000 and 300,000 members. Years ago, Nepalese church leaders set themselves the aims of reaching all 20 million Nepalese with the gospel and planting another 8,000 churches.On his return from the "HIM-COE-96" conference in Siliguri, India, sponsored by the AD2000 movement, which was attended by over 2,000 pastors in mid-January, Luis Bush told of a Christian laypeople's movement among the Tamang. Around 1 million of the West Tamang live to the north and northwest of Kathmandu, Nepal's capital. According to Normal Beale, an Episcopalian missionary, a classic people's movement occurred under the Tamang which was coordinated "simultaneously, decentrally and with a minimum of foreign influence." Beale attributes this awakening to the endurance of persecution, signs and wonders and the deliverance of people from the fear of demons. According to latest estimates, 30,000 to 40,000 of the tribe's members are Christians.  Luis Bush, AD2000 Movement, May 1996

A team belonging to the mission agency OM (Operation mobilisation) was travelling in the mountains of Nepal to spread the gospel in the remote mountain villages. One day, the team was running out of money, and food was very difficult to obtain. Suddenly, the team saw an eagle which dived towards some pigeons. It hit two of them, but for some unknown reason, dropped them. These two pigeons dropped to the ground immediately in front of the group, thus providing them with food for the day. Operation Mobilization, via Heinz Strupler, March 1997

"God spoke to many of us in perhaps the only way we would listen. My father was the overseer of a temple containing a golden statue of Buddha brought to us by one of our ancestors, Kham Sung Wang Di. My father always wanted tobecome a Lama, but never succeeded despite studying under the great Khamba Lama on the Tibetan border. My parents were Jomo shepherds. I started school when I was 8 years old, attending once every 8 days, but didn't learn much. In May 1984, my mother and I were out in the fields, protecting our Jomos from wolves and snow leopards. At midday, I suddenly became something like unconscious. Two black shadow men danced like dark lightning in front of me. They were wearing crowns and coats. In the darkness, they spoke to me in Sherpa, saying 'Do not worry, we want to use you. We want to show you the Buddhist way. From now on, you must sleep alone, and tell your parents never to wake you when you are sleeping.' They I woke up, and I knew I had not been dreaming."

"The following night, the beings returned. They brought me to a picture of Buddha. I heard a voice speaking to me 'I want to use you from now on. I will teach you my way.' For the next three years, I slept with a butter lamp next to my head, as in a monastery. As I slept, I was taught. My father was astonished - everything I told him agreed with what he had learned from Khamba Lama. We made everything the Buddha picture instructed me: religious clothes, drums and bells. Father was amazed that I could play the instruments without ever having learned. I could read people's thoughts, and a number of miracles occurred. I was treated like a holy man. After some time, I saw a tablet, like a computer screen, at knee-height on the Buddha picture. Letters were written on it, and a voice explained their meaning. At that time, I was unable to read even Nepali, and could not write in a straight line, but wrote the messages from 'Buddha's screen' clearly in a notebook every day, in a language which nobody has been able to understand. We observed all the rituals in which I was instructed - for example, we had to bow 108 times before the shrine, three times each day."

"After some time, I was given a list with the names of 35 gods. The Dalai Lama was number 35, the lowest rank. We had to bow before each of these gods each day, speaking their names. One day, my notebook said 'After the Dalai Lama, bow before Yesu'. At that time, I did not know that Yesu is the Sherpa name for Jesus - I had never heard the name. With time, the name Yesu climbed higher in the list, and I was instructed about this unknown god. I learned about Adam and Eve, the original sin, Yesu, the son of God, his crucifixion, resurrection and much more. That was in 1985. One day, my father brought home a tract about Jesus. My notebook told me 'Keep the tract - it is good. Read it. Followers of Jesus will come soon.' Soon after, three missionaries visited us. They told us about God, creation, sin, Jesus, his life, death and resurrection. We were perplexed. It agreed exactly with that which I had learned. In the meantime, the name Yesu had risen to second in the list. I was so excited that I jumped up and read some excerpts from my notebook which agreed exactly with what the Chvistian missionaries told us. One missionary said that I had mixed up Pilate's name with Jesus', but otherwise everything was exactly as in the Bible."

"The shadow men came again that night to take me to the Buddha picture. The voice said 'Today, my kingdom in you is complete. You don't need to serve me any more. One comes after me who is greater than I. Do what the missionaries tell you and follow Yesu.' That was my last vision. In the morning, I felt that a heavy burden had been lifted from my shoulders. The missionaries explained more about Jesus, and we tore the amulets and chains from our bodies, and told Yesu that we wanted to follow him. It was not easy to leave our familiar Buddhist way. We burned all religious things, and I kept only the smallest notebook, which spoke about Yesu. From then on, everything which I had written in the strange language was almost impossible to understand. I realised that I could only understand the language until I was able to read the Bible and my faith had become stronger. Today, I can no longer read it. Perhaps this is hard for you to understand or even accept. I can show you my notebook as evidence, if you ask. I can also show you the names and addresses of people who know this report to be true. My whole village witnessed these things. I am convinced that God can do all things. Many of us have already become followers of Yesu. Pray for us, that one day everyone in the region will follow Yesu - the name above all names."    Stephen Spaulding, DAWN Asia, May 1998

A team belonging to the mission agency Operation mobilisation was travelling in the mountains of Nepal to spread the gospel in the remote mountain villages. One day, the team was running out of money, and food was very difficult to obtain. Suddenly, the team saw an eagle dive towards some pigeons. It hit two of them, but for some reason, dropped them. These two pigeons dropped to the ground immediately in front of the group, thus providing them with food for the day.   Heinz Strupler, Operation Mobilization, March 1997

Neil Anderson from Sowers Ministry reports: 'In Nepal where our students have been doing outreaches, there lives a man named Krishna Bahadur. When the students first met this 55-year-old man, he was very ill. He was unable to walk, wasted away to skin and bones, and had a severe speech impediment. He had spent 100,000 rupees ($1800)- his life's savings- trying to get well. But nothing made any difference, and Krishna had given up. Then our students prayed for him to be healed. The next week he was walking around a little, and speaking some words. Within two weeks he was completely healed, walking and talking normally. Now we have meetings in Krishna's home every Monday, and 15-20 people gather there to hear the Bible teaching. The Himalayas - God continues to work miracles, signs and wonders. As a result of our outreaches over the last few months, hundreds of people have heard the gospel for the first time. There were 282 people who made decisions to receive Jesus. These are results of our weekly outreaches and follow-ups.  From these new believers, two fellowships have been planted.'    The Sowers Ministry, September 1998

His team had been trained in southern India and then sent to Nepal.  While stationed in Nepal one of his team members received a very clear vision from God during the night.  In the vision he received the name of a town and several facts regarding a young girl who was paralyzed on one side, needing healing.  Early the next morning they struck out for this town.  They discovered it was quite remote; a 25-Kilometre bus ride from where they were staying, and then an additional 25-Kilometre trek by foot.  Upon reaching the town, they began to inquire of the villagers where a child inflicted with paralysis lived.  Sure enough, they were led to the home of a family who had a 12-year old girl who was paralyzed on her right side.  Her one arm and leg were completely useless leaving her to be carried from place to place.  They asked the parents if they could pray for the child.  The parents assented, telling the team they could do as they liked but informed them that they had no belief in God whatsoever.  For the next three days the team gathered to pray and worship around this little girl.  The parents remained aloof and showed little hospitality if any; not even a glass of water was offered to their guests.  Leaving the town, the team traveled the 50 Kilometres back to the city where they were based.  13 days later there was a knock at their door.  A 60 or 70-year old man from this young girl's village was standing there.  He asked if the team could return to his town for a meal.  Hearing nothing from him about the 12-year old (had she been healed or not?) they made a return trip with the old man.  Upon their arrival they were greeted with much affection by the parents of the little girl.  She had been healed!!!  She was now walking around and using her right arm which once hung useless by her side.  Though not completely strong and mobile as a healthy child she had definitely been healed.  Over the course of time as she continued to exercise her limbs which had been immobile since birth, she gained complete control and function of them. Praise the Lord!  The entire family turned to Christ including the little girl.  Hallelujah! (This young student by the way, said he was surprised at the healing.  He had never seen anything like this before or expected it. He told me it really strengthened his faith and showed Him that God does perform miracles).  Global Tribes Outreach, November 2000

A team belonging to the mission agency Operation mobilisation was travelling in the mountains of Nepal to spread the gospel in the remote mountain villages. One day, the team was running out of money, and food was very difficult to obtain. Suddenly, the team saw an eagle dive towards some pigeons. It hit two of them, but for some reason, dropped them. These two pigeons dropped to the ground immediately in front of the group, thus providing them with food for the day. Operation Mobilization, March 1997

In 1961, Nepal had no church and only around 25 known Christians. Today, it has over 2,000 local churches with an estimated total of between 200,000 and 300,000 members. Years ago, Nepalese church leaders set themselves the aims of reaching all 20 million Nepalese with the gospel and planting another 8,000 churches. On his return from the "HIM-COE-96" conference in Siliguri, India, sponsored by the AD2000 movement and attended by over 2,000 pastors in mid-January, Luis Bush told of a Christian lay people's movement among the Tamang. Around 1 million of the West Tamang live to the north and northwest of Kathmandu, Nepal's capital. According to Normal Beale, an Episcopalian missionary, a classic people's movement occurred under the Tamang which was coordinated "simultaneously, decentrally and with a minimum of foreign influence." Beale attributes this awakening to the endurance of persecution, signs and wonders and the deliverance of people from the fear of demons. According to latest estimates, 30,000 to 40,000 of the tribe's members are Christians.   Friday Fax, February 1996