Introduction
Some time ago, four of us went to Nepal under the leadership of Rev. Norman. Norman had been a missionary to Nepal for fifteen years. He is fluent in Nepali, the national language, and had been instrumental in establishing churches there. There are 32 Anglican churches in Nepal. We were going to teach Christian theology, spiritual formation, and liturgical practice to the Anglican pastors of Nepal. These pastors came from the mountainous regions east and west of Kathmandu, as well as from the Kathmandu valley.
In the 1950s there were virtually no Christians in Nepal. By the 1960s there were a handful, but in the 70s and 80s, there was explosive growth. Today, the number of Christians in Nepal is unknown, but it is probably somewhere between 400,000 to 800,000 or possibly more. How did this explosive growth occur? Norman believes this growth occurred exactly the way it did in the book of Acts or in the Gospels. The risen Lord Jesus did today what he did while in Palestine in the flesh or as the Holy Spirit did in the early church.
During the breaks in our teaching, eight pastors who had become Christians told me their stories. Nepal is a very poor country and most of the pastors come from very poor villages in the mountains. Daily life for them is a struggle. Not all could read, but many could. The testimonies that I heard were from people who had been either Buddhist or Hindu before they became Christians.
Their religion was not the philosophical Buddhism known in the West, but rather folk Hinduism and folk Buddhism as lived daily in their villages. Their religion had to deal with the basic necessities of life: food, shelter, health, welfare of children, and social acceptance. They also had to deal with the spirit world, as we all do, whether we think it exists or not.
The Buddhists and Hindus of Nepal know this spirit world exists. Their shamans, witch doctors and Buddhist lamas all deal with spirits, with gods, with sickness and with the forces of nature and society. As will be clear from the testimonies, Jesus is in a unique position in regard to these spiritual forces for two fundamental reasons: he is both love and power. As the New Testament makes clear, he is Lord of lords and King of kings and his aching love was clearly revealed on the cross. None of the gods, goddesses, spirits or powers that are known, avoided, feared or worshipped by the Hindus or Buddhists can withstand or compare to the mighty Name of Jesus.
People in Nepal, whether Buddhist or Hindu, believe in karma and reincarnation. The Cambridge Dictionary Online defines karma "as the sum of a person’s actions in previous states of existences, viewed as deciding his or her fate in future existences." Most Nepalese live under karma, a heavy load of wrongs heaped upon them from past lives. They live in constant fear that they will not adequately atone for these wrongs in this life and will therefore be reborn into a lower life form. Even if they could escape from the burden of karma and from the wheel of life and death, their final state, at best, is one of personal dissolution in nirvana which in Sanskrit means “extinguished.”
When Nepalese hear that Jesus forgives all sin in one stroke, that something called karma has no power over them, that they can have a relationship with Christ and with an all-loving Father, that they and this relationship will last forever, they are thunderstruck. They want God--a loving, eternal, gracious God. For these reasons, and for many more, there is an explosion of the gospel in Nepal.
The gospel did not primarily come to Nepal carried by missionaries and accepted as part of a "superior" external culture. The gospel came, as in the beginning, by the risen Jesus doing what he always does: healing the sick, casting out demons, forgiving sinners, reconciling families, and giving the hope of eternal life. These are all his works as Savior. It must be said, however, that the deepest joys are given to those who, over a lifetime, follow him as Lord. They know the meaning of the words from John's Gospel, "Having loved his own he loved them to the end."
As the testimonies make clear, the Christians in Nepal have been persecuted by their Hindu and Buddhist neighbors. As Christians, it is not our place to be judgmental in this matter, although prudence and realism are in order. As is well known, Christians have been persecuting themselves and others for centuries. The value of a religion is best seen in the character of its founder, and not necessarily in the conduct of its adherents. Jesus persecuted no one and calls his followers to do the same. Even more, he was persecuted for our sakes.
At present, it appears that Nepal will become a secular state with freedom of religion. This, however, is not certain. Christians are persecuted in Nepal, and for that reason, I will not give the last names of those whose testimonies are included here.
Finally, I would like to thank Kumar R. for helping me. He brought the pastors to me and he translated for them as they shared their testimonies.
The testimonies follow. They are written almost exactly as given to me with minor editing.
Nepal Testimonies
Pastor Pembadup T, 50 years old.
In his village there are 106 families. He was the first in his village to become a Christian. It happened in 1984 when his wife got very, very sick. He called the shaman and also the Buddhist lama who repeated their spells, said their rituals, fell into trances as possessed by spirits, but nothing happened. Pembadup had heard about a Christian in the next village. By this time, he had sacrificed six goats to human dead spirits and other offerings as directed by the Buddhist shaman. For a villager, this was an enormous economic sacrifice. He carried his wife to the nearby village and found the Christian who prayed for his wife in the name of Jesus. She was instantly healed. He decided to become a Christian and to give up being a Buddhist and not to rely on the Buddhist shaman. At once, the people in his village said they would drive him from the village. They tore his clothes and beat him, demanding that he deny Jesus Christ and return to his original religion. He refused to deny Jesus Christ. They then said they would kill him or report him to the police. He prayed constantly and the police did not come to the village to apprehend him. Then the villagers took all his food and gave him human feces to eat and urine to drink, threatening to burn his house. He continued to pray. Finally, some of the people who were leading the persecution became very sick. They also went to the shaman and the lama, made the sacrifices and required payments, but nothing happened. Then they came to Pembadup and asked for prayer. They were healed, and they also decided to follow Jesus Christ. Now there were two Christian families in the village and both were persecuted. Then slowly, slowly through further healings, the power of God, and the faithfulness of believers, others became Christian. Now all 106 families in the village are Christian.
Pastor Lilam R., 66 years old.
Lilam accepted Christ in 2000. Before that, he was a Hindu priest, and as such, he was a palm reader, practiced divination, could see into the future, was called upon to name babies according to their birth sign, could use magic to find a wife for someone, could apply magic for healing, and he could foretell when it would rain or snow. In 2000 his daughter-in-law became possessed by evil spirits, was constantly shaking and becoming mad. He applied all his rituals but could not heal her. He asked another shaman for help, three of them, and none of them, working together, were able to give her relief. All these shamans were Hindus. He took his daughter-in-law to another shaman, but this one failed as well. At one point, he himself became infected with the same madness, the same evil spirits. His daughter-in-law began to tell him that the spirits had proclaimed him a great man. She said they should jump off a hill together. He asked the name of the spirits that were afflicting them. A spirit replied that it was Vishnu and that he had sent them to destroy the world. Vishnu directed them to buy a large expensive pot which they did. They were then directed to break it to pieces with an ax. His daughter-in-law received this revelation, saying that they were going to destroy the world. They broke the pot, and for a moment, felt relief. For a whole day they did not eat or drink, but the demons came back with the shaking and the torments. At that point his daughter-in-law began to die. Her name was Vishni maya. She was being killed by an evil spirit. Lilam could hear its music in his head. It was very powerful. He tried to resist this spirit but began to realize that he could not withstand the demonic forces. His sister was a Christian. He went to her house, taking his daughter-in-law with him. The sister laid hands on them and the daughter-in-law began to be healed. He went to the Church to pray. Over a period of some months they were healed of demon possession and became Christians. He burned all his books on magic and spells and bought a Bible. Now he is a pastor in his village and a farmer.
Pastor Bam T.
He accepted Jesus 21 years ago. It was very difficult to serve the Lord in that time since, under Hinduism, there was no freedom in Nepal for Christians. The king, whose ancestors came to Nepal from India, was a Hindu.
Some 21 years ago he became very sick, A gastric problem with symptoms like heartburn. This continued for three weeks, with one week especially bad. He heard there were some Christians in a nearby village who could pray for him, so he went to them for help. It was one day's walk away. He got some relief and stayed in that village for three years fellowshipping with them. He then returned to his own village and started a fellowship. At once, some 60 people came with sticks and began to beat him because he was praying to another God. They made him pay a fine of 190 rupees. They said he must leave his religion, but he said he could not leave his God, even if they cut off his hand or neck. They then demanded that he put his thumb to a document affirming the Hindu religion. He refused to do this. He was praying constantly that God would protect him. A month later, a woman's family in his village asked him to pray for a lady who was possessed by demons. He did so in the name of Jesus and the demons left her. As a result of this and other acts done in the name of Jesus Christ, eleven households became Christian. However, the remaining villagers would not allow them to fellowship, so they went a half day walk to another village for fellowship. A month after that, however, he started a fellowship in his house with the door closed. Even so, seven people came in through the roof and took all their Bibles. At that point, his son and daughter became sick with measles. The boy was five and the girl was three. Within three days both of them were dead. The villagers thought he would then give up Jesus Christ, but he did not. The following Sunday, he continued the fellowship in his home. The villagers wondered why he would continue when his God had not healed his children. Someone brought a very sick child to the fellowship, and they prayed for the child who was healed. When the villagers saw these things, some of them began to come to Christ. Four years later, 82 houses had become Christian, some 400 believers. In this way the fellowship was growing. From that day until now he continues the Lord's work. Once the fellowship in his own village became strong, he began a fellowship in another area. Two years ago, he started a fellowship in still another area with 11 people. Now there are 250 people in this fellowship. He never renounced his Christian faith because our God is a Creator God and he does not want to leave Jesus. He now has two sons and two daughters.
Further comment from Norman who knows Bam well: "He gave you the very short version. Both he and Pastor Kamal were under death threats from the Maoists. They went to a town [another area] where he started this second church. At one point while they were there, Kamal fasted for 40 days, praying for the end of the Maoist insurgency. Of course, I believe that the end to that insurgency a year ago was very much because of their sacrifice and their prayers."
Pastor Kamal T., 42 years old.
He was originally a Buddhist. Eighteen years ago his mother, wife, and daughter became very sick. In his village they offer sacrifices according to the Buddhist way, and he offered 18 animals to the village gods, but no one got better. He also became sick, very dizzy, and then he realized that his mother and daughter were dying. Also, one side of his wife's body was paralyzed from the illness. He called the Buddhist lama as well as a person knowledgeable in witchcraft, and they said he had to sacrifice more animals. He talked to his father who told him there was a Christian in another village about two hours away. His father was the head of the village where he lived and his father told him that he had heard that Christians did not need to sacrifice animals for healing. At that time, there was no freedom to share the gospel in his village, but his brother had a tract on Christianity which he then gave to Kamal. This tract said that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead and that he healed the sick and the blind. He read this tract three or four times carefully. Then he talked to his wife about it. She said they should convert to Jesus Christ. So he went to the village which was about two hours away. There they prayed, and after about two months, all the sickness disappeared from his family. For one year after that he went to the other village for fellowship, but after that, he began to share the gospel in his village. Seven families were converted to Jesus Christ and he started a fellowship in his village and he was its pastor. Then he went to another village to start another fellowship and lived in that village. At that time he began to think that he needed to go abroad, and that he needed to earn money to do that, but God told him to stay in Nepal and follow the true God and be his minister. He decided not to leave and returned to his home village. He stayed there for a while, found a good leader for that church, and then went to another village to share the gospel and start another fellowship. At that time a great persecution arose. They tried to get him to renounce Jesus Christ and threatened to kick him out of their society, to treat him even lower than the lowest caste. He kept praying to God, refusing to give in, and after some time, the persecution ended. Many people came to Christ, above all, because they were healed and delivered of evil spirits. Now, in his church, there are 121 believers and his ministry is going well.
Norsang T., 37 years old.
He was born into a Buddhist family, although with time, some of his brothers came to follow Christ. He, however, maintained the Buddhist religion. Suddenly, he got very sick, and was sick for three years. He went to the Buddhist lama and the local witch doctor, but it did no good. Several times a month he would become very sick, disturbed by evil spirits. Often he went out into the woods to collect fodder. Sometimes while climbing trees to cut down fodder, he would have strange visions, would fall, and find himself compelled to cut himself. (At one point he pulled up the legs of his pants, showing scars all over his legs. They were on his arms as well.) Once he had a vision of a great plain filled with the spirits of the dead. They were calling to him, attempting to get him to come over to them. When he went toward them, he fell from the tree where he was working and was knocked unconscious for three or four hours. His family finally found him. At this point he developed something like epilepsy and would fall into fits and become unconscious. He was taken to the lama and the witch doctor, but they could not deliver him of the evil spirits. Then his family was able to get him sent to a mental hospital where they gave him medicine, but still he did not improve. He stayed at the hospital for one month, and took the medicine for four years to no avail. He lost all his money and then Pastor Norman helped pay for the medicine. During this time, he gradually came to have faith in Jesus Christ but was not baptized. His brother, who was a Christian, began to lay hands on him and pray for him for deliverance of the demons. He was possessed by many demons. Gradually he began to get a little better. His brother worked it out so he could go to a Bible training center, and there he began to improve, becoming unconscious only about once a month. While there, the believers continued to pray for him and deliver him of evil spirits. After that, both he and his wife got baptized and he began to get even better and started helping with the fellowship in his village. Prior to this, he was accustomed to drink and smoke, but quit doing this when he became a follower of Jesus. [As this interview was taking place, his brother was there and told me that Norsang had had many demons and that it took some time for him to become free.] At this point he became completely healed, no more unconsciousness, or dizziness, or terrible headaches, completely healed with no need of medicine. That was eight years ago when he became completely healed. Now he is a leader in his fellowship, a pastor.
Some time after that his mother-in-law got very sick and they took her to the hospital. The doctor said she would die within three days. They then took her to the Christian mission hospital where they prayed for her. She did not die, but did not get better. She could not eat, pass urine or stool, and her stomach was very bloated. This went on for six days. All the Christians there got together and fasted and prayed all day. Then suddenly, at 6:00 in the evening, she passed the urine and stool with a loud sound and was made well. This was a wonderful miracle, and through this miracle, many people were converted to Jesus Christ, including other members of his family.
Now he is working in the church, supporting the pastor, and working as a servant of Jesus Christ. He has not had a headache for eight years, nor become unconscious, completely healed by the grace of God.
Pastor Shyam N., age 51.
He was born a Hindu and before he became a Christian he worshipped many gods, going to many temples. He was of the Newari caste which is a local low caste. Every morning, sometimes at midnight, he would visit the gods in the temple. Once he got a wound, or sore, in his body and could not get well. He was told that if he went to a certain Hindu shrine, Chobar Ganesh, then he would be healed. He went there and worshipped the god but he did not get well. From that time he gradually came to believe less and less in the gods. Like the communists, he became an agnostic. At that time, there was a Christian family living in the same building with him and they shared the gospel with him. He was married, but had no children after five years of marriage. They went to the doctors as well as the witch doctors. Both said the same thing, they would never have children. The Christian family in the building, however, denied this, saying that it was possible for God to give them children. His wife began to believe that God would do this but he did not. His wife started going to the Christian church and the Christian believers came to his house to pray for them. At this time his wife got sick with appendicitis, but she recovered. A year later, he went to the church to fellowship with the Christians. That night, there was a message about Abraham and Sara, how she had conceived even in her old age after never having any children. His wife and the other Christians fasted and prayed. About ten to eleven months later, they went to the doctor for a checkup. His wife tested positive for pregnancy and he began to believe. Five months later, a son was born. Then Shyam began to go to church along with his wife and they dedicated the baby to Christ. One year later, another son was born. His belief in God became stronger and stronger. That was seventeen years ago. He was baptized along with his family. After that he became a leader in the church, though he was not a pastor at that time. He was anointed by the pastor as a deacon. Some time after that, his wife got pancreatis. They took her to the doctor who said that she would probably die. The doctor was a Christian, however, and told them to read Psalm 103:1-3 and to have faith. This passage said to trust God and to believe. He believed, but his wife especially believed. She was completely healed and is still healed. Even more, they have great joy as a family. Seven years ago he became the pastor of his church and is planting four other churches outside of Kathmandu. His sons have formed a music team for his church. He also has a vision for older people, taking care of them. Twelve months ago he started a center for old people. He and his sons also are making a set of audio cassettes to teach Christian songs to other Christian fellowships. They have already recorded 42 songs. He is thankful to Almighty God for his ministry.
Pastor Bahadur T., 40 years old.
He is from a Buddhist family. When young, he lived in the animal area of his village since he took care of animals. He had a friend who knew Jesus Christ. This friend explained the Bible to him, the book of Genesis, and how God created everything. He then started to believe. He began to go to the fellowship in the village with his friend. This was twenty one years ago when he was nineteen. One year later, his friend invited him to become a youth leader. By this time he had become a Christian. At that time, there were five families in the village who were Christian. Two years later, there were more. He and his pastor cast a demon out of a person, and as a result, seven persons came to Christ. Two years later, even more came and they became a small church in their village. Seven years ago, the Buddhist people in the village came and broke into the church, beating the Christians. Altogether, there were 900 families in his village, all except their small fellowship were Buddhist. The Christians did not argue with them. Then they destroyed their church and Bahadur started a fellowship in his house. Because of the persecution, some of the Christians left the fellowship and returned to Buddhism. Then the Buddhist lama came and went to each of the Christian houses, saying they were unclean. He put water on the wall of each house for purification, telling the Christians they had to give him 15,000 rupees for purifying their houses. The Christians replied that their houses were not unclean, they had not asked him to purify their houses, and they did not have the money. Then the lama began to beat Bahadur and his family including his parents. At that time his wife was 8-9 months pregnant. She was so badly beaten they thought she would die. Eleven days later the baby was born dead. By this time, Bahadur was the church leader. One day's walk away there was a police station and the villagers went there to report Bahadur and the other Christians. The police said there was supposed to be freedom of worship. A month later the police came to the village and there was a meeting with all the villagers. The police did not want to get involved, saying the people had to settle the matter among themselves. They said this because they were Buddhists, the majority of the people at the meeting were Buddhist, and it was said that Christianity was a religion from another country. That day the Buddhist people beat all the Christians in the village very badly, almost killing them. A terrible persecution continued and the Christians were told they would be treated as lower caste. The Christians were given an ultimatum, either leave the village or leave the Christian religion. Their property was to be taken from them and given to others. For the next three months, they had only prayer at Bahadur's house, but no fellowship. For fellowship with each other, they would go into the forest, hidden from others. Then the Buddhists came to his house and beat him very badly, breaking his leg and almost killing him. His family came and found him, taking him home. He was very close to death and was sick for some time. They were praying for him. Finally, six months later, he recovered. Then some Christians from India came to the village and built a church. After they left, the Buddhists tore it down so the Christians fellowshipped in their houses. Three years later, freedom of worship came to Nepal and the Christians were not as badly persecuted. The church was rebuilt. More and more people in his village were becoming Christians because of healings and the power of Jesus to cast out demons. His ministry began to expand. Six years ago, some Christians from Korea came and built a better church building. More people became Christians because of the power of Jesus. Now there are 1,000 believers in his village and he is their pastor. This is the end of his testimony.
Pastor Laxman T., 39 years old.
He was born in both a Buddhist and Hindu family. His father was a priest, sacrificing at an altar to the gods. Eighteen years ago he married. Two years later, his wife became pregnant and a son was born. After this birth, his wife was unconscious for seven days. They called a Buddhist priest and a shaman to heal his wife but nothing happened. They were feeding the child with bottled milk. Then they sacrificed eight animals to the Buddhist and Hindu gods, but nothing happened. Nine days after the birth, he began to think of Jesus Christ, having heard of him. There were no Christians in his village, so he went to another village, four hours walk away, where he had heard there were some Christians. They were afraid to come to help him because they had heard that he was the son of a priest. They were afraid of being beaten, but he said he would take responsibility for those who came. A pastor came and prayed for his wife. The pastor prayed for three to four hours and he prayed with the pastor. They prayed into the evening. Early in the morning his wife slowly came to her senses. She was completely healed. At once he and his wife, as well as his father and mother, came to believe in Jesus Christ. The rest of his neighbors were against him. There was a great festival at that time. As a Christian he would not participate in the festival. The other villagers were against him and his family, yet he argued for Christ. They forced him to pay a fine since he would not quit following Jesus. One year later, God helped him very much. He was very proud of God because God allowed him to share the gospel in a special way. Three families became very sick and he prayed for them. They were healed and came to Jesus Christ. At this time, he was going to the other village for fellowship, a four hour walk. Then he started a fellowship in a village near his village with three families. That was fifteen years ago. Soon other families came to believe, some twenty households. They believed because they saw the healings, heard his testimony, and they saw him overcoming many obstacles. A local shaman resisted belief, but he also came to believe. Two years later, he left this fellowship with a leader and began a fellowship in his own village. There are 70 households in his village, 36 of them are Christian. There are 257 believers in his church. He has a great vision from God to reach the other 34 households. By God's grace, he is doing God's ministry. He has a golden opportunity. God has made him a servant in his village and he is very proud of God.
Further comment from Norman : "The district that six of the pastors come from is now the first and only district in Nepal that is majority Christian."
The Rev. Robert J. Sanders, Ph.D.
