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Nepal

• Church Leader's Home Burned Down

  Karuna

  A church leader living among the Brahmin, the Hindu upper caste, recently lost his home and belongings when villagers burned down his home. While "Karuna's" primary job is to visit and encourage believers in the area, he has also led many Hindus to Christ, angering those in the village. On several occasions, villagers threatened to kill Karuna, his wife and their two children if he continued to evangelize.

• Christian Killed While Praying for His Attacker

  An elder of the Believers Church in Nepal was tragically killed in the early morning hours of October 20th while praying for someone who was supposedly quite ill.

• Buddhists oust believers from their homes

  Pray for believers in Nepal who are facing hardships for the sake of Christ.

  Buddhists in Nepal drove a pastor and other believers from their village, accusing the pastor of bringing a foreign religion to the village and promoting teachings against society. The oppressors accused Christians in the village of using bribery and coercion to covert local residents to Christianity. It is also believed a six-year-old girl was sexually abused by one of the individuals who incited the expulsion. A VOM worker has helped the victims resettle in another village and also prayed with the family of the girl who was abused.

  Pray that the passion these believers have for Christ will be the light that draws others to Jesus (Matthew 5:14-16). Pray for healing for the girl who was abused. Please pray that hostility against Christians in Nepal will cease and that believers will be allowed to live and worship freely.

  Please visit the Nepal Country Report for more on the trials believers face in Nepal.

• Bomb attack targets Christians

  Assumption Catholic Church after the bombing in 2009.

  Two years after an explosion shook one of the biggest Catholic churches in Nepal and killed three people, the underground group that orchestrated the attack claimed responsibility for another bomb blast in November (for more on the 2009 attack, click here).

  A crude bomb went off on November 22 in front of a leading Christian charitable organization's office in the capital city, sowing fresh fear and insecurity among Christians. Thankfully, there were no casualties. At the site, police found leaflets signed by someone calling himself a senior member of the Nepal Defence Army, a militant armed group that has terrorized Christians and Muslims, demanding that they leave Nepal. The leaflets asserted that the majority population in Nepal was Hindu and that therefore it should be a Hindu state. The leaflets also accused the charitable organization of converting Hindus to Christianity.

  On the same day in the north-eastern district of Sindhupalchowk, local residents of the predominantly Buddhist village of Danchhe assaulted two brothers for leading worship services at their home, leaving one unconscious.

  Ask God to grant courage and boldness of faith to Christians in Nepal. Pray that believers in Nepal will exemplify the love of God through consistent love and prayer for those who persecute them (Matthew 5:43-48). Pray for lasting peace in Nepal.

  Please visit the Nepal Country Report for more on the trials believers face in Nepal.

• Planned criminal code to forbid evangelism

  Nepalese women reading

  Five years after it abolished Hinduism as the state religion, Nepal is working on a new criminal code forbidding a person of one faith to "convert a person or abet him to change his religion." Article 160 of the proposed code also says no one will be allowed to do anything or behave in any way that could cause a person from a caste, community or creed to lose faith in his/her traditional religion or convert to a different religion. Offenders could be imprisoned for a maximum of five years and fined up to $685 CAD. Last weekend, the Nepalese government failed to complete a new constitution providing for religious freedom due to a protracted battle for political power.

  Pray for all those in authority in Nepal. Ask God to bring about genuine religious freedom in this nation. Pray for the church in this nation. May it remain faithful and grow in strength and in number. 

  Read more about the lack of religious freedoms in Nepal at the Nepal Country Report.

• Christians on hunger strike

  On March 20, thousands of Christians marched with empty coffins and empty stomachs in front of Nepalese government offices. The believers were begging the government of Kathmandu to allot them plots of land to bury their loved ones. In recent years, land available to Christians has been limited, forcing them to bury their dead on top of one another in the same tomb. In 2009, Christians were given the Shleshmantak Forest as a place to bury their dead. However, this forest was right next to a Hindu temple. The decision sparked protests from Hindus around the country, forcing the government to ban Christian burials in Shleshmantak Forest. Although the Nepalese government has lifted the ban, radical Hindus continue to stop Christians from burying their dead in the forest.

  Pray the Nepalese government will have compassion for these believers and grant them land. Ask the Lord to provide for them. Pray these believers will be the light of Christ to their Hindu neighbours.

  Learn more about the tribulations that befall Nepalese Christians at theNepal Country Report.

• Missionary badly beaten

  Six men attacked and brutally beat a Gospel for Asia-supported missionary in Nepal on October 17. The men accused Indra Rai Waglan of blasphemy against their traditional gods. They also accused him of forcing all the members of two families to convert to Christianity.

  Indra and an elderly believer were travelling to a neighbouring village to conduct a prayer meeting when the attack happened. After the attack, the men left Indra unconscious beside the road. He was later able to get medical treatment. He has a broken rib and bruises all over his body. The police have identified and charged six men with the attack. Their case is now before the court.

  Please pray Indra will be completely healed and fully restored. Pray he will be given the strength to stand firm in Christ. Pray also for the perpetrators and the police involved in the case that the Holy Spirit will lead them to repentance and belief in the one true God.

  Find out more about the persecution of Christians in Nepal by visiting theNepal Country Report.

• Update: Church bombing claims third victim

  Photos of victims from Compass Direct

  Buddha Laxmi Joseph, one of the many Christians who sustained serious injuries when a bomb exploded inside the Assumption Catholic Church on the morning of May 23 in Kathmandu (read the story), died in hospital on June 1. Joseph, an Indian national, was the mother of 15-year-old Celeste Joseph who was killed
  instantly by the blast.

  A 27-year-old woman belonging to the group Hindu Rashtra Bachao Samiti (The Society to Save the Hindu Nation) has confessed to police that she planted the bomb in the church building and has been arrested. On May 29, the militant group the Nepal Defense Army released the following statement: "We want all the one million Christians out of the country, if not we will plant one million bombs in all the houses where Christians live and detonate them."

  Click hereto learn more about the opposition facing Christians in Nepal.

• Two Christians killed, several injured in church bombing

  At approximately 8:40 a.m. on May 23, a bomb exploded inside the Assumption Catholic Church in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, killing two Christians and injuring at least a dozen others. Approximately 400 Christians were inside the building at the time of the blast. Fifteen-year-old Celeste Joseph was killed instantly. A 30-year-old woman, Deepa Patrick, was seriously injured and later died in hospital. A pamphlet was found on scene from the National Defence Army, a terrorist group that wants Hinduism restored as the state religion.

  Pray for those mourning the loss of Celeste and Deepa. Pray for healing for those injured. Ask God to enable Nepalese Christians to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer as they suffer for Him (Romans 12:12).

  For more information on the persecution of Christians in Nepal,click here.

• Priest Killed by Hindu Militants in Nepal

  Father Johnson Prakash Moyalan Photo fromDon Bosco India

  A Roman Catholic priest from India, Father Johnson Prakash Moyalan (60), was killed in eastern Nepal by armed militants on July 1. At approximately 1:00 a.m., the men broke into a building belonging to the Don Bosco mission in the town of Sirsiya. They locked up the assistant priest and shot Moyalan in the stomach and chest. Reports also indicated that a bomb was detonated on the premises. The attackers left pamphlets on the scene identifying themselves as members of the Nepal Defense Army, a terrorist group that wants Hinduism restored as the state religion. The murder is the first known martyrdom of a Christian priest in the country.

  Pray that those who mourn Father Moyalan will find strength, comfort and peace in Christ. Pray that God will continue to raise up cross-bearing disciples in Nepal willing to remain faithful to Him at all cost (1 Corinthians 4:9-14, 16).

  For more information on the persecution of Christians in Nepal, go to theNepal Country Report.