Nepal Factbook
After centuries of isolation from the
world and the gospel, the Lord has worked in Nepal
in a tremendous way. Many have been
saved in the last 40 years, and the number of Christians continues to
grow.
Nepal is located
between India and China. It is home to some of the highest mountains in the world including
Mt. Everest. Most of the land is rugged and
mountainous.
More than 25 million people live in Nepal. Because Nepal
is closely aligned culturally with India, the caste system is
prevalent.
Nepal is one of the
poorest counties in the world. Centuries
of isolation have ended, but
the economy has been slow to develop. Nepal
receives large amounts of foreign aid, but many live in
poverty.
Nepal remained
independent and isolated from the outside world for much of its history. In 1951, the king began to open Nepal to
foreign exchange. This began a period of
tumultuous reform that resulted in a multi-party system in
1990. The government has remained
unstable and received another blow in 2001 when most of the royal
family was murdered - presumably by the crown prince.
Nepal is officially
a Hindu nation. Other groups are allowed
some religious
freedoms, but evangelization is illegal.
This law is vigorously enforced.
In practice, Christians have suffered a significant amount of
persecution,
but this has lessened somewhat since 1990.
The Lord has done a tremendous work in
the land. The gospel came to Nepal for the first time in 1960. In the following 40 years, Christians have
grown
from zero to nearly half a million.
There is now an evangelical church in every district of the country.
Pray that the Lord would continue to add
large numbers to His Kingdom. Pray for
the churches as they cope with such rapid growth. Pray for the provision of men called to be pastors and
for their education. Only in
recent
years have Bible schools been allowed to operate.
Pray for the Hindu and Buddhist
groups. Together, they account for
nearly 90% of the
people. Although evangelization is
illegal, pray that more would hear the gospel. Pray for courage among Christians to
challenge the discrimination of the caste system. Pray for efforts to reach into less
evangelized
areas.
Pray for outreaches intended to address
the many physical needs of the people. Bibles and Christian literature are
available, but a low literacy rate limits their effectiveness. Pray for programs to help improve
literacy
so that people can read for themselves.
Copyright 2006 by Brad Garrison
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