Nepal

Political turmoil in Nepal isn’t stopping Bibles for the World from launching their new Bibles for Nepal project this year.

As the tiny country transitions to a democracy, BFTW’s co-founder and president, Mawii Pudaite, told The Christian Post that Christianity is the fastest growing religion in a country that is 75 percent Hindu.

Right now the ruling party is Communist, and Pudaite said she isn’t sure how long freedom of religion will last there. “We have this season so we need to move ahead as quickly as we can,” she said. more >>

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 this week.

A crude bomb went off Tuesday afternoon (Nov. 22) in front of a leading Christian charitable organization’s office in this capital city, sowing fresh fear and insecurity among Christians ahead of a critical constitutional deadline. On the same day in the northeastern 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.

Police said they were investigating the explosion in front of the office of the United Mission to Nepal (UMN). While the crude bomb claimed no casualties or damage to the UMN office, it shocked area Christians. The UMN, a Christian international non-governmental organization founded in 1954 by Christian groups from almost 60 countries, has built hospitals, schools, hydropower plants and industrial development and training institutions in Nepal. more >>

Do you remember attending Awana at your church growing up? Weekly club meetings filled with singing, Bible studies and games along with your fellow friends at church. Over 12,000 churches in America have an Awana club, so chances are good your church has a weekly club meeting.

Most people know the club name stands for “Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed,” and for over 60 years it has helped churches and parents develop spiritually strong children.

But what you might not know about the organization is that it has a big international outreach, reporting 10,000 programs in over 90 countries. And Nepal is one country where the organization is making huge strides. more >>

The death toll of the devastating earthquake that struck India, Nepal and Tibet has risen above 50.

Geologists have confirmed Sunday's magnitude 6.9 earthquake was caused by the collision of a tectonic plate in India with the Eurasian plate in India's northeastern Sikkim state near the Nepal border. The earthquake also caused 16 landslides across a 6-mile stretch of road. Meanwhile, images from the area’s media have shown footage of buckled roads and damaged buildings.

Some sources have reported at least 42 people dead in India, with 12 fatalities in Nepal and Tibet; local sources in India have reported the death toll is as high as 71. Border police have reported saving more than 20 tourists. Lawmaker P.M. Rai of Sikkim stated that at least 150 people have been hospitalized in what is the worst earthquake to hit the region since 1934. As of Monday, an estimated 2,000 people were in emergency camps. more >>

KATHMANDU, Nepal – Defying pouring rain and flooded streets, over two dozen people have gathered faithfully at the Putalisadak Church in the heart of capital city Kathmandu for the regular Thursday evening Bible study class, bringing a smile of satisfaction on the face of Pastor Dev Kumar Chetri.

The smile fades, however, when he talks about the problems that Nepal’s second-oldest church has faced due to government discrimination. Hundreds of other churches scattered through the former Hindu kingdom have faced the same problem.

The roots of the discrimination are imbedded in history. When four missionaries from neighboring India’s Kerala state came to Kathmandu Valley and founded the Bethshalom Putalisadak Church in 1953, preaching non-Hindu religions was a punishable offense. A powerful Nepalese aristocrat, Col. Nara Raj Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana, who had secretly converted to Christianity in India, helped build the Protestant church on land bought in his name and those of two others. more >>

KATHMANDU, Nepal – Five years after it abolished Hinduism as the state religion, Nepal is working on a new criminal code forbidding a person from 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. The proposal would also prohibit conversion “by offering inducements or without inducement,” and preaching “a different religion or faith with any other intent.”

If found guilty, offenders could be imprisoned for a maximum of five years and fined up to 50,000 Nepalese rupees (US$685). If the offender is a foreigner, he or she would be deported within seven days of completing the sentence. more >>