Nepal: A Young and Growing Church
From the Forum Magazine, Fall 2015 - view the full issue here
When Chudamani Koirala returned to Nepal this summer to visit churches that had been devastated by the earthquake earlier this year, he didn’t know what to expect. Whole villages had been swept away by landslides, and people were living in temporary shelters and worshiping under tents. “I was surprised by their lives. There is nothing. Yet they are thankful in the Lord.”
Koirala is one of three Nepali students at Calvin Seminary. In Nepal, both Koirala and another Calvin student, Yakuv Gurung, have been pastors and lecturers at Evangelical Presbyterian Theological Seminary (EPTS) in Katmandu, Nepal, where two Calvin Seminary alumni, Revs. Arbin Pokharel and Troy Bierma, serve. T he third current Calvin student, Ram Aryal, came to the United States to attend college, where he was converted to Christianity from Hinduism, and he now seeks training to fulfill a calling to be a pastor.
The church in Nepal is young and growing fast. The country remained closed to the outside world until it opened its borders in 1950. According to a 1951 census, there were six Christians in the whole country. In 60 years, that number has grown to over 375,000, which is about 1.4 percent of the total population. Bierma suggests that the Holy Spirit uses the culture of the people to grow the church. “Nepalis are culturally social and less privately-oriented than Americans. That doesn’t just go away when they come to Christ,” Bierma says. “The Nepali church is excellent at evangelism and church planting, and we can learn from them.”
Nepali Christians often face great trials. Bierma wonders how the churches survive with meager resources while facing persecution, and yet they continue to plant churches and evangelize. When new believers become open about their faith, they are often kicked out of their homes and communities. He says that for a Nepali, “becoming a Christian means choosing between faith and family, between your home …and Christ. That kind of fierce, ‘all in’ mentality is something we can learn from, something that can inform our own faith.”
Koirala saw this “all in” mentality as he returned for a few weeks this summer to encourage his congregation and the pastors he mentors. One pastor serves seven churches in a region in the mountains that was devastated by the earthquake. Two of the smaller villages were completely destroyed, and 21 believers lost their lives. Still, the Christians there tell stories of people being miraculously saved from landslides and thank the Lord for their lives. Koirala said the people in these devastated areas have the basics (food, temporary shelter), “but the question is, what next?” The tremors continue and take an emotional toll, even if they don’t do much physical damage. The rainy season has come, delaying any rebuilding until drier weather returns. It will take a long time to restore what was lost.
Pokharel has been helping to coordinate relief efforts through EPTS and agencies such as World Renew. In addition to restoring and rebuilding, the church in Nepal needs trained leaders. T he church has grown quickly, but according to a 2007 estimate only 15 percent of church leaders had three years of theological training, and 35 percent of pastors had no theological training at all. Aryal encourages pouring into the Nepali church: “This mountain people, invest in them. Pray for the church and invest in students.” Calvin Seminary is thankful to have invested through alumni working faithfully in Nepal and through welcoming pastors and teachers from Nepal to study. We are glad to also learn from them and their strong, steadfast faith and effective evangelism.
