Bhutan

Narmith, a new Christian in a discipleship program in Bhutan, has been growing in her faith and has had many opportunities to practice sharing her testimony and the gospel with others. Recently, she met two women with severe hearing impairments. She spent the entire afternoon with them, explaining through improvised hand signs how much Jesus loves them before praying for them. One woman was moved to tears after the prayer and conversation.

Pema Ongmo, 27, was raised in an animist family and had never heard about Christ until a friend shared the gospel and invited her to church. Her father, a village leader, found out and forbade her to read the Bible the pastor had given her. But she started reading the Bible secretly and began to follow Christ. Her mother became ill, and her father spent all the family’s resources looking for a cure. Pema told her father that the Jesus she read about in the Bible healed many people.

In the kingdom of Bhutan, only a small minority – about 25,000 people – are Christians, and only about a quarter of the country’s 20 provinces have any local churches. Nidup and some fellow pastors have launched the Love Bhutan Initiative, sending Bhutanese Christians as missionaries into the parts of Bhutan least reached with the gospel.

Because Brother Karna is a Christian, the government of Bhutan refuses to issue him a citizenship ID, without which he is unable to find a job. He reported that authorities often confiscate the crops of Christians who do not have IDs, knowing that these Christians do not have a legal way to protest this treatment.

Though evangelism is restricted in the isolated, majority-Buddhist country of Bhutan and believers face serious consequences when their faith is known, Christians continue to boldly share Christ. Front-line workers in Bhutan report that many children’s programs impact churches throughout Bhutan.

In the kingdom of Bhutan, where Buddhism is regarded as the only acceptable religion, Christians are often refused citizenship cards and other official documents needed for employment, education and most necessities. Pastor Deki and her son, Ratno, have been denied citizenship cards because of their Christian work.