AsiaStories

Notes of a sacred hymn fade as Dorji Sangay* reads a passage from his Bible. The small congregation follows along in their New Testaments and then discusses the verses.

From where Sangay sits cross-legged on the floor, he can look out the window and see the jagged Himalayan Mountains of his home country, Bhutan. His heart aches to go home. He was forced to leave after being tortured and released from prison in the late 1990s.

The crime he committed was sharing Christ.

Sangay’s attention is drawn from the window and his “promised land” back to the Bible study when a woman starts talking to God. The prayer makes him smile. Just a few years ago, his people had no idea how to pray or sing worship songs in their language nor did they have any Bible passages. In fact, there were very few believers back then. Now, he teaches these national believers how to do the same thing that got him arrested — proclaiming the Gospel.

So much has changed for Bhutanese Christians during the last decade that it’s nothing short of a miracle — one that Southern Baptists helped pray into place.

In 2001, Baptists committed their National Day of Prayer and Fasting for World Evangelization to the only country recognized as a Tibetan Buddhist Kingdom, Bhutan. Baptists prayed for everything from Bible translations to discipleship training to greater religious freedoms.

Sangay and other Christian workers say your prayers are still being answered.

“In the past 10 to 12 years, we have worked so hard,” Sangay insists. “We are sharing openly and we win lots of people to the Lord. We baptized a lot of people and we started new churches. The prayers are working.”

Answered Prayer: Greater religious freedom

In the mid-1990s, Bhutan’s government banned Christianity. They felt it could be a divisive religion if it grew too strong. It was against the law to “coerce anyone to believe differently.” Sangay says persecution was wide spread during this time. He was jailed and tortured several times in a four-year span.

Officially some religious freedom was granted in 2000, but sources outside of Bhutan do not credit any gains until 2007. Even now, Christians are not allowed to “proselytize” or partake in any festivity or holiday that is not Buddhist.

“Bhutan has just become a democracy because of our King’s initiative. Our system is slowly changing,” Sangay says optimistically. “Yes, there is freedom of religion. We are allowed to have faith in Jesus now. But, we are not allowed to preach.”

Sangay warns that freedom of religion is still a very “tricky thing.” There is still persecution. One man was sentenced last year to a three-year prison term for showing “Christian films.”

The easiest way to explain Bhutan’s version of religious freedom, according to Sangay, is to think about relationships. He says it is not safe to share the Gospel with strangers.

“If you share with a stranger and the stranger is anti-Christian, you run the risk of him reporting you and putting you behind bars,” Sangay says. “You have to know the person and build a relationship before you can share.”

Bhutanese believers do not pray the persecution will go away. Instead, they work through it. For every meal purchased that is filled with sand, every time the power is turned off for only their church but not the rest of the village, they pray that God draws them closer and shows them how to reach more people.

Answered Prayer: Bible translation and indigenous church identity

In the last decade, the New Testament has been translated into three different languages. When this project started there was no standard way of writing these spoken languages. They ended up using the Tibetan script used in the Buddhist temples.

The New Testament is the first book for most of these languages. Currently, a translation team furiously works on the Old Testament. Sometimes it takes four days to get one verse correct, but the tedious task is worth it. The visionaries want their countrymen to have “the whole story” instead of just half.

“I’m fairly good at English,” Sangay says. “Yet, there is nothing like reading it in your own language. Somehow, the Bible and what it’s saying becomes more meaningful. People tell me they understand it now because it’s speaking to them.”

There are roughly a few hundred believers among Sangay’s people. He makes sure all of them have a copy of the New Testament and know how to read it. He teaches them how to use it to grow in their walks of faith and how to share with others.

Answered Prayer: Training and multiplication

While Sangay cannot safely visit Bhutan, the influence of the church planting principles he and other Christian workers train fellow believers in is far reaching. One man started seven churches within six months after undergoing the training.

Success is measured a little differently here. Christians are not going to see big baptism numbers or thousands of new churches. After all, the country only has a population numbering just over 700,000. When you add in the fact that the country has been closed to Christianity for decades, how isolated the villages are and persecution is almost always the end product of sharing, every addition to the Kingdom is cause for celebration.

Despite the obstacles, Sangay and Christian workers say multiplication is happening and in some out-of-the-way locations. He sites an isolated village that is a two-day walk off the main road as an example.

“There’s a small church that is totally made up of new believers,” Sangay says. “If we go visit them, they are more persecuted.”

Every time the church meets in a home, the power and water supply are cut off, while the rest of the village’s remains functioning. When the village has light, the home hosting church sits in darkness.

“They only know a few songs to worship God and a few Bible stories,” he says. “They are discouraged from the persecution, yet they keep worshipping and praising our God.

“We sent a sister to check on them and train them. Pray for this church,” Sangay says. Then adds, “Pray for all of us. Don’t stop praying. There is still much to do.”

*Name changed

Voice a prayer for Bhutan in the comment box below.

There’s not a day that goes by that Kencho Kinle* isn’t going door to door, sharing the Gospel.

Everyone in the city knows him; some even run when he approaches. His testimony is hard to forget, because it is written in blood − in Jesus’ and his family’s.

Black magic and meditation coexist in the mountainous kingdom of Bhutan. Buddhism here is a mixture of shamanism and Vajrayana Buddhism, which entered Bhutan through Tibet in the seventh century A.D.

Because of the curse of the most powerful sorcerer in Bhutan, Kinle watched his family members die: his wife, three of his children, his sister, and her children.

Kinle almost lost his fourth child to the sorcerer’s spell, but a believer told him about the God who is more powerful than any curse.

Dorji Sangay,* Kinle’s house church pastor, explains: “Someone came to him and challenged him, if you put faith in Christ, your son will be saved, he shall not die. So they put faith in Christ, and his son is still alive today.”

Twenty-three years later, Kinle, now in his late 60s, lives outside of his home country. He has shared the Gospel with every person in Buddhist communities in the area.

“I always make a point to share to the new people, so I have visited almost every single house,” Kinle says, gesturing toward the apartments outside. He says he always tries to share with those who are sick and hopeless, or have never heard the Gospel before.

“Whether they listen or not, whether they respond or not, I believe that my job is to share the Gospel,” Kinle says.

Kinle has returned many times to his village in Bhutan to share with his extended family. None of Kinle’s family members has accepted his message yet, but he constantly prays that they will come to faith in Christ.

Kinle’s uncle asked him why he would leave the Buddhist faith. Kinle pointed to his son. “Because He healed him.”

Kinle and his entire church prayed for a Godly wife for his son. The Lord answered their prayer this year. Kinle, his son, and his daughter-in-law live in a small two-room apartment.

“God’s work is very exciting,” Kinle’s son, Tshering* says. Tshering’s income supports their family.

Complaints about Kinle’s faith circulated to his boss, who forced Kinle to resign. Because of this, Kinle says, he has more time to share.

“It is necessary to be persecuted, the work of God becomes greater,” Kinle says. His wrinkles say more about his pain and joy than words ever could.

Kinle is considering attending a six-month discipleship training this year. His only hesitation is being unable to share the Gospel all day, every day.

For now, Kinle will be knocking on doors daily, sharing about the God his wife and three children never had a chance to know.

*name changed

Starting a church in Bhutan is spiritual warfare. That’s why prayer is so important to Namita Pema.*

After they heard God’s call to plant a church, Pema and her husband prayed at the top of the mountains that surround their village. Pema pinned a cross to each mountain to claim the land for the Lord. She fasted for a week, not even drinking water.

In the past, evangelists and pastors tried unsuccessfully to start churches in the valley. Church doors closed within weeks and months of opening. Sharing the Good News in Bhutan is illegal. Many believers have been imprisoned for doing this.

“You must first bind the place,” Pema says, pointing to the mountain visible from her living room.

Please join Pema in praying for doors to continue opening in Bhutan.

A special prayer-guide will help you pray specifically for this Buddhist country. Take a virtual prayer walk and see Bhutanese daily life and struggles. Or try hosting a Bhutanese meal and party.

Bhutan Prayer Meal

Invite friends over for a Bhutanese meal. Prepare Kewa Datshi and Butter Tea (see recipes below). Enjoy the meal together and then gather for prayer.

Share stories of how God worked in Bhutan during the last 10 years. Stress how prayers made a big impact on the country once and it can happen again with your help.

Voice a prayer for Bhutan in the comment box below.

Check out The Caravan for more adventures. Stories about Zeke and his friends are written for different age-levels. Find age-appropriate teaching helps and activities for this story and others at www.caravanfriends.org.