Christians Forced to Convert to Buddhism in Nepal

A Buddhist monk visiting the predominantly Christian Borang village in Nepal’s Dhading district forced all the Christian villagers to convert to Buddhism and ordered them to stop all Christian worship.

All of the Christian villagers were locked inside a hall and forced to listen to the Buddhist teachings and to accept Buddhism. They were asked to bow down before a statue, go around the village carrying Buddhist scriptures on their heads, and to place Buddhist flags on their houses.

Refusing to obey the orders, the pastor and elder of the church were attacked. Although the church elder managed to escape, the pastor was captured and beaten for three days. He was then forced to place his finger print on a document stating that he would stop running the church and that he would not report the incident to police authorities or leave the village.

Although Nepal is over 80% Hindu, Buddhism holds close ties to the majority religion, with the birthplace of its founder is said to be in southern Nepal. Dhading district, however, has the highest number of Nepali Christians, with some villages almost entirely Christian.

• Pray for Nepali Christians, especially in rural areas, where there have been a number of attacks by Buddhist activists.
• Pray for the Nepali church, for strengthening faith and to remain strong in the face of opposition.
• Pray for the authorities to actively look to protect Christians in Nepal.
• Pray for the spread of the Gospel in Nepal.

Colossians 2 vs 2 : “I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ himself”

Source: http://www.barnabasfund.org