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Be strong and take heart,
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Persecuted for my Faith I was born in 1974 in the mountainous country of I was born into a Hindu family in what was then a very Hindu society and country. According to this religion, I was born into the lowers caste, often referred to as the untouchables. Caste is often determined by occupation, and as my family made clothing, they were most definitely lower caste. When I was born my childhood was quite dangerous, and I faced ill health or death on many occasions. I contracted small pox and suffered with it for what seemed like a big chunk of my childhood. My parents found it very difficult to give me the right care because they had no time to look after me, because of their financial situation, and the fact that they worked such long hours. Year by year my family built a small shelter where all of us lived in one big room. There was no bathroom, no toilet, no running water and certainly no electricity. The nearest water tap was a 2-hour walk away! When I was 10 years old we moved to another village, in the middle of the jungle. My father cut down lots of trees and made a small house with mud, stone and the wood from the felled trees. The roof was made of dried grass, and when it rained water gushed into our home. When the strong winds came, the whole family had to hold down the roof, until the wind passed over!! My childhood was quite a painful time. I got my first pair of sandals at the age of 12, so you can imagine how many cuts and bruises my feet had seen! I spent many nights as a child sleeping all night in the jungle or on the river’s edge. When I turned 14 I started school, although there was little time to actually study, because it took me 4 hours to walk there and 4 hours to walk back, over a mountain and through the jungle! I also was working in the field in the morning and evening before and after school. Traditionally low caste people play music for money, and I used this money to pay for my school fees. When I was 20 I was walking on my way home from up in the mountains when I met some foreign missionary people. They were distributing a Christian booklet. I took one. It was called “The Living God”. I was the only person who had taken one, because other people were scared. I was scared what my family might think of this book, so I used to read it in the night. One night as I reading it, something very special touched my heart, and I felt an immediate change in me. That was the night I decided to follow Jesus. The next day my father saw the book and he asked where I had got it. He was very angry and he told me to leave the house. He tore up the book. Two days later somebody set fire to our house in the middle of the night. My father was not at home, but my brothers and sisters and mother were home. I helped get them out to safety. My mother was badly hurt. The fire had completely destroyed our house. My father was angry with me because he thought that the fire was just punishment for me deciding to follow Jesus. I agreed to leave home after that and to follow Jesus. I had no shoes or sandals, I didn’t know where I was walking, my eyes were full of tears and I had no money. My journey was very painful but I now had hope and faith in God. Romans 5:2-5, Psalm 31:24 and Jeremiah 17:7. On my journey I faced difficult situations, hunger and poor health. But God was with me and he reached out to me in these difficult days. When I eventually reach Kathmandu, the capital of In 1993 I was baptised in the river. I then started to study the bible full time. I got a chance to attend various discipleship courses and a 3-year pastoral training course. After I had completed the pastoral training I returned to the Ghurkha district to see my parents and share with them what God had done in my life. I began to share my faith but then people began to get angry and accuse me of changing to a western religion, they began to kick me and punch me, and then went and reported to me to the police. I then began another journey, teaching in primary schools, and working in a Christian bookshop in The Police regularly beat me I was arrested in 1996 and put in prison. Prison life was very difficult. It was a small cell crammed with prisoners. There was hardly any food; there were no beds so we slept on stone floors. The Police regularly beat me mercilessly, and taunted me saying that I did a lot of crying and feeling sorry for myself. I prayed a lot as well, and God carried on forgiving me. I prayed every day for the guards and police officers. After a couple of days a guard took me to a police officer and they both said if I persist in preaching the gospel I will spend my whole life in prison. I had to sign something to say I would stop preaching and I was immediately released. I knelt down and thanked the Lord for His mercy. Acts 4:29. During my evangelising God has done a lot of wonderful works in my life. He has saved me from all sorts of dangerous and life threatening situations, like when the river flooded, when I slid a long way down a mountain side, and of course the dangers of wild animals every night I slept in the open in the jungle. Meanwhile I met Mhitu. She was Hindu when we first met. I shared with her God’s word, and she decided to follow Jesus. She was quickly baptised. In 1998 we were married, and we began to establish a small church group. The church grew spiritually day by day, and more and more people began to convert. During this period Mhitu and I were walking from village to village, sometimes walking for up to 16 hours a day, and Mhitu was pregnant with Chris. We preached to many people during this time. Through me God performed some miracles in my life, such as healing sick people and ordering evil spirits out of people. After these miracles many people became Christians. One time my mother was very sick, suffering my asthma and ulcers. My father spent all his money on treatment for her. One night my mother was very ill, and she said that I could pray for her, and if my God healed her then she too would follow him. I gave thanks to God, knelt down beside her and began to pray. She stopped breathing and everyone thought she might have died. God led me to touch her and carry on praying. She started breathing again and everyone around was astonished, and started asking questions about God, some were saved that night. Some time later Mhitu became ill, and again through prayer she was healed. Praise the Lord, for He does miraculous works in my life, through faith. John 1:12 “Those who believe in Him they are called the children of God.” On December the 20th 2000 at midnight a member of the rebel communist Maoist party visited me at my house and he attacked me, and demanding a lot of money from me to spare my life. Because I had converted to Christianity he thought I had lots of Western friends with lots of money!! He gave me 15 days to pay up. I had no money and was very fearful for my life and that of my family. I knew then I had to leave my home country. I prayed hard and the Lord opened doors for me to come and live in the When I arrived in the But God is my provider and took care of me. I remembered a passage from Psalm 31:24 “be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord”. A kind lady gave me some money in the morning and I took a bus into I began to make contact with some Nepalese people who lived in In I really felt God’s presence I had to go for an interview at a Home Office office in 21 days later I received my “indefinite leave to remain” status! Praise God, you are my helper and my good shepherd. I read Psalm 100:1-5 I started to look for improved employment and I moved to So to the present. Well, when my wife and son, Mhitu and Chris came and joined me in During the last 10 years I have suffered a lot of persecution because of my faith. The Lord Jesus Christ has ceaselessly helped me rejoice in all things. Praise God! |
