Nepal is afraid of the Bible; but need not.

The Bible has become very dear to so many Nepalese in so short a period of time.  Even until the latter part of the 20^th century, Bible was a forbidden book in Nepal and Christians were persecuted, tortured and imprisoned for reading their Bibles.  For centuries, ruthless dictators were fearful of this book.  They used Hindu religion as a weapon to subjugate not only the Christians but also the Buddhist and other native religious groups who were living in Nepal long before the arrival of Hindus.

The advent of democracy in the 1990s and subsequent Maoist revolution brought about some relief to Christian minority.  But all other religious groups for centuries had been forced to accept Hinduism as their main religion.  Even Islam in Nepal had become very syncretic with Hindu rituals and practices in order to avoid persecution in the hands of the rulers and religious zealots. 

Christianity however remained a unique faith in spite of severe persecution from the state.  During those days of government persecution, the Hindu neighbors were very hospitable.  Except in some isolated cases, the Nepalese Hindu society at large was very tolerant and kind to differing faiths and religions. 

When the state sanctioned persecution ended in the 1990s, Christians were able to breathe a sigh of relief.  They were able to worship freely and even practice their beliefs and religious rights in public.  For the first time, Hindu neighbors came in proper touch with the Christian community and were able to read the Bible for themselves.      

As many as Nepalese began to read the Bible, they found it to be an amazing book that talked about life, liberty, peace, prosperity and human dignity.  They even found the wonderful solution to the age old problem of human sinfulness; “Jesus Christ became the Lamb of God to take away the sinfulness of man!”  They heard the Bible declare that all human beings are made in the image of God and are worthy of respect and service; so much so that God became man to die for them to save them from their sins.  For centuries, Nepalese rulers had used Hindu religion to suppress human freedom.  But reading the Bible opened the eyes of the Nepalese as it did to the Europeans in the 15^th century after the protestant reformation.  Age of enlightenment swept across Europe and the western civilization reached its zenith.  Quality of life, learning, science and human advancement found their roots in the fertile ground of Biblical knowledge.  But the rest of the world remained in bondage to power hunger rulers who used religions to keep people in the dark. 

Nepal is now at a cross road again.  The democratic government needs the help of the majority in order to remain in power.  Nearly 80% of Nepalese consider themselves to be Hindus.  In order to gain their support, politicians in Nepal are now sowing the seeds of hate among the Hindu majority against the religious minorities.  They are pitching the peaceful Nepalese one against the other in the name of religion; particularly against the Bible.  In addition to the power hungry politicians, the naive Nepalese media is trying to explain the rise of Christianity in Nepal as if this was some kind of western conspiracy to colonize Nepal.

In fact, the rise of Christianity in Nepal has become a mystery to politicians, journalists and academicians.  The only explanation they can come up with is “money”.  Even some of the respected journalists and thinkers are not afraid to demonstrate their ignorance by declaring that all these Nepalese are turning to the Bible because money is coming from some mysterious nations trying to colonize Nepal.  If only they could visit a local church on any given Saturday would be sufficient for them to see their blatant folly they consider wisdom.  Any person with some common sense can see that the only nation in the 21^st century with some interest in colonizing Nepal is none other than India or possibly China.  Is Prime Minister Modi or President Xi giving money to these Nepalese to read their Bible?

The Bible is a wonderful book not only for an individual, but for any society, nation, and civilization.  Wherever the Bible is read, the quality of life is remarkable!  Though late, Nepalese have begun to read their Bibles and no one can stop them now.  The sooner these politicians, journalists, and academicians read the Bible the better our beautiful nation of Nepal will be.  

I am glad I was born into this world!

If someone asked you, “Do you like your Birthday?”  You might say, “Of course, everybody likes their birthdays”.  Well, if you had asked me that question before 1985, I would have utterly denounced and cursed the day I was born.  I hated the day I was born.  “What happened in 1985?” could be your next possible question.  The thing that happened was; I met Jesus Christ.  He completely changed my life thereafter.  Yet, the idea of celebrating my birthday really didn’t make sense to me until 1993.  Again you might ask, “What happened in 1993?”  My son was born!  The birth of my son totally changed my perspective about God the father.  I began to appreciate the fact that I was born into this world so that I could become a father of such a beautiful son.  Indeed, God has given me an amazing, funny and brilliant son.  Up until that time, the concept of a father’s love had never entered into my brain.  I had read about it, heard about it, witnessed it; but neither felt it nor understood it completely.  Having a son opened up a new dimension into my cognitive as well as affective world. 

What happened at my birth is still a mystery to me in many levels.  I was the first male child to be born to my parents.  Obviously they were so happy to have a son after three daughters.  In my culture, a father would not see his son until a Hindu astrologer draws the horoscope and determines everything about that child.  The astrologer discovered a terrible planetary anomaly about my birth.  I was born in such an inauspicious moment of time that my birth meant sure death for my father.  There was one possible escape for him if he wanted to live long; he must never see his son.  The day his sight falls on his son, he will die.

Naturally my father wanted to live long and so decided never to see me.  Generally such an infant is ether starved to death or given to anyone from a distant place wanting a child for whatever reasons.  It seemed my mother could not let me die nor did they find anyone to take me away.  But it was impossible for them to keep at home.  Finally my mother decided to ask her mother to take care of me and left me there.  Her village was one full day’s walk from the place I was born.  I grew up with my grandparents until I was ten without knowing who my parents were.  But the questions about life, meaning and purpose had found their footings into my tender mind long before a child should be dealing with them. 

To make matter worse, after ten years of my birth a different astrologer, out of curiosity, examined my horoscope and found out that the first one had made a grave mistake in calculating the positions of the stars and the planets in their stupid mathematical equation in determining my fate.  Reluctantly, at the age of eleven, I was brought back to my so called home and for the first time saw my father.  It turned out that my mother used to come once a year to the place where I was and she would hold me, cry over me and so on and so forth.  But no one told me she was my mother.  To make long story short; for one whole year after I was brought home, my father never looked at me nor spoke to me.  He was very kind to his other children.  Just as my childhood was robbed, so went my teenage years until Christ found me.

I was 18 when I finally surrendered my life to Christ.  I was truly born again in every sense of the word.  Prior to that, my world had come to an end and was simply waiting for the day to end my life.  Christ gave me a new life, a new future, a new purpose.  I got married to an amazing woman who gave me a wonderful son; and who in turn changed my world for the best.

A blind religious belief nearly stole my life from me.  But today, Christ has restored all those years the locusts had eaten.  So, I say to myself a big Happy Birthday!

By the way, my wife is going to buy something very special for me and I miss my son who lives in a distant land.