back in the 1600's there was a big push among the Catholics to spread Christianity throughout Asia. In 1628 a Catholic priest (of the Jesuit order) from Portugal spent some time in Tibet and then showed up in Nepal. Apparently it was the first time anyone in Nepal had ever heard about Jesus or about anything that had to do with this strange "Christian" religion. The official histories say that this priest, Father Juan Cabral, was welcomed with open arms by the Hindu King Lakshminarasimha Malla (and you thought you had to spell your name for the barista at Starbucks!). I cannot find anything else about what Father Cabral did or what happened to him after his initial reception by the king.
In the 1660's a couple more Jesuit priests, one from Belgium and another from Austria, came to Nepal but apparently didn't stay very long. It does not appear that there was any kind of sustained Christian presence in Nepal until 1707 when a small group of Capuchin friars walked into the city of Kathmandu. Capuchins (the Catholic religious order, not the monkeys) follow a form of Franciscanism. They were founded back in the early 1500's when a Franciscan friar felt that the Franciscans had gone soft, gotten a bit wimpy in their Franciscanism. He wanted to found an order that would be as "hardcore" as Francis of Assisi himself. The small group of Capuchins lived in Nepal for fifty years. This lasted until a change in government in 1769 forced the very small Catholic Christian community to leave Nepal to find refuge in neighboring India. Christians of all different flavors started showing up again in Nepal in the 1950's and have been around ever since. My own aunt and uncle were missionaries to Nepal back in the 1980's. Although Nepal is still almost entirely Hindu, there is still a small Christian minority of between 1% and 2%.
In the 1660's a couple more Jesuit priests, one from Belgium and another from Austria, came to Nepal but apparently didn't stay very long. It does not appear that there was any kind of sustained Christian presence in Nepal until 1707 when a small group of Capuchin friars walked into the city of Kathmandu. Capuchins (the Catholic religious order, not the monkeys) follow a form of Franciscanism. They were founded back in the early 1500's when a Franciscan friar felt that the Franciscans had gone soft, gotten a bit wimpy in their Franciscanism. He wanted to found an order that would be as "hardcore" as Francis of Assisi himself. The small group of Capuchins lived in Nepal for fifty years. This lasted until a change in government in 1769 forced the very small Catholic Christian community to leave Nepal to find refuge in neighboring India. Christians of all different flavors started showing up again in Nepal in the 1950's and have been around ever since. My own aunt and uncle were missionaries to Nepal back in the 1980's. Although Nepal is still almost entirely Hindu, there is still a small Christian minority of between 1% and 2%.
Something interesting about Nepalese Christians is that they worship on Saturday instead of Sunday. A lot of us think that we have to worship on Sundays but it doesn't say that anywhere in the Scriptures and Jesus never mentioned it. He just said to gather together, but he never said when to do it. We have gathered on Sundays over the past 2,000 years for the most part because Jesus was raised from the dead on a Sunday. Yet even a stickler for rules like John Calvin said that even though Sunday should be the default, if another day works better for the vast majority of folks that it just makes sense to worship on a different day. Well, Saturdays make more sense in Nepal because Saturday is the one day of the week that is a government holiday. Most folks have to work on Sunday but they don't have to work on Saturday. So they worship on Saturdays. Again, what is important is that we gather to worship, not when we gather to worship. The reason I bring up Saturday worship is that it was during the Saturday Christian worship time just a few days ago that the massive 7.8 earthquake shook the nation, killing at the very least 4,000 people. Stories are coming out about church buildings collapsing onto worshiping congregations. One congregation just outside Kathmandu lost 80 worshipers when their rental worship space fell on them. Because of the concentration of Christians in small spaces at the time of the quake (because they were in worship) it is estimated that even though Christians make up just 1.5% of the population that between 10%-15% of the dead are Christians, that is our brothers and sisters in Christ.
In the wake of this horrific natural disaster, Christians are joining with everyone else in coming together not merely as a Christian family but as a human family. It is important for us to be faithful to God in Jesus Christ at all times, but one of the ways that we are most faithful is by loving our neighbors regardless of who our neighbors happen to be (remember the parable of the Good Samaritan). No matter what faith (or non-faith) someone claims, that person is created in the image of God, loved by God, and it is a person through whom we can minister to our Lord Jesus Christ (remember the parable of the sheep and goats in Matt. 25). Love is the language of the Christian and I am proud of our particular group of Christians (the Presbyterian Church (USA)) for reaching out to the suffering in Nepal. Here is the latest press release from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance: "PDA is providing emergency aid through partnership with ACT Alliance. Members of ACT Alliance which have been working in Nepal for several years are on the ground and already working to assist many who have survived the quake, by distributing immediate lifesaving supplies such as water, food, shelter, and medication."
Please pray for the people of Nepal, no matter what their faith. Also, though, pray specifically for our Christian brothers and sisters in Nepal. Pray that in their grief, shock, and fear that the Holy Spirit will comfort them and pray that in the midst of their own suffering that they will reach out to others in Christ's name. Also, give. You can do that here at DONATE TO PDA.
May the God of resurrection bring many good things out of something so terribly bad.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Everett
Please pray for the people of Nepal, no matter what their faith. Also, though, pray specifically for our Christian brothers and sisters in Nepal. Pray that in their grief, shock, and fear that the Holy Spirit will comfort them and pray that in the midst of their own suffering that they will reach out to others in Christ's name. Also, give. You can do that here at DONATE TO PDA.
May the God of resurrection bring many good things out of something so terribly bad.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Everett
