As Nepal deals with the horrific toll of tragic flooding that killed more than 1,000 people, at least 20 churches have reportedly been destroyed by the damaging waters.
Joel Veldkamp, head of international communications at Christian Solidarity International (CSI), told CBN News that one congregation has 80 individuals and families who lost their homes — and that’s just one example.
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CSI has been working to get food, mattresses, mosquito nets, cleaning supplies, and other items to people in Nepal to help meet basic needs.
Veldkamp said there’s another dynamic unfolding inside the South Asian nation: persecution, an issue gaining steam and attention before the deadly flooding began.
“We’ve seen in the last 10 years … persecution of Christians has spiked in Nepal,” he said. “It wasn’t really a big problem before, and today it’s still not on the scale like we’ll see in India, or Pakistan, or other nearby countries. But there is now a law against conversion, so it’s illegal to try to get someone else to change their religion.”
Veldkamp said this is a violation of human rights standards, but that this law is used to prosecute pastors and missionaries — even Christians who might happen to visit and speak with Hindu friends.
“We have seen an uptick in these cases of Christians being jailed on accusations,” he said, noting that sharing the Gospel can be enough to spark legal chaos.
Veldkamp said there’s a new government in Nepal after the previous regime was overthrown in a revolution. An election unfolded in March, which has only added to the uncertainty.
“We still don’t know really what that means, but the country is in flux [and] is headed in a new political direction,” he said. “There are some good signs and some bad signs from the new government, so Christians in Nepal are very concerned about which way the country is going to go now.”
Nepal is one of two Hindu-majority nations in the world, with India joining it in that distinction. Until 2008, Nepal was a Hindu nation before becoming a federal republic. Today, there are new calls to return to that previous designation — something that should be of concern to Christians and other religious minorities.
India has been reportedly putting pressure on Nepal to embrace Hindu nationalism, funding groups that seek to push Christians to reconvert, among other issues.
“There are serious efforts to change Nepal’s constitution to make it officially a Hindu country again,” Veldkamp said. “And in the current environment, that would mean probably the harassment of Christians. Attacks on churches would only increase because then it would be official that this country does not belong to Christians.”
With pastors, missionaries, and Christians already under fire, he said there’s a “real threat that is having a chilling effect” on believers in Nepal.
“Right now, when these things happen to Christians, Christians can say, ‘Hey, we’re a secular country. Nepal is a country for everyone. It says so in our Constitution,'” Veldkamp said. “And that’s … a good argument. That’s a good lever that they can use to appeal to their fellow Nepali citizens for justice.”
But if Nepal becomes a Hindu nation, these arguments dissipate both legally and in the public sphere. Veldkamp encouraged believers worldwide to pray for the church.
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