Posted: May 25, 2007
Voice of the Martyrs

In a nation where 75 percent of the population is Hindu, there was a
congregation of four Christians in his small village when Rajan
expressed a faith in Jesus Christ. But that's back down to three after
he lost his family and crops, and was forced to leave his home and
village, because of his conversion, according to new documentation
obtained by the Voice of the Martyrs.

Sources within Nepal, the mountainous nation sandwiched between India
and China that holds Mt. Everest, have told the Voice of the Martyrs
that the persecution campaign encompassed all parts of Rajan's life when
he became a Christian.

"Hindu neighbors have dug up Rajan's cauliflower and potatoes," the VOM
reported its sources confirmed. "He has lost his whole year's income."

Villagers took every opportunity to make life difficult for him,
including their response when some water from his field inadvertently
spilled onto a neighbor's land, the sources reported.

"He was recently fined 6,000 rupees (about $100, a large sum in Nepal),
after water from his field spilled over into a neighbor's field," the
VOM sources reported. "Normally, this would not be a problem, but the
neighbors consider water from Rajan's field unclean because he is a
Christian.

"Normally, we wouldn't fine you, but because you changed your religion
and became a Christian, you need to pay 6,000 rupees," the villagers
told him, according to VOM.

They even turned Rajan's wife and family against him, and he was forced
to leave his home, to stay with a pastor briefly, and then to move to
another village.

"When Rajan left his home to live with the pastor he was sad, but said
his experiences had made Jesus more precious to him than before," the
Voice of the Martyrs reported. "His pastor told us that as persecuted
believers, they have learned that one of the results of persecution is
that Jesus becomes much more precious to them."

VOM reported, however, that Rajan's faith was unshaken.

"No matter what you do to me, I will not leave Christ," Rajan told his
Hindu neighbors.

The nation of Nepal, about the size of Arkansas, for decades has been a
Hindu kingdom with Hinduism the national religion. About three-quarters
of its population is Hindu, another 15 percent Buddhist and about 5
percent Muslim. Christians are estimated at between one and two percent
of the population.

Officially, Christians were not allowed to live in Nepal at all before
1960, and while they now are allowed by the government, they often
suffer persecution at the hands of family, friends and villagers.

The nation's tolerance of persecution of Christians often has raised
concerns around the world, and the issue was raised internationally
again not long ago when British Parliamentarian David Alton wrote to
Nepalese officials.

"I am disturbed by reports that [a Hindu group] wishes to kill the main
Christian leaders in Nepal and to destroy the church buildings," he
wrote. "Hatred is also being incited in local newspapers against
Christians. I am told that Christians have been falsely accused of
involvement in Maoist activity, drug trafficking and trafficking of
girls for prostitution.

"The reality is that the churches are doing good works such as providing
homes for orphans, help for the poorest of the poor, giving humanitarian
and medical aid and education for the underprivileged as well as taking
care of the spiritual welfare of the people," he said.

The nation also endured a civil war, which came to an end only last year
as the government and Maoist rebels signed a Comprehensive Peace Accord,
bringing an end to the officially recognized Hindu monarchy and creating
a secular government for the first time.

VOM also recently has reported that Hindus in India also have been
cracking down on Christians, forcing some to "reconvert."

The Voice of the Martyrs said the most recent physical attacks were
reported from inside the Indian state of Orissa, but other attacks also
have come to international attention, including verbal attacks that have
generated from the Hindu community within the United States.

WND recently reported that Hindus have been launching a series of
attacks against Christian organizations dedicated to promoting the
Gospel of Jesus Christ.

A report from the Hindu American Foundation accused a long list of
Christian organizations, including some providing aid in India, of
promoting hatred.

"The proliferation of websites promoting religious hatred is an
unfortunate consequence of the universality of access to the internet,"
said Vinay Vallabh, the lead author of the report.

Among those targeted verbally included the Southern Baptists' missions
board, Gospel for Asia and the Minnesota-based Olive Tree Ministries,
which aims its ministry at teaching Christians about their beliefs.

"We must vigorously identify, condemn and counter those who use the
Internet to espouse chauvinism and bigotry over the principles of
pluralism and tolerance," Vallabh said.

Voice of the Martyrs is a non-profit, interdenominational ministry
working worldwide to help Christians who are persecuted for their faith,
and to educate the world about that persecution. Its headquarters are in
Bartlesville, Okla., and it has 30 affiliated international offices.

It was launched by the late Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, who started
smuggling Russian Gospels into Russia in 1947, just months before
Richard was abducted and imprisoned in Romania where he was tortured for
his refusal to recant Christianity.

He eventually was released in 1964 and the next year he testified about
the persecution of Christians before the U.S. Senate's Internal Security
Subcommittee, stripping to the waist to show the deep torture wound
scars on his body.