A Bright Future for Bhutan

Believers Bring the Good News to Their Country

Gospel for Asia
For Immediate Release

SOUTH ASIA (ANS) -- It was the first time Thaye saw his father cry. This was the same man who had chased him out of the house three times (once with a knife), mercilessly beat his own wife and children for their faith in Jesus Christ and falsely accused a pastor of kidnapping his family. This same man now stood before a church congregation with tears streaming down his face as he testified of his personal encounter with Christ— the very one he used to loathe and oppose.

In Bhutan, many people feel the same way about Christianity that Thaye's father, Zinjay, once did. They fight it and do everything in their power to turn believers away from their faith. They beat them, harass them, threaten their lives, disown them and even revoke their citizenship. But Thaye is one of many Bhutanese believers who are standing strong despite the odds against them.

Safe and Secure

Thaye remembers the night he thought his life was ending. His father had barged into his room while he was studying for his year-end exam.

“I thought he was there to wish me good luck,” Thaye states. He was only 16 at the time.

“But as my father entered,” he remembers, “I saw him throwing my books and all my things around. I was nervous, not knowing what to do or what not to do.”

“When he finished, he shut the door and nobody was able to come in. He started beating me.”

Thaye’s body buckled with each blow. His mother rushed to find neighbors who could rescue her son. They broke down the door and somehow managed to pull Thaye outside. He collapsed on the ground under the brightness of the full moon. Half an hour passed; then suddenly his father ran out of the house, a knife in his hand—and straight toward Thaye.

“I was not able to run away; I was badly beaten up,” Thaye says. “I just lay there, thinking it was the end of my life.”

But that’s when thoughts of Jesus entered his mind. As he lay crying on the ground, he felt a warm presence engulf him. At that moment, Zinjay ran by—but never saw his son. This happened three times. The house was located in an open area and everything was clearly visible under the light of the full moon, but Thaye remained unnoticed.

“I could feel his feet touching my back,” Thaye recalls. “But to my surprise, he didn’t see me at all. I was safe and secure in the hands of God.”

Unable to find his son, Zinjay exchanged Thaye’s life for the boy's bicycle, chopping it to pieces in his rage.

‘Jesus is Right Here’

For 10 years, Zinjay remained antagonistic toward Christianity, but the battle he waged against his family and their faith began to tire him. Nothing he did could separate them from Christ's love in their hearts. He was exhausted.

Thaye and his brother and sister sensed their father's weariness.

“We saw a change in him and took bold steps to share our faith,” Thaye says. “He agreed in some points, but that stubborn nature was still there.” But then Zinjay woke up one morning completely paralyzed. Thaye and his siblings saw this as another opportunity.

“There is sin in you,” Thaye's sister told her father. “If you confess, Jesus is right there to heal you.”

After listening to his children, Zinjay decided to pray and confess his sins, though he wasn’t ready to surrender his life. His body was instantly healed.

The believers in Zinjay's village heard about this miraculous event. Zinjay had banished them before, but now they were free to visit him and pray for him. Their love and forgiveness convinced Zinjay to take the next step and trust Jesus for salvation.

Trusting the Lord to Work

The country Zinjay grew up in shaped his mind to resist Christianity and believe that it was a Western religion accepted only by low-caste people—“not at all Bhutan,” as Thaye put it.

But today, just as Zinjay’s spirit has softened to know the true God, so also the heart of his nation is gradually opening to receive the Gospel.

All across Bhutan, people are experiencing miracles in the name of the living God. The lame walk, people are healed from mysterious, life-threatening sicknesses and countless people like Zinjay are experiencing the mighty power of Jesus firsthand.

One missionary team is working in some of the most remote areas of the country where the illiteracy rate is high. They’ve discovered that the best way to express the love of God is through Christian films, and so they're prepared to hike through dense forests and high mountains, often carrying all the equipment.

“Sometimes the film teams encounter wild animals like elephants, snow leopards, tigers and bears,” notes a Gospel for Asia leader.

Today, the first residential Bible college in the country has sprung up in Thimphu, Bhutan’s capital city, offering believers a place where they can grow spiritually and be equipped to reach the ones around them.

“It was absolutely a historic event in this Buddhist nation,” a GFA field correspondent reports of the inauguration.

In addition to a well-rounded course of study that includes subjects such as Christian Leadership, New Testament Survey and Missionary Biographies, students at the Bible college are regularly involved in a special program.

“Students and staff members go two by two to areas where Christians have no access to proclaim the Good News openly,” the correspondent explains, “and pray for the salvation of the nation while walking.”

Jesus is Worth it All

While the Bhutanese way of life is still heavily entrenched in keeping the ancient traditions and preserving a cultural heritage, Christians see a bright future for their nation. Even with threats of persecution and imprisonment, missionaries and new believers alike continue to stand firm in their love for the One who delivered them out of darkness.

For Thaye—who has made it his life’s passion to bring the Good News to his own people—and thousands just like him, Jesus is worth it all. These believers want that same life and hope for everyone in Bhutan. One leader sums up that desire:

“We trust that the Lord will be working in the hearts of the people and help them open their hearts to Jesus Christ.”

Pray for Bhutan:

-For believers to stand firm despite opposition and persecution
-Wisdom for Christian leaders
-Demonic strongholds to be broken
-Those opposing Christianity to personally encounter the love of Christ
-Increasing freedom for the Gospel

Bhutan Basic Facts:

-Nearly 700,000 population
-Religions: Lamaistic Buddhism (official state religion) -72%; Hinduism-23%; Islam-4%; Christianity-less than 1%
-Christian missionaries are banned from entering the country
-Illegal for a Buddhist to choose to follow Christ, and church buildings are forbidden

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Gospel for Asia is an evangelical mission organization based in Carrollton, Texas, involved in sharing the love of Jesus across South Asia.

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** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

Christians in Bhutan Seek to Dispel Regime’s Mistrust

Church leaders call for dialogue to defend against accusations of unethical evangelism.

By Vishal Arora

 

THIMPHU, Bhutan, September 9 (Compass Direct News) – Christians in this Buddhist nation have been awaiting a decision on whether they will receive official recognition, but it appears they will first see a measure against fraudulent conversion that the prime minister acknowledges is essentially designed to deter evangelism.

 

In this tiny country tucked between China and India in the Himalayan Mountains, Bhutan’s parliament is considering an amendment to the penal code that seeks to penalize conversion by coercion or inducement. Under proposed Section 463 of the Penal Code, “a defendant shall be guilty of the offense of proselytization if the defendant uses coercion or other forms of inducement to cause the conversion of a person from one religion or faith to another,” according to the government-run Kuensel newspaper.

 

Prime Minister Jigmi Yoser Thinley told Compass the proposed clause in the penal code was “essentially… to deter conversion,” saying there was no reason why Christians should seek to induce others to join their faith.

 

“There are a few Christians and followers of other faiths as well [in Bhutan], and there is no difficulty with that,” Thinley said. “That is good… we promote diversity of cultures. But then, when there are those who try to convert others without understanding the values, the principles, and the essence of the other religion, we have here what constitutes the worst form of discrimination.”

 

In an exclusive interview in his office, Thinley said Christians seek to convert other Bhutanese citizens with the power of money and an attitude of spiritual superiority, accusations that Christian leaders in the country denied.

 

Thinley said “inducing a poor person” by “manipulating the social and economic disadvantages and circumstances of that person, to accept your religion, on the ground that it is superior to mine,” divides society.

 

“And I have seen families being divided in the country,” he said. “I have seen communities being divided.”

 

The government of Bhutan commands an unusually high level of respect from its people. Christians, estimated to be between 6,000 and 15,000, equally admire the country’s leaders, who in recent months appeared willing to grant them legal recognition but remain indecisive.

 

Christian leaders said they were distressed with the government’s notion of Christians and Christianity, which they said was “far from true.”

 

“No evidence of such allegations has come to our knowledge, but still we will never try to defend anyone who indulges in unethical conversions,” said a Christian leader from Thimphu on condition of anonymity. “There might be some who are doing this, and the authorities must deal with them strictly for breaking the law of the country.”

 

Several other pastors and leaders sitting with him nodded in agreement.

 

The prime minister, who has headed Bhutan’s first fully democratic government since 2008, said Christianity can be beneficial to society.

 

“Having read most of the books [of the Bible], having attended church in my young days every Sunday, and then again every weekday when I was in school except for Saturday, I know that it is a good moral and ethical framework for the functioning of a good society,” he said. “But just as I would not encourage and not think well of a Buddhist trying to convert a Christian, I think I feel the same way [about a Christian trying to convert a Buddhist].”

 

Thinley stressed that religion was “all about ethics and morality,” but that when it is spread through immoral and unethical acts, “it’s a crime against humanity.”

 

“When a dying patient is being whispered into the ear, [to the effect that ] the only way to survive is to disown your religion and to accept this new faith, and when this whisper is being done by a doctor or by an attending nurse, I think it is the greatest sin one can commit,” he said. “When a poor parent is being told that, ‘Look, your child cannot go to school; you change your faith and we will provide you the possibility to ensure that your child can attend school,’ that is corruption. And when a poor family is being told that, ‘Why don’t you embrace our faith because then you don’t have to bear any cost for the burial of this person who is about to die in your family – it will be free,’ that’s corruption; that’s bribery.”

 

Some Buddhist sects in Bhutan expect their adherents to have elaborate, expensive funeral rituals.

 

Christians said officials were wrong to view them negatively and called for dialogue with the government. Compass learned that there has been no formal interaction between the government and Christians leaders apart from some individual pastors occasionally meeting an official.

 

Several stories have appeared in Bhutan’s newspapers claiming that converts were being paid money by other Christians from Western countries. Compass met many journalists who sincerely believed that foreign Christian groups were offering money for converts.

 

“Perhaps this is what has created such mistrust between us and our government,” said the Christian leader. “We hope the government would give us a chance to defend ourselves. We are more than willing to address the government’s concerns.”

 

He added that journalists should speak to pastors and other church leaders to verify stories about inducements to convert.

 

“We will extend full cooperation, as we do not believe in using coercion or inducement to convert others – it is against our Christian tenets,” he said, adding, “We do not fear the penal code amendment.”

 

Bhutan Minister for Home and Culture Minjur Dorji told Compass that the passing and implementation of the penal code amendment “may take some more time, due to procedures involved.” Asked if some could misuse the law to make false allegations and thereby create religious disharmony, as in Indian states with similar anti-conversion legislation, Dorji promised he would not allow that to happen.

 

Official Recognition

Dorji said his department had yet to decide whether Christians could be recognized officially.

 

“There is no legal provision for that,” he said. “It’s not in the constitution, and not in the Religious Organizations Act.”

 

The Religious Organizations Act states that one of its main objectives is to “facilitate the establishment of ROs [Religious Organizations] in order to benefit the religious institutions and protect the spiritual heritage of Bhutan [which is Buddhism, according to the constitution].” Only Buddhist and Hindu organizations have been registered by the country’s authority regulating religious organizations, known as the Chhoedey Lhentshog.

 

Roughly 75 percent of Bhutan’s population of 708,484 is Buddhist, and Hindus, mainly ethnic Nepalese, account for around 22 percent, according to Operation World.

 

The constitution of Bhutan allows religious freedom. Article 7(4) states, “A Bhutanese citizen shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion,” and Article 3(2) says, “The Druk Gyalpo [King of Bhutan] is the protector of all religions in Bhutan.” Christians say they are thankful to their political leaders and the country’s highly revered king, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, for granting religious freedom to all communities. But no church or Christian organization is a legal entity yet.

 

“The church in Bhutan is not underground any longer; we meet regularly on Sundays without any interference by the authorities,” said the Christian source. “But we are not allowed to function as an organization with a legally recognized status.”

 

Until Christian groups are legally recognized, their rights will remain ambiguous, he added.

 

“Legal status is also imperative for us to be able to actively engage in nation-building,” said another Christian leader. “We love our country as much as other Bhutanese do. And we are equally proud of our nation’s distinct culture.”

 

One of the world’s most isolated countries until recent years, Bhutan began to open up to the outside world in the 1970s. Former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck envisioned democracy in the country in 2006, after the rule of an absolute monarchy for over a century.

 

www.compassdirect.org

 

END

 

*** A photo of Prime Minister Jigmi Yoser Thinley is attached for subscribers, to be used with credit to Compass Direct News. A high-resolution photo is also available; contact Compass for transmittal.

 

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Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News

Hope springs eternal for believers in Bhutan

Bhutan (MNN) ―   There are conflicting reports over what's changing in the spiritual climate in Bhutan.
On one hand, Bhutan ranks 14th on the Open Doors World Watch List. The listing is a compilation of the 50 countries where persecution of Christians is the worst. In this case, it's not one particular faith that has been targeted.   
Although Bhutan's constitution states that Buddhism is the "spiritual heritage" of the country, Lee DeYoung with Words of Hope says, "It's one of the few countries in the world where it is said there are no open mosques, Hindu temples, Christian churches or Jewish synagogues." 
One the other hand, after 100 years of rule by absolute monarchy, the first elections were held in 2008, and Bhutan emerged as a parliamentary democracy.  
Now, the government requires a license for the construction of religious buildings, which seems to hint that such buildings would be approved. Some religious freedom watchdog groups allege that those licenses are withheld, which gives force to the idea that Christianity would still be on the "black list." DeYoung agrees. "Although it is still technically illegal to be openly operating as a Christian, nevertheless, the number of believers in Bhutan is clearly growing, and they are gathering in house fellowships secretly."
Compass Direct News issued a report at the beginning of the year that indicated hopeful prospects of change. DeYoung explains that "some believe that the government may be very close--perhaps maybe later this year--to officially recognizing at least one Christian group. That would mark a milestone in which the government of Bhutan would make an open declaration that Christianity is permitted."
At the same time, movement on that issue seems to have stalled out for the last six months. Even though it seems there has been some movement toward freedom, evangelism is still forbidden in the country.  This is where radio comes in. Radio has played a significant role in making the Christian presence felt in Bhutan, a country that is otherwise closed for Christian activities.
Programming in Dzongkha--the official language of Bhutan--occurs three days a week with a 15-minute program which includes health topics, music, and a Christian message. The programming not only encourages the existing believers, but also takes the message of Christ to others who are looking for answers.
They're responding, too, although DeYoung notes that "for the foreseeable future, the Bhutanese that are coming to Christ newly as believers would probably still tend to maintain a relatively low profile."

What's exciting is that "people widely believe that the government is well aware of many of those house fellowships and has chosen not to interfere, has not to gotten involved in trying to stop their activity," says DeYoung.  

Although the atmosphere feels freer, DeYoung says, "It's the question of evangelism that would be still a very sensitive one."

Pray that Christians are treated fairly under the new constitution. Pray that the church continues to expand and flourish despite pressure.