By Morgan Miles –
Evangelizing is prohibited in Bhutan. Being a Christian is also illegal in the Buddhist nation. But Pastor Rajiv, who lives outside the country on a border town, has been reaching Bhutanese for Christ for over 10 years.
“Christianity is not a permitted religion,” Pastor Rajiv explained on a Voice of the Martyrs radio show. “In a way, it is illegal to be a Christian.”
The first way Rajiv reached them was through Bhutanese merchants. A landlocked Himalayan country without much manufacturing, Bhutan imports heavily.
The second way he reached them was via outreach to students who travel outside the country. His third approach was to enter the country as a tourist and, visiting different colleges and schools, consistently praying for a Bible study at each. And God answered; Bible studies have been initiated at all 15 universities.
To launch a Bible study at a certain prestigious science and technology university, Rajiv was “praying and wondering” when the fruit would appear.
He was holding a food and volleyball fellowship at his home one evening (outside Bhutan) and a first-time visitor, a freshman, enjoyed himself so much that he pledged to start a Bible study in his senior year.
It came faster than that. In his sophomore year, he was playing Christian music in his room to see if anybody would come to him identifying as a Christian. A freshman came in his room and said, “I like this music.”
“So you are a Christian?” he asked.
“Yes,” he replied.
Next the freshman gathered all his courage to kneel and pray before turning in for the night. After he prayed, to his surprise he saw the three other roommates were praying and kneeling – they too were believers.
The Bible study was born.
One of the challenges of evangelizing in Bhutan is that if only one member of the family gets saved, he usually gets pressured back into Buddhism by the rest of the family and community, Rajiv says. Only when the whole family converts do they have a chance to “survive,” and often they must move away so that their old friends don’t close doors to them.
Bhutan was recognized as an independent nation in 1949, and its absolute monarchy evolved into constitutional monarchy with a parliament.
When democratic elections were added in 2008, the anti-Christian rules were eased considerably, Rajiv says, as constituents ask candidates for leniency on Christians. The compulsory bowing down to idols at school was relaxed, for example, Rajiv says.
But Covid ushered in a renewed vigor for punishing Christians.
One of the pastors Rajiv oversees came to faith in the 1980s when God healed him and his wife of illnesses.
When Nepalese Christians were being expelled from the country years ago, this pastor took a stand.
Many Christians are forced to leave, but one emerging young leader summoned the courage to stay. “This pastor was bold. He said, ‘I will not leave my land, I will not leave my religion. I stay here, no matter the cost.’”
He was imprisoned for two years. After he was released, he became a pastor in the underground church.
In Bhutan, 0.02% of the population is Christian, according to the Joshua Project. There are two basic people groups, the Drukpan, who are hardcore Buddhists, and the Lhotshampa, who traditionally are Hindu. The gospel has achieved its greatest penetration with the Lhotshampa.
It was the Lhotshampa who were purged from the country in 1988. Many of these spent two decades in refugee camps in Nepal, and some were given refuge in the United States.
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About the writer of this article: Morgan Miles studies at Lighthouse Christian Academy near Culver City, CA.
