Christians in Nepal suffer attacks, arrests

DUBLIN — Christians belonging to a small house church in northern Nepal were attacked by Buddhist and Hindu villagers on July 26, resulting in hospitalization for at least one church member. The mob attacked and destroyed houses and cornfields belonging to Christian villagers. Buddhist authorities in the village had repeatedly asked the Christians to give up their faith. When the Christians refused, the Buddhists joined forces with Hindu villagers in retaliation. The church, which meets in believers’ homes, had been growing rapidly, sources said.

In another incident in mid-June, a Nepali evangelist who prefers not to be named witnessed an attack on a newly built church in Jhapa district, Beldangi. “I went for the inauguration of the church,” he told Compass Direct news service. “There were about 100 believers there. But when the Hindus saw that the church had been built, they came with almost 1,000 people to break down the church. The police also came and took everything away and arrested the three church leaders. They are still in police custody and their families are threatened by mental tortures and threats from the Hindu people. We invested a lot of money in that building, and now we have empty hands. But … we believe that God has His own plans and purposes.”