Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)
Sep 13: Nepal
Nepal
Kingdom of Nepal
Asia
See Prayer Information
Geography
Area: 147,181 sq kmA mountainous Himalayan state between China (Tibet) and India. It contains 8 of the 10 highest mountain peaks in the world.
Population: 29,852,682 Annual Growth: 1.86%
Capital: Kathmandu
Urbanites: 18.2%
HDI Rank: 144 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)
Peoples
Peoples: 380 (93% unreached) All peoplesUnreached Peoples Prayer Card
Official language: Nepali Languages: 127 All languages
Religion
Largest Religion: Hinduism| Religion | Pop % | Ann Gr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christians | 850,801 | 2.85 | 5.3 |
| Evangelicals | 850,801 | 2.9 | 5.3 |
| Hinduism | 22,392,497 | 75.01 |
Challenges for Prayer
Christian ministry must address a host of challenges under the government’s watchful eye. High unemployment, illiteracy, low levels of development, environmental degradation and dependence on foreign aid are all being addressed by Christians. Pray for practical, sustainable and innovative ways to address the following issues:a) Child labour. An estimated 2.6 million children work as child labourers; 70% of them are forced to work 10-hour days or longer. The government seeks to eliminate by 2014 the worst forms of child labour, such as mining and rag picking. Pray for the success of this programme. Education and subsequent development are impossible until Nepal gets children out of the workplace and into school.
b) Trafficking of Nepali girls for the Indian, Middle Eastern and domestic sex trade. There are up to 300,000 girls in India alone (mainly in Mumbai), where they are terribly abused; possibly 90% of returnees are HIV-positive. AIDS has rapidly spread through the rest of society as a result, and there is no coherent national plan for AIDS prevention. Poor and lower-caste girls are the primary targets of this evil trade, and usually as unwilling victims. Nepali Christians reach and rescue some of these unfortunates in Nepal and in Mumbai.
c) Health and disease. Over 20% of hospitals and clinics, and nearly all of leprosy-control work, are Christian-run (TLM, United Mission to Nepal, International Nepal Fellowship, others). Nepal suffers high rates of infant mortality and of deaths during childbirth. Community health is vital; over 80% of diseases are caused by a lack of basic sanitation, and 60% of the 50,000 child deaths each year are caused by malnutrition.
Pray for the less reached; around 55% of the population are unevangelized, and a staggering 309 peoples/castes are unreached. Pray for:
a) The influential high-caste Hill Brahmin and Chhetri (Rajput). They represent 30.9% of the population and play a dominant role in shaping modern Nepal. While those in Nepal are more responsive than those in India, pride, fear and longstanding spiritual investments in Hinduism keep most in bondage, unable to openly proclaim Christ as Lord.
b) The Awadhi and Bhojpuri speakers and Maithili of the Tarai lowlands on the Indian border. Few have heard the gospel, and even fewer have responded. The Tharu are more animist than Hindu; many small churches are springing up among them.
c) The Mountain peoples, almost entirely Tibetan-related. Most are lamaistic Buddhists living in isolated mountain communities, such as the Loba people of Mustang. Most groups are small in number, and Christians are few. Among the famous Sherpa of the Everest region, where there is not a single church, there are perhaps 50 believers. Climbing for Christ seeks to reach them with the gospel.
d) Tibetan refugees – long unreached, with no legal status and numbering 20,000. There is now a steady trickle seeking the Lord and a handful of congregations among them. Evangelistic International Ministries focuses on them.
e) The increased number of Muslims. Most are Bengali, Kashmiri or Urdu-speaking farmers and unskilled labourers. Eastern Mennonite Missions seeks to develop a network to share Christ with them.
f) University students. Over 150,000 students are in higher education – in three universities on 150 campuses. YWAM’s seven bases include Kathmandu Centre with 65 on staff. The IFES-linked student movement, University Christian Students Fellowship of Nepal (NBCBS), has 62 groups with 2,100 students served by 10 workers. Campus Crusade for Christ is also highly active with 18 campus ministry teams.
For an additional 9 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a good comment, Negative comments will not be posted.