Nepal profile:

The Himalayan region includes a number of independent countries as well as provinces of India . Some areas have experienced remarkable revival for over fifty years and have been sending out their own missionaries around the world. Other places remain tightly closed, satanically bound and deeply persecuted.

Nepal has never been colonised in the way many of her neighbours have been. On the contrary, the country remained tightly closed to outside influence until 1951. Since 1990 there have been a series of destabilising influences in the country, ranging from civil unrest to the murders of the royal family in 1999. Nepal remains heavily dependent on foreign aid and especially on good relations with India. There are over 330 different people groups, the largest being the Nepali with 12 million people and then smaller groups like the Sherpas with between 100,000 and 200,000.

Church/Mission activity

Nepal allows people to choose their religion but prohibits the conversion of others. Hindu extremists, among others - including family members - are often violent in the opposition to the Church. Nevertheless, the Church has grown and there may be around 500,000 believers today and there is also an indigenous Nepalese missionary society based in Hong Kong to send nationals to other fields.

Main unreached groups

Tibetan refugees and Tibetan-related Nepalese living in the mountains have just a few congregations springing up. Most of these peoples are Lamaistic Buddhists. Muslims with Kashmiri, Bengali or Urdu backgrounds are increasing but with only a dozen or so known believers among them. The Awadhi (0.5 million) and the Maithili (3 million) from the lowlands Indian border region have been generally unresponsive to any Gospel approaches. The Tharu (1.3 million) have an animistic rather than Hindi background and churches have been appearing among them.