Buffalo milk yoghurt

It's hard to say how many Christians there are in Nepal, because you can't rely on statistics. During our trip to remote and very small house churches in the highest country in the world, a young woman from the government crosses our path. She is conducting a census and registering each family with a form. She earns 75 NPR (0.5 francs) per questionnaire, so she wants to collect as many as possible as quickly as possible. She doesn't even ask people about their religion, but simply ticks ‘Hindu’ for everyone. "That's how most surveys work. The villagers can't read and can't check whether their answers are correct," says our partner.

The storm out of nowhere
Although we don't know exactly how many people follow Jesus in Nepal, we meet numerous small groups up and down the country who gather for church services and prayer. On the very day we arrive, we meet 19 young men and women from different districts and denominations who have completed our partner's discipleship course. Suddenly, during our dinner together, it starts to storm violently. Lightning flashes and thunder crashes and a strong wind blows across the land. The storm causes a lot of damage. We later learn that 330 houses have been affected by uprooted trees, blown-off corrugated iron roofs and power cuts. We assure twelve Christian families of help so that they can rebuild their homes. One woman tells us that she hasn't experienced a storm like this for 20 years.

Predatory porcupines
A six-hour drive westwards: it's unbelievable how bad the condition of this road is, which connects two of Nepal's largest cities, Kathmandu and Pokhara! We drive past a 25 metre high Hindu statue with a large golden cow and then chug along adventurous back roads through the jungle. In a small mountain village, a 20-strong house church welcomes us with buffalo milk yoghurt. We sit outside their hut in the hot and humid weather and celebrate Jesus. One member of each family is out in the cornfield defending the cobs against porcupines.

The long walk to church
A shaking cup ride down the valley to a remote village: around 30 Christians meet here for worship and prayer. We get the impression that Jesus wants to heal and pray for the sick. Afterwards, a man reports that he can now move his elbow, which had previously been very painful, freely and without discomfort. For a simple lunch we have buffalo milk yoghurt and deep-fried fish, which is eaten whole, including the head, eyes and bones. A few days later, we meet the woman who leads the church service here. She lives with her family in a Buddhist mountain village. They are the only Christians. To reach the little church, she hikes one and a half hours down into the valley and three hours back up again.

A warm community
Driving over hill and dale up a mountain slope: we visit a family living in very poor conditions. It starts to thunder and storm and we sit in the small, dark room together with a girl, six women of all ages and a man. While the rain pours down on the hut, we sing, pray and exchange encouraging impressions. Then we have bananas and buffalo milk yoghurt.

Baptisms for a signature
A pastor has erected an open-air baptismal font on the flat roof of his mini-church. However, baptisms are only performed after the candidates have filled out a registration form and signed it to confirm that they are doing so of their own free will. An anti-conversion law is enforced in Nepal, but only against Christians. Hindus and Buddhists hold public processions, but Christians are not allowed to do so. The pastor tells us that monkeys sometimes use the baptismal font as a bathtub.

Personal words
When we visit an even higher and even smaller church, a one-room building made of clay with a corrugated iron roof, we suddenly realise that half of the 20 women present are Hindus. We give an evangelistic speech and pray for the sick. A woman is healed from years of pain in her hand. In several services we receive prophetic and very specific words. This is also the case for a woman who has lost a child. Our message touches her deeply and it becomes clear that Jesus wants to comfort her. They all come from the lowest Hindu caste. Their self-esteem is correspondingly low. It is moving to experience how God speaks personally into the lives of each individual: "You are not alone and forgotten. I see you and I am with you!"