02/10/2018 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – On May 11, 2018, Immanuel Church, located in Kanchanpur, Nepal, was set on fire by unknown individuals. Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire. However, the church’s furniture, pulpit, floor, stored grain, blankets, musical instruments, and Bibles were completely destroyed. This left the small Christian community of Kanchanpur devastated.

In recent years, being a Christian in Nepal has become increasingly difficult. Attacks on Christians and their places of worship have increased and new laws criminalizing religious conversions have sparked a heightened sense of fear amongst Nepal’s Christian community.

“Imagine waking up with a fear of going to church,” Pastor Dhirendra Rana, head pastor of Immanuel Church, told International Christian Concern (ICC). “Hanging out with your Christian friends is almost considered a crime. Your family hates you for reading the Bible. They don’t even want to sit at the dinner table with you because they know you follow a ‘religion which eats cows.’”

“You are also hated by your entire village,” Pastor Rana continued. “Your own neighbor, who was your best mate, will not even walk on the road you took or drink water you touched because we are now considered lowly in the eyes of society.”

When this increase in persecution eventually affected his church community, Pastor Rana was devastated. “All the responsibility was on me,” Pastor Rana told ICC. “I felt like it was all over. My passion for Christ, the goals that I had, the things I wanted to do for Christ were ashes. I was shattered.”