NEPAL, June 18, 2007 — Church leaders and representatives of Christian organisations, colleges and bookshops gathered in large numbers to participate in the thanksgiving ceremony arranged by the Nepal Bible Society following its successful registration with the government. Their eagerness to attend this event reflects the fact that, despite having faced many challenges since its foundation 30 years ago, the Society has gained strong support from Nepalese Christians.
PHOTO: Nepal Bible Society
Some of the 300 people who attended the thanksgiving ceremony for the registrationof the Nepal Bible Society on May 4, 2007.
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Joining with Bible Society staff and representatives from the United Bible Societies (UBS) on May 4, local Christians gave thanks to God for guiding and protecting the Bible Society during the years when it faced considerable insecurity and many restrictions on its activities. In turn, David Thorne, UBS Asia-Pacific Area Secretary, thanked Nepal’s Christian community for its support for the Bible Society.
It took 11 years and three attempts before the Bible Society finally had its registration application accepted by the government in March, General Secretary Tej Jirel told the guests. Although the Bible Society will have to renew its registration every year, he explained, its new status will still allow it to make progress in a number of areas, including importing and exporting Bibles more freely and promoting its work through newspapers, radio and television. It will also be eligible to apply for UBS membership.
“The success of the registration application is a gift from God himself!” he declared, quoting Isaiah
64: ‘You are the only God ever seen or heard of who works miracles for his followers’ (CEV).
After beginning with a chorus sung in both Nepali and English, the ceremony went on to include prayers, speeches and music and dance performances from groups representing some of Nepal’s around 700,000 Christians. And Dr BK Pramanik, General Secretary of the Bible Society of India, which until 1997 printed the Nepali Bible for the Nepal Bible Society because it was not possible to print them locally, donated 2,500 copies of the Nepali Children’s Bible.
As a new era of greater stability for Bible Society work in Nepal begins, many projects are under way: the Society plans to issue a revision of the New Revised Nepali Bible in 2009, for example, and it is also involved in supplying Scriptures to population groups facing particular challenges, such as the visually impaired.
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