A church building in Nepalgunj, Nepal, has been demolished by the government after it took mandatory possession of the church’s land and the surrounding area, including a Hindu temple, in order to build a school.
The congregation requested that their church building would not be destroyed, but last week the building was demolished on government orders by a bulldozer accompanied by police. The Hindu temple has been left intact.
In 2015, the government took control of the land in Banke District, forcing around 85 poor families to move elsewhere, before constructing a school building beside the church and the adjacent Hindu temple.
The church’s congregation of around 20 families is currently holding services in the open air and the pastor requests prayer that they will be able to construct a new building.
The church was originally planted in 2006, to minister to a slum area of the city. Homeless local families had begun living in the area from 2004 on what had been vacant land. In 2007, the church was able to construct the small building that has now been demolished.
Churches in Hindu-majority Nepal have been attacked in the past. In 2018, one church was bombed and another set on fire in attacks suspected to have been perpetrated by Maoists and Hindu extremists.
From Barnabas Aid contacts
