Bhutan is a small mountainous country lying on the southern slopes of the Himalayas and bordered by northeast India.

Image © Rolf Jansson from GoodSalt.com

For generations it has been cut off from the outside world. Bhutanese are nearly all Buddhist and Hindu. There are few known Christians in the country. But God has ways of opening hearts and leading seekers to Jesus.

Tepa was a monk in Bhutan, but he felt dissatisfied. One day he met a Christian couple who secretly introduced him to Jesus. When Tepa’s family learned that he had become a Christian, he was disowned and cut off from his village. He left Bhutan and settled in Nepal, one of the first Bhutanese Adventists in the world.

Tepa’s son, Praveen, shared his father’s passion to reach the Bhutanese for Christ. He became a teacher in a boarding school near the Bhutan border in India, where many Bhutanese students studied. Praveen befriended them and secretly taught them the Bible in a way they could understand. Some eagerly accepted Jesus as their Savior.

During vacations Praveen visited his students’ families in Bhutan. Some of these families became close friends.

One day Praveen stared at the Himalayan Mountains, wondering how he could share Jesus with the Bhutanese. Just then a man approached and said he was an Adventist. The two talked long about the Bible, Ellen G. White, and The Great Controversy. Praveen was inspired to print copies of The Great Controversy to give to Bhutanese people who lived on the border of India and Bhutan. Others helped finance the project.

The book created a stir. Some monks, and even some Christians, became alarmed and threatened to have the book banned. Christian leaders of other denominations denounced the book and urged their members to burn it.

But others became curious about this book that had caused such a stir. They sought copies for themselves and began reading it. The book was reprinted.

Praveen befriended two monks. After several months he introduced them to Jesus and gave them copies of The Great Controversy and a New Testament. The monks secretly read their books and have asked to take more copies across the Bhutan border.

Praveen’s Bhutanese students take copies of The Great Controversy with them when they return home. They share the books with family and friends, and in this way God’s truths have entered Bhutan.

(Continued next week)

The author, whose name has been withheld for security reasons, is an evangelist who works with Bhutanese people on the border with India.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
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