Going to Church in Bhutan (Part 1)

I've had the pleasure these few months of attending one of the few churches in Thimphu. I’ll speak about this experience later on in the post but before I think I might need to lay a foundation of religion in Bhutan.

As you may know, Bhutan is a heavily Buddhist nation and even has the designation as being the last Himalayan Buddhist Kingdom (after Nepal’s king was forced to abdicate). What this means is that although there is  officially freedom to practice other faiths aside from Buddhism, there is a real push by the government to perpetuate Buddhism in all the facets of everyday.

Similar to how the King of England was the head of the Church of England, the Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) constitutionally acts as the dual head of state and religion in Bhutan. That means that the King could not lightly decide not to practice Buddhism or convert as both would have serious repercussions in Bhutan.

Punakha Dzong- Administrative office/ temple/ court house

The government financially supports the monastic body which regularly meets and performs rituals throughout the many fortresses (known as dzongs) around the country. As in yesteryear,  these dzongs served partially as temples, storehouses for taxes in kind (people used to give part of their crop as taxes), court houses and administrative offices. Dzongs are a representation of the dualism between the government and Buddhism. On Dzongs and on other government building are pictures of the Buddha, prayer wheels, lotus flowers, or sacred scriptures.

So where do Christians fit in this context. Well amongst all the visible Buddhist symbols and faith there is a relatively small and vibrant community of Christians in Thimphu who are largely Nepali in ethnicity. I guess I have to explain who Nepali people are. Nepalis are the largest minority and they originate from Nepal. Nepali people speak….Nepali and often do not speak Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan. As a result they need to speak to other Bhutanese with the Dzongkha they know or even communicate in English. Nepali people are largely Hindu and they look more like they are from northern Indian then do the Bhutanese. I heard one explanation for why the churches in Thimphu are largely Nepali. As I mentioned earlier, Buddhism is really intertwined in the cultural fabric of Bhutan. Many people view leaving the faith of Buddhism as turning your back on your cultural heritage and as a result people who are even remotely curious about Christianity are often discouraged to explore. Nepali people in Bhutan don’t have the same connection to Buddhism as they are predominately Hindu so that might explain why it is slightly more acceptable for them to convert.

I'm in the middle playing the keyboard during worship ministry practice.

A Valley in Punakha District

In attending the church, getting to know the pastor, and breaking bread with them I’ve learned a little bit about how it is being a Christian in Bhutan. Anecdotally, several people who had prominent posts in the government have either been demoted or lost their jobs because of what they attribute to be religious persecution. Also there have been incidents when the government would send people into the congregation to report on what was being said. That would never present a problem in the church I attend because we always pray for the royal family and the country. =) 

In my next post I’ll explain more about the church community, their worship team, and English language classes. I’ll also take a detour and talk more about my project with DHI.