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Bhutanese Refugee Turned U.S. Church Planter

Even those who don’t attend the church know it is a place where people love and help each other.

When Phurba Tamang was a young man living in a refugee camp in Nepal, he met a girl named Nar Maya. The two fell in love, but they were forbidden to marry because they were from different castes or social classes. Phurba and Nar Maya chose to elope and were subsequently shunned by their families.

To support his new wife, Phurba did road construction in India, while Nar Maya remained in the camp in Nepal. One of the men Phurba met in India was a Christian. He invited Phurba to church many times. Eventually, Phurba gave in.

Because his parents had ostracized him and Nar Maya, Phurba loved the idea of being welcomed into God’s family. When he returned to Nepal, excited to tell his wife about his new faith, he discovered she had also started attending church while he was away. They rejoiced in their simultaneous surrender to Christ. Soon their families came to know the Lord as well.

Answered Prayers

Phurba (right), Nar Maya (left), Phurba's parents (middle), Phurba's nephew (below)

Phurba was an associate pastor at their church in Nepal, until 2007, when 80,000 refugees, including Phurba and Nar Maya, were relocated to the United States. These people were of Nepali decent and lived in Bhutan for many generations before they were driven back into Nepal because of Bhutan’s push for ethnic purity.

Mark and Lori Kiser, founders of a Nepalese ministry in Omaha, Nebraska, met many of the refugees at the airport when they arrived and took them to their new apartments to unpack and get settled.

In doing so, the Kisers found that some of these immigrants were Christians and invited them to attend Christ Community Church (CCC). However, the language barrier made it difficult for the refugees to engage in the service.

Soon Mark met Phurba and learned of his history as a pastor. The two made arrangements to start a Nepalese-speaking church in Omaha—Bhutanese-Nepali New Life Church. CCC leaders provided financial donations to the new fellowship and counseled them on how to plant a church.

“I mentioned to Pastor Phurba that my wife and I had been praying for a Nepali-speaking fellowship for years,” Mark writes. “Since then, he has believed their church was God’s answer to our prayers.”

A Loving Church

Approximately 200 people attend Bhutanese-Nepali New Life Church. Many of them were Hindu or Buddhist when they first started coming and have since become active members of the church. Now, two-thirds of the congregants are refugees who became Christians after arriving in the United States.

Pastor Phurba and Nar Maya go above and beyond for the refugees, especially those who are new to the area. The two assist with shopping for groceries, getting driver’s licenses, finding jobs, and many other processes to ease their transition into the new culture.

“Phurba and Nar Maya’s example has motivated others in the church to do the same,” Mark observes. “Even those who don’t attend the church know it is a place where the people love and help each other.”

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