Kathmandu sits at the foothill of the Himalayan mountain range at 4600ft. With an official 1% Christian population the country received its first church in the 1950’s due to two Scottish nurses crossing the Indian border.

The city Kathmandu literally means ‘tree home’ or ‘tree house’. Legend says one tree was used to build a ‘city hall’ or meeting place which is impressive when you see the size of the structure. The people believe that a supernatural miracle occurred in that the tree that was cut kept producing wood beyond its ability.

—> To return to the above statistic (1% of the nation is Christian), this seems to be inaccurate. The offical record is not reliable due to census issues in remote areas and other factors. I’ve heard versions reports ranging from 5% to 20%, but probably somewhere in between is realistic.

The biggest problem tracking the statistic is the fast rise of Christianity: I arrived yesterday and again am amazed at the work of God here. Many Christian’s converted from Hinduism due to miracles and supernatural signs which is in keeping with their apparent supernatural heritage (the Kathmandu house phenomenon).

They have a belief in such things and I’ve already met people who were healed of cancers, broken limbs, demonic deliverances and one whose village was converted after his uncle was raised from the dead (disclaimer: anyone who has been on missions knows some details are lost in translation so if the uncle wasn’t dead he certainly wasn’t conscious).

Despite wonderful advances, yesterday I met a man who had never heard of Jesus and it reminded me how sheltered we are in the western world. The privilege of missions work is to be on the front row of a global God story and that is not lost on me as I sit in my hotel room.

As I prepare for the day ahead (I am sharing with believers in Kathmandu over the next two days), my spiritual ‘senses’ are adjusting to a nation young in faith and steeped in Hindu rituals. How different from New Zealand and other countries I am more familiar with.

Below is a picture of the ‘wood house’.