BHUTAN
“ … we are very much grateful to you and your team’s (Empower) kindness to us and that you provided us with good opportunities which help us to build our careers and brighten our future.”
This photo, taken in late 2023 shows ten newly arrived students. They will be with us for 3-4 years studying at university. While they are with us, they will have many and varied discipleship experiences so that they may return to Bhutan prepared to commence acting as change agents there. All are handpicked by Bhutanese national church leaders.
Bhutan is a remote kingdom nestled in the Himalayas that sits between India and China. Bhutan has a land area smaller than Switzerland and a population of just 800,000 people. Life expectancy is only around 73 years. Fearing that outside influences would undermine its monarchy and culture, Bhutan was almost completely cut off for centuries. Now, some aspects of the outside world have entered, although they fiercely guard their ancient traditions. Even now, westernism is not as embraced as it is in many other Asian nations. Radio broadcasting only began in 1973, while television and the internet arrived in 1999.
The Wangchuck hereditary monarchy has wielded power since 1907, but now Bhutan has a two-party parliamentary democracy. Bhutan is known for pioneering the concept of gross national happiness, a term coined by the king in the 1970s. The idea is that valuing collective happiness is the goal of governance, emphasizing harmony with nature and traditional values.
We have ministry projects for Bhutanese young men and women that are quite original in style because our homes are run from over the border in India’s West Bengal State. It would have been very difficult to operate the work from within Bhutan. Until very recently Bhutan has tended to choose Buddhist young people for entrance to tertiary education over others (including Christians). In this way, the national leadership within the kingdom remains in the hands of the Buddhist majority.
As a result, the Bhutan national church sends handpicked young people to our board based in the hills of India. We then educate them right up to university graduate level so that in time they may return to Bhutan and contribute to their nation.
our bhutan Girls
We started this project back in 2019 with just a handful of girls. Now that original batch of young women has completed their university degrees and have returned to Bhutan. We have 17 girls spread across five houses, all located in the same area. The five girls above all live together in one of the five homes. The girls’ work is growing, and it is wonderful to observe them wanting to take their experiences and education back to Bhutan. The girls have an average age of about 20-21 years. All of them study at university level.
Over the years, as we have interviewed our young people, they consistently say that for around half of their families, the reason why they became Christian was because of their family’s inability to find physical healing through medicine or by visiting Buddhist/Bonist shamen. It seems that they could only find release through God. They are well used to the miraculous. To them, God is a very real presence to keep them safe and healthy.
Our Bhutan students are particularly grateful for your help and are quick to express this with their impressive English.
our Bhutan Boys
Our 18 young men living in the project are aged from 18-23 years. The guys are spread over two hostels that are situated adjacent to each other. The hostels are owned and operated by high quality local leaders. Nearly all of the boys are studying at university. Two of these young men have now graduated with university bachelor’s degrees and are progressing on to a 4-year online master’s course.
After graduating from our home, at least 21 students have gone back to Bhutan. Three of them are playing a paid role in translating the Bible from English to Dzongkha (Bhutanese language). At least one is working full-time in the church there. Three others are studying M. Divinity in preparation for ministry. Others are accountants, involved in private businesses, a male nurse, several in hotel management, and we even have one in the Bhutan army!
July 2024. Sitting in the front row are some of our board members and our house parents. Standing behind are our students who have now all graduated university and are preparing to return to Bhutan as change agents. They have all taken a “Timothy Leadership” course and are hoping to now spread this throughout their nation.
LETTERs OF THANKS
One of the girls has written of her experience at the house…
“I am here to say something- we three girls and one boy will be graduating in July this year . We are very thankful to God, first of all. And we are very much grateful for your and your team's kindness to us and that you provided us with good opportunities which help us to build our careers and brighten our future. Thank you and your team for providing us with sponsorship years and years. May God be kind to you and your team. I have nothing to give you but I will always keep you in prayer. I have never thought I will go to college but God's plan is so amazing. For me, Kalimpong city is the best place for our growth, education and fellowship. My life has changed a lot after staying in Kalimpong... and it has been a good experience for me. Thank you and have a good day.”