Christians in Nepal have signed a petition urging the government to remove the anti-conversion law.
During the November elections that were held for the first time in 20 years, certain candidates had promised Christians positive change to this anti-conversion law if the said candidate was elected. Not wanting their votes to be baited by promises of change, many Christians submitted the plea to lift the ban on evangelism, but there's been no response yet.
"This decision made by [the] government made a great discouragement and brought fear in the life of Christians," Pr Chhatri (name changed), a pastor in Nepal told MNNonline.
"But, we Christians leaders [and] families stand and encourage our people to adapt to any situation and to continue [to] share Christ and continue [to] encourage each other and support each other," he added.
Changing its constitution, Nepal became a secular nation with the freedom of religion, in 2015.
However, last October, President Bidhya Dev Bhandari signed a Criminal Code Bill into law, popularly known as the anti-conversion law, making religious conversion illegal and punishable by five years in prison and a fine of 50,000 rupees.
The law prohibits any person from sharing their faith or converting to a different faith.
Despite the law and the Hindu fanatic groups, church's growth hasn't stopped in Nepal, said Chhatri.
"Christians do not worry about it, they continue following the calling of God...with a passion they're engaged to fulfill the vision that is from God," he said.
