Just as the Israelites were delivered from Egypt, a place where they were repressed and unable to practice their beliefs freely, so we were delivered from Bhutan. As the Israelites wandered 40 years in the wilderness, so we spent many years in Nepal, a land where we had no inheritance. Finally, God had brought us to America and has given us an inheritance in His kingdom according to His will and for His purposes. Given this tremendous opportunity that God has given us, we press forward to fulfil the will of God for us in this country. We know that God will continue to do amazing things in and through our lives.

I grew up happily in the country of Bhutan, but I was forced to leave my home country in 1992 due to ethnic conflict. After leaving Bhutan, I travelled through India to Nepal, where I lived as a refugee in Goldhap refugee camp. While I was there, I was able to complete my high school education, and I was blessed with a wife and four children. After living there for several years, we were experiencing a monotonous life without any hope in this earth. This changed when I became a Christian in 2003. My wife Seeta did not refuse my hearty proposal of accepting Christ. Rather she told me that it has been her secret desire. After we had agreed together to believe in Christ, I saw my wife differently both physically and spiritually than I had before.

Pastor Bhim and Seeta Gurung and their children in 2010

We began to attend Namuna Nepali Church in Goldhap refugee camp under the leadership of founding Pastor Bir Bhadur Thapa, and our children were happy to go to church and participate in the Sunday class with us. After about a month we were baptized by Pastor Bir. As a church member, I was interested in helping the church with various activities such as Sunday school, church sanitation and revival meetings. During this time I was also a full time science teacher in a private school.

In our new Christian life, everything seemed to be going wonderfully until the day came to leave Nepal as part of the third country resettlement program. It was time to depart from my spiritual support in a faithful church. My wife and I had been praying for our fruitful resettlement to work in God’s Kingdom. Our destination was Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA. We arrived in Harrisburg on October 28, 2010, but when we arrived in Harrisburg there weren’t any Nepali Christians to have fellowship with. Our Lord encouraged us to raise a community of Christians for His kingdom starting from our family. We began to pray for our spiritual growth. Praise the Lord! We were successful to start a Christian fellowship in the Nepali community in Harrisburg.

After working in Harrisburg for 2 years, I was ordained as a pastor of the ministry by the North American Missions Board through the Baptist convention of South Jersey. I have been pastoring the Bhutanese Nepali Evangelical Church of Harrisburg since 2012, and the church now has more than 300 members worshipping at every Sunday service. We are also running a youth ministry, a mothers’ ministry, a prayer ministry, a gospel sharing ministry and a Sunday school, and we have legally registered with the government as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Dear friends, in this world, we were born alone, and we will die alone, but since that time when I accepted Christ, I’ve found that we are not alone in this world: the Lord Jesus is among us. Due to receiving Christ, I have experienced the true meaning of “a merry heart doeth good like a medicine” (Proverbs 17:22). Christ told us the truth about the needs of our souls, and offered Himself as our only source of salvation. If we are to be the salt of the earth in a sinful world, we must do the same. This is the goal and purpose of BNECH.

We believe that God brought us here as spiritual seeds according to His purposes to continue the establishment of His kingdom. This vision keeps us spiritually focused not on our will, but on His will for us. For this cause we give of our lives to share the Gospel with those around us and with people dispersed across the globe, to raise up leaders for His kingdom, and to serve those who are suffering. We are confident that God will fulfil this vision, and we encourage you to join with us in it.

Sincerely,

Pastor Bhim Gurung

Pastor Bhim and Seeta Gurung and their children in 2016