Nepal: Nursing Mother Nearly Starves to Avoid Food Offered to Idols

Source: Morning Star News, January 11, 2022

Having moved in with his parents after the birth of his son, Pawan said that in March 2020 they told him and his wife to either partake of Hindu rituals or leave their home in central Nepal’s Bhaktapur District.

“We tried hard to settle the matter, but they did not let us stay,” Pawan, 26, told Morning Star News. “They kept our newborn son and threw us out of our home.”

His parents had insisted that if they were going to attend Christian worship services, they must also participate in rituals such as eating food offered to Hinduism’s many gods, he said. Refusing to eat such food, his wife grew so weak she had trouble providing breast milk for their baby.

“Many days went by with just a meal a day, and my wife, who was breastfeeding our baby, grew weaker,” Pawan said. “She would silently suffer, fearing that complaining to me might lead to a heated argument with my parents.”

Working hard but earning little, Pawan remained true to his faith even though economically dependent on parents that were hostile to Christianity.

“When we refused to accept food offered to the deities,” he said, “my parents would insult us, asking, ‘What good has following Christ done for you? Your baby keeps falling sick. What is your Jesus doing? Why is he not protecting your baby?’”

Tensions grew after his younger brother put his faith in Christ, he said. “Both my mother and father falsely accused me of sorcery to draw my brother into my faith,” Pawan said. “I only shared the gospel with him; I never forced him and did not speak any alluring words to make him a Christian. It was his own decision.”

Read the full story. This family is no stranger to persecution.

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