Nepali pastor fears to return home following social media backlash for testimony

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) - A pastor in Nepal is facing a social media firestorm that has caused him to flee his home.

Sukdev Giri of Trinity Fellowship church spoke at the International Christian Media Workers Summit in Kathmandu in March, sharing his testimony of how disillusionment with the character of the Hindu gods as a young boy led him to Jesus, whose humility he found “overwhelming.”

“I asked the [Hindu] priests why Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva are immoral, yet they are regarded as gods and are highly respected by us,” Giri says in the speech that was posted to youtube in August. “I was thinking of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. Can any god be so humble? It was hard to digest.”

After the video garnered not only 750,000 views but also death threats and menacing calls from incensed Hindus, who berated Giri for disgracing his upbringing, the pastor decided to stay abroad and continue his travels in other parts of Nepal instead of returning to his farm, where a mob had even shown up looking for him.

Alliance Defending Freedom told Morning Star News that Giri’s case is the first time a Nepali Christian has been targeted for sharing his faith through social media, but that the wave of Hindu nationalism sweeping across neighboring India is beginning to spill over into the Himalayan country and could be the reason for the ire.