Nepal Gospel Radio

GTN runs three gospel programmes on radio stations out of Pokhara. When they began they were the first gospel radio programme in Pokhara. Many others have now followed and their own ministry has also expanded. There are now three programmes broadcast, one in the Nepali language, one Gurung language (which is a separate tribal group) and one in English. This inspiring report provides an update on the work and it’s fruit.

Nepali Programme:
Nepali radio programme, which is conducted by Miss Deepa Gurung and Miss Isha Pradhan every Monday morning, is running very well. People are very interested in this programme. They telephone us to pass on their comments about it, telling us how much they enjoy our programme.  Through telephone enquiries from Gorkha district, two fellowships have started in Darkha and Tipling villages. We walked in to visit these villages, crossing deep and wide rivers to reach them. We had to use a wooden bridge, which was made of only two logs of wood. We have started two discipleship training programmes [probably SOW] which have been greatly blessed. People like the powerful message from the Word of God and songs from Nepali hymns and audio CDs. It is broadcast on an FM band.

Gurung Programme:
Gurung is a tribal group with their own separate language. 

The Gurung programme is conducted by Mr. Om Gurung. This is a famous programme in Nepal because it is the only programme in the Gurung language that is broadcast from Pokhara FM. Gurung people are coming to church and getting to know the Word of God. We have started a Gurung fellowship in Pokhara from these broadcasts. There are around 60 people who are gathering every Sunday at one house. The same thing is happening in Gorkha, Lamjung Tanahun and Kaski districts which are areas with large populations of Gurung - all reached by this radio programme. Mr. Min Bahadur Gurung is an evangelist who visits these villages and has started small cottage fellowships. He has reported that thousands of people are listening so it was easy to start a fellowship.  

English programme:
 Young college students are listening to this programme. We have young college girls; Sheela Rai, Deepa Gurung and Isha Pradhan anchoring in both the Nepali and English programmes. They have put together an interesting programme that attracts the young people.  They are sharing the gospel on the campuses as well. Many students are coming into contact with the gospel and some have started attending church in Pokhara.

Outreach in Pokhara city on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Every Monday and Wednesday, we are preaching the gospel around our local area by distributing radio tracts and ‘Free from Slavery’ tracts, which were written by Pastor Samuel Sangram Rai. We meet businessmen, farmers, school students and college boys and girls who are very interested to know about God.  One day, many young boys were standing in line to join the Indian army. They were there to test their luck and to gain success. At the same time, the GTN staff (Mr. Om Gurung, Mr. Purna Rai, Miss Deepa Gurung, Miss Shila Rai, Miss Isha Pradhan and Miss Sunita Nepali) were distributing hundreds of tracts and New Testaments. Many of the young boys who were standing in line were interested to know about Jesus, so we shared the gospel with them. Some of them liked the message they heard and they committed themselves to come to church.

 Another day we went to the office of the district Chief and distributed gospel tracts and shared the gospel. People were there to receive citizenship cards, handicapped ID cards and passports to go overseas.  They listened very carefully, but they did not want to leave their traditions and spiritual practices. Some of them like to go to church and told us about their relatives who are already Christians. They are reading their Bibles when they have time, but they could not understand all that the scriptures said. We informed them about our radio programme and encouraged them to listen. We are praying for them so that the Holy Ghost may work in their hearts and lives.

Two days a month visiting villages

   Up until now, there are around 65 Swarnim Sandesh Air Space Programme Radio listeners groups - around 650 people altogether. This group has been steadily spreading in five districts of Gandaki Zone. These people are from different villages. Some villages are far from Pokhara city. We have to walk at least four to five hours after getting off the bus or jeep to reach each village. They are conducting the fellowship themselves under the leadership of their own team leader. We are not in direct contact with all of them. Sometimes their leaders may leave their village for work or even leave Nepal. We are trying to keep in close contact with them – but it can be difficult when people are transient. Therefore, we set aside two days a month to visit these villages.  

Due to the large number of FM stations now operating in Nepal our programme is also required to apply new government policies for programming.

We were distributing FM radios previously, so that people will be able to listen to our broadcasts, but now we have had to stop this because we have not had any money to buy them. So pray for this effective programme to continue again. God may bless us! In previous years, we had requests for radios, but now we have to say ‘we are sorry -we do not have radios for distribution.’         

 We are now receiving feedback from radio listeners through letters, articles, poems, songs, jokes, and personal testimonies.

Areas of Future Ministry Development and Need

We wish to continue our outreach in Pokhara city every Monday and Wednesday  and will continue to visit the villages two days a month. In addition to this we hope to expand our discipleship training with the listener groups.

The need for bibles and radios continues to be pressing and we ask that you uphold us in your prayers concerning this. We also have need of Swarnim Sandesh booklets for seekers and an electric bicycle, so that we can make visits to those who are seeking to know more about Christ. 

We have not been able to provide Bibles to all of those who attend the listener clubs. We have over sixty listener clubs. Due to lack of funds, we are unable to distribute Bibles to new listeners. We need 500 Bible to reach these people.

Reported by Mr. Om Gurung and  Sheela Rai

On the behalf of GTN Mission Nepal