Redemption amidst the riots in Nepal

An international worker describes a narrow escape—and big steps forward for Christian unity, integrity, and women’s participation

Gary Hoag (right), CEO of Global Trust Partners, and Ujjwal Maharjan, his rescuer when he was trapped in Nepal’s riots on September 9.

The “Gen Z” protests that occurred in Nepal on September 8 and the government’s violent reaction, which left more than 20 dead and hundreds injured, triggered an episode unlike any in human history. A decentralized mass of young people, angry about government corruption and an attempt to deny them access to social media, unleashed nationwide chaos and destruction and brought down a government in one day on September 9.

Some of the world’s best voices for Christian integrity were in Nepal when the riots broke out. Since they trust in God’s sovereignty, they believe the timing was more than coincidence.

Global Trust Partners (GTP), formed by the US Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability in 2019, promotes integrity, accountability, and generosity among Christian workers all over the world. A five-member GTP team including CEO Gary Hoag conducted training sessions in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal on September 2–3 and 7–8, respectively. Several hundred Christians participated, including representatives from major Nepali Christian groups. Many committed to replicating “Stations of Generosity” training and/or to developing accountability standards for churches and ministries in Nepal.

As early as September 7, Hoag said, team members were having difficulty communicating by WhatsApp, because the government had blocked access to unauthorized social media platforms in response to protests by young Nepalis.

The government cut off 26 social media services that were not registered with the government. Gen Z activists promptly pivoted to registered platforms, such as Viber, to vent their fury and foment spontaneous national rioting. Within a day, the government had collapsed and the army had restored order, but only after 72 deaths and enormous damage, estimated in economic value at close to half the nation’s annual gross domestic product. Thousands of buildings were destroyed by fires.

Prakash Chandra Giri, GTP’s Nepal-based staff member, explained that Nepal’s Gen Z was embittered by rampant corruption, nepotism, and inequality. One of Gen Z’s popular slogans critiqued the children of political leaders, commonly referred to as “nepokids,” with the phrase “My father is in Qatar, your father is in a car.” The slogan referred to the fact that thousands of impoverished Nepalis have become laborers in far-off, wealthy countries to earn money for their families while elite families have nice cars and a comfortable lifestyle in a country where almost everyone travels by motorbike.

Hoag was supposed to leave Nepal on September 9, but the outbreak of unrest made that impossible. That morning, he and two team members, Rebecca Nilanjana from India and Emmna Pervaiz from Pakistan, flew from Pokhara to Kathmandu. Nilanjana got out that morning, but when the airport closed in the afternoon, Hoag and Pervaiz were stranded. They were surrounded by army soldiers while protesters set fire to cars and buildings around the airport.

Upon hearing of their plight, Ujjwal Maharjan, a Kathmandu church youth leader, boldly put into practice what he had just learned about generosity. He and his sister, Elina, showed up at the airport and put Hoag, Pervaiz, and six bags on the back of their motorbikes.

“We zigzagged through the city for 30 minutes, passing burning buildings and piles of debris at intersections,” Maharjan wrote in a gripping summary of their experience. “People even hurled bottles toward us. Miraculously, we reached home safely while the army took control of the city.”

After staying with Maharjan’s family for two days, Pervaiz was able to fly out of Nepal on September 11 and Hoag retreated to Pokhara to reconnect with Giri, and as most hotels in Kathmandu were booked or had burned. On arrival, he said, “I went to a hotel, showered, ate, and curled up in bed like a baby and cried for 30 minutes and then slept for 12 hours.”

Hoag said the response of local church workers to the crisis reminded him of Matthew 12:43–45, in which Jesus tells of an unclean spirit coming out of a person but then returning with seven additional spirits. “The bad has been removed and Christians want to put the good in before something worse comes,” he explained. He reported that many who attended the GTP events have already begun replicating what they have learned about generosity and accountability.

A cultural revolution for women

Nepal’s interim government has the country’s first-ever female prime minister. Again “coincidentally,” Hoag participated in a similar advance for Christian women in the same week.

When speaking internationally, Hoag prefers to involve young females as co-presenters and translators, so as to promote inclusion of women and young people in ministry leadership. But when the pastor at the host church in Pokhara heard that a woman would be translating for Hoag, he expressed resistance on cultural grounds, as well as uncertainty about a young woman who was not very familiar with the church.

“We went back and forth three times,” Hoag recalled, “and finally I said, ‘Then find someone else to speak tomorrow because I’m not coming.’ At that point the pastor backed down. It was hard to take a stand, but I felt I had to do it.”

After the event, the pastor and elders apologized for their reluctance, saying she had done an excellent job. They added that it was the start of a new era for the church.

A view from inside Nepal

For a well-informed indigenous Christian perspective on the situation in Nepal, see this essay by Surendra Bajracharya, published in Christian Daily.