Distribution in Desauri Tharu Villages, Western Nepal

‘So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God’ (Romans 10.17).

The voices of 1,300 Desauri Tharu people rose in their remote villages of Western Nepal on 25 December 2025 as the first chapter of the Gospel according to John was read aloud, not in a foreign tongue, but in the language of their hearts. For many listening that morning, it was the first time they had ever heard the Word of God in Desauri Tharu.

Village leaders, both Christian and non-Christian, stood holding the newly printed books with expressions of wonder. ‘We never thought we would see Scripture in our own language’, one remarked. What had seemed impossible, God’s Word rendered faithfully in a language spoken by so few, now rested in their hands.

This second distribution effort, following the historic first in 2024, represented the faithful labour of the Desauri Tharu translation team. Working tirelessly to render the Gospel according to John, the Lord helped them to overcome linguistic challenges, financial constraints, and the practical difficulties of reaching scattered villages. Their commitment arose from a singular conviction: that the Desauri Tharu people needed to encounter Christ in the Scriptures just as clearly as any English or Nepali speaker.

A day of distribution

The translators and other helpers arrived in the villages with copies of the Gospel according to John to distribute. Among the 1,300 people who gathered, approximately 300 were Christian believers and 1,000 non-believers. Many may have come for the promised meal but left with something far more nourishing.

As each person received their copy, the organisers explained what they held: not merely a book, but the very words of eternal life in their mother tongue. One of the local church leaders, Pastor Ram Bahadur Tharu, declared, ‘The Gospel according to John will be very helpful for the pastors to preach the sermons in Desauri language’. No longer would pastors struggle to communicate the Gospel across the barrier of language. Nor would believers depend solely on translations that, though they could understand, did not speak to their hearts as their mother tongue.

The reading of John 1 transformed the gathering. Non-believers who had come curious or hungry grew quiet as they heard: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’, proclaimed in Desauri Tharu. The familiar cadence of their own language carried the unfamiliar message of the Gospel, and many listened with gripped attention, amazed that such words existed in their tongue.

Looking forward

Local pastors now possess a vital resource for evangelism, discipleship, and Bible study. During the programme, they prayed earnestly for the completion of the entire New Testament translation and expressed excitement about future projects, including audio Bibles for those who cannot read and wider distribution to reach every Desauri Tharu village.

All glory belongs to God alone, who is sovereign over His Word and opens hearts to receive it. Yet we give thanks for the faithful translators who laboured to make this distribution possible, for the William Carey Foundation whose generous financial support enabled the work, and for the local pastors and leaders who received the Scriptures with joy and commitment to teach them faithfully.

How to pray for this project:

• Thank God for the Desauri Tharu translators and all who supported this distribution
• Pray for believers to grow in faith as they study Scripture in their own language
• Pray that non-believers who received the Gospel according to John would read it, hear God’s voice, and come to saving faith in Christ
• Pray for the translation team as they work to complete the full New Testament; the development of audio Bibles; and for God’s provision, protection, and perseverance in this vital work

May the Lord be pleased to use His Word in Desauri Tharu to bring many souls to saving knowledge of Him. To Him be the glory in the salvation of the Desauri Tharu people.