Chortens are Buddhist structures that hold relics which are usually remains of Buddha. The former queen of Bhutan built these chortens, 108 in total.

By Caroline Anderson

SOUTH ASIA–In the land of the thunder dragon, Buddhist monks, and spiritual darkness, believers must find a balance between their culture and Christianity. Tashi Jamtsho* teaches new Christians to love their culture the way Christ would.

“God has created culture in its own context [for us] to appreciate it,” Jamtsho says. A pastor and itinerant church-planting trainer with a master’s in divinity, Jamtsho seeks to expand God’s kingdom by traveling throughout Bhutan, training other pastors, and sharing the role of Christ in the daily life of the believer.

In the Buddhist nation of Bhutan, sharing the Gospel is illegal, and churches may not meet in established buildings. “Bhutan is very challenging. It’s not so easy to share the Gospel, to plant the church,” Jamtsho says.

One of the problems the church in Bhutan faces is a lack of contextualization. Jamtsho shares about contextualization and biblical doctrine in church-planting training or in sermons.

“If we don’t contextualize our Gospel, in the context of our people and culture, then no Bhutanese will come [to faith] in Bhutan,” Jamtsho says. “That is why churches must dress up [wear ghos] in the Sunday service and sing some of our language’s songs.”

Though some believers have argued against wearing the national dress, Jamtsho proudly wears his gho, a man’s dress that looks like a cross between a Scottish kilt and Japanese kimono.

Jamtsho also encourages churches to write their own worship songs rather than merely translating from English. “Christ is magnified when we worship in our culture. It is so sweet, He is a part of us,” Jamtsho says.

But Jamtsho is quick to point out that not everything in a culture is good.

“Worshipping idols, I cannot do that, but it’s my culture,” Jamtsho says. “Offering burnt offerings, I can’t do as a Christian. Anything that minimizes the Scripture’s authority … we should not compromise that.”

The center of every Bhutanese town is the dzong, a fortress that is home to religious and governing bodies. Jamtsho has prayer-walked through many dzongs, claiming the fortresses for the Lord.

“The darkness, you could feel it, feel the darkness’ power,” Jamtsho says. “That is why more prayer is needed to fight against this.” Though the nation’s spiritual darkness is almost palpable, he uses prayer to claim Christ’s name in Bhutan’s Buddhist culture.

The prayers of the international church are also key in effecting change in the Himalayan kingdom. “I feel people from the outside should pray and encourage the young believers in this country,” Jamtsho says.

Jamtsho himself prays passionately for new Christians in the growing church in Bhutan to find a balance between being Bhutanese and being believers.

“I wish all my Bhutanese brothers and sisters, including the monks, will receive this invitation to come to the kingdom,” Jamtsho says. “No karma is needed … it’s a free gift of God.”

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*name changed