Oslo Nepali Church

Oslo Nepali Church is an ecumenical Christian ministry founded in 2019 AD, with the motivation of connecting Nepalese residents living in Norway and throughout Europe and sharing God’s word and love with them.

What we Believe

Oslo Nepali Church is a confession-based church. As a congregation, we firmly embrace specific statements of faith known as “creeds” and “confessions.” These declarations are fully grounded in the Bible and clearly articulate what the church believes on essential matters of faith and life. The primary creeds we uphold include the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. These confessions strengthen the foundation of our faith and offer clear guidance for living a steadfast, Christ-centered life.

ओस्लो नेपाली मण्डली एक स्वीकारोक्तिमा–आधारित मण्डली हो। मण्डलीका रूपमा, हामी स्पष्ट रूपमा ‘क्रीड’ र ‘कन्फेसन’ भनिने विश्वासका सारहरूलाई स्वीकार गर्छौँ। यी सारहरू पूर्ण रूपमा बाइबलमा आधारित छन् र हाम्रो विश्वास र जीवनसँग सम्बन्धित महत्वपूर्ण विषयहरूमा मण्डलीले के विश्वास गर्छ भन्ने कुरा यसले स्पष्ट रूपमा व्याख्या गर्छन्। हाम्रो मण्डलीले स्वीकार गर्ने प्रमुख सारहरूमा प्रेरितहरूको विश्वासका सार (Apostles’ Creed), नाइसिन सार (Nicene Creed), र एथानासियस सार (Athanasian Creed) र अन्य थप सारहरु समावेश छन्। यी स्वीकारोक्ति वा विश्वासका सारहरूले हाम्रो विश्वासको आधार बलियो बनाउँछन् र हामीलाई परमेश्वरप्रति अडिग र स्पष्ट मार्गदर्शन प्रदान गर्छन्।

The major doctrines we believe are as follows. हामीले विश्वास गर्ने प्रमुख सिद्धान्तहरू यस प्रकार छन्:

1. The Bible/बाइबल –We believe the Bible is the inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God, containing all that is necessary for salvation and faith. It is the sole rule and standard for all matters of Christian belief and practice. हामी विश्वास गर्छौँ कि बाइबल परमेश्वरबाट प्रेरित, अचूक र अधिकारसहितको वचन हो, जसले उद्धार र विश्वासका लागि आवश्यक सबै कुरा समेटेको छ। यो ईसाई विश्वास र अभ्यासका सबै विषयहरूको लागि एकमात्र नियम र मानक हो।

• The Trinity/त्रिएक परमेश्वर – We believe in one God who is Trinity—one in essence yet existing as three distinct persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—each fully God, equal in glory, power, and divine perfection. हामी एक परमेश्वरमा विश्वास गर्छौँ जो त्रिएक हुनुहुन्छ—ईश्वरत्वमा एक र तीन भिन्न व्यक्तिहरूमा अनन्तकालदेखि अस्तित्वमा हुनुहुन्छ: पिता, पुत्र, र पवित्र आत्मा। हरेक व्यक्ति पूर्ण परमेश्वर हुनुहुन्छ, महिमा, शक्ति, र ईश्वरीय पूर्णतामा समान हुनुहुन्छ ।

• Salvation/उद्धार – We believe salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone—not by works. हामी विश्वास गर्छौँ कि उद्धार केवल परमेश्वरको अनुग्रहले, केवल येशू  ख्रीष्टमा विश्वासद्वारा हो—हाम्रो कुनै काम वा योग्यता द्वारा होइन।

• The Church/चर्च – We believe the universal Church is the body of Christ, and the local church is ordained by God for worship, fellowship, teaching, discipleship, and preaching the gospel. हामी विश्वास गर्छौँ कि विश्व्यापी मण्डली ख्रीष्टको शरीर हो, र स्थानिय मण्डली आराधना, संगति, शिक्षा, चेला बनाउन, अनुशासन, र सुसमाचार प्रचारका लागि परमेश्वरद्वारा स्थापना गरिएको हो ।

• Worship/आराधना – We believe Christian worship must be Scripture-based, Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered, and offered in truth, holiness, and joy. हामी विश्वास गर्छौँ कि ख्रीष्टियन आराधना बाइबलमा आधारित, ख्रीष्ट-केन्द्रित, पवित्र आत्माले सशक्त, सत्य, पवित्रता, र आनन्दसँग गरिएको हुनुपर्दछ ।

• Human Life & Morality/मानव जीवन र नैतिकता – We believe God created humanity in His image as male and female and calls us to live according to His design for marriage, family, and moral purity. हामी विश्वास गर्छौँ कि परमेश्वरले मानिसलाई आफ्नो स्वरूपमा—नर र नारी गरी सृष्टि गर्नुभयो, र उहाँको रचनाअनुसार विवाह, परिवार, तथा नैतिक जीवन बिताउन हामीलाई बोलाउनुहुन्छ।

• Forgiveness, Resurrection, and Eternal Life/पाप क्षमा, पुनरुत्थान, र अनन्त जीवन – We believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and eternal life for all who belong to Christ.  हामी पापको क्षमा, शरीरको पुनरुत्थान र ख्रीष्टमा भएकाहरू सबैको अनन्त जीवनमा विश्वास गर्छौं। 

• The Sacraments/विधिहरु – We believe Christ has instituted two sacraments: Baptism and Lord’s Super. Baptism, through which believers are united with Christ, and the Lord’s Supper, in which we remember His death and are nourished and strengthened in faith and fellowship. हामी विश्वास गर्छौँ कि प्रभु येशूले दुई विधिहरु स्थापना गर्नुभएको छ: बप्तिस्मा  र प्रभु भोज। बप्तिस्माले विश्वास गर्नेहरूलाई ख्रीष्टसँग एकतामा राख्छ, अनि प्रभुको भोजमा हामी उहाँको मृत्युलाई सम्झन्छौं र यी विधीहरु अनुग्रहको माध्यमहरु हुन् जसद्वारा परमेश्ररले हाम्रो विश्वास र संगतीलाई पोषण र सामर्थ्य प्रदान गर्नुहुन्छ ।

• Marriage/विवाह – We believe that marriage should be only between one man and one woman, and that no one should have more than one spouse at the same time. हामी विश्वास गर्छौं कि विवाह केवल एक पुरुष र एक महिलाबीच हुनुपर्छ, र एउटै समयमा कसैले पनि एकभन्दा बढी जीवनसाथी राख्नु हुँदैन।

How did Oslo Nepali Church Begin?

Oslo Nepali Church was started by a group of students who came to Norway for their higher education. It was not a pre-planned concept to start Oslo Nepali Church; rather, it was established in response to the needs of the people. Late Dhan Maya Tamang¹ was an inspiring soul who indirectly but strongly imparted a vision to establish ONC. Sigrun Møgedal² was the first person who connected Ps. Jeevan Magar with Dhan Maya in her critical condition, as she was suffering from cancer. When Ps. Jeevan prayed for her in the Nepali language, she could not stop weeping and tearing with joy. That moment touched Ps. Jeevan’s heart and made him strongly feel the need for a Nepali church where the Nepalese community could pray, worship, sing, and express their feelings in their own language while being together in fellowship. Ps. Jeevan met Dhan Maya at the end of 2016, and she went to the Lord in 2018. Ps. Jeevan came to Norway in August 2016 for his higher education (Master of Theology), and by the end of 2017, he had hardly found 5 believers, including his wife, who had come to Norway for study purposes. Despite many challenges, the vision to establish a Nepali church did not fade from his heart.

A group of students began to have irregular small fellowships since Christmas of 2017, where Sigrun Møgedal was present and showed her selfless love to the Nepalese community.

Continuing in prayer and seeking possible ways to have regular worship services, they began searching for a place for worship. It was almost impossible for them to get an affordable place for regular worship services. Finally, through the help of Sigrun Møgedal, they got a place for regular services in Sofienberg Church, and they had a formal inauguration of Oslo Nepali Church on 28 September 2019.

After four months, the place in Sofienberg was no longer available due to their busy schedule. At the same time, social gatherings were strictly prohibited due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we did ONC worship services via Zoom. During the pandemic, we were able to connect with a number of believers from all around the world. It was a great means to encourage people from the Word of God as the world was grieving due to the pandemic.

As the situation became quite normal from mid-2021, we again began to search for a place for regular worship services, but it was hard to find a place for a small group of Nepalese people at an affordable cost. Again, Sigrun played a major role in accessing a temporary place for worship in Himal Partner’s³ meeting hall. We had our regular worship services there for almost four months, and finally, we received a positive response from Filadelfia International Church. With the leadership of Sigrun, we had a meeting with Ps. Johan Angelos (Pastor of Filadelfia International Church), and since the beginning of 2022, we have been having regular worship services in a hall provided by Filadelfia Church Oslo free of charge.

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¹ Dhan Maya Tamang was a Bhutanese refugee but ethnically Nepalese by origin. She came to Norway in 2014. She was a new believer and was suffering from cancer. Due to the language barrier, it was very difficult for her to express her pain and she deeply longed for someone who could pray and counsel her in the Nepali language. Sigrun Møgedal came to know about her and did her best to help Dhan Maya until her death in 2018.

² Sigrun Møgedal (b. 1943) is a doctor and has a diploma from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She was previously a Norwegian ambassador for AIDS and global health initiatives. She is now retired/special adviser at the National Knowledge Center for the Health Service (Source: https://tidsskriftet.no/profil/sigrun-mogedal). From 1971 to 1980, she worked in Nepal, originally sent by the Norwegian Tibet Mission. From 1971 to 1976, she was a doctor in the country’s public health service, and from 1977 to 1982, director of health in the United Mission to Nepal (Source: https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigrun_M%C3%B8gedal).

³ Himal Partner’s is a Nepalese organization that provides community support and meeting facilities.https://www.himalpartner.no/

Nepalese community in Norway

Though the number of Nepalese immigrants in Norway is small, in recent years this number has been increasing rapidly. Nepalese immigrants accounted for 2,288 out of 790,497 immigrants in Norway in 2020 (SSB, 2020)⁴. According to research conducted by Master’s student Mahesh Bhattarai at NMBU Bergen in 2014, since 2008, 550 Bhutanese refugees were resettled in Trondheim, Rogaland, Bamble and Skien (Telemark), Bodø, Alta, and Vadsø (Finnmark). Some of them have migrated to Oslo for work as well. About 97 percent of the Bhutanese refugees were ethnically Nepalese by origin⁵. However, the number of Bhutanese refugees could be 600–700, as the resettlement process ended only in 2016.

Also, people from EU countries with ethnic origins from Nepal have been moving to Oslo for better job opportunities. The number of Nepali-speaking people in Oslo alone is approximately 5,000, and around 7,000 in Norway, including Bhutanese refugees of Nepalese origin, whose common language is Nepali. The number of Nepalese with EU nationality but ethnic origin from Nepal is increasing day by day.

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⁴ For more information, go to: https://nla.brage.unit.no/nla-xmlui/handle/11250/2835202
⁵ For more information, go to: https://www.google.com/search?q=bhutanese+refugges+in+Norway