Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

1999

Document Type

Project Report

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Bruce L. Bauer

Second Advisor

Jon Dybdahl

Third Advisor

Nancy Vyhmeister

Abstract

The majority of the Lepchas who live in the land of Sikkim are unreached with the gospel message. A preliminary investigation of current literature indicated that 70 to 80 percent of the Sikkimese are followers of folk-Buddhism.

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a strategy to reach the Folk-Buddhist Lepcha community of Sikkim with the gospel message.

The dissertation traces the historical development of the Lepcha community in Sikkim,,its culture, economy, health situations, and education. Chapter 3 details the beliefs, practices, and world view of the Lepchas, discusses government restrictions against Christianity in Sikkim, and describes the growth of Christianity among the Lepchas. Chapter 4 describes the process used in establishing a church among the Lepchas. Social service and educational programs were used to provide points of contact with the Lepchas. The Lepchas' fear of death, suffering, and sickness provided bridges whereby the gospel answers to these questions were welcomed and accepted.

Subject Area

Missions to Buddhists--Sikkim (India); Sikkim (India)--Religion; Seventh-day Adventists--Missions--Sikkim (India)

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dmin/633

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