Unreached people group
Tharu Khawas
The Tharu Khawas are a small people of Nepal who see themselves as people of the forest. For generations they have lived alongside the woodlands, relying on them for food, for shelter and for the rhythm of the seasons. They belong to the larger family of Tharu peoples, yet they form a distinct group, with a name, a memory and ties of their own.
Today they are scattered across several provinces of the country, in small communities, often far from one another. This scattering makes their shared identity all the more precious: it is through family, through stories told from generation to generation and through the name Khawas that the people recognize and sustain themselves.
Because they are so few and so little known, they rarely appear on maps or in surveys. Even so, every Khawas family has a face, a name and a place in the heart of God, who knows the small peoples as well as the great ones.
The origins of the Tharu Khawas are uncertain and live above all in oral tradition and in the myths that the elders pass on. There is no written chronicle telling where they came from, and it is in the memory of the people that their history is kept.
For a long time, some of them lived as bonded laborers under debt servitude, a condition that Nepal outlawed in the year 2000. The ban opened a new chapter, but the legacy of that history still weighs on them: the people remain without some of the rights and opportunities that other Nepalis take for granted.
| Country | Share of the people | Population |
|---|---|---|
Nepal Unreached
|
100%
|
1.700 |
Traditionally, the Khawas practice short-fallow shifting cultivation, clearing patches in the forest, planting and then letting the land rest. They grow rice, wheat and lentils, and add to their livelihood with produce gathered in the forest, with hunting and with fishing. Knowledge of plants, rivers and animals is passed from parents to children.
Social life has always revolved around the extended family. It was common to live in large longhouses, where several generations shared the same roof, the work and the food. This way of living taught sharing, respect for elders and the strength of belonging to a full house.
The great majority of the Tharu Khawas follow Hinduism, which shapes the calendar, the festivals and the rites of the family. This Hinduism, however, coexists with very ancient animist practices tied to the forest and the world of spirits.
When there is sickness, a poor harvest or distress, many families seek to appease feared spirits through rituals and sacrifices. Behind these gestures lies a sincere desire for protection and for balance with the unseen. Faith and identity walk together: to be Khawas is, for many, to continue the religious paths of the ancestors.
The language most spoken by the Khawas today is Nepali, and the complete Bible already exists in it, along with audio and video resources. This means the Word is within reach of those who read or hear it in the national language. What is still missing is for it to reach this small, scattered people in a living and close way, in settings where families can hear it and talk about it among themselves.
A people only truly understands the gospel when they hear it in the language of their heart. See how far the translation has come.
- Translation started Done
- Portions Done
- New Testament Done
- Whole Bible Current stage
Translation data: Joshua Project.
For the Tharu Khawas, the religion of the ancestors is intertwined with the identity of the family and the community, and changing faith can be seen as breaking with the people. Because they are few and live in small settlements far apart from one another, there are almost no nearby Christian communities that can walk alongside them. Added to this are historical marginalization, which left them without privileges that others enjoy, and the fact that they are little known even to those who wish to serve them.
The people have concrete needs: health care, access to education and support to live sustainably in their environment. Overcoming the marks left by servitude and fully claiming their place in Nepali society is a challenge that remains open.
Above all, they need to know the living God, who frees from every fear and every bondage. They need friends who listen with respect, who live out the gospel in a simple way and who, in God’s time, see a community of faith arise among them within their own culture.
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