As we reach the end of our look at the things God has done in Tibet over the course of history, it's sobering to reflect that for so many centuries, commencing with the Nestorians 1,300 years ago, Christians have failed to make any noticeable dent on the spiritual landscape of Tibet.

Some people may have read this book with an expectation of learning about wonderful breakthroughs for the gospel, leading to thousands of Christians among the Tibetan people. Those readers will be disappointed, for such a time has not yet occurred. Rather, the story of Christian mission in Tibet has been one of sowing, sacrifice, fire and blood. Each step forward for the Church of Jesus Christ has been met with fierce opposition from the demonic world.

For a long time, Christian leaders have known that the spiritual environment in Tibet was especially dark. We recall that in 1886 William Blackstone predicted: "God seems to be holding back Tibet to be the last field entered just before His coming," and a few years later, Hudson Taylor remarked: "To make converts in Tibet is similar to going into a cave and trying to rob a lioness of her cubs."

As described in the Introduction, the Dalai Lama himself has said that powerful demonic entities control Tibet, with one deity even being an active participant in his government. The reality of these dark forces has been evident during the hundreds of years of mighty struggle and persecution that have been experienced by the emissaries of Christ. Every step forward seems to have been followed by two steps back, and each disciple of Christ has been buffeted by these strong invisible powers. As several of the early missionaries found, Tibetan kings and princes showed an interest in the gospel, only for the initial promising signs to be violently snuffed out. Numerous missionaries and their Tibetan converts were called to bear witness to their faith by spilling their blood.

We have examined the ministries of many faithful Christian pioneers like Christie, Shelton, Plymire, and Edgar, who spent decades pouring out their lives in remote areas of the Tibetan Plateau, doing all they could to share the message of eternal life. Others, such as the Moravians, labored from the perimeter of the Tibetan world, and finally translated the Bible into Tibetan after nearly a century of intense struggle against the hosts of hell.

While some servants of Jesus were encouraged by the small breakthroughs they saw, many experienced very little progress to cheer their paths, but they soldiered on regardless, hoping that their faithful sowing would one day produce a bountiful harvest.

A day came when all missionaries were expelled from Tibet, and all visible signs of Christianity vanished. For decades all hope seemed lost, but then, in the most unexpected way, the master plan of the Almighty God began to be revealed, as He poured His Spirit out on millions of Han Chinese Christians in a powerful revival the size of which the world had never seen. 

In recent decades, many Chinese believers—who from a human perspective are the most unlikely candidates to succeed in Tibet because of the enmity between the two ethnic groups—have spread out across the Tibetan world, exalting Jesus Christ wherever they go, and a growing number of Tibetans have come to faith in the Living God. Painstakingly, one person at a time, a remnant of blood-bought followers of Christ has emerged from Tibet!

Simultaneously, God has also touched His children who dwell in the border regions of Nepal, India, Bhutan and Myanmar, giving them a heart to take the gospel across the mountain passes into Tibet. Despite strong opposition from the Communists, lamas, and Western Buddhists, God's people in the past 20 years have made inroads, and the kingdom of God is gradually spreading its mysterious, life-changing influence throughout the Tibetan world.

Starting in the mid-2010s, permits for foreigners wanting to visit Lhasa and other Tibetan areas became difficult to obtain, as the Chinese government cracked down on all foreign influence in Tibet. On both sides of the Himalayan Range, undercover Christian missionaries had their visas revoked and were expelled.

Although it would be premature to suggest that the era of foreign Christian influence in Tibet has ended, the baton for the advancement of Tibetan Christianity has firmly been handed to the Asian Church. 

In recent decades, an increasing number of Tibetans have found the answer to the one basic question on which all of life depends: Is Jesus Christ alive? They have found that indeed, Jesus is alive, and He is able to meet their deepest spiritual longings and needs. 

Tibetans are discovering that Jesus Christ is not merely another living Buddha (which means 'enlightened one'), but that His extraordinary claims are true, when He said: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12).

They are finding, to their amazement and pleasure, that Jesus is not merely one way in the never-ending cycle of life, but that He is "the way and the truth and the life." As He said: "No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).

While the Tibetan Church today is still not large, and most Tibetans have yet to hear the gospel, if Jesus Christ is alive, then nothing and nobody will be able to stop the spread and rule of His kingdom—not kings or priests; not Communists and their millions of surveillance cameras. Not even all the hosts of hell can thwart the Living God! 

Jesus Christ is gradually being revealed as the true King of Tibet! God is taking a glorious inheritance for His Son out of Tibet, as a remnant is emerges on the Roof of the World. 

Thank you for coming along on this Tibetan Christian journey. We hope you have been both inspired and challenged as you have read how the kingdom of God has been planted in some of the rockiest soil on earth. 

Tibet is taking its rightful place in the royal diadem of the King of Kings, and one day soon an angel of the Most High God will declare with a loud voice:

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 11:15).

© This article is an extract from Paul Hattaway's book ‘Tibet: The Roof of the World’. You can order this or any of The China Chronicles books and e-books from our online bookstore.

1.  Carlsen, Tibet: In Search of a Miracle, p. 36.

2.  Carlsen, Tibet: In Search of a Miracle, p. 37.