By Alexandra Nyoni
In March of this year, Bhutan’s Prime Minister, Tshering Tobgay, spoke at the 2024 India Today Conclave conference, encouraging more Indian people to visit Bhutan. His speech was part of an effort to establish his country’s Gross National Happiness (GNH) 2.0 plan. The small nation of Bhutan, located between China and India, two of the world’s most populous nations, is home to just 700,000 people and is relatively unknown to most. One thing Bhutan is known for, however, is its yearly measure of its citizens’ happiness. The Bhutanese GNH index is conducted each year by ‘happiness surveyors’ who travel the country asking average citizens how satisfied they are with their lives. Questions range from topics of financial security to marriage contentment, all to quantify the happiness of the people. This information is then condensed by the surveyors into a report and given to the government, who attempt to use it to form national policy.
Mr Tobgay told the media that Bhutan “will continue to strengthen its economy in ways that are sustainable, equitable, and balanced with social progress, environmental protection, cultural protection, and good governance” in an effort to rescale its happiness index. Bhutan is currently facing an economic downturn, and one in every eight citizens is living in poverty. Bhutan prides itself on its preservation of culture and traditional way of life. Its citizens only gained access to television in 1999, and the country has resisted the expansion of most of the world’s largest international brands. Though this relative isolation has made Bhutan an international anomaly that draws the interest of tourists, it has had the opposite effect on the nation’s young people. Many Bhutanese youth have decided to emigrate to other nations due to the lack of opportunities that Bhutan’s closed culture can provide them.
According to the Joshua Project, 88% of Bhutan’s population practices Buddhism. It is suggested that the vast majority of the other 12% practices Hinduism, and just 0.25% are Christian. Even though the Christian Church is small, the Joshua Project reports an annual evangelical growth rate of 3.1%, which is higher than the global average of 2.6%, indicating that the Church is growing at an above-average pace. A partner of INcontext familiar with the religious landscape of Bhutan confirmed that while Christianity is not recognised in Bhutan (Buddhism and Hinduism are the only registered religions in the country), the faith is growing despite the limitations on evangelism and Church activities. As a subcategory of the psychological well-being survey of the GNH index, citizens are asked about their spiritual contentment. As Christians, we know that true happiness, or better yet, true joy, only comes from developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As people are pressed about the things that dictate their happiness, the Church can pray for discontent to grow in people’s hearts over their current spiritual practices, leading them to discover the truth of Christ and the joy of knowing Him.
Please join us in praying for the following:
- For the economic development of Bhutan in such a way that citizens can care for their families and move out of poverty.
- For the happiness surveying to lead people to question their religious affiliations and find the truth of Christ as they seek.
- For the small Bhutanese Church to be encouraged and find creative ways to share the Gospel despite living in a difficult environment.
