"I was the first in my family to adopt Christianity. My younger brother joined me four years ago, my mother three years ago. And lastly my father converted also," she said.
On July 25, Pratima was encircled by a group of toddlers and some other children. All of them were holding Bibles. She was tasked with teaching them about Christianity, its values and culture, in an ambiance of entertainment through songs, hymns and other musical activities.
Pramila Chaudhary is another trainer and supports Pratima in her activities at this Deupur village which has a majority Tharu community. Around 40 children gather at this center run by the two trainers.
As they wind up the children's activities, a crowd of 500 to 700 gather here. They are usually mostly women.
Ninth-grader Pratima is representative of the Christian community that is ever increasing in Dang district. Hundreds of local and international volunteers are involved in the campaign to spread the faith.
What is the number of Christians in Dang?
Dang is one of the districts where the voice for reinstating Nepal as a Hindu state was loudest during the feedback collection on the draft constitution earlier this month.
Locals alerted by the increasing number of Christians raised that voice. Though Hindus in the district constitute 96 percent of the people, the trend shows that the number of Christians is increasing fast.
Local intellectuals fear that the growing number of churches might invite sectarian unrest.
According to the national census of 2001, there were only 640 Christians, or 1.14 percent of the total population, in the district. The latest census in 2011 shows that the number had reached 7,431.
The number of Christians is increasing not only in Dang but also in other districts of Rapti Zone. Three decades ago, Christians were in a very insignificant number in Rolpa. The census in 2011 shows that their number has increased 345 percent.
Locals believe that the picture has changed even since the latest census. Shashi Gyawali, headmaster of Lamahi Adarsha Higher Secondary School, informed that the number of Christian students in schools has reached around 15 percent. He claimed Christian evangelists in recent years have become aggressive in their campaign. They travel to far-flung localities and try to induce innocent villagers to convert.
"We have seen that they target the ethnic communities in the hills and Tharus in the Tarai areas," said Gyawali. "Some years ago, we didn't feel any presence of Christians but these days they have increased greatly."
He believes that the evangelists are capitalizing on the flexibility of the Hindu religion and the weakness of state organs.
According to the Dang Christian Society, the number of Christians in Dang has now crossed 12,000 and the number of churches there has reached 111. There was only one church some 20 years ago.
A survey conducted two months ago showed that Christians have increased by around 5,000 in the last four years.
"Our latest survey shows that there are 12,000 Christians and 111 Churches in the district. The report is yet to include some others," said Shalikram Shahu, chairman of the society.
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Nar Bahadur Shah, who adopted Christianity 37 years ago, led the campaign to spread the religion in the district. "I and my wife and around 10 others from Syangja and Pokhara used to practice Christianity secretly during the Panchayat regime," he recollected.
The restoration of democracy in 1990 brought them some relief. He established the Pratapi Church at Ghorahi, Dang, 18 years ago. This is one of the leading churches among the 100 in Dang at present.
"Now the number of churches as well as Christians is steadily rising," he said. He believes this is all because of the Almighty's blessings.
Similar is the situation in other Mid-Western Region districts including Rolpa, Rukum, Salyan and Pyuthan, which were also the stronghold of the Maoist insurgency until a decade ago.
Shah said that churches in Dang spread mainly thanks to the flexible provisions of the present Interim Constitution and that the region also saw huge transformation after the popular movement of 2005 that changed the regime in the country.
Shah said that most of the people who were struggling to be rid of chronic disease adopt Christianity and then they became well. He said he converted 35 years ago after he became well thanks to Jesus Christ.
Similar are the feelings of Pratima. She said she was injured and could not recuperate. "I felt better immedialy after I started visiting a local church," she added.
The International Nepal Fellowship, which is known to be working in the field of health services, has remained active in promoting Christianity in the district for the last 40 years .
Locals said that INF, which is governed by a board of senior Nepali Christians, is the major organization creating strong grounds for the spread of Christianity in the midwestern region.
Cultural expert Shiva Kumar Subedi of Mahendra Multiple Campus said that Christian evangelists target people who are in financial crisis.
Subedi also believes that that ethnic discrimination and other social ills based on Hindu religion have helped the Christians persuade people to convert.
Kishor Gautam of Nepal Sanskrit University in Dang claimed that religious conversion has been taking place in a planned fashion.
Some locals at Sisaniya said that huge sums of money have been invested to promote Christianity. Local businessmen at Lamahi said Chrisitian organizations have tried to show that the economic status of those who adopt the new religion improved dramatically.
Scholarships for students constitute another attraction for people from poor communities.
Chairman of Samudaik Utthan and Pariwartan Samaj, Jivan Gurung, said they provide scholarships for around 40 students a year.
However, locals also claimed that the evangelists distribute money to students under other schemes as well.
They said around 150 to 200 students are given some Rs 4,000 annually under various schemes with a view to attracting them to Christianity.
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