Staff
Jyoti Bhattarai
- jyoti.bhattarai@wordmadeflesh.org
- Country
- Nepal
Jyoti's childhood was far from easy, but it is a story of God's grace. Jyoti's mother, Sabitra, had several strikes against her; her husband abandoned the family, she contracted leprosy and she became a follower of Christ in the Hindu Kingdom of Nepal where Christians are at best tolerated with suspicion. After Jyoti's father left, she and her mother were taken in by a Hindu ashram (a community home for the destitute). There Jyoti made friends and excelled in school. Both Jyoti and her mother saw many friends and classmates come to believe in Jesus, much to the disgust of the ashram's administration, which had forbidden them to speak of Jesus. Despite the threats, Jyoti and her mother continued to courageously witness for Christ. Upon graduating from high school, Jyoti went on for further schooling and is presently pursuing a master's degree in botany at a university in Nepal. In 1998 Jyoti married a Christian evangelist named Shiva Hari.
Before joining WMF to serve as the director of Prem Ghar, Home of Love, WMF Nepal's home for elderly women, Jyoti was a teacher to children whose parents have leprosy at a leprosy rehabilitation center. For the last several years, the WMF Nepal community has had the honor of living and working alongside Jyoti and Shiva Hari, who both serve on the board of directors for WMF Nepal. They have four children, three daughters and one son. Jyoti, given her particular background, devotion to the Lord, and heart for ministry among the poor, has been a blessing personally to the WMF staff living in Nepal, to the greater WMF community, and to the elderly living in the home.