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Unreached Peoples: The Khampa Nomads of the Himalayas
Paul Hattaway

Paul Hattaway (birth year unknown–present). Born in New Zealand, Paul Hattaway is a Christian missionary, author, and founder of Asia Harvest, a ministry dedicated to equipping Asian churches to reach unreached people groups. Leaving home at 16, he faced homelessness in Australia, sleeping on a public bathroom roof, until a factory worker’s witness led him to faith. In 1988, he arrived in Hong Kong with $50, a backpack, and a call to serve China, smuggling hundreds of Bibles across the border. Founding Asia Harvest in the early 1990s, he has supported over 1,500 indigenous missionaries, provided over 20 million Bibles in 140 Asian languages, and aided persecuted believers through funds like the Asian Workers’ Fund and Persecution & Relief Fund. His preaching, rooted in personal testimonies of God’s provision, inspires global audiences at conferences and churches. Hattaway authored books like An Asian Harvest (2017), The Heavenly Man (2002, about Brother Yun), and Operation China (2000), documenting revival and unreached tribes. Married, though family details are private, he operates from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with offices in Australia, the UK, Germany, and Malaysia. He said, “God’s call is not to comfort but to obedience, no matter the cost.”
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This sermon focuses on the challenges of reaching the Kampa nomads in Ladakh, highlighting their nomadic lifestyle, dependence on pashmina goats, struggles with health due to limited resources, and their strong adherence to Buddhism which has hindered previous attempts to share the gospel with them. It emphasizes the need for prayer and the hope for spiritual transformation in this hidden and isolated community.
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To reach the land of the Kampa nomads, the third unreached group in Ladakh, you must go over very high mountain passes, along dangerous cliffs and deep into the desert. Ladakh has many names, moon land, red land, land of the wind, cold desert, but the name Ladakh originally means land of the high mountain passes. Ladakh is home to two of the world's highest mountain passes. You must go over one of these passes to reach the Kampa nomads. In this dry landscape the nomads look for the little bit of grazing they can find for their pashmina goats and yaks. Quite often this means moving around a lot when the grazing becomes too little. Stone enclosures are built to protect the animals from wolves at night. The life and the wealth of the Kampa nomads is in their pashmina goats. They rely on them for their whole existence, as well as for food. Because they move around so much, the nomads live in tents made of yak hair, even in winter temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius. The Kampa nomads are in the stranglehold of Buddhism. At the moment 100 percent of these nomads worship Buddha. All previous attempts to reach them with the gospel have fallen on deaf ears. In every tent you find a Buddhist altar where daily offerings are made to Buddha. The Kampa nomads are completely self-supporting, but because they don't eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, and because of the difficult living conditions, they often have many health problems and grow old quite quickly. Salty butter tea and goat's cheese form part of the basic food they eat every day. There isn't much rain, so the Kampa nomads completely depend upon the water, melting off the glaciers in small streams during the summer months. This water is very scarce, so it is used only for the most essential things, for example to drink or to make food with. As a result, personal hygiene is ignored. The Kampa nomads are soft, friendly, welcoming people living in the hard, unfriendly world. The land of the Kampa nomads is hidden and lonely, but they are also hidden from the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us pray that streams of living water will turn the desert of Ladakh into a land of true spiritual life.
Unreached Peoples: The Khampa Nomads of the Himalayas
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Paul Hattaway (birth year unknown–present). Born in New Zealand, Paul Hattaway is a Christian missionary, author, and founder of Asia Harvest, a ministry dedicated to equipping Asian churches to reach unreached people groups. Leaving home at 16, he faced homelessness in Australia, sleeping on a public bathroom roof, until a factory worker’s witness led him to faith. In 1988, he arrived in Hong Kong with $50, a backpack, and a call to serve China, smuggling hundreds of Bibles across the border. Founding Asia Harvest in the early 1990s, he has supported over 1,500 indigenous missionaries, provided over 20 million Bibles in 140 Asian languages, and aided persecuted believers through funds like the Asian Workers’ Fund and Persecution & Relief Fund. His preaching, rooted in personal testimonies of God’s provision, inspires global audiences at conferences and churches. Hattaway authored books like An Asian Harvest (2017), The Heavenly Man (2002, about Brother Yun), and Operation China (2000), documenting revival and unreached tribes. Married, though family details are private, he operates from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with offices in Australia, the UK, Germany, and Malaysia. He said, “God’s call is not to comfort but to obedience, no matter the cost.”