Manja was freed on Nepal's Republic Day along with 13 others in his prison and 120 from jails around the country. His release was the cause of celebration among Christians in Nepal and was praised by GFA Founder and President K P Yohannan.
"We rejoice that our faithful brother has been released from prison," said Dr Yohannan.
"He was unjustly accused and has spent nearly a decade in jail. But his testimony is a parallel with the testimony of the Apostle Paul. Even in prison, our dear brother was preaching the Gospel and bringing people to Christ.
"Whatever has happened has been used by the Lord to bring even more people to Him."
Manja's saga began one day as he was out sharing the Gospel. As he walked along a river path, he saw a dead body and immediately contacted the police.
An anti-Christian extremist group who had opposed Manja's ministry seized the opportunity to stop his work. They arranged for several false witnesses to testify against him, "framing" him for the murder. Manja was arrested, charged with the crime that he did not commit and beaten to near death.
Even though the widow of the deceased man testified to Manja's innocence, the missionary was sentenced to 20 years in prison. His case was appealed all the way to the Nepali Supreme Court, where, citing the "evidence", it was upheld.
At the time, Nepal was officially a Hindu kingdom, and Christians were routinely and officially persecuted. Under today's secular government, Christians have more legal freedom to worship openly, but Hindu extremists are becoming increasingly militant in opposing other religions. They have attacked individual Christian pastors and have threatened the lives of Christian leaders.
