Early Life

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He was born in Dagapela, Bhutan, on September 1, 1974. He was only four years old when his mother passed away. His uncle, a retired police officer, took him to Gelephu (Gaylegphug). He started his early school at Lodrai Community Primary School (a newly opened school) in 1982. ​He became homesick from being away from home, so he went back to Dagapela and enrolled in Goshi Junior High School.

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Life in Refugee Camp

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He fled Bhutan when he was 17 and started living as a refugee in Nepal with the other 90,000 Bhutanese refugees from the same country. In the refugee camp, he obtained his School Leaving Certificate, after which he enrolled in Tribhuvan University. Shortly after finishing the intermediate of arts (I.A), he began the bachelor of arts in sociology. He socially contributed a lot to the Bhutanese refugees through the "Bihanee Club of Bhutan," a well-known club he founded in the refugee camp. In 1996, when he was 22 years old, he became the founding President of "Kirat Rai Yayokkha Bhutan" in exile. For more than two years, he also worked as a volunteer teacher in the refugee school supported by Caritas Nepal, the implementing partner of the UNHCR for formal education. But, he gave up his secular studies and went to India, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Theology in 2008. In the same year, he was ordained as Pastor and served two years at the local church called "Bhutanese Refugee Christian Church" (BRCC) in the camp.

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Resettlement, Church Planting, and Community Work

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On July 13, 2010, Surendra Rai and his entire family resettled in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

Surendra Rai made a vision to plant a church among the Nepalese-speaking Bhutanese community in Quebec City because he saw that the language barrier was preventing members of his own family and his community from growing spiritually. From October 3, 2010, he began to hold a Sunday fellowship with his four family members in a room in their apartment. They continued to pray and fast. God began to add new souls to their numbers. By the end of 2011, more than sixty people were gathering in their Sunday Fellowship. Gradually it needed to find a larger space for the growing attendees because the congregation had outgrown his living room. On July 28, 2012, Pastor Surendra Rai moved the Sunday Fellowship out of his apartment to a new place of worship. The congregation officially got registered under the name called "Bhutanese-Nepali Christian Church of Canada." Then he appointed a new pastor in the church, and he moved to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, with his family on July 31, 2012.

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He significantly helped establish the "Bhutanese Community in Quebec City" while he was in Quebec City. In September 2010, he became the administrative secretary of the Bhutanese community in Quebec City. Then in July 2011, he was nominated as president in recognition of his outstanding commitment to the community.

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Church and Community Work in Ottawa

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When he arrived in Ottawa, he again did not find a local community church that offered services in Nepalese, just as in Quebec City. He began hosting Sunday Fellowship at his townhouse once more, this time with his family and four additional attendees (three of whom had moved from Quebec City earlier). Today, he leads the church with over 57 Nepali-speaking families. The congregation officially got registered under the name called "Alpha Bhutanese-Nepali Church of Canada."

He also played a significant role in the establishment of the Ottawa-based "Canadian Bhutanese Association."