WELCOME to a blogging series I have started about Nepal it is called:
Earthquake: extremely loud and incredibly close
I hope that you enjoy each blog about how the earthquake, people of Nepal, Hinduism, and the aftermath of devastation has affected me.
Part Two
Our first week of ministry wasn’t a light one. We came to visit the two “largest” temples of Buddhist and Hindu origin in Asia and the world. I say “largest” lightly because we were told that at nearly every temple that we visited I feel like thus far. We started the day at a Hindu temple. I was kind of excited because I had been to the temples with Sonu before and thought I knew what to expect. Entering the temple area was really strange experience that I can’t begin to entirely describe. Walking up to the temple with ornate carvings of multiple Gods and men with white powdered faces with chakras around their necks, I glanced over to a man laying outside of the temple. Our hosts said to try and not attract too much attention to ourselves but it ends up happening anyways. We start to ask questions about the man sitting outside the temple to the priest using our host. Turns out that man was in a gas fire and the blankets covering him were to keep out the flies that were landing on his freshly burnt body. He removed the blankets to show us but what we saw was horrific. His burns were not taken care of, they were green, yellow amoungst the cracked skin and clearly infected. The sadness in his face was also filled with pain. This man was sitting outside the temple because the hospital would not take him because he didn’t have the money, they shunned him to die. As I write this currently the man is probably no longer on earth because his body when we saw him was septic. After we prayed for him, it was hard just walking away at the injustice of the situation. Having nowhere else to go he is sitting outside the temple waiting to die. We got to the entrance of the temple because we were westerners we weren’t allowed in the temple itself without paying $15. So we talked, walked and prayed surrounding the temple.
Monkeys are playing on top of the roofs and Pigeons are so abundant that in some places in his hard to see the ground. As I look at the pigeons I realize how much I don’t like them. They are so dirty and poop everywhere. It’s a weird sight to see that to these people their holy, sacred place of worship that they welcome such dirty creatures allowing them to poop on their gods. I went to the bathroom and it smelled. It wasn’t just the usual stale pee and backup poop smell but something more. I had found out that near where I was using the restroom was where they burn the bodies. People bring bodies to be burnt in a giant holocaust silo type oven. It was just awful. Kind of like cremation but at the same time it was something more than that, I don’t know how to entirely know how to describe it. One of my teammates John who is Pilipino looked Nepalese so he entered the temple. He said that people were doing animal sacrifices and westerners were paying to take pictures of the priest. There was also a river in the middle of the temple for cleansing. Part of me wishes I could have seen it but the other part is thankful. What a dark and confusing place the inside of the temple must have been. There are idols surrounding the temple. We begin to ask a lot of questions to try and understand the religion better. There is an elephant god that has a man’s body. I think the story goes that his dad cut off his head and then replaced it with an elephant head. There is a little girl god. I heard another story that once a year a little girl is chosen to be the little girl god and to be worshiped as such. Imagine behind your daughter. Going to church and then all of sudden your child is whisked away to be a god for the entire year. It’s a strange concept to me. There are gods that are purple skinned and blue skinned. My most shocking Hindu god experience is when I asked what a cylindrical god was. I feel like that was the most common god that I had seen around and wanna know what I got as my answer. The cylindrical god that these people, including children, worship is a god’s penis. Imagine seeing this for a second. This little pole that sticks of out the ground surrounded by many ornate stone carvings and has the red powdery stuff and flowers that people take and put in their hair is all to worship a penis. I thought I had seen it all ladies and gentlemen. I had felt like I lost any knowledge of my surroundings after hearing that one. Like what in the world is going on?! I was told they call it the god of destruction. Interesting title, I must say. Learning later that the men that walked about with the white powder and chakras holding specters were part of a Hindu religious group that were cannibals. Talking about it later with my friend Christina we took notice of all the things surrounding us and recounting that part of the day. We were looking around and we noticed that each god that we saw that day at some sort of weapon, sexual connotation or snake apart of it. They worship these figures that they themselves construct and then give them weapons. If their billions (really everything can be a god in this religion, including you) needed protection then why are they a god at all? To put into words the things I have experienced, questions that I have and sights I have seen can’t even do what I lived through fairness in this particular moment.
We headed over to the Buddhist temple. Pulling up this was again a tourist attraction. Paying $2.50 to get in to see the temple, we started to walk around. You can’t actually go into the actual temple itself; in fact no one knows what inside the temple because NO ONE has ever been inside the temple. We walked around glancing at all the commercial tourism that was held within the walls surrounding the temple. People who were monks. People who were crawling around like inch worms praying over every inch around the temple. Flags that people prayed to in the hopes that the wind would blow, sending up their prayers to Buddha. There was a mentally disabled woman shirtless with a stark naked baby and locals making a mockery of her. People would point and laugh at her while she is nursing her baby. Thousands of candles burning in an inferno of a room. Lots of priests saying ancient sayings to picture of a human being with an eerie yak horn being sounded to wake up Buddha so he could hear their prayers. Westerners participating as if it were some Disney attraction that they could check off their bucket list. Getting the red dot on their forehead and the yellow prayer flowers to show that they went to the temple and prayed to Buddha. People spinning the cylinders for peace and good fortune. They are constantly spinning. Now, looking at the temple which only, giant pillar was crushed down by the earthquake. It hit me hard, like a truck.
Thinking on that day is kind of hard, I saw people put hope is some dead mortal man and statues that resemble penises. I will say this though. Things I took away from this day are that I could be more dedicated to God. I could pray more often like Muslims do, five times a day every day. I could visit the church and fall on my knees worshiping the true God. I could be so dedicated to my religion. That’s the thing though, Jesus isn’t a religion and he is not held back by that term either. He is a God who loves you and just wants to spend time with you. I was convicted that I hadn’t and don’t spend as much time with my God, our God as much as these people spend praising and fearing statues. We could all learn a lesson from temple day. Hindus and Buddhists live in such close community and it is peaceful. Hindus visit the Buddhist temple to pray to Buddha because he is part of the plethora of gods and Buddhists welcome them openly. They coexist very well. Although they don’t have the same beliefs they treat each other with the utmost respect. As our world faces attacks from a radical Muslim group that many have said to terrorist (which I believe to be so as well because if they followed their religion then they would see that this is not part of their Islamic beliefs just how the Christian radicals acted out in hate not too long ago in history), we could learn what it looks to co-exist. I am no saying their religion and gods are true, I am saying respect is vital in what they believe. I am on a mission. A mission to show them Jesus and the love he pours out. If they don’t accept the truth then at least they were shown true love. Love that doesn’t need performance and ritual blessings, love that doesn’t need food to be left at the altars, love that doesn’t need to live a perfect life, love that doesn’t bring you back to life as an insect and love that isn’t sexualized. Jesus speaks and uses his breath to bring life.
As for the earthquakes, I no longer think it is a natural disaster but a supernatural master. I look around at were the earthquake damage is and it’s at the temples. The earthquakes have hit the spiritually darkest places the hardest. He is knocking down this country to build it back in His name. The ones that follow his are preparing their army to rise up and the house of the Lord will remain forever. Every knee and head shall bow but not because of his might but because of his love.
Continuing Thoughts:
The next day, we went to a home for mentally and physically disabled people that were shunned from the Hindu faith because of their disabilities. It is believed that they will weigh down the family/spouse and the gods won’t bless them so people kick them out in fear of being persecuted by the Hindu gods. This home is a Jesus loving home that welcomes people to live there when they have no place to live. We helped them build there prayer building. Making the bricks out of clay, sand, rocks, cardboard and water. They have tires for windows and homemade bricks held together by cement. When going here and helping the bricks. I thought this won’t withstand the earthquakes. I took my first world mind and “Well in America” attitude and judged the building I was hauling up the sand for. I was stopped in my tracks when the Pastor must have “read my mind” and said to me out of nowhere… “You know, this building as survived many earthquakes.” Right then and there, I was shot to my heart that Jesus is protecting his people and his places of worship in Nepal amoungst the devastation all around and directly NEXT door.
Also the prayer house that we lived in for most of the month was pretty much unaffected from the earthquake as well as the house that the people of this particular ministry live in and the international church of Christ. More and more structures that have his hand in it remain unaffected within the city.
Stay tuned for continued Parts as this was one of my most challenging months. I also am going to try something new and at each blog write prayer requests so you know what you can specifically be praying for! My final blog in this series will capture my trekking experience in the Himalaya mountains.
Please pray for me and what my life holds after the race. Please pray for my family as the holidays come nearer and I am not among them at the dinner table to celebrate. Please pray for my new team Summit as we get to know one another better. Pray for Nepal and the earthquake victims. Pray for the temples and people that go to them. Pray that people in America would open their eyes to Jesus as well as hid themselves of hate. Pray for the world as darkness is trying to overcome it. Pray for the sex trafficking system in Vietnam which is really prevalent where we are living this month. Pray for the tourists that visit Ho Chi Min city. Pray for Cambodia and the children’s home we will be living in.
If you have anything YOU need prayer please email me at allison.anderson. [email protected] as it is extremely important to lift one another up in prayer! I am trying to pursue a better prayer walk with the Lord.
