Nepal, how I have been looking forward to month seven! I was thrilled to be back in Kathmandu and hoping to be able to see my team and squamates fall in love with this beautiful country.
The first couple of weeks we were here were spent visiting slums, sharing English, and many prayer walks.
This last week was a week we were all anxious for. We would be trekking! Our team was told that we would be heading to a village and ministering to a people group that works with the elephants. What actually happened was a little different, good none the less. More on that later.
We arrived at our host church around lunch time on Tuesday of last week. We were warmly greeted and set down to a meal of rice, chicken, mango & Mt. Dew. The Pastor there is an incredibly kind man and his family is adorable. We were well loved and blessed beyond measure.
We were taken to the river to swim/bathe. Every day we went on hikes anywhere from 1/2 hour to 1 1/2 hour to either believers’ homes or a church to share a message and our testimonies. Everyone we came into contact with was so sweet, genuine and generous.
One afternoon sticks out in my mind. We had hiked for a while, maybe an hour, in the rain, some of us in dresses or skirts when we finally arrived at a tiny little church. When we got there we were quickly ushered into the pastor’s home. They had lunch prepared for us. It was delicious. We headed into the church building where a number of women had already gathered. There was worship music and a message given by one of the ladies. A few ladies had prepared songs or dances to perform. It was our turn. I wasn’t one of our team who spoke that day. I just got to sit back and watch it all unfold. I was/am so proud of how our team stepped up to the plate. Some of us don’t feel our natural giftings are in public speaking but we all did it anyway.
After the program had finished we were asked to pray for anyone who may have a prayer request and one by one people began to make a little circle in front of us. Our translator could barely keep up. Many had pain in their bodies, fevers as well. Overwhelmingly, the request was to pray for their families to be saved. This happened everywhere we prayed for people. How often to we forget to pray for that in our own lives, for our families or loved ones to be saved? It was quite convicting.
After praying we were served Mt. Dew because the pastor feared (probably with good reason) the water they had made Tang with wouldn’t be safe for us to drink. Our team and translator sat in a little circle and drank our Mt. Dew. I noticed that our host was visiting with an older gentlemen who appeared to be Hindu as he had tika marks on his forehead. I hadn’t seen him come in. I wondered what would make him come to a Christian gathering, particularly one geared towards women (there were a handful of men there). I didn’t want to interrupt their conversation and honestly didn’t know the cultural guidelines about a woman approaching a Hindu man so I continued to sit with our team.
He came to us! I asked our translator what this man’s title was, I hadn’t seen the markings on his forehead before. He said him to be a Hindu priest. I asked if it would be alright for me to talk with him and our translator agreed it would be fine.
I asked him how he was doing. Easy opening line. He laughed a hearty laugh with twinkling eyes, a mouth showing a few less teeth than years before and a stunning face with several smile lines. “I’m 84 years old, how do you think I’m doing?” Was his response. I knew we would be fine from there on.
We visited for several minutes. He was perplexed that a woman of my age would be unmarried, without children…I get it (this is usually the response upon hearing my age). We discussed his family. He and his wife have 9 children and 22 grand children. One of his daughters is my age with two kids so naturally I should be in the same boat. He was incredibly excited to have foreign visitors in Nepal, not to mention his tiny village. He explained he and the pastor of this church were friends and neighbors. When I asked our host about this later he likened their relationship to that of twins.
This was the day I sat on the floor of a church in a tiny village in Nepal. This was the day I visited with a Hindu Priest and later met his wife wearing a rain jacket and compression shorts (oops!). This was a day I was grateful for love between religions. This was unexpected! I know I am blessed and privileged to live the life I am living. I am so grateful for all of your support and love up to and throughout this journey. Thank you!
Side note
I currently have people at home, a Hindu Preist, an Iman who is currently living in India, a Pastor in a village in Nepal, our translator for our time in Nepal and friends from refugee camp in Greece praying for a handsome husband for me. I appreciate all of the concern, I believe God has this under control.
Updates
We have 7 squamates still working on fundraising, they are sooooo close! Please pray for these funds to come in and if you feel led to contribute a you can click on any of these blog links to do so. I can’t wait to celebrate with them when they are fully funded!
Www.ryanstephens.theworldrace.org www.seanfalconer.theworldrace.org www.alexkeeley.theworldrace.org www.alexisleon.theworldrace.org www.talialinde.theworldrace.org www.mikeward.theworldrace.org www.pamelachristian.theworldrace.org
I am still working on trying to get the furnace at home replaced before winter sets in. If you are able to help out in anyway, feel free to email me at [email protected] or you may contribute at www.gofundme/atworldrace.com
