Brrrrrrr.
Nepal is C-O-L-D. I currently have every article of clothing that I own…on my body. World Race warmth and fashion cannot co-exist.
　
　
My team and I spent the month in a small farming village in Southern Nepal. When we arrived we didn't see the sun for a solid three days because of extremely thick fog. Neysa, Lydia and I seriously contemplated piling into one tent and squeezing into one sleeping bag to prevent frostbite. But thankfully day four brought the excellent surprise of sunshine…and then it went away again. The biggest benefit to being cold is not sweating. And if you don't sweat then you don't have to shower. And when it is 19 degrees outside….you do NOT want to shower. ( My shower tally for the month is III…yes that is 3). But thank goodness for baby wipes and teammates who do smell checks to inform me if I smell bad. Still fresh. 🙂
　
　
　
　
　
The first day of ministry we got this on a slip of paper from our contact:
"Parmesor le tapailai prem garnuhunchha."
Then our contact pronounced it for us. I thought it was a sneeze so I was like God Bless you. And he was like no, although that's close. It actually means "God Loves You." (That story may be slightly enhanced for humor. Haha) But for real the Nepali language is HARD.
　
　
Our ministry this month consisted of walking. Lots of walking. I believe that our kilometer count was just over 160km. This meant that we were able to see the beautiful Nepal countryside. On one occasion we also ventured through the Nepali jungle. Gorgeous.
We came across lots of children this month. Tiny tots with lots of eyeliner. Some with pants. Some without. During a prayer meeting, one little boy found a home for his naked bum in one of my shoes and his two muddy feet in my other shoe. Good times.
　
　
Our main goal this month was to encourage believers in many different villages across southern Nepal. I am pretty sure that our pastor's other goal was to see how many cups of tea that we could possibly drink in one day. One day I had 7 cups of tea on the road. Some good, some…not so much… black pepper and salt in tea, who does that?!
In some areas that we visited there were only two or three believers in the entire village. Only two or three. One woman that we met had lost everything because of her decision to follow Christ. When her Hindu husband discovered that she had become a Christian, he burned her bible, moved away from her and their children, and married another woman. To see how passionate she was about Jesus in the midst of pain and abandonment was incredibly humbling.
Our pastor's story was also eye opening. He had come from the Hindu "high cast." When he decided to follow Christ, he became "untouchable." For years his father disowned him and wouldn't allow him into his home. But amen that we serve a God that redeems brokenness. Although our pastor's father is not yet a believer, his heart has been softened. We visited his father's home and were all welcomed in for a cup of tea. God is good.
When we spent time with our Nepali brothers and sisters we sang, prayed, and gave small sermons. I know that our job was to be encouraging these believers, but I couldn't help to be encouraged and inspired by their courage and devotion to live out the Gospel. They were willing to risk everything for Christ. I forget how easy that I have it in America sometimes and how cheaply that I treat the sacrifice of Jesus and the gift of grace. I have learned that sometimes our obedience to God may cause pain for ourselves or for those that we love, but we have to be willing to trust that God is enough. And if we are obedient, He is faithful.
(This picture may or may not be borrowed from National Geographic. Our team just didn't quite have the picture I needed to convey my water buffalo yoke message. But we did see stuff like this on a daily basis. Fo Sho.)
I have read the verse countless times that calls us to take on the yoke of Christ. That it is easy and that His burden is light. But this verse actually came alive for me one day on our walk to a village. When a water buffalo takes on the yoke of it's master, it actually bends down on its knees and puts the yoke on itself. The yoke must be picked up, it is not placed on the water buffalo by it's master. It is the exact same with us. We must get on our knees and pick up the yoke of Christ, He is not going to force it upon us.
　
　
　
　
Basically Nepal has been AWESOME!!
　
On our days off this month we had some epic adventures. First day off, our team did an elephant safari through the Nepali jungle. It was so legit!
　
　
　
　
　
On our second day off Lydia, Neysa and I had Nepali outfits tailor made for us. Adam did a photo shoot for us…check out his sweet photographer skills.
　
　
　
　
This month my team and I were blessed by a host family that welcomed us in with open arms, we felt so loved. We were part of an awesome church. We did "Tooty Tot" countless times, a real crowd-pleaser for children and grown adults alike. We cleaned up trash in an outdoor market for hours. We ate sour milk curds at a random Hindu wedding…off of leaf plates….in order to have a chance to pray for them. We learned to dance without moving our hips at all to avoid offending anyone. We survived midnight rat attacks. Us girls did lice checks every evening after realizing that almost every child we had come into contact with this month had the terrifying parasite (as of last night, still lice free). Praise the Lord! 🙂 We cuddled with two adorable puppies every morning while we read our bibles and sipped our coffee. We had an amazing going away party with all of our Nepali friends. We preached. We sang. We prayed.
We left our ministry site with tears in our eyes because of how much we loved our month.
Jesus is doing a mighty work in the heart of the church, His bride, here in Nepal. It was humbling to feel a little bit like we could have been chillin' with Paul in Nepal. I am so blessed to have been able to witness and take part in God's love for this country and to encourage His Nepali children.
　
　
Please pray for our squad as we get ready to head to India on February 1st! I love and miss you all!
<3 Cassie
　
