Something unique about trekking in the Annapurna mountains is technically you don’t need much gear. I have heard the infamous Annapurna 21 day circuit can be accomplished without needing a tent! All throughout the national park there is local villages that have hostels – some are FREE, they just want you to eat at their restaurant. I am sure if you wanted to “rough” it; you can carry the extra gear needed to sleep and eat then you could do that as well. But most people don’t rough it, in fact a vast majority of people hire “potters” to carry their gear. I guess you can say out here, you can embrace as much or as little adventure as you desire.
I am a minimalist at heart; live by the mottos “less is more” and “when in doubt, give it out.” When packing for the trek I choose to bring a sleeping bag, one extra shirt, one extra pair of pants, jacket and a beanie. If am going to traverse mountains, I don’t want to be weigh downed.
Plans changed….off to different non-tourist villages. Places that don’t have hostels, and amenities that comes along with develop trekking villages. Immediately what came to mind was Luke 10:1-12!
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
5 “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
8 “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
I know I didn’t truly match the description because I did have a bag, and other possessions on me; but the people we went with did and the people we found certainly did as well! By far this new trek is the closest thing I have ever experienced to Luke 10.
Then we were off to remote villages via a jeep that had a decent size cab and a small covered bed. My seat ended up being in the bed of the jeep on one of the two small benches that ran along the side of the jeep bed. The only slight problem was being too tall, I couldn’t sit up without hitting my head on the roof. Add on top of that 7 other people, and bags and my personal space shrunk to the size of my fetal position. Literally wedged between the jeep and a person, legs curled back under the bench, and my head hovering a couple inches over my knees as I held on. We spent over 3 hours on a dirt rocky mountain road to get to the villages. To some degree I felt like I was being smuggled into some remote place, because there wasn’t any real good windows to look out of and see what was happening around us. Hands down, the most un-comfortable travel experience on the race.
During this jeep ride we met a man; who happened to be a pastor, who happened to be going back out to his village after picking up a box of Bibles. What a blessing! Just on the ride out their we found a man, who happened to live near the village we were trying to go to and willing to take us in for the night! Praise God, He is preparing our way! This pastor is incredible man of God, full of compassion, conviction, and calling to go and spread the Gospel! Blessed that he came with us for the rest of our journey.
After our first night on the road, and doing our program – showed the Jesus film, preached the Gospel, and prayed for people! It was after 9pm, a family graciously made us the Nepali traditional village meal of endless: rice, dal baati, and greens. We started our walk back to the pastor church we met earlier in the day, and blessed to stay at his church! Granit we slept on a gravel floor, shoulder to shoulder, but never felt so appreciative of a place to sleep! At that point in the night, I was exhausted and anything would of felt like a pillow-top mattress.
That is pretty much how logistically the entire trip went. Every morning we woke up with the need of food and a place to sleep that night; and in God’s timing it was provided. We ate the Nepali meal twice a day around 10am and 9pm. Spent our mornings in God’s word, worship, and fellowship before heading out in the early afternoon for the next village. Once in a new village, we searched for a place to do our program. Then it was off to sharing the word; going house to house, local school, and stores, informing everyone to come! Even broadcasted the news over our speaker so everyone could hear the good news!
Some point during our outreach portion of the day; someone would offer us a place to stay for the night, and a meal. Incredible to go into these remote communities and finding someone willing to invite us into their life. At this point in the trip our group grew to 8 people, so it was no small gesture. Remember these are Hindu communities, and they were open to accept Christians not only into their town to talk about Jesus but into their homes! So one night we slept on someone’s front porch, then another night was spent in an upper mud room. Every time I was grateful to not of been sleeping in the street!
I just love how God prepares the way! This “final trek” has further instilled in me the faithfulness God shows in the everyday life; providing for His children! Stay tuned because there is more to come from this life changing experience!
