Nepal….
Ahhhh….nepal.
Even saying the word is like a breathe of fresh air. I love Asia- absolutely love it! I feel more alive in this region of the world than in the other places we have been.
We are entering month 8 of the race, and with it the feeling of new beginnings.
At the end of Africa, teams changed due to three more people leaving the race. I am now leading a new team of girls who are full of joy and radiate the light of Christ! I’ll tell you more about them in another blog.
With this team, I feel that spirit of newness. I don’t feel the heaviness that has been constant over the last 7 months. I don’t feel the constant struggle and battle. I feel light. I feel different. I feel ready for something….
Our time in Nepal has been incredibly awesome..and it’s only week one! Our contact is this little nepalese man with a huge smile and contagious laugh. His family has become our home away from home. We call them mom and dad, they call us daughters. The son is this energetic 19 yr. old that walks around the house busting out a song or some sother strange sound. He could be a comedian. There is plenty of laughter in this home!
Nepal is stunning! We are surrounded by mountains everywhere we look, and the weather gets quite chilly here- which is a relief after that hot African sun.
So far, we have had quite the adventure! We have passed out tracks, which ended up being more like a game and was so funny, we ‘brought a song’ at church, we hung out with these incredible street girls in the tourist area of town, we have cleaned up trash from around the church, and we have hiked….and hiked some more.
One of those hikes was a visit to a buddhist monastery. It was a beautiful, hilarious hike. At one point, we came across a controlled brush fire. Megh, our contact, said, “oh! uh…okay. Run through it.” We were like…seriously? Okay! So we ran through fire…all to tell the monks about Jesus!!! We finally made it up to the monastery, and we got to talk with the head lama. He had never heard of Jesus, so Leslie told him the gospel, and Carmen gave him his first Bible. It was such a cool moment- taking the gospel to an unreached place- and running through fire doing it!
Our second hike was more of a fit test! We were already sore from the first hike and from the Insanity workout we did. Our contact said it wouldn’t be so challenging, so we weren’t concerned. Epic Fail! We hiked straight up for two and a half hours- sweating and breathing as if we were running a marathon. I quoted scripture the majority of the way up just so I could make it! haha. The worst part? Having nepalese teenagers in flats and heels out-hike us…yeah…oh and the group stopping 7k’s before the top- so no good view to make the hike worth it..lol. 🙁
‘m so excited for what the next two weeks hold. I’m excited for a month of rest and refilling. I’m excited to be with this new group of women. And I’m ready for more!
P.S.
Pics coming soon!!!
