Some of you know that I LOVE lists. This is a bit longer than I thought it would be, but I think it summarizes my first month well.
11 people I worked with:
This month Team Aperture worked with Golden Arrows, creating Golden Aperture. I enjoyed the month with
And Golden Arrows:
I encourage you (if you have time) to read a blog or two of theirs to gain a different perspective on our month in Nepal.
11 Things I ate:
- Rice (white or fried-ish)
- Beans (usually with rice)
- Oatmeal
- Nepali tea
- Momos!!! – when you are in Nepal you HAVE to have these. They are similar to pot stickers. Veggie is best
- Chicken (all parts, I got good at finding white meat)
- Crepes (they call them pancakes and we had them at dinner
- Chow chow – really just ramen noodles
- French toast
- Buffalo meat
- Jack and Jill – similar to Nutella but better
11 Things I did:
- Prayed: our days were filled with prayer and intercession.
- Hike. I hiked a mountain. They call them foothills, but I feel it was a mountain. It took a while, it was hard, it was hot, and there wasn’t much of a path at one point, but the view was totally worth it.
- Seminar. Our teams put on a 3 day seminar on the Great Commission. After the third day, we went to do evangelism/pray for the area.
- House fellowship. House fellowship was a twice a day thing for our teams. We would hike to a home, songs were sung in Nepalese, sometimes an English song or two, someone would share his/her testimony, someone would share an encouragement or message, and then we prayed. Some were just one or two people and other times there was not room for everyone who came, even with people sitting on laps and standing. The hosts were always wonderful and we usually had cookies and a drink after.
- I gave my testimony. Someday, I will share my story, but not today. Just know I don’t like to speak and this was a HUGE step for me.
- Children’s Ministry. Our group did children’s ministry where we prepared a game and a message. Our group decided to play sharks and minnows, which basically was the kids just running around crazy and falling in puddles. (If you have read my previous blogs, you know it rains often.) Sarah then did an awesome job of sharing about David and Goliath.
- Youth. Our group also got to do some youth ministry. There were about 25-30 ish people there from 12 -22. We worshipped together, laughed, Courtney shared about love and we had a great time.
- Intercession. Like I have said before prayer was a major part of our day. We did intercession at a few Hindu temples, just praying for those who were coming to pray to false gods, for chains to broken and a way to share God’s love. Some of my team even got to pray for healing for a man at a temple.
- Thamel. Thamel is a huge tourist attraction in Nepal. It is still part of the larger Kathmandu area. There are several stores (they are run out of garages), they stack on top of each other and there are people everywhere. We were able to get good deals on some souvenirs, find coffee (Himalayan Java), Wi-Fi, and I had the BEST burger at Revolution Café.
- KISC. Two of the other teams on G-squad stayed close to us and invited us to the international church with them. It was wonderful to sing English songs, understand the whole service and fellowship with our brothers and sisters.
- Handmade outfits. The girls had Punjabis made by a woman named Renu. These are traditional Nepali/Indian outfits that consist of MC Hammer or Jasmine-ish pants, a long tunic shirt-dress, and a scarf. Renu made 10 of these in a week. They were beautiful. She did it all on an old sewing machine that was powered by her feet.
11 Things I learned:
- There is ALWAYS room for one more on the micro–van. A micro-van i roughly a 12-14 passenger van that took us from place to place. Our record was 32 people on one.
- God’s joy and light shines so brightly in Nepal. It was always great to greet a fellow Christian because they had so much joy.
- There are many shades of green! Nepal was covered in green from the trees on the ‘foothills’ to the green of the rice paddies growing all around us to the corn they grow as well.
- I learned how to depend on others.
- And accept their help. I was sick for about a week. A few days I didn’t want to be too far from a toilet followed by a day or two of no energy from not eating. My team did a wonderful job of looking out for me, filling my water bottle, finding ‘saltines’ and sprite and just being there with me.
- As I mentioned earlier, we did a 3 day seminar. The seminar was 3 hours each day, our teams really came together to plan each days’ topics for 3 hours and all the speakers were good.
- People from very different backgrounds can make an EPIC team. I am grateful to be on Aperture, everyone is different but we all complement one another well and are able to work well together.
- Prayer is POWERFUL and the Nepali people are pros.
- How to climb a mountain (see above.)
- It really can be up-hill both ways. Sorry to those I ever doubted, even when they were joking – Granddad.
- Monsoon season is real, and it will rain buckets on you at any time. ALWAYS be prepared with a rain jacket or umbrella!
I apologize for such a long post. I greatly enjoyed my time in Nepal. I was able to experience a different culture and learn about myself as well as others. Our next month will be in the Hyderabad, India. I appreciate the prayers that continue for me, my team and squad. India is a very diverse culture and there will be many opportunities for us to share God’s love.
I hope to post pictures of Nepal soon. I have currently misplaced my cords….so until next time.
All my love,
Kelsey
