Monday May 11, 2015 P Squad loaded up two buses around noon to go on this awaited journey to one of the hardest hit villages by the 7.8 earthquake that shook Nepal on April 25, 2015. We had prepared ourselves for the 3-hour bus ride up through the mountains to a village region called Sindhupalchowk. On the way up, hearts were being prepared and some broken by the view of the damage, as it got worse on the up. What was supposed to be 3 hours, turned into 5 due to bathroom breaks and a tire situation. We finally arrived around 5 p.m. We hiked down hill for about 30 minutes passing by even more destruction and questions from the locals as to why we were going down there. Well, we were going down to help rebuild a church that had crumbled. As we arrived on site, the squad knew we were going to be doing work the next day so we set up camp, at some peanut butter and jellies and had scattered team times on the leveled terraces of the Mountains. Rain started to fall so we climbed in our tents to go to bed. As I sit there finishing telling my testimony to my team the earth tremors. All of us look at each other slightly confused and the question “did you feel that?” was asked, as I though it was just my teammate getting a shiver on my sleeping pad. Well, I was wrong. It was a very small after shock, but the first one I had ever felt. A couple more continued, small, but they continued. I laid my head on my pillow for bed and had trouble going to sleep now that I had experienced an itty, itty, bit of what this country had just experienced. As the rain began to fall harder and the wind began to blow and I was feeling as if the earth was still shaking even though it wasn’t. I began to instill fear in myself and all I could thing was “ there is going to be a mudslide on the edge of this terrace where all the tents are”, “there is going to be an earthquake while I am sleeping”, “there are tigers out there” so, I grabbed my music and stuck my worship music in my ears and prayed myself to sleep.
The next morning, Tuesday May 12, we all woke up as the sun began to rise over the mountains. In the distance you could see bright, yet faint, snow capped Himalayas. In that moment, I thanked Jesus. Thank you God for such and amazing creation and for showing me that you are way bigger than I could ever imagine. It was about 6:30 a.m. now and my tent buddy, Jennie and I decided to go back to sleep until 8:30 when we would begin our ministry. 8:30 rolled around and the squad started an assembly line of handing rocks from one person to the other creating a wall and eventually, just a pile of rocks. The Nepali’s told us to take a break for lunch. We all went and sat on the edge of the terrace and were just hanging out together until it was our turn to go get our plate of rice, lentils, and doll fry. After we finished eating, Pastor Noel told us to take a break for the afternoon because it would get very hot, so, we did. Some of the squad went back to sitting on the edge of the terraces and some in hammocks and some just roaming around the general area. It was around noon and as we sat there talking, I heard a rumble, not that of a car or of lightening but something so district that it doesn’t even have a description. The next thing I know, I hear my squad leader Dustin Mick yelling “ everyone get down, sit down!” It was if bombs were being dropped and we needed to duck and cover due to war. War it was not, I look up, grab my teammate Chelsea, and it looks as if I have the bass all the way up in my car and I am looking in the rear view mirror and the road is vibrating, but this time, it was the earth. The earth was shaking. The earth was really shaking. This was actually happening, this was an earthquake (a 7.3 earthquake). I looked up and dust clouds had formed below me, I saw a house crumble 3 terraces down and I heard screams in the distance. In that moment, this was not real, the memory is faint yet very much alive. One of my squad mates grabbed hold of my hand and started praying, everyone started praying. The next few minutes were going to be some of the most important minutes.
