If you haven’t heard yet………..I’m Fully Funded!! Aahhhhhhh!!! Thank you so much to everyone who has donated and supported me!
For the past 9 days, half of my squad and I were doing ministry in the mountains of Nepal. The other half went to the jungles of Nepal for ministry. For the first couple of days we went to our ministry leader’s parent’s home. Ama and Bua, or mom and dad, welcomed us with open arms and showed us warm and loving hospitality. Although neither of us spoke each other’s language we were able to communicate with smiles and laughter. We met with a couple different churches while we were there and were able to encourage them with prayer, scripture, and worship. Since Nepal is basically all a mountain range that means landslides and earthquakes are very much a reality. Please be praying that church buildings and people’s homes are protected, and that their hearts are encouraged. Nepal is still heavily influenced by Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, and Christians get more push back in the villages.
After that we went to another village in the mountains near Pokhara. Before church on Saturday a bunch of us gals went to a stream to get cleaned off, and it turned out that the lady whose house the stream was at attended the church. She chatted with us for a bit (mostly in Nepali) and then we saw her at church later where she danced to the worship music. She showed so much joy and a deep love for the Lord that was beautiful to see. She was our other Ama.
So much of what I’ve learned from the past week of ministry is that ministry happens all the time. Whenever we would leave for the day we would “put on” the armor of God as a reminder that wherever we go and whatever we do we can be doing ministry. We continued having amad time (an hour each day) to spend with the Lord because if we’re not filled with the Lord then it’s hard to pour out. This is something that my team and I want to continue and make a habit of in our daily lives.
I also learned so much about trust and fear. If you read my blog post after training camp then you’ll know that I’ve struggled a lot with fear in my life. This past week the Lord took me through another breakthrough in my fear. The antidote to fear is trust. If there isn’t complete trust then fear is close at hand. The Lord has been showing me what trust is (and isn’t) and just how much I can trust him.
It’s so weird how a time in one place closes and opens to a new chapter. We have said goodbye to Nepal and saying hello to Vietnam! Please pray for this new month as we journey into the unexpected. Please pray for open doors to conversations and for wisdom because we have to be very careful with what we say in Vietnam.
Keep the faith,
Malia
