After a gorgeous hike and a rewarding fire cooked lunch of rice and Dahl, Mira and Dipa took my squadmates Hannah, Aubrey and I to the circus area. The circus is not what you think…it was basically a third world shopping-ish area. There were a few wooden shops with fabric and snacks and then a long area of lean-to structures with people cooking snacks, gambling with carnie type games, and sitting on tarps to sell small trinkets and shampoo. Mira’s mom was a vendor and cooked us some snacks. Before heading back, we were the attraction (because we are white) at a local futbol game on the edge of a cliff. I got to hold a beautiful strangers baby!
futbol game crowd
That night we showed the first Jesus film by generator power using a white sheet, giant speaker and projector we brought from our base “home”. The film was made by a Nepalese church and seemed a lot corny to us, but the people loved the drama and entertainment. By the end I actually teared up thinking about how the village people were so enthralled at the idea of Jesus and his saving grace. I don’t know the impact or how it affected people other than Mira, who leaned over during the movie and said, “I wish I had a Bible”.
Onisa and one granddaughter
The next day I woke up early from a mixture of being too cold to sleep and my body hating to sleep when it could be awake in the mountains of Nepal. I was blessed with breakfast and coffee over the fire. Shortly after, we went to the futbol field again to play some friendly football against the Nepalese. I was fortunate to sit with Hannah beside an old woman named Onisa, her two granddaughters and grandbaby, and Mira. For a long time we held the precious baby (she peed on Hannah because no one uses diapers in villages) and chatted with Onisa about life through hand motions and 13 year old Mira translating small messages. Through the help of our friend Alen, we translated the message of Jesus Christ and His hope for us. She revealed to us that she could not accept it because she feared her husband’s anger because they follow Hinduism. She refused prayer in fear that he might see. Hannah and I sure prayed for her silently and are still praying that she fears God more than man and can begin to pray for her husband! These people are precious.
L to R: Mira, me, Hannah, peeing precious baby, child, Onisa
Mira asked me to come and visit her home and family multiple times. “It’s only a 45 minute walk away”, she would say. I would have gone in an instant, but we had obligations in ministry and projects and we weren’t supposed to be away from home base after dark. On This particular day, our project was cleaning trash from the one dirt road through the village and mountainside, or so I thought… We walked about an hour and came to a small straw and mud house. Mira came around the corner and I was so surprised, this was her cousins’ home! The family was one of the three that were Christians in the entire area. As blessed as we are, we got to sit and encourage them in their faith over cups of tea! We left that home and hiked like a mountain goat up the side of the mountain with no trail and a beautiful, but scary view down below. After 45 minutes, we got to an even smaller mud hut house, all alone, on the side of the mountain. This family was one of the three Christian families in the village also. The husband had begun trekking down with wood in a basket on his head/back to sell in the circus area, so we just missed him. It was hard to carry myself on the paths, let alone doing it to survive! They are the Rie cast in Nepal, which means they are Mongolian (mountain dwellers). We were able to encourage the wife who had accepted Christ after a travelling pastor shared about Jesus and began praying for them. She shared that she and her husband both had awful lung problems, but over time, they became completely healed and praised the one God for it… Being illiterate they trusted by FAITH! Awesome!
Mongolian mountain home
On the way back home we walked past Mira’s “school” and stopped by her home. It was a blessing to see it after all!
Mira's school
Another Jesus film and then we the day came to leave. I found out we had brought some Nepalese Bibles and bought one for Mira. Hannah and I highlighted our favorite books and prayed that the Words capture her heart!
