A common theme we continue to encounter in every third world country is the unstable or corrupt politics that run the country. Here in Nepal, we have found it to be no different. The instability has been even more noticeable for us as we have been directly impacted in several different ways. Often times groups such as the Maoists in the country are unhappy with the constitution or the government and hold strikes until their demands are met. When this happens, all transportation is shut down. If people try to drive during these times, they often face mobs of people trying to break their windows, throwing petrol bombs, or deflating their tires. This has happened twice during our time in the country and we have learned that it is a fairly common experience. One of the teams heading back into Kathmandu got stuck in the city because of the strikes and had to walk with their bags for close to 2 miles until we could get them on a bus outside of the city.
Another crazy fact we discovered is that the village we were in is known to be a center of the Maoist and terrorist groups. When we probed further, we found out that all of our neighbors are Maoists. The missionaries we partnered with have faced some troubles with these groups in the past, as they were told that they should not share the gospel at all or there would be consequences. Thankfully, God has really protected them and allowed them to continue to do their work there. In some ways, our team has dealt with some frustrations regarding the limitations on who or how we could minister in the village, but we recognize how dangerous it could be for our contacts if their relationship with the villagers turned sour.
Though we have felt completely safe this entire time and usually foreigners are exempt from the dangers, it has been quite the experience being in the middle and seeing a lot of this happen. It is sad to see how difficult it would be for a county like Nepal to truly get on its feet without a solid government. For us, thankfully the strikes are off right now, but they could flare up again at any moment. If the roads our blocked, our current escape plan as of now to get to the airport on the 26th is to use an ambulance. Hopefully it won’t come to that.
