Earlier this week the U squad arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal for our month four debrief. Debriefs are placed at strategic points during the 11 months to give us a little bit of a break from the hectic life of the World Race. They last a few days and are filled with group sessions, mentorship from our squad coaches, and of course some time to explore.
On our second night we were all up in the rooftop yoga studio of our hostel, worshiping together. This hostel attracts tourists from all over the world, and the place itself is overtly Buddhist, so these two things led to our time on the roof being quite a spectacle.
It started out normal enough – singing, prayer, music, and anything else you’d expect of corporate worship, but then Lexi stood up to encourage the entire squad to be bold. As vibrant as Kathmandu is, it’s a dark place. Hinduism and Buddhism are the religions of choice, and countless people devote themselves to false gods and humanistic ideas of inner peace. Lexi asked us to unashamedly shout the name of Jesus from the rooftops and sing at the top of our lungs, and after that many of us turned around to face the city instead of the worship leader.
I was feeling particularly inspired and soon found myself standing on a cement flowerbed singing “Great are you Lord” so loudly my voice cracked, but then I saw something that made me stop singing. A small crowd had gathered four floors below – about ten or so hostel guests – and a few of them were watching us. One particular man caught my eye.
Then I decided to do something a little ridiculous. I left the yoga studio and headed towards the stairs, deciding that I was going to talk to this guy. Seeing my squadmate Christina standing near the stairs, I asked her to come with me and she obliged. We made our way down four winding flights of stairs completely barefoot and approached this man. It started simply enough – we introduced ourselves and asked his name, where he was from, and what had brought him to Nepal.
His name was George, he was from the Czech Republic, and he was here with his wife to go trekking in the Himalayas. We made small talk for a bit, and that’s when five words flew out of my mouth, and quite frankly they were just as shocking to me as they were to George.
“Sir, do you know Jesus?”
No turning back now. No just saying goodbye and going about my business as if nothing had happened. Immediately a wave of awkwardness came over the conversation and I didn’t have a clue what to say next. Thankfully Christina came to my rescue and continued the discussion. She asked George if he believed in God or was of any religious persuasion at all.
Once again, it was a bit awkward. George told us that people in Europe don’t tend to be particularly religious and that his opinion was that no one could really know what was true and what wasn’t. We talked about Jesus for another minute or two, and Christina asked if we could pray for him. He declined, saying he needed to go meet his wife upstairs, and that was the end of that.
Christina and I stayed downstairs in the courtyard for a little bit, praying and interceding for George and the city of Kathmandu as a whole. After returning to the rooftop, I was feeling discouraged and that I had made a fool of myself. This story hadn’t ended the way I had wanted to.
But when I told Christina that I felt like an idiot, her response was “Good.” And she was right. We had started a conversation, we had reached out, and we had done a whole lot more than we would have had we not said anything at all. This was my first time “evangelizing” after all – you’re not going to get some crazy salvation or healing story every time.
I’ve kept an eye out for George, but I haven’t seen him since that night. I don’t even know if he’s staying at the hostel anymore. But all I can do is continue to pray for him, and that perhaps our encounter will lead to something more.
