Month 9—Nepal. My final month on the field.
There have been days when it seemed than Month 9 would never come, that I’d be perpetually stuck in South America, waiting for the Grand Finale to come. And somehow, miraculously, we’ve actually arrived in our final month with an exciting destination—Kathmandu, Nepal!
3 weeks from right now, I will be arriving in Colorado for the first time since September. I am thrilled to be able to visit friends and family, share stories of what the Lord is doing and where he’s taking me, and catch up on everything I’ve missed in the time I’ve been gone. But until then, I’d ask that you pray for me to soak in everything this season has to offer. This is a month of celebration, of remembering the places my squad has been together and the things we’ve seen in the Spirit over the course of this Gap Year. It’s a time to relish in the friendship and joy we’ve found, the obstacles we’ve hurdled.
This is a month of running hard to the finish line, because we haven’t finished the Race yet. It’s a time to get out in the streets and share Jesus passionately, because in just a few short weeks living on mission is going to look quite different. Nepal is a spiritually heavy nation—with most of the country being Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, or just “spiritual,” there’s a lot of tangible darkness and oppression here. We’ve come across a lot of spiritual attack ourselves, between sickness, discouragement, temptation, and sleepless nights. The Enemy sees that agents of light have come into his territory and is not pleased, so keep praying for the shadows of evil to be driven out by the powerful name of Jesus here!
Earlier this week, I got the chance to visit a leper’s colony outside the city of Kathmandu. Though these men and women are all healed from the disease, their missing fingers, toes, and limbs have caused them to be considered “untouchable” in Hindu culture, declared unworthy of even a place in the caste system, one of the greatest evils of Hinduism. (Though caste has been legally abolished, it culturally remains as strong as ever, and is used greatly to keep people in Asia living in spiritual slavery.) As a result, they have to live in a colony outside the city, where they receive few visits from even their own families and children. My team was able to visit these beautiful men and women, look into their eyes, and hear their stories (even if we couldn’t understand much!).
These 2 women are close friends, though I never caught their names. The woman on the left started talking as soon as I sat down next to her, excitedly going on and on about how she’d come to live in the colony, where her family lived, and so on. When I eventually was able to hear some of what she said translated, I learned that she was from one of the upper castes, but the disease had forced her to move far away from her family and grandkids, who she rarely sees now. We prayed over her and thanked her for sharing her story with us.
Later, I met a man who’d lost all 10 of his fingers due to leprosy—all he had left were the palms of his hands. When I told him my name, he stuck out his hand, and I did what was natural to me: I shook it. Immediately, his eyes light up with joy, and he just started laughing and laughing, shaking my hand again and again. I realized I had absolutely no idea how long it had been since anyone had even given this kind old man the dignity of a handshake.
You see, loving people doesn’t have to be the great actions. Love is most often the small moments that could easily be passed over. I couldn’t even speak with this man, but something in me says he saw more of Jesus’ heart though my repeated handshake than any amount of my words could have shown him.
Pray for Nepal, my friends—this nation needs it. It’s already one of my favorite countries I’ve ever been to, but I feel an immense burden for those lost and hopeless who live here. This coming week, my team and I will be leaving Kathmandu for the village of Chitwan, where our efforts will be primarily evangelistic in nature. We aren’t expecting to have internet access, but in the meantime be praying that many would hear the Gospel of freedom and come to believe in his name. Pray for me and my team, that we would not lose our form now and would continue running all the way to the finish line.
Grace and Peace!
~Joel
