Nepal is cushioned snuggly between India and China, and its culture has visible influences of both. It’s a land of beautiful mountains and hilltop temples. Until 2006, Nepal was the only Hindu country in the world. It is home to Mt. Everest and currently hosts the fastest growing Christian church in the world. They are working on passing a sneaky bill with language adapted from Pakistan and India that would ultimately make evangelism and freedom of religious speech illegal.
This month is All Squad month, so we have 51 people living together in a 4 story home. It’s so much fun and so challenging at the same time. We’re working with a wonderful organization called TAMI that relies on prayer and the Holy Spirit to tell them where to go and what to do. They have a heavy focus on rescuing women and children out of trafficking and the slums. Every morning we start the day with an hour of Amad, or quiet time with the Lord, and another hour of worship.
Ministry typically involves cramming WAY too many people in a van or bus followed by a 2-6 mile walk (mountain climb). We’ve prayed over Kathmandu from the highest point in the city (with beautiful views of the Himalayas and rice fields), we’ve hiked to temples to do prayer walks and learn about their religions, and we’ve done something called an ATL, or Ask the Lord. This is something totally new to me but something Adventures and the World Race do frequently. I like to think of it as a Spirit-led scavenger hunt. And who doesn’t love a good scavenger hunt?!
Now, if you’re anything like me, you’re starting to question this. But hang in there and let me tell you how cool God is! The first day of ATL, we were supposed to listen to God and draw what or who we were looking for. Then we went off into teams to find these people and tell them about Jesus and how he loved them enough to send us to seek them out. This was totally out of my comfort zone, but I signed up for the Race to be stretched so I jumped right in. I didn’t find who I was looking for, but our squad came back with incredible stories of God pursuing people so I wasn’t discouraged.
The next day we made bracelets to hand out for Children’s Day. (P.S. Why doesn’t America have a day to celebrate kids?!) I carried along my sketch and felt like I should give both the bracelet and sketch together. We started at a Hindu temple that has a living child goddess. I don’t know the full story or intent, but I know little girls basically compete for the position by being the most resilient and emotionless, then live their lives confined until festivals. If that isn’t tragic enough, once they hit puberty, they’re booted out. And it’s bad karma to marry a child goddess so they go on to live rather lonely lives.
It breaks my heart. The kids of Nepal need to know they are loved by God and don’t have to compete to be royalty. They are sons and daughters of the King of kings. He loves us and meets us exactly where we are, no competition, manmade idols, or sacrifices necessary.
We eventually came across a lady who had mistaken us for some other internationals. She introduced us to her daughter before her husband kindly corrected her. She was SO embarrassed. We tried to encourage her and let her know how much we enjoyed talking to her, but she still walked away blushing. As soon as we left, I realized her daughter was the one my bracelet was for. If you’ve never encountered the Holy Spirit, it’s hard to describe other than, you just know.
By the time I had the guts to speak up, we had walked several blocks. My teammates were SO excited, though, so we went back only to find they had gone inside their gated apartment. The gate was slightly ajar, so we took a risk and walked in, praying the giant dog didn’t care. As we approached the door, the man saw us through the window and came out to greet us. He was just as eager to see us as before. We explained that we were not the people he was looking for but had something for his daughter. As I extended the bracelet and sketch, a big grin appeared on his face.
‘For Children’s Day?’ he asked, excitedly. We eagerly responded with a yes. He instinctively knew we were missionaries, so we cautiously explained that Jesus told us to bring his daughter this gift. He later told us that they were from Korea and weren’t religious, but his daughter had been devastated all day because she missed Children’s Day in Korea last month. Alright God, I see you. He received the gift with such gratitude and recognized that God used his wife as a compass.
We serve a God that constantly and consistently pursues. He sees our heartache and delights in giving precious gifts. We couldn’t have known a little girl in an apartment in Nepal was hurting, but God saw her. Think about that for a second. The creator of the entire universe cares enough about a little girl who misses her home in Korea that he sent an awkward, sweaty American to deliver a gift to remind her she is loved. He loves her so much that he sent his son to live the life of a carpenter and die a criminal’s death.
Y’all, that is God. He is kind and just, and he adores us. He isn’t afraid of the guard dog or the gate. He’ll show up right at your doorstep to woo you. And he doesn’t need a silly competition or gold-adorned temples to deliver the good news. He’ll use you exactly as you are, baseball cap and all.
