Week one in Nepal
Ministry week one is very different from ministry the last few weeks.
Day 1. The first day we had a prayer walk at the monkey temple. During the time we were there it was 4pm, a time when the Hindu’s do a prayer ritual to their gods. It was the perfect time to be praying for them and their hearts. It got me really thinking about the religion, they live an empty spiritual life. They live in fear of their gods, that is not how my Jesus is. The Hindu people pray to gods that will never answer them or fill them with what they need, how does one live a life like that? During the prayer walk a man approached us, he said he recognized me from somewhere, I honestly had no idea who he was. We got into a conversation and he said he knew Jesus and that he went to a church on a hill. We chatted with him for a bit then prayed for him, which was really cool to experience. It was a successful first day of ministry.
Day 2. We went to a womans home to pray over woman who have been left on the streets. Most of them have sicknesses, are not mobile, and have mental problems. It is run by a woman named Dilshobha Shrestha; she was left by her husband because she was not able to bear children. At that point she realized it happens to many woman. Most of the woman in the home are over the age of 60, so older woman from the streets, not so much younger. The place was built on brokenness, but the Lord took that and changed it into a place of joy. Walking in there I did not know what to expect, what do I even say to them? it is a christian organization so I think all of the woman there are believers. We walked into the pain and hurt but wow the looks on their faces, pure joy. Even though they are so much older and cannot get around much and are ill they still kept happy and joyful! It was honestly one of the sweetest things I’ve seen. We got to sing a few songs with them, pray over them, just sit with them, and I got to comb one of the ladies hair. It might seem like such a small act but she was so happy, which humbled me so much. One small act of kindness can go such a long way. It was such a sweet experience being there with them. The lord Is so good wow.
Day 3. So finding out about this ministry kind of caught me off guard. We went to a lepers colony. Basically people who have had or still have leprosy being casted out of their villages. My first thought was “oh my word what are we doing, this is insane” than I thought about it and was super stoked. What an amazing opportunity to have. we had a nice hike into a valley where the colony was. Honestly, It was not what I expected it to be at all. I was expecting the worst of the worst. We came to learn that it was not as bad of a case of leprosy as in biblical times. (Matthew 8:1-4). Most of the people have a few fingers or toes missing, some of their faces distorted, but it was not that bad at all. For the first few minutes we got to sit and talk with the sweetest little lady who got leprosy about 25 years ago, her and her husband had moved to the colony about five years ago. as we talked we figured out that she was a Christian, very strong in her faith. I could tell before she even told us, the joy she carried was unbelievable. After talking for a little longer we moved around the village. The second people we found were also a husband and wife. They told us that before they had gotten leprosy that they were also missionaries. It was so cool to hear! We talked and prayed with a few more people than headed back up the gully homeward.
Day 4. Started off the day at a children’s home, which was actually run by the same lady who ran the womans home. They usually have around thirty kids, but because of the Hindu holiday most of the kids had gone home. We played around, sang, did skits, and just had a fun time for about an hour. After that we went on prayer walk around a monastery. The lord really spoke to me there. This is what I wrote down while sitting on the temple steps. Darkness, that is what I felt walking into the monastery, where children were just reciting things to their gods over and over and over. Children who have no idea that it is not truth. Parents being forced into putting their second child into this place. The weight fills me with grief. I do not think I have ever really thought about the heaviness of this. The fact that they are so young, the fact that they have no idea, this is all they know. For us, Sunday school was once week. For them it is every single day, they do not stop. They do not stop learning about things not of our heavenly loving father. Tears well up into my eyes while a million thoughts go through my head. What if this had been me? Would I have ever learned truth about my Jesus? Is this all they will know for the rest of their lives? Lives that will be lost to the darkness, lives that won’t ever get to be in the loving arms of my Jesus. Pray. Pray. Pray. Honestly that is all I can do while I stand here in this Tibetan Buddhist Monastery. I can not just start screaming that they are wrong, I can not just pull the kids out. That is not what my Jesus would want me to do. He wants me to love. Love these children for who they are, not for what they believe. My eyes have been open to a new thing today, a thing that brings me so much sadness. A child being placed here with no knowledge of another god, a loving God, a merciful God, a God who they do not have to live in fear of. I know the Lord has plans, plans to reveal himself to these people, plans to put the love of himself on their hearts. Its now their choice to take it or not. Are you willing?
Day 5. 5am… wohoo that is early. That is the time we woke up for to take a nice hike to the top of a hill (mountain). Not going to lie, it was a hard hike, it basically went straight up for quite awhile. In aww, that is how I felt reaching the top of the “hill”. We had climbed for hours, we got to the top and boom! Himalayas right in front of my eyes. A picture could not even capture the beauty that was around me. The lord has really blessed us with a beautiful world to look at. As Gwyn and I sat there soaking it all in she said “it takes me away that in a place so beautiful that there can be so much darkness”. she was so right. The reason we climbed to the top was so we could look down on the city and pray over it. There is darkness that surrounds Katmandu. only the lord can bring the light back, and that is what he will do. The hike was hard but in that moment my breathe came back and my lungs filled up and we just thanked the Lord for his blessings and love. Disclaimer: the reason my title is We’re High is due to the fact we were high up, not because we were actually high. sorry..
The hike down was painful wow.. it was the steepest hike I think I have ever been on. the lord gave us endurance and strength to make it to the top and it was oh so worth it.
As I sit here on my nice bed (mat in the corner hehe) I just thank the lord for the wonderful first week of ministry. We leave town Tuesday to go to a new village for a week to do more ministry. Then we go on a four day hike in the Himalayas to an unreached people group to bring the love of the Lord to them. God is doing and is continuing to do some crazy things here and I can’t wait to take on the next two weeks of Nepal!!
Love,
Mara
