The race has been full of fruitful times of ministry for myself and my team. We have seen people healed, hearts touched, and miraculous provision. I have witnessed such growth in my teammates. And I have also grown so much. My heart is softer and more sensitive to those around me. I can hear Holy Spirit speaking to me more than ever. I walk in freedom and boldness like never before. With all that being said, I have never experienced such a concentrated season of personal spiritual growth than I have during our time in Nepal so far.
I can’t adequately express how much joy I experience realizing that Abba, my father and Holy Spirit are generously teaching me each day. The feeling of fulfillment in exercising my giftings reassures me that this passion for at-risk women and girls in inspired by the Lord. Under the leadership of our hosts here at, I have been able to walk out my passions of rescuing women involved in human trafficking and the sex trade.
For the last two weeks, we have been working with women in Dance Bars and cabin restaurants. Cabin restaurants are pretty common here in Kathmandu. Scattered throughout every part of the city, cabin restaurants are places where men can order lunch or dinner and also time with one of the girls working as waitresses. Our ministry with these girls and women involved going into these places, forming friendships, and pursuing them outside of their workplaces. Coffee, pizza, hamburger dates. Time at the mall or playground. Watching grown women live small parts of the childhood that they may have not gotten to experience or had stolen from them.
One of the things I want to address that the Lord has taught me is the mindset of having our hearts broken for the lost. Firstly, I want to clarify that I praise God for compassion. I am so thankful for the wisdom of our God to allow us to be wrecked with empathy that drives us to seek ways to share the freedom of the cross with others. BUT- I do believe that while there is merit in these things, they are not enough on their own. I cannot count how many times I have prayed for my heart to break like the Lord’s does for those who do not know him. I believe that is a sensitivity he has given me. But so often, whether in a time of intercession or an actual conversation with someone, I would leave that time with that same broken heart bearing down in my chest, weighing down my spirit. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago during ministry that the Lord addressed the flaw of carrying around that weight.
When I leave an interaction with a person who doesn’t know Jesus weighed down or sad, what I am acting out is that the power of the cross is not great enough to reach them right where they are. Last week, I sat on a couch in a dance bar at around 11:00 PM. I sipped on a cappuccino chatting with one of my new friends, who was also drinking a coffee we bought her. She grabbed a napkin from the middle of the table, fixed her lipstick, and then began to fold her napkin into an origami flower. It was such a simple thing. A simple thing, but it brought us all such joy as she folded and we watched. We all appreciated the beauty of transformation as it went from a used piece of trash, to a beautiful paper creation. She tried teaching us, but it ended up being too hard for me, so she laughed and graciously taught me how to make a little boat instead.
We sat around the same table. They wore dance outfits and tall, tall heels. In typical world race fashion I was wearing jeans, chakos, and a jacket. They wore heavy makeup. I wore none. We’ve grown up and lived worlds apart. But that origami boat taught me that the same savior carried a cross for both of us. The same God stepped out of heaven and wore flesh for both of us. The same savior let that flesh be beaten and scarred to rescue both of us. I noticed scars on her forearm, too.
In an instant, I was brought back to what I consider to be the lowest point of my life. I didn’t love Jesus. I was living with all manner of sexual sin perverting my mind and confusing my heart. But that is exactly where Jesus met me. In that dance bar, I realized that I will never, EVER encounter anyone who is beyond the reach of Jesus or the power of the blood he shed for them. I have full confidence in this because I was never beyond his reach.
I left that dance bar with hope. I left with my spirit lifted. I have faith that no matter what, God’s wisdom and sovereignty will never fail to rescue those that call on his name.
I have faith that there is no situation too removed from the light for the love of Jesus not to be able to shine through that darkness.
I have faith that no matter whether or not someone accepts Jesus as a result of our interaction, that my good Father will not waste that or any other conversation concerning Jesus.
I have faith that every seed planted, he will be faithful to water.
I have faith that every seed planted, he will be faithful to water.
I have faith that he goes before me and behind me in the heart of everyone I encounter. He is the savior of every single man, woman, or child.
He is the redeemer of each of the women working in that, or any other dance bar. He is the Jesus that ate with tax collectors and sinners. He is the Jesus that sat and talked to and touched the hearts prostitutes. And his character can never change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Mine is a story of hope. The testimony of what the Lord is doing here in Nepal, is one of hope.
“’Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,’ says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” –Isaiah 54:10
“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them out of their distress.” – Psalm 54:10
