Nepal. Month 6. World Race.
Where to begin?
We started month 6 off pairing up with another team from F Squad, Team New Kids on the Block. Double the team, double the fun! Already bound to be a great month!
The ministry itself had adventure written all over it. We were told that we would be traveling through various regions throughout the country and loving on unreachable people in small villages in the mountains. (If you know me, you know I was in heaven hearing this).
Our first week, we packed up and took a 12 hour, sweaty and uncomfortable bus ride to Chitwan Valley, where we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere with nothing but small mud huts surrounding us. We then walked an additional 45 minutes further into the bush, coming to an even more remote area that would be our “home” for that week.
For the week, we lived in a small, basic wooden house (think Little House on the Prairie), with no electricity and a 120 heat index. We pumped our water from the ground for bucket showers and lived simply in the small village. Each day, we would trek to various houses, visit people to sing songs to them and give words of encouragement. Twice we visited two different witch doctors and sat and talked with them. It was an experience I never thought I would have in my life.
Chitwan was beautiful, remote, challenging, and all things hot. The heat at times was so draining that you were left to do absolutely nothing other than lie on the floor on your sleeping pad dripping in your own sweat. The trekking was also more difficult due to the heat, nonetheless equally rewarding and amazing being in nature and using our bodies to physically reach people who need love. All in all, it is an experience I will remember forever.
The next “adventure” planned for the month was a 3 day trek through the Annapurna region in the Himalayas. Again… am I dreaming?
We packed up again, took the most beautiful, green, mountainous 8 hour bus ride to the region, ready to go. With a short 2 hour trek ahead of us, the moment we got out of the bus…it started to downpour. Okay, I am used to rain after living in the Pacific Northwest for the past 3 years, but this was different. This was not sprinkling, not mist, not like any rain Juneau, Alaska had ever seen. It was full on torrential downpour. So… on we went.
We arrived at a tiny home-stay in the mountains after about a 2 hour hike, soaked. Little did I know, my soaked clothes were to be the least of my worries that night.
After we got settled in our rooms, we met in the dining area for a well-deserved meal. It was then that I had received a phone call from home that would flip my world upside down.
Without going into much detail and to protect those affected during this time, I will just say that I received some of the hardest news my ears have ever heard. News from home that immediately & directly affected me, my family, my emotions, and my mental state. That night, I went to bed with the beautiful mountains of Nepal surrounding me… broken.
I woke up the next morning, only to find that last night’s phone call was not a dream, it was still real. Before I could even open my eyes to prepare for the most physically challenging day of the month, an 8 hour trek into a tiny valley with a small village, I heard the word
“Fast”.
Now, I will let you in on something. I am not opposed to various spiritual disciplines, however, at the same time I also am one to appreciate logic and reason. Fast? Today? Given the physical challenge my body was supposed to endure for the day…is that really rational?
I have only been prompted to fast one other time my whole life, and that was in 2014, the day I got baptized. I tried to let the idea fade quickly, but it was tenaciously persistent. I don’t know how to explain it, but the prompting was crystal clear. To be honest, I was a bit irritated and reluctant, but eventually came to the decision to be obedient. Okay, fine. I’ll fast today.
As everyone was having their breakfast, I skipped out and for the first time in a long time, I broke down, in solitude, on my bedside. The images of the phone call flooded my mind and I was wondering how I was expected to gain the strength to move from the spot I was in to hike for 8 hours that day.
Once it was time to go, I wiped my eyes and put my 55L pack on my back, put on my shoes, and walked out the door. The hike began with what seemed like a never ending incline of uneven stone steps. I was questioning my intellect every single step as I sporadically would feel my stomach grumble.
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I will spare details, but I will share 3 things I learned that day.
- Being open to new spiritual disciplines may surprise you with unexpected breakthroughs.
- Foundation must be built BEFORE the trial. Hardships reveal your foundation, whether sand or rock. “The worst time to train for a marathon is when you are already running one” -Levi Lusko
- God may allow a painful situation as an opportunity to draw closer to Him. It’s your choice what you do with it.
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When I woke up that morning, I didn’t know how I was going to make it through that day. By the end of it, I knew it wasn’t just my strength that got me to where I was. I decided to bring all the pain I was experiencing to God and he did something incredible with it. You never know what a simple act of obedience can do until you do it.
All that to say…my pain and your pain is for a purpose. Don’t let it go to waste. He puts to use what He puts you through and gives you the strength to do so. Bonus: We can also learn to be content along the way because it was never about us anyway. I could explain further, but I believe someone else said it better than I ever could:
“11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV)
Until next time,
Bri
