I’m officially in Nepal. My team first (Magic School Bus) landed May 16th in Kathmandu. But we all switched teams. I am now on a new team, our name is Beautiful Things. More to come on my new team, the members are Micaela, Jewel, Courtney, and Megan. Already they are wonderful and God has so much to give.
This month in Nepal is ‘Ask the Lord’ month, ATL for short. In this month we don’t have set up ministry. Instead we are freed up to pray and ask God where we should go, who we should talk to, what we should do. On our team’s first official day we were headed out to a coffee shop to pray and chat. But God interrupted our plans.
A woman named Pooja approached me and my team. She was a random woman, carrying a sleeping toddler. The area of town we are in has a lot of beggars. In perfect English she asked us if we would be willing to help her buy formula for her son. Another woman was also following her carrying another sleeping child, this ended up being her aunt. Quickly my team shifted our plans and embraced this interruption. We bought Pooja and her aunt formula for the babies, spending almost $50 USD. This was nearly all the money we had on us at the time, and a staggering amount of money for Nepal. Pooja was so overcome with thankfulness that she invited us to her house for tea. My team didn’t realize it meant getting into a taxi to go outside of the city to a slum in Kathmandu, Nepal. But we went.
Sueman (left) holding her son Riti, and Pooja (right) holding her son Shiva.
Pooja’s story is simple. She is a young married woman with one son, they are from India but live in Nepal seeking a better life. Her and her husband had a shoe making business which was lost during the devastating earthquake that hit Nepal April 25th, 2015. Consequently, Pooja’s family lost everything including the family business. Her family survives now day to day begging. Pooja and her family wants to return to making shoes.
Our team spent several days in the slums, as we were invited back by Pooja and her family. They are Hindu and have very little knowledge of Jesus and the gospel. We got to share meals with Pooja and her family and explained to her who God is. Even though Pooja speaks incredible English, when I asked her if she knew what the word “grace” she said no. I got to explain to her how when sin came into the world it broke everything. When humankind became separated from God their creator, poverty, earthquakes, pain, sickness, grief, fear, all this and more was brought into the world. Sin broke the beautiful world God created. But God decided He wasn’t done with us. Through Grace He sent his Son Jesus to repair what had been broken. As I explained this Pooja cried.
The path for a Hindu to come to know Jesus is complicated. It’s estimated in Hindu religion their is about 33 million gods. Often for a Hindu they have no trouble adding Jesus as another one. But believing He is the Son of the One True God, this is much harder. For a Hindu, trusting in the One God is difficult to understand, let alone put into practice.
One thing I remember from my host Paul in India was on the fist day when he said people don’t need to be told things about God, they need to experience the power of God, they need a touch of God. For faith to come, God’s power through His Holy Spirit needed to show up. During our second time in the slums we got the chance to pray for Pooja’s mother who has had chronic stomach issues. She experienced healing. It was incredible. She was so happy she beaconed us back over to her to pray for her knee. We asked Pooja to translate to her mom this miracle happened by the power of Jesus. Slowly their eyes are being opened.
My team is deeply invested in Pooja and her family. The two things I want to see the most while in Nepal is for Pooja’s family to come to know Jesus. The second is to see their family regain some of the tools they lost in the earthquake. Both you all can help with. Please pray for Pooja and her family. The second, my team was doing a small fundraiser to raise $260. And…THE MONEY HAS BEEN RAISED, PRAISE GOD!!! This money will re-purchase all the lost tools for shoe repair. The family hopes to start to repair shoes again, save money, and then work towards buying supplies to make shoes. They are young and earnest. They are searching for meaning, and more than anything the are searching for hope.
Pooja stated she lives just for today. Before I left Pooja’s house the other day, I told her I hope she finds hope in her future, and not just her future on earth but her future beyond. I told her how much I knew I was loved by God, and how I couldn’t help but share that with her. Nepal is a poor place, struggling, searching. But I know God is in our midst starting big things and restoring His people back to Him.
In a few days my team will go back to visit Pooja. We get to help re-purchase shoe making tools. This opportunity was unexpected. It only came when we were intentionally listening to God’s voice and willing to be interrupted. Please pray for Pooja and her family to come to know all that Jesus has for her.
Thank you everyone for your support. If you’d like to help me continue to do this work please consider financially supporting me. I am still about $3065 to my finally deadline. Love always, Saylah.
