The place I was most excited to go on the race was Nepal. I had heard so many sweet stories from people who had visited before and how this small country was magical. And it is.
Before Nepal I came from India, which was a wild place. So many people. So many smells. So much noise. Such spicy food and hot weather. Overstimulation to the max. Nepal is kind of that way, but also so different. People don’t honk their horns. There is a cool breeze. And a lot of dirt roads with prayer flags strung up overhead. People walk slowly, they are kind, but more reserved.
My new little team did a lot in Nepal. One of my favorite adventures was going trekking. I was so motivated to figure out how to go, and not all of my team enjoys hiking. But we were in the Himalayas, we had to go! So everyone on my team mustered their courage. Walking around in Thamel (a small neighborhood in Kathmandu, Nepal) I saw this guy name Suraz. I had meet him before, he was this funny Nepalese guy walking around and talking. I asked his advice on where to go and he said he’d take us trekking with him. Now I know what you’re thinking. Did I really meet some guy in the streets and then follow him into remote villages in the Himalayas? Yes. Yes I did.
My little team booked with Suraz and his travel agency, and we left the next morning for a cool lake town called Pokhara. The bus to get there was 8 hours on their highway… a windy and treacherous dirt road through the foothills of the Himalayan mountains.
The trek we went on was called Poon Hill and it’s a small part of the Annapurna Base Camp trail, and we went for 5 days. On a trek, instead of bringing a bunch of backpacking gear, you bring a small backpack of the essentials. You trek for about 8 hours a day and then spend the night in tea house for about $2 per night.
The first day we set out on our trek I had this story in my heart I heard from a friend named Taylor. Taylor is on expedition squad, and her squad and mine has meet up with each other both in India and Nepal. She told me this story of this former World Racer team in Calcutta, India. Their team was struggling to engage with people to do ministry. One thing the team did do a lot was pray over the street they stayed on. Over the years World Race teams came back again and again to stay on this same street in the same hostel. After the first team left, miracles started happening. People were getting healed on this street. People were coming to know Jesus. These “miracles” were happening so often people started to refer to this street as ‘Miracle Street.’ I though of this story often as we were trekking. I made sure to pray over all the villages we encountered. And not just little prayers, big and bold prayers for those people to know Jesus and to be healed.
I got to talk to some really amazing people while trekking. Our team met people from around the world, everyone trekking and in search for something. We became close with our guide Suraz, who ended up being a million laughs. I really do miss hanging out with him. I learned so much about Hinduism and Nepal from him.
On our 3 day we got up at 4am to trek to the top of Poon Hill, the highest point. On Poon Hill there are incredible views of Annapurna, one of the biggest mountains in Nepal. Annapurna is also in a large mountain range (Himalayas). We climbed up there, only to dense fog. We didn’t see any views. But while up there I noticed a group of Americans. They were from YWAM (Youth with A Mission). We started talking and one guy told us he was a former world racer, named John Morgan. As we talked more I came to realize he had also been to India on his world race. I asked him if he had heard the story of the team in Calcutta and Miracle Street, and he paused and said, “yeah, that was me and my team.” This guy just coincidently came back to Asia, specially Nepal, and went trekking and was on the same mountain at the same time. What?!
There are billions of people in the world. How did I stumble on the one stranger who I’d been thinking about for days? The only answer is God. I really felt like meeting John Morgan was confirmation of God hearing my prayers, putting the calling on my heart to pray for these far up villages, and confirmation God is moving.
Nepal was crazy like that. There was a one in a million change and our team would stumble on to it. Not because these things were actually a coincidence, but because God made them happen.
For more, check out some of these videos I made on our trek!
Trekking to Ulleri, Day 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZVwSxj6G-w&t=11s
Trekking to Gorepani, Days 2& 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTCv9zfdz8k&t=1s
Trekking to the Top of Poon Hill, Day 3 and 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPwauFVlYRg
