Our first day in Nepal we stayed at a “hotel” and it was a yoga hotel. The owners were a Buddhist and there were yoga sessions there. The room that 10 of us girls were staying in had a 3-D mural painting on the wall and many of the girls were talking about how gorgeous the room was and how beautiful the city was with all the prayer flags. (Hindu and Buddhist people here, hang up flags that have prayers on them and they believe that as the wind blows there prayers get sent to their gods each time the wind blows.) However, as people spoke so highly of the culture here, I struggled as all I could see was ugliness everywhere I looked. The city seemed so dark to me with all the offerings in every nook and cranny of the city. I tried to enjoy my time and be present, but I struggled to see God’s beauty in the city, especially where nature was limited.
So I sat in that feeling, of being surrounded by ugliness for a few days, until one of my awesome teammates, Madeline, shared about her quiet time one morning. It was about being the light. And it was revealed to me that, though it’s dark we came to be the light of Jesus!! It was crazy because that was the very words that I placed in my fundraising T-shirt. Jesus gave me a new perspective on this because in the US, so much of the darkness is concealed, but here it is everywhere, out in the open for all too see. It’s tangible things like idols and gold statues in Nepal.
Jesus showed me that as I said I was missing his creation, I was staring right at his creation, the people of Nepal! One of my cousins, Megan, had written to me, about how sometimes other cultures just seem so different than ours, but we can always remember that we all have the similarity of being created by God. I really saw this come to life and started seeing the beauty that God created in these people, even if they weren’t following him. He finds beauty in our brokennes.
Nepal has been a roller coaster and an awesome time of learning and being reminded of God’s truths. He is so good and I am so thankful for who he is and what he is doing and who he has made me to be. The fact that he is ALWAYS faithful to pursue us and give us a new perspective is mind blowing!!
