Written: January 2, 2019 (so sorry this took so long to post)
I was nervous going from Swazi to Nepal for a couple of reasons. The culture would be more high paced in Nepal, we had heard tons about spiritual warfare, and I didn’t know how to change my mindset and heart from learning to love someone so deeply over a three month span in Swazi compared to one month in Nepal (and with all the traveling to different places, I really had to learn how to love deep in a week.)
The first week in Nepal we were in Kathmandu and ministry was different everyday and we lived in a tiny little flat. We spoke at a drug rehab center, sang and danced with some elderly women at a woman’s home, loved on people at a leprosy colony, and encouraged girls who had been human trafficked. This week 12 out of the 18 people I was living with got very sick! This was the most exhausting week on the race, as it was an awesome opportunity to serve my team, but it included long nights and many hospital visits (don’t worry everyone is aye okay now.) I struggled this week being in a city and feeling like I was constantly going and going. I felt like I was back at home going 100% all the time. It wasn’t my favorite and was a rather exhausting week, but it was full of growth because I was uncomfortable. The Lord also showed me the value of rest.
The second week we went and lived in a village in Chitwan which was so much fun!Jesus really helped me out and provided an open area with mountains in contrast to the busy and dirty city we had been in the week before. My head needed to slow down and just see God’s gorgeous creation again.
We lived in a church for a week and Jesus spoke through us at churches on Saturday and he brought people to himself at two different churches on that same morning. We did many home visits; one was to a man who was Buddhist and was so close to knowing Jesus and it was honestly heartbreaking because Jesus doesn’t DO “almost knowing him” or not fully living your life for him. When we give our lives to him, we give it all to him, every piece of it. It’s a daily surrender.
We also met with a family who worshiped their ancestors out of fear that otherwise they would be brought bad luck. We were able to share the gospel and just about God’s love with them which was kinda fun to actually talk about Jesus (since Nepal is a closed country and we can’t openly evangelize.) They didn’t come to have a personal relationship with Jesus, which broke my heart again, but we will continue praying for them.
Annalise and I got to know some young kids (ages 2-8) who lived in the brick community that we were living in. They originally ran from us, but Jesus did awesome things and they actually sat in church on Christmas Day!!!! (Ahhhh! Crazy story for another time.)
It was so awesome because we got to spend Christmas with this amazing community. Two goats and four chickens were killed on Christmas Eve and we got to help decorate the church! We watched traditional dances and sang songs in pure celebration of Jesus’ birth. Though I missed my family, this welcoming community made Christmas feel so homey! They are my family, brothers and sister in Christ and I’m so thankful for them.
The last week in Nepal we headed to Pokhara and had the amazing opportunity to go trekking in the Himalayas for three days. After going the last four months in the race without sickness, I got a taste of it while trekking. The first night I was up the majority of the night with stomach pain and diarrhea. (Sorry if that makes you uncomfortable I signed up for vulnerability when I signed up for the race.) It got better the next day, thank the Lord!! The trek was hard, but so worth it. I wish the pictures did these gorgeous art pieces justice but they just don’t. So you will just have to take my word for it. The second day was the hardest with over 130 flights of uphill stairs and we went about 10.6 miles. In the afternoon we trekked a half hour to a village and did a home visit to a couple who were the only believers in their community. It was so amazing to be able to encourage them in their walk. It was so cool to see the Lord confirm the fact that, contrary to my belief sometimes, I do have spiritual gifts. The last day we hiked to the town and caught a bus back. We stayed the night in Pokhara where there happened to be a street festival for the New Year!! My friends and I went out on the town and had an interesting and growing experience. We headed back to Kathmandu for one more night and then were off to debrief.
My time in Nepal was so amazing and I wouldn’t change it for anything. I learned that I can’t gather enough strength, patience, gentleness, or humility from my own reserves because they run dry so fast! I have to depend on Jesus for every once of strength that I need every second of every day. He is faithful and will always show up even when we do not. I learned to be satisfied in the spiritual gifts he has given me and am still working on stopping the comparison that goes on in my head. Nepal was a month too remember!!! On to India!!
If you guys want to hear more about life in detail out here on the field, I encourage you to subscribe to my YouTube channel. I haven’t been able to post my Nepalvogs yet because of poor WiFi, but I got a lot more in detail in my videos about some of the things mentioned in this blog! You can find my channel by searching “Colleen Davis World Race Gap Year” on YouTube.
