We spent one week in Chitwan, Nepal living in a local church and just being a part of their community. Chitwan was about a five-hour drive from Kathmandu in a remote area of Nepal that was absolutely beautiful. We were all blown away by the fields of flowers that were everywhere. Our time there was peaceful and exactly what we needed after coming from the polluted and busy city of Kathmandu. I especially loved waking up every morning to little old ladies praying in the church.
Our first friend in the village was Esther, a 12-year-old girl who was one of the pastor’s daughters. She was so funny and full of joy. Her favorite color is black and one day she wants to run an orphanage. It was so sweet to get to tell her about how I spent the first 11 months of my life in an orphanage and show her pictures from when I got to go back this past summer. Her company was really special each night as we ate dinner around the fire. She loved to laugh with (and at) us and teach us new things about Nepali culture while learning new things about ours.
We got to spend Christmas here which was super cool. We spent Christmas eve slaughtering goats and chickens, blowing up 500 balloons, and decorating the church. Bekah, Trevor and Colleen all killed chickens and then the pastor killed two of our goat friends. We got to watch them prepare all of the meat afterwards too… I will never forget that image. For about five hours we blew up 500 balloons and made decorations for the church! We were literally out of breath but that didn’t stop us from dancing around the church blasting Christmas music while we hung up our decorations. By 10pm the decorating was done! On Christmas morning we enjoyed the three-hour church service that was just a huge celebration of His birth. There were lots of traditional dances done by the kids and messages from the pastors. We got to stay for lunch which was a feast that included the goats we killed the day before… it actually wasn’t terrible tasting. After saying goodbye to our sweet community for the week all three teams (boys, Joy and Fervent) were told to hop into a trailer being pulled by a tractor to go to the other two teams about 30 minutes away. With all of our big packs and bodies we somehow squeezed on and hit the road! It was quite the ride but made for such a good memory on Christmas. We even passed an elephant on the way!
Christmas looked “untraditional” this year, but it made me realize how easy the traditions can get in the way of the true meaning of Christmas which is to celebrate the birth of Jesus!! It was hard being away from home on Christmas, but the day was so full of joy there was no time to be sad. Our week in Chitwan was so much fun and I miss the people already. I am thankful for their willingness to let eight boys and twelve girls be a part of their community!
