“Welcome to the Himalayas!”
– the Yeti from Monsters Inc.
(View from our plane over the Himalayas)
Majestic, beautiful, towering, and snowcapped – this is what the Himalayan mountains looked like. I gasped in amazement and wonder. Those that were awake on the plane crowded near the small windows to try and catch a glimpse of the mountain line peaking out above the clouds. Phones were pulled out and videos and pictures documented the view below us. I couldn’t believe it. I was here. I was seeing these mountains for the very first time. I was in Nepal.
We landed in Kathmandu on January 4th. We would be in Nepal for around four weeks. Three of those weeks we would be doing ministry in several cities, and team Lighthouse would join with team Edge for the duration of ministry. Who is team Edge? Well, they are group of five fantastic ladies – Shelby (the team leader), Ana, Tiffiny (aka Durham), Jamie, & Cassandra. Combined, we had a total of 12 people.
After landing in Kathmandu, we all said goodbye to our squamates and headed out to meet our host. Our host is a kind, elderly Nepali man, who has experience in trekking and is used to hosting World Race teams. Being a native, he is very knowledgeable about the spirituality of Nepal, the lay out of the land, and the culture which was very helpful as he briefed us on Nepal and what we would be doing.
In the first week of being in Nepal, team Lighthouse & team Edge, aka “Ledge”, had the opportunity to stay in a small village called Chitwan in southern Nepal. We had a pretty set schedule: breakfast at 8am, lunch at 12pm, & dinner at 6pm. Following each meal we had 10min-30min to get ready for ministry. Ministry pretty much looked like going to people’s homes and having a small church services, complete with worship, praying, a sermon, and more prayer. We would all cram into one room and have the service. Which meant that, sometimes, it was a tight squeeze with all 12 of us, our translator, 3-4 Nepal friends, the host, & some of the host’s friends in one small room. At times our knees were crunched up to our chest and I would sit there aching to stretch them out, but something bigger kept that thought out of my mind most of the time.
(Ledge headed out to ministry)
I would think, “Wow. I get to be here. I get to be surrounded by brothers and sisters in the faith and they are wanting to know about God. They need encouragement. And I am learning so much right now from them!” I would often sit and listen and just think about how God brought me here to this room, to these people, to speak, to hear, to watch, and to learn. To learn about Him. To learn about the church and how it is alive in other parts the world. To learn about His pursuit of us and His power. That God cares deeply about humans and that He wants them to draw nearer to Himself.
I remember one of the first homes we went to there was a man who, after hearing our words of encouragement, was asked to share his testimony. And his story just amazed me. He came to know God in Saudi Arabia. He came to know Jesus when he was laying on his bed, sickness wrecking his body and nearly taking his life. He had done all the right things in his previous religion – he was a devout follower like his father before him – but the rituals he and his family had done were not removing the illness. God came and asked the man to believe in Him and then he would be healed. He ended up saying “yes” and was healed. His story amazed me because it was so wild. To hear how God chose to show himself to this man. It encouraged me to know that God does pursue us and desires to have a relationship with each us. That He not only cares for me, but for others as well.
Another story that just amazed me about God took place in another home we visited. I was sitting on a bed with Shelby, Cassandra, Jamie, Durham and our translator. There was a moment when people were shuffling around, and while that happened, I was just talking with the girls on the bed. Shelby ended up telling us that she had a headache, and I thought, “I should just pray for healing for her. Maybe God will listen and say yes?” So, I prayed along with some others a short and hopeful prayer that God would remove the headache. Immediately after concluding my prayer, I asked her, “What is your pain level?” She then said, “I don’t have any pain. It was like a 5 and now it’s a 0.” I was totally amazed. “What?! Did God actually use me and some of the others as vessels to heal Shelby?” I thought in my in head. I had prayed for healing for others before, but nothing had ever happened. But this time, God chose to say, “Yes”. I was amazed. I was humbled. I was grateful.
(Ana, our translator, yours truly, & Cassandra on our way to a ministry site.)
Those are just two of the moments where I have seen God’s love and power in Nepal. I am learning so much about God right now. I am so grateful to be on this journey in this beautiful country; surrounded by majestic mountains and beautiful people.
