Month #5: Come what May…
The month of May this year was both exciting and super challenging for me. Coming into this month, it was time for team changes. I said goodbye to my amazing Papoula Fogo girls and to my role as team leader, and then hello to my new group of girls, Team Branded, and my storytelling role. I think Nepal was challenging for me for multiple reason; first, team changes brought new dynamics to how we lived, ministered together, and had to get to know one another all over again. I also was hitting my “B-zone,” which is basically what we call the point on the race in which it becomes harder to choose in and give it your “yes” each day. I was starting to miss home a lot, the ministry was not my favorite, I was getting tired of the constant travel because it had already been over four months (which was the longest I’ve been away from home at that point), but yet we still had another seven months to go. I wasn’t giving up by any means or looking up flights for the USA, but I was having to renew my mind each day and be reminded of why I said “Yes” in the first place. Although challenging, ministry in Nepal was quite phenomenal! We got to experience sooo much that month, from praying at temples, visiting orphans, widows, schools, leper communities, rehab facilities, feeding programs, programs for girls who had been under prostitution, hiking mountains to pray over the city, house visits, and even hiking the Himalayan mountains and reaching remote villages to bring the gospel to those who had never heard. Many people received salvation that month!
One thing that…
- Made me feel alive: as we shared the gospel to a young wife and her mother, feeling my heart beating so heavily and the words welling up in my throat, until I could no longer hold in the good news of Jesus Christ and the opportunity we have to spend eternity with Him, despite the persecution we may receive here on earth. Also, being in awe of God’s artwork as we flew by Mt. Everest!
- Was difficult this month: the constant traveling to a different ministry each day. We had many hours of walking, busing, and trekking to get to each ministry location. But it was worth it to see lives beginning to change!
- Broke my heart: hearing people (mostly women) explain that they feared choosing Christ because they may be thrown out of their house, outcasted by their community, and possibly persecuted for their faith. Also seeing people devote so much time at the temples, praying to a god that will never fill them with true love and hope.
- Has been revealed about my calling: I AM an evangelist! Too many times, I’ve let fear of man or of not knowing how to answer a question get in the way of speaking the truth. However, there are also times that I simply canNOT contain the words as God speaks through me!
- I am thankful for: strong legs and the capacity of my lungs to carry me through three days of trekking in the Himalayans.
Thank you to all those I met in Nepal! It was a challenging, yet an incomparable experience and I’m thankful for the opportunities we had! I pray that the Lord showers blessings over your ministries. I pray that lives will continue to be touched through others that choose to say yes to Jesus’s call to reach the lost. I pray that those in governmental leadership will realize the importance of letting Christians share the gospel of Jesus Christ and change the laws. I pray that the people who received salvation will be blessed for doing so, find comfort in Christ, and find a community of fellow believers. I pray that those who visit the temples will have a visitation from God that will wake them up to realize the truth and find true love and hope. And I thank the Lord for the beautiful people of Nepal.
“How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!””
~ Isaiah 52:7
