Nepal Month Four Overview
It is hard to believe that month four is already coming to a close. It feels like just yesterday that my team and I landed in Kathmandu ready to experience a new country and ministry. This month, although more challenging than any other so far on this journey, has been a great period of learning and being refined. The following are celebrations, challenges and adventures that happened this month in Nepal.
Celebrations:
This month my team was paired with another co-ed team from our squad called Braveheart. We all were blessed to live together this month in a guest house at the base of a beautiful mountain. I loved getting to minister and fellowship with our big team. I learned a lot about developing a servant’s heart and being committed through these people. We shared our house with a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) team for the first two weeks of our month and beautiful friendships were formed. It was really special this month to not only be outwardly focused with the community around us but to also be intentional with loving our team well and taking time to minister to each other.
On the second week here in Nepal, our team was told that we would be leading a five day seminar in a new church. My team and I had less than twenty-four hours to put together these seminar presentations, but we all worked together and were able to present a really applicable conference for new believers. We taught four to five sessions per day on various topics including forgiveness, purity, evangelism, spiritual gifts, and worship. The conference was held in a tiny brick church entirely underground and every day it was packed with church believers and our team. During the seminar, I sat cross legged for four hours at a time with a tiny Nepali woman practically sitting on my lap listening intently on the messages being shared. This conference was my favorite part of this month as we saw the desperate hunger that new Christians have here for spiritual teaching and discipleship.
A big part of our month here in Nepal was ?house fellowship? which involves hiking to a specific believer’s home, sharing a testimony and worshiping together. On our last day of this ministry, I had an encounter with a woman that I wont forget. She sat next to me as she shared her struggles and her heart for Jesus despite them. She began to share that her husband had been missing for six months and no one had seen or heard from him. She cried as she explained that her seventeen year old daughter was being forced to marry and she needed someone to stand up and protect her family. It was such a blessing to encourage this woman and pray over her as she wept. My heart was broken for her and in that instance, Jesus gave me an overwhelming understanding of His provision and I was able to share that with her. It has been little moments like this on the race that have blessed my heart and encouraged my heart to continue in the fight.
Challenges:
Nepal is only 1.4% Christian and the area in Kathmandu is heavily occupied by steadfast Hindu’s. We encountered a lot of resistance and lack of interest in the message that we shared as well as in friendship and acceptance as visitors in this country. I experienced discouragement and frustration this month and I struggled with the mindset that we could not be affective in such a short period in an area like this. It has been encouraging and inspiring however to hear testimonies in our last week of ministry from local believers who have expressed their gratitude for our visit. Through the challenge of discouragement this month, I learned more about Jesus’ nature and His view toward me and the Nepali people that He loves.
My team and I experienced some health problems the last week in Nepal from unclean water. I had a high fever and intestinal problems for 30 hours and could not leave the house for ministry. Due to this, I was unable to travel to the unreached people group village that my team and I had been planning for all month. It was very disappointing not being able to go and experience this myself, however God’s hand was at work and my teammates experienced great things there.
Adventures!
One of my favorite days on the world race happened this month when some teammates and I got to bungee jump off the second largest bungee jumping bridge in the world. It was probably the most scary thing I have ever done on purpose but It was awesome and I wont ever forget it.
We had the opportunity to visit many temples and ancient cities while living in Kathmandu. It was quite an experience walking through these temples and seeing the way that Hindu’s worship. I really enjoyed traveling to these temples as we prayer walked around them bringing the Lord’s presence to some of the darkest areas in this country. This month was my first ?city? month on the race after three months of village life. I really enjoyed living close to the city and being able to travel around and see many things. My team and I found a Christian coffee shop on our first week and we were able to fellowship with and pray over the workers inside. We also made friends with several Hindu shop keepers who we were able to pour love into and plant seeds in their hearts.
Nepal was a great time of hearing from the Lord and really seeking the Lord’s presence even when It felt far away. I believe that this month was a preparation month in which Jesus was equipping my heart for what He has for me next, and I really cant wait to see what it is.
Abby 🙂
