These are the words of my incredible squad leader, Chloe. She gives the perfect depiction of what was the worst bus ride of our lives. Also some insight into what we did this last week and an incredible mindset going into it. // chloeclendinning.theworldrace.org
I’m writing this from the worst bus journey I have ever experienced. Think 13 hours, unbelievably bumpy roads, it is 3am, people being sick around you, an unexplained 2 hour stop (the driver is maybe sleeping?), 35 degree humid heat, altitude sickness setting in, dogs barking all around you (also may not be dogs, unclear, don’t want to consider the alternatives), bugs everywhere, cramped bus seats, water running out, hungry/too sick to eat, not to mention a few of us have been sick for a few days with one of our sweet girls recovering from dysentery.
Everyone is frustrated and uncomfortable and restless, we are currently in the sitting still on the bus stage for no known reason. The bus may be broken down, I’m really not sure (lol).
We are traveling to Chitwan, an area of Nepal close to the border of India, to live in a small village there for the next 8 days, and to trek in to the mountains to seek the unreached. In Nepal, 97% of the population here has either never heard of the Gospel of Jesus, or have heard it but have no resources for it to be something sustainable. Our mission is to make a small dent into changing that. The prominent religions in this area are Hinduism and Buddhism, which live fairly harmoniously alongside each other, but who we believe as Christians to worship false God’s, and a false ideology. These communities are also rife with the lies of witchdoctors, which isn’t harmonious or peaceful, but devastating and destructive. We never bash, only give our view, and listen to theirs, please don’t get the wrong idea. We are here to be love, and love only. We want these people to endure only a temporary life on Earth, with the eternal glory of Heaven awaiting them. So we go, and we tell them the incredible news of Jesus, and what He did so that they could ask for salvation and receive it right then and there. What a gift, it’s too good of news for us not to share it.
As I sit on this bus though, I’m struck by my own attitude, and frankly the attitude of the people all around me. We are hot and sticky and frustrated and tired and we don’t know what is happening, but we are acting like this isn’t exactly what we were called to. People are unreached for a reason, because they are hard to get to. They aren’t going to come knocking on our doors asking us to tell them news that they have no idea about. We have to go to them, just as the Great Commission tells us too, “go and make disciples of all nations”. Are we willing to give up our temporary comfort for someone else’s eternal happiness, and our Father’s eternal glory? In 9 days we will be back to comfort and security and a temperature that doesn’t feel like a furnace; and the people of this area will still be here.
It’s taken me a few minutes (or a lot more than that) to get here, of course it has, did you read my description of this bus ride?! The Lord often speaks to me in questions that convict my heart (ugh), and tonight I heard the quiet whisper, “Yes, this is hard, but are you willing to suffer for me?”.
Jesus suffered the pain of humanity, persecution, betrayal, flogging, stoning, and ultimately death on a cross with a crown of thorns on his head. So that he could save my very soul.
So yes Jesus, I can “suffer” this bus ride for you. It’s not easy, but you never promised me it would be, you said it would be really hard, but you promised it would be worth it, and I’m holding tight to that promise right now. I’m holding tight to You. You are worth every minute, and so are the people we are heading to.
“I am a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow, a wave tossed in the ocean, a vapor in the wind.
Still, you hear me when I’m calling, Lord you catch me when I’m falling, you have told me who I am.
I am yours.”
Love from one tired, sweaty & very grateful daughter of the King,
Chloe
xo
