The last 4 days I spent in Nepal I journeyed through the Himalayan Mountains, traveling 30 miles to villages of unreached people groups. We trekked for hours each day, mostly uphill at a 90 degree angle for one purpose and one purpose only: sharing the love of Christ with those who have never heard of him before.
There were a total of 12 racers, our Nepali host named Deepak, and 2 trekking guides named Rye and Suku. We were informed that Rye was not a Christian, but he was going to venture with us to these villages as we shared who Jesus is. The Lord put it on my heart to build a relationship with him and get to know his story.
On day 3, we finally reached our first village. We met a couple named Santa and Durgra. We sat down with them and began to get to know them. They lived in a Buddhist village, and when we asked them if they had ever heard of a man named Jesus before, they said no. They invited us into a conversation about the story of Christ, and we got to share with them from Genesis to the Gospels. These people had absolutely no concept of who Jesus is and by the end of the conversation, half of us were in tears, and Durga was serving us tea and putting flowers in our hair.
^This is Santa and Durga. Durga is the
one with her hands up as she hears
about Jesus for the first time^
^This is when Durga gave us all flowers^
That evening, I wondered what Rye thought about all that he heard earlier, so I got to sit down and ask him what he thought. He shared his story with me and said he believes in a God, he is just waiting for God to reveal himself to him. He told me that one time he was so desperate for a job that he began to cry out to God asking him for work. He felt defeated because he did not have any experience in what most jobs entailed. All he could do was lead people through the mountains because he knows the trails like the back of his hand. Well sure enough, four days later, he got a call asking if he would be interested in being a trekking guide for a group of people who want to hike through the mountains. He said that was the only time he ever experienced God. I asked Rye if he ever asked God to reveal himself to him like he is wanting, and he said no. I explained to him that just like he asked God for a job, he too can ask God to come into his life and reveal himself to him. I told him that all the Lord wants from us is our heart and our honesty, and it starts with asking and surrendering. We had an entire conversation from the beginning of creation to the resurrection of Christ.
The next day we ventured to another village. Nepal believes in a caste system and the poorest of the poor are considered untouchable and unworthy. Nepali people who are above them won’t let them into their homes, won’t drink tea with them, won’t give them jobs, and they dehumanize their existence. That day we visited the “untouchables.” This was the first time they ever had visitors, let alone 12 people in their home. They were hesitant to offer us tea, but we willing accepted, getting to share tea with them, showing them we are all equals. These people believe that God created the caste system and that he was punishing them in some way. However, they had never heard the name of Jesus before. We spent most of our morning with these people sharing the gospel with them and reassuring them their worth and value in Christ. In the middle of our conversation, Rye stands up next to the family and starts evangelizing to his own people. He starts explaining everything we talked about the night before and shares who Jesus is to these people. He explained to them the sacrifice Jesus made for us, and he declared it with intention and passion. It was an incredible picture of what the Lord desires when he asks us to make disciples. We wanted this family to know how loved they were, so we humbled ourselves before the Lord and washed their feet.
^Washing the “untouchables” feet^
If the race ended tomorrow, I’d be content because of the experience of those four days. Never in my life have I met someone who has never even heard the name Jesus before. Most people at least know who Jesus is, they just choose to ignore him. These people were hungry for the Gospel and God was preparing their hearts for the good news long before we came. I think so often we brush over the Gospel like it’s no big deal because we have heard it so many times: Jesus died for our sins and saved us so we could spend eternity with him. That is not something to take lightly and move on from. Jesus died for us; for you! The interactions I had on the trek were an incredible reminder of the simplicity yet magnitude the Gospel holds, the power it has to bring us to salvation and the purpose it brings to our lives. Watching people hear the Gospel for the first time in their lives brought me to tears and I can’t imagine the celebration God was having! If God asked me to hike 30 miles every day for the rest of my life, to share Jesus to the unreached, I’d go in a heartbeat. The world needs the Gospel, and I know that the Lord is going to restore those villages, making disciples of his nation as they share Jesus with each other. I know the Lord did not need the 12 of us to do his work, but he allowed us to see his heart, see his will, and allow us to help.
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