Every 2-3 months, my entire squad takes a break from ministry for a few days of debrief. We meet with our coaches and mentors who fly in from the States and take time to help us process how the last couple of months have gone, individually, as teams, and as a squad.
This debrief my squad arrived in Kathmandu a few days before our coaches so we had a couple of free days to explore the city and relax.
The very first night out I was with a group of friends when a girl with really incredible looking hair walked in the room. She had all different colors of dreads, yarn and other materials mixed in with her long hair.
It didn’t take long for a conversation to break out to find out where she had her hair done. Through broken english we found out her name was Sherry and she had moved to Nepal from China around two months ago. She also told us she did hair for a living and would be happy to do ours. A few of us made plans to meet up with Sherry in the morning.
The next day we met up with and she wrapped my hair, and many other’s from my squad. She had been working for several hours and we all were hungry.
I asked Sherry if she would like to join us for lunch and she happily agreed and led us to an incredible restaurant with a rooftop view of the entire city. On this night my squad had planned a halloween party and during lunch I invited Sherry to join us. I encouraged her to dress as a pirate and when my original costume did not work out, I joined her as a pirate. After lunch it was apparent that Sherry was becoming less like a stranger and more like a friend.
We went back to our hostel after lunch and Sherry continued her work on my squad mates hair. By 9pm Sherry had completed at least five heads of hair and together we went to the halloween party dressed as pirates.
Throughout the rest of the week I met Sherry’s local friends and hung out with them during the evenings. I met Andy, who moved to Thailand a few days later. I hope to reconnect with him when my squad goes there in February. Andy spoke English very well and acted as a translator for Sherry and I. One afternoon during lunch I was sitting with Andy and Sherry and they were talking to each other in Chinese. A few moments after they finished talking Andy said “Sherry tells me she feels very comfortable with you and your friends and it is clear that you care about her.” The comment took me by surprise because Sherry and I had difficulty understanding each others words. It was an answer to prayers however, because since the race began I have been praying that my actions would speak the love of Christ just as loud as my words. I know it is no coincidence that Sherry and I met and I look forward to our friendship growing.
Four months ago I would have waited for somebody else to initiate a friendship with Sherry and then tag along. The World Race is changing me in many ways one of which is the way I see strangers. While Sherry and I had literally nothing in common, aside from being in Kathmandu at the same time, I have grown to love Sherry and care for her as I do my own family.
As I take this experience into the next half of my world race, I encourage you to open your eyes to the strangers around you who are in need of a true friend.
