Nepal was everything I thought the World Race would be. It’s not what you see in the promo videos, but I expected to hike to ministry sites, sleep in my tent, use squattie potties, and take freezing cold showers. I expected to be horribly uncomfortable for 11 months. I was mentally prepared for change, cultural differences, and surprises. What I didn’t expect was, after 11 months on the race, our week in Nepalese village was my favorite. We hiked to a village with our packs, slept in tents, spent most of our off time around a campfire, and forged a river 12 times to get back to civilization.
I was spoiled with 9 months of city life on the race, and I remember dreading the village. I read “hike with packs, sleep in tents, forge the river” on our schedule for the month and started stressing about the hike. I didn’t even know where to begin with the idea of forging a river. It sounded terrifying. I imagined the scenes from the Oregon Trail computer game when you forge a river, and without fail, someone always dies in the river. Dramatic, I know, but that’s where my mind went.
Somehow being cold, living out of my 30L daypack, sleeping in a tent, and sitting around a campfire made me feel at home. I felt in my element. Everyone was freezing, and I woke up too hot in my sleeping bag every morning. (A special thanks to my teammate, Katie, who shared her tent, so I didn’t have to hike with mine). I’d say it’s because I’m from the pacific northwest and grew up camping, but nothing I’ve ever done prepared me to hike to and from ministry, mix cement, pass rocks up a hill, wash my hair in a river, and wading through the same river in running shorts.
I had moments where I debated how to get out of the hike and river forging ordeal, but the questions that came to mind over and over again were: When was the last time you did something for the first time? When was the last time you did something that scares you?
I want to be someone with the boldness and courage to do something new even if it scare me, and this month of scary, new things was my favorite month of the race. I surprised myself. I learned new things that bring me life. I found out I’m stronger and capable of far more than I ever realized, and it was so worth the risk.
