There are so many things that I could share about the earthquake that took place here in Nepal on Tuesday. This would be a very long post if I shared them all. I wont do that…Im not ready to do that. What I am going to do is write this blog about the details of the day and the days following and will follow it with another about something God put very strongly on my heart to share.
Monday morning I woke up and the very first thought I had was “I don’t think Im going to the village today” It was just a thought and I wrote it off. Of course I was going. My squad and I loaded our packs onto a bus to head up to a village in the mountains to minister and help rebuild homes for 5 days. I took my seat when one of my squad leaders said; “Amy, can I talk to you for a minute?” She ended up asking me if I would be willing to stay behind with a squad-mate who was sick. We would meet back up with the squad in the next couple of days if she was feeling better. I guess it wasn’t just a thought. (Im still trying to process and figure our exactly why God decided it was best to have me separated from the rest of my squad during this time)
The next day (Tuesday) we were sitting around watching a movie when the room started to move and the windows started to rattle. It took a split second of eye contact with one another before we jumped up and made our way out. Thats all we knew. Get out of the building as fast as possible. It is very difficult to explain what it felt like. It was not at all what I would expect. It felt like walking on the deck of a ship that is severely rocking back and forth but also shaking. I don’t know how to better explain it… I looked quickly by the door for my shoes, but because of the movement, I couldn’t see anything clearly. The shoes weren’t worth it. My squad-mate and I were standing in the middle of the street, clinging to each other, trying to keep our balance. People were screaming and running around everywhere. We just looked at each other and I think that we kept saying “what do we do?” It all happened really quickly I think, but it felt longer than what people told us the length of the quake was.
Once it stopped, we decided the best thing to do would be to run quickly inside to grab the phone to be able to call the squad in the village. When we got to the door, it had slammed shut and was locked. So, there we were, phone-less and barefoot. We then walked hand in hand to one of our contact’s house 20 mins away. That is where we spent the next 2 days. In an open lawn across the street from their house under a tarp tent. We were able to go back to the house to grab a few things, like a change of clothes and our sleeping bags.
Our squad arrived in Kathmandu after being in the village (which felt the earthquake even stronger,) on Thursday and we have been back in the house since yesterday.
It was and continues to be very difficult to be in that house. My heart is always beating faster while we are there, my hands are shaky, and my stomach is in knots. I am constantly thinking about the best way to get out from any given room/floor and it often feels like the ground is still shaking. It is only in that house, which Im sure is because that is where I was when the earthquake happened. Its a very strange feeling because I feel very secure in the hands of the Lord and it doesn’t match what is in my heart.
Please pray for me that what my body is experiencing wouldn’t sneak its way into my mind and heart and that my body would be at the same peace that the rest of me is. But more than that pray for the people of Nepal. If I am going through this after one earthquake, I cant imagine how much stronger they must be feeling those things after two (the first stronger than the second.) I will be leaving at the end of the month…They will be staying here and having to live their lives in the places it happened and some of them lost everything including family and friends.
There are a lot of little details that aren’t included here and a lot of feelings and lessons but I don’t feel that it is necessary to share in this way, right now. I would love to talk to you more about it or answer questions more personally when I get back or over the next few months. Thank you all so much for your prayers for P-squad! I love and appreciate you all.
