We couldn’t immediately land in Kathmandu, and I awoke to a squadmate telling me the plane was circling until it was able to land.
I craned my head and raked my eyes over the horizon, looking at the towers of clouds. And then my eyes landed on a sight that made me tear up expectedly: mountains. Big, snowy mountains whose peaks blended into the clouds.
My little Alaskan mountainheart was flooded with joy at the sight of them. Nepal already felt like home.
As we flew lower, we flew over smaller mountains and I felt like I was flying into Juneau. I felt my excitement growing-an excitement that has been growing over the months leading up to Race. When people would ask what country I’m most excited for, I would always say Thailand-but as I prepared to go, Nepal was growing in my heart.
And as we landed among the mountains, as we loaded 52 Racers and their bags onto busses, and as I got my first glimpse of Kathmandu, the excitement only grew. The noisy, crowded, brightly lit streets made me smile and my heart was lifted.
In my spirit, I could feel an excitement for this city that was more powerful than my own. Jesus, why are you excited for this city? What are you already doing here? Show me your heart here and keep me close to your heartbeat. I prayed.
And as we’ve been having a squad debrief, a time of rest and reflection as as our leaders pour into us and we set our sights on the months ahead, that has been my continual prayer.
Today, one of our squad coaches, Dan, had an activity for us to do called “treasure hunting,” or “ask the Lord” ministry. Its super simple: ask the Lord, and then go. Go find people who need to be healed, prayed with, talked to; go find people who need love. Go be Jesus to people!
Dan had us get in groups of five and pray for clues: specific things from God that will help us along the way. These are colors, numbers, images-anything, really. So we got in our group of five (I wasn’t with Kaleidoscope! I was with my squadmates Brandon, Tanna, Hannah, and Allison!) and sat down and prayed.
I didn’t get anything super specific, but the Lord brought to mind, again, something He had shown me the day before. I’d been praying, “What do you have for me here? Why am I in Nepal in October 2016?” when the Lord reminded me of various conversations with shopkeepers about a Hindu festival that is currently going on called Dasain. From what I’ve gathered and read, it is the longest festival for Nepali Hindus and two of the most important days of the festival are today and tomorrow (which explains why we were invited to a goat sacrifice on Sunday).
This festival celebrates the triumph of good over evil; what those who celebrate don’t know is that a good Father, a faithful Savior, is the One who has triumphed over evil, including the darkness and confusion in their worship of idols.
So we prayed and then made a master list of our clues:
1) Brandon got an image of a box of patches-like the patches of flags that you sew onto things- that he had seen the other day while shopping
2) Hannah saw an arrow-a white arrow outlined in black that was pointing upwards
3) Allison got a feeling that the person we need to find is someone who is seeking, who is wondering about God
4) God reminded me about the festival
And with these super specific clues (ugh), the five of us set off on the streets of Kathmandu.
We wandered-it’s amazing how many arrows there are in the street once you’re looking for them- and eventually got to the place where Brandon had found his patches the other day. We looked around, and boom: just down the street was a restaurant sign with a white arrow on a black background, pointing upwards.
We stood and turned in small circles. Hmm. Now what?
Right in between the patches and the arrow was a small shop that sold beautiful paintings. Allison noticed them and decided to go into the shop. Then Hannah went in, and I meandered outside for a little bit, wondering what I was supposed to do. Ah, what the heck. I should go in the painting store, too.
As I walked up to the counter, where Allison and Hannah talked to the owner, her young daughter, and her sister, I heard the owner say incredible words: “My sister is a Christian.” I couldn’t believe it.
Allison’s reply was sweet, “We are Christians too, and we’re here in Nepal to tell others about Jesus. Do you know very much about Jesus?”
“No, I don’t.” The owner said, warmly and receptively.
“Well, it’s funny,” Allison said as she scooted one of the paintings closer to her, “the prayer flags in your paintings, and all over the city, remind me of Jesus. They are for your prayers, but they remind me of the story of Jesus.”
The owner was paying rapt attention. (Meanwhile, my mouth FELL OPEN and I think actual scales fell from my eyes, guys. So simple and so powerful; Allison was going to tell the story of the Wordless Book)
“See, it’s almost the same, except our story starts with the color black; that’s the only color missing here. And black, for me, symbolizes what our hearts our like. We have sin in us, and we’re in darkness-we’re separated from God, and so it’s dark for us.”
“Oh?” The owner and her sister breathed. Allison slid her finger to the next flag in the painting.
“This is gold, or yellow. Gold in our story symbolizes God-He’s a king, a perfect, good king. He’s perfect, and because we are not, we can’t be with Him. But the next color is red-and that is the color of blood. Jesus’ blood! Jesus came and died for our sins, our black hearts, and he was a perfect sacrifice to God for us,” and now she moved to the white flag, absolutely beaming, “so now this is my heart. It’s white, pure! Because of Jesus, I can have a relationship with God now.” Allison indicated with her hands in a kind of “hang-loose” symbol, tilting her thumb and pinky back and forth between Heaven and earth.The women were all smiling and nodding.
Allison moved on to the final flag, “And green-“
“For nature!” The owner’s sister piped up.
“Well, kind of like how you said nature, I imagine my relationship with God to be like a tree: as my roots grow deeper and deeper, God is growing me up stronger and stronger in Him, bearing fruit. Green is for our growth with God.”
The two women murmured amongst themselves. I could tell they had enjoyed the story and the symbolism, but had especially enjoyed hearing it from Allison. I had watched Allison’s beautiful storytelling in awe; her smile was bright and hopeful, and the joy she finds in Jesus shone from her.
“I think,” started the owner, “I will be a Christian by next year.”
“Oh wow!” Allison, Hannah, Tanna, and I exclaimed. We asked what they thought of their other sister being a Christian, but they didn’t fully understand, so we asked them about her sister’s church.
“It’s very nice, I like it. Yes, I think I will be a Christian by next year.”
“Well if you have any questions about Christianity or Jesus right now, we would love to talk to you about them! That’s what we’re here for!” The owner laughed and shook her head.
We stayed and talked for awhile afterwards, becoming Facebook friends, sharing pictures, and talking to her young daughter.
We prayed for her, her daughter, and her sister. “I’m just so happy! So happy to meet you! To have you friends!” The owner exclaimed, and we could see the joy on her face. We shared our similar sentiments, she took a picture with us, and then we left, uplifted.
As we girls walked away and met up with Brandon, we rejoiced. How cool was that!? In between the patches and the arrow was this woman seeking (and apparently the painting had been of a festival activity/decoration?)-all the pieces had come together.
When we sat down for lunch, I saw the prayer flags that hang from so many Kathmandu rooftops in a new light: I’d prayed for Jesus to tell me where he was, what he was already doing, and he did: the Gospel is literally in front of their faces. It’s everywhere. The story of Jesus colors Kathmandu.
Allison pulled out the painting she’d bought to show Brandon. “Oh, wow, I just noticed this,” she said, tilting the painting and pointing. “It looks like the light is chasing away the darkness.”
And it is. He is. Jesus’ story is already there, if we will teach them how to read it.
