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If you read my last blog, you’ll know that I became friends with Ruby and Alex, two girls that my squadmates, Hannah and Mallorie, and I had met at a dance bar. During our last week in Kathmandu, we got to meet twice more with them.

The first of these times, they brought along another girl we’d met that night, a woman named Naomi*. The girls were excited to meet with us again and I don’t even think they were that late this time. They wanted to go back to the same pizza place, so we once again sat around pizzas and talked some more about life. Another Hindu festival had started, Tihar, so the girls enthusiastically explained the different days of the festival, which include days of worshipping crows, dogs, oxen, and brothers.
 
We asked them about Jesus. Alex and Naomi told us that they had both previously been Christians, but because of disagreements between Christians, they no longer were Christians and didn’t trust the Christian message. Hannah, Mallorie, and I were interested and asked for more clarification, but all they could really explain was that the Christian disagreements had to do with Christmas.
 

I turned to Alex. “When you were a Christian, do you think you knew Jesus? Like, really know him and have him inside you? Because people will always change, but Jesus won’t. Do you believe he lived in you?”

 

She gave me a Nepalese head bobble (which I LOVE, but it can mean anything from a “yes,” to a “maybe” to a “eh, not really, but sure”). “I mean, I went to church and I felt good. I felt helpful.”

And she left it at that.

We invited them to the church our local ministry contacts attended. Alex and Naomi declined, saying that they had to do the Hindu worship for the day.

 

I asked Ruby if she would be celebrating too. “No, I don’t have any money.” she answered.

“Do you want to go to church with Mallorie and our Nepali friends?”

 

“Yeah, okay!” she said, with a head bobble. Mallorie started to hammer out a plan with her for getting to church.

 

Before we left, Mallorie asked them a serious question. “If you had the chance, would you really leave the dance bar? Would you take it seriously?”

 

Ruby and Alex responded without hesitation: yes! Naomi, who is older than them, looked apprehensive, but agreed slowly.

 

Gauging this interest, we told them we would bring a friend of ours to the next meeting with them. They didn’t know it yet, but it would be one of our ministry hosts: Maya*.

 

And so, the day before we left Nepal, we planned to meet with the girls. On that Wednesday afternoon, however, none of them were answering their phones. Hannah, Mallorie, and I could do nothing but pray. Two hours later, we’d only gotten ahold of one of the girls, but we instantly decided it was worth the taxi ride and last-minute arranging with our host.

 

Ruby arrived bouncing and clinging to us, eager to catch up after the few days we hadn’t seen each other. We introduced her to Maya and walked to a nearby coffee shop.

 

As we ordered, it was Ruby that asked if we could open in prayer.

 

With Maya there to translate, Ruby talked rapidly and freely. I was thankful for Maya because Ruby was able to tell us so much more than she ever had with Alex helping her translate. I thought my heart had already broken for this new friend, but I was wrong.

I had asked her about a new scratch on her cheek that I’d immediately noticed when she met us, but she’d brushed it off as another “accident.” With Maya translating, the truth came out: she was in an abusive relationship, living with one of the DJs at the dance bar.

Hannah, sitting next to her, put her hand on her shoulder. “Ruby,” she said lovingly but firmly (and with Maya translating), “I have been in a similar situation. And that’s not true love. That’s not what love does.”

“When you love someone, you take care of them,” Mallorie added, cupping her hands as if holding something very fragile, “Because you know they are precious. You don’t deserve that, Ruby. You should be loved and you are worthy of a love that doesn’t hurt. You deserve a love like God has for you; you are so precious, to him, like a diamond. And He loves you and takes care of you.”

Ruby’s eyes were watering, but she didn’t object, and through a smile she said “You are all like big sisters to me.”

“Ruby, we are your sisters. Because we all have the same Father, who loves us as His daughters. So if you do know God, we are sisters!”

“That first night we met at my work,” Ruby said to me,  “I saw you smiling with the other girls who work there. And then I came to you, and you smiled at me, and I felt like you loved me. And then I sat with you, and I knew you all loved me. I could feel you loved me, and I didn’t even know you! I don’t usually give my number away at work so easily, but when you guys asked me for my number, I just…I just knew I should. I knew you loved me and I knew I should give my number to you.”

Hannah, Mallorie, and I exchanged glances with glistening eyes. Ruby, sitting across from Mallorie, noticed the tears in her eyes.

“What!? Why tears?” She exclaimed.

“I’m just so happy we’re friends, Ruby. I’m so happy you know we love you.” Mallorie said, smiling. “We love you because Jesus loves us, and loves you, and we want to reflect him.”
 
“And the love you feel from us–Ruby, Jesus loves you so much more!”

Ruby folded her hands and closed her eyes. “Thank you, thank you.” she kept repeating.

When the topic of leaving the dance bar was brought up, another subject was discussed: money.Ruby explained that she worked to support her family, who lived with her aunt in a village, and that the dance bar was the only way she knew to make that kind of income.

Maya looked at us with grave eyes. “It’s true,” she said, “if she leaves, she won’t make that much money.”
 
Ruby remained on the topic of money for awhile, opening up about the hurt it brings (in that other girls make more than her) despite the fact that she needs it.
 
Mallorie was quick to assure her, “You are worth so much more than the money you make there, Ruby.”
 
As the conversation rounded to a close,  Maya shared her testimony with Ruby and told her about the church she goes to. I asked if Ruby had a Bible, and she said she didn’t, and that she really didn’t know much about Jesus. Maya told her that when she came to church, she would give her a Bible so she could learn even more.
 
As we got ready to leave, Ruby told us, “I am so sad to go to work today; you won’t be there, and you will leave tomorrow.”
 
“We’re going to leave, but Jesus is going to stay with you.” I encouraged her. As we left, we ran into Jon and Meagan, and Ruby was so excited to meet more of our friends. She instantly grabbed Meagan’s face, gleefully exclaiming, “Your eyeeees! Oh, so pretty!”

This moment personifies her so well: reaching out and making a total stranger feel loved and giving them compliments, the way she has done with Hannah, Mallorie, and I since the beginning.

With a last round of hugs, I told her, “Ruby, it was Jesus that first night. You don’t know why you gave us your number, but I believe it was Jesus. He knew we should all be friends, and it’s his love you feel with us.” She chirped a tight “thank you” and hugged me tighter.
 
When she was gone, we sat with Maya, who told us that she thought Ruby had talked quite a bit about money. I was surprised; maybe Maya had caught something more insinuated than what came through in translation. “I think she expects money from you.” said Maya frankly.
 
And that was hard to hear. Had the last hours been a waste of time?
 
The process of helping girls leave is slow for our ministry hosts, and Maya explained that Ruby is going to have to really, and consistently, want to leave. Maya will continue to try to build a relationship with Ruby, if Ruby still wants to after the Westerners With Money leave. Ruby will have to choose to live for less money and be brave enough to leave her living conditions and boyfriend. Ruby will have to be so brave. Ruby will need her heart and life changed by Jesus; of that I am sure.
It was hard to not feel futile. I’d wanted Maya to tell us that it was a done deal, that Ruby would be out of there in no time and that surely Alex would follow. I wanted to leave it all wrapped up neatly with a bow on top. I still wanted God to resolve all the hurt, right before my eyes. Maybe it was a selfish thing to want, but I wanted to know it was fixed.
 

I didn’t want a “maybe,” and I didn’t want the possibility of “failure.” I wanted a solution, not a project in faith.

As I wrestled with this, I reflected on the month. If I learned anything this month, it was that I can trust God (THAT will be a fun blog-stay tuned!) with things I care about; the things that I want to hug tightly. Like Ruby.

And having trust and faith didn’t mean that I would waltz out of Nepal without a care in world; rather oppositely, it meant I would be dedicated to prayer and intercession.

In yet another existential taxi ride back home, God reminded me of my second day in Kathmandu. Our hosts had taken us hiking up a small mountain (I wouldn’t consider it a mountain by Alaska standards) to a Hindu temple. It’s one of the highest points in Kathmandu, and from the temple we could see the city sprawled out across the valley, hemmed in by mountains and competing for space. From that lookout, we prayed for Kathmandu, praying for the breaking of chains and for true Light to shine.

After making our way down, we came across something none of us expected: a group of Nepalese locals being baptized in the river at the base of the mountain. At the foot of a mountain that housed a Hindu temple, brothers and sisters were being baptized into a new life with Jesus. They were publicly proclaiming their faith in Jesus alone. On the opposite side of the riverbank, we sang and celebrated the Body of Christ, worshipping, and even a few members of K-Squad got in the river and were baptized.
 

There was a Light shining into the darkness, and it had not been overcome.

 

That was the image God brought to mind in the taxi ride home. I knew what He was telling me:

“There is hope here. It was here before you were, and it will be here when you leave.”

I didn’t get to see the resolution, but I saw Hope. Because I love and serve a God that is living. He is not a stone idol that is dead, deaf, and mute. He will go where I can’t, stay when I can’t, and heal what I can’t. And it is in Him I put my hope for Nepal and those I love there.

 

Thanks for reading! Friends, pray for Ruby. Pray that Jesus would change her heart and life and maker her brave. Pray for Alex and Naomi as well. It means the world for you to join me in this. 

PS.  I am now in India and can’t wait to tell you all about it! 

I just have one more update. My fundraising will need to be complete by the end of this month, and I have $1,700 left to raise in order to stay on the field. If you have been encouraged by my stories from the field or have been feeling lead to consider giving, I ask that you would consider stepping into this with me. You can be a part of sending me to the next 7 countries on the Race! By financially partnering with me, you can join me in sharing Jesus around the world. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know!