I can not complain about how I am currently writing this blog… on the top story of our host site, looking out at a beautiful snow capped mountain silhouette in the distance.
Nepal; native to the breath taking Himalaya mountains, and home to local Hindi and Buddhist cultures. Christians make up only 1.9% of religion in Nepal. Parades of Hindi Gods are not uncommon. Boys sniffing glue in the street is not uncommon. I was immediately struck with the darkness encompassing Nepal. Finding men and women worshipping at temples is not uncommon. Since these religions take on so much of the daily Nepali culture in this country, it becomes difficult for men and women to decipher the acceptance of the only one true God; Jesus. Our ministry this month focuses of evangelism, discipleship, and “planting the seeds” in the mountains and valleys of Kathmandu Valley for God to grow.
A few stories from the field this month:
Our ministry this month consists of hiking. I had no idea what we were in store for. We hike for hours and stopping to hand out the “Jesus Track” ( a small pamphlet sharing the gospel) to many along the way. We ask questions; “do you need prayer for anything?” “do you know who Jesus is” (through our translators, 20 year old after God’s heart) and explain that God sent us from America to personally visit whom ever we were sharing with. Few times we have approached homes with tracks and are invited in to sit, have tea, or a snack. This is not uncommon. We pray for many along the way; prayer for healing, prayer for blessing upon a household, or prayer for personal testimonies to arise from our planted seeds.
One morning we run into a man coming out of a hut. We greet him; “Namaste” and he responds in English. We continue to ask him similar questions, handing him a track. He replies that he knows who Jesus is because he went to a Catholic school. He owns a magnificent farm, the largest in the country. He employs over 50-100 men and women at his farm. He states that he is not specifically Christian but a few of his workers are. We are quickly taken through some of the farm and introduced to a young husband and wife. The owner tells us that he takes care of all his employees when they are ill. The woman is ill more times than she can work and he is constantly treating her. He leaves us. Through our translators we learn that she has head aches and stomach issues. The couple also express that they feel the presence of a ghost living in/near their house and they are scared at nighttime, presented with dark dreams. We are taken to their home in which the owner allowed them to build on his farm so they may work. We pray for healing for the man and woman and cast out any evil in their home, along with a blessing from God upon it. They are grateful for our blessing. The owner has returned to give us a tour of his entire farm. He expresses that he believes in Christ just as any other Hindi god. He is a good, powerful god. It amazed me how many seeds have already been planted in this man and how knowledgeable he is of the faith, but does not believe. He also shows so much of Christ to his employees in a new way.
We will continue the next 2 weeks in Nepal doing similar ministry also including service projects for the church we are associated with. We are continually asked to pray for the darkness that surrounds the country. The church is still underground and is waiting patiently for a new constitution.
A little about Nepali life for us:
Tea served morning and afternoon ( I cant complain)
Lunch = breakfast (cana)
Snack = lunch (caza)
Dinner= Dinner (cana)
Most consist of rice and a delicious curry. Our ministry host has been good enough to cook us fries one day! Us five girls are sharing a room with two beds upstairs and the boys are sharing a room (they sent up their tents) on the second floor. We typically wake up around 6:30-7 and are on the road or working by 10am, then back home by 5-6pm. It leads for a long day with intense hiking routes each day! We get to see beautiful views at the top of each hill/mountain we climb. We have two translators with us that are working closey with us in ministry each day. Check out some of the views on my Nepal facebook photo album.
Thank everyone for prayers and support! We are already fast approaching the end of month 2, CRAZY. I still need to raise apprx $3,000 to be fully funded in January and finish the race!
Blessings from Kathmandu, Nepal!
