Hey all,
Well the Race is in full swing now! The last month has been probably the most eventful of my entire life. It all started when I bought two t-shirts in India: one of the Superman “S” and the other of Captain America’s shield. I idolized these heroes as a kid because they are both completely good. They both are alway brave and honest during the most trying times in life. Since that day, ironically, I have become like these superheroes. My story is now grand and worthy of a comic book! Last month, I had the terrible fate of watching a friend, Vanessa, suffer in a tragic car wreck while I walked out of the rubble confidently okay. I then cared for her while she was in the hospital, nursing her back to health until duty called again. When I heard about the suffering in Nepal, I did not allow time for self pity, but sprang into action so I could pass out food to those who had none and rebuild the churches and houses of the weak, but my bravery did not stop there. No, I then stepped into the people’s suffering by going through the second earthquake with them. But once again, I selflessly jumped back into the fire by rushing to a local village to see if I could pull bodies out of the rubble. There was not time for fear. After returning that night having no success, I refused to quit. No, I couldn’t give up when citizens are in need. The next day I woke up early to walk up and down mountains, sometimes walking on ledges like balance beams, with the constant danger of a tremor knocking me off my perch. On the quest, I was able to reach a family that no relief had been to yet, and told a man who never heard the name, Jesus, before about the Savior of the universe. Then, as the Sun set behind me, I made my way back to the refugee camp where I was living, ready for the next time there was a call for help.
There’s a hero to follow. Mothers, tell your children to look up to that guy. Boys, stay in school and work hard so someday you can be like him. He’s perfect! There’s just one problem. That story isn’t true. Well, it’s not the complete truth, and as my teammate Cole says, “If it’s not the complete truth, it’s a lie.” So here’s the truth. Don’t get me wrong some things I have done have been very good, but let’s hold up on calling the Vatican for my coronation.
Here’s what actually happened, the full story. This is what happened to me from my point of view:
After the accident, I was naturally pretty rattled. The next week, my team and I spent most of our time at the hospital. We enjoyed each other’s company, but as expected there was a dark cloud seemingly over the room primarily because we knew Vanessa’s life would never be the same, and we would soon have to say good bye to her, and also because we knew team changes were coming up so we stood a chance of being split up from the people we now considered family. Honestly, when we heard about the earthquake in Nepal, I couldn’t have cared less.
As a result of the earthquake, our debrief was moved from Kathmandu, Nepal to Hyderabad, India, and we were informed we were not going to Nepal because we would be in the way and use up their resources. Thankfully, our squad leaders were understanding and fought for our team so that Aubrey and Jennie could stay with Vanessa while Josh and I continued to debrief.
At debrief, I went to the zoo, an almost theme park, and sat through some sessions, until the fateful day when I heard my team would be split up. Don’t get me wrong, I love my new team, but considering what we had been through, that was hard. I didn’t really care what happened next, until we were told we were going to Nepal. At the time, I thought:
What?! We were going to a country that was trying to get relief out because there was too much; we were going to go to a country that was having food and water brought in by the truckload for their own people from foreign sources; we were going to a country that frankly did not have sound infrastructure all for the opportunity to play relief worker.
But, I can’t complain now because I didn’t say anything at the time.
The first half week we were here in Kathmandu, we had two days of ministry one of which I missed because, Jennie and Aubrey had gotten in from India, and we were given the day off to debrief which I was very thankful for. On the other day, I passed out 2 things of ramen and 2 waters (keep in mind I have drank probably 75 waters since being here). Unfortunately, I didn’t get into any spiritual conversations that day. However, I did here a story of some of my squad mates sharing about Christ in a mosque.
The next week, we left the city for a village called Melchour. There, we were scheduled to help rebuild a completely destroyed church for three days. We arrived at the side of a mountain that was absolutely drop dead gorgeous. I cleaned the debris out of our bathrooms that night and prepared for some physical days ahead. The next day, I woke up at 6:30 because the sun was glaring in my tent. I spent the next couple hours eating, praying, and reading my Bible. At 8:30 we began clearing rocks from the church. We worked hard that morning and made quite a dent. At noon, we were done working for the day and had lunch. Immediately after lunch, we were just chatting with one another when the ground began to shake. I scurried away from the edge of the mountain when I heard the squad leaders say stay down. I quickly sat where I was and didn’t move until I received further instructions. When calm resumed we were told to pack up as quickly as we could and go in groups to the top of the mountain. On the way up, one of my friends was having trouble so I had to carry both our packs up the mountain. This was by no means easy, but we made it to the top none the less. At the top, we took refuge in large tents designed to withstand earthquakes that in a few day would be used to store food from the World Food Project.
After meeting up on top of the mountain a few of us decided to go to a local community that had just been greatly affected by the quake. In retrospect, this is probably the dumbest thing I have ever done. I had no business being there. I have absolutely no first response or medical training. What did I think I was even going to do? Even if I just wanted to check it out, I should have stopped before entering the main street of buildings. On both side there were buildings leaning one way or another barely holding on. If there was even a tremor, I could have died. That attitude was far from brave. It was prideful and stupid. Some of my squad mates did hear something cry from under a building that had collapsed on itself and immediately began removing bricks. While I was standing around gawking at the scene I saw military men running around me to get to the scene. My biggest fear was now realized. I was actually in the way of the people trying to help. After a little more staring, I went back to my tent for the night.
The next day was actually very rewarding. Some friends and I hiked through the mountains and met a Christian medical team from India. They told us some people on the other side of the mountain had not been reached. We hiked over to them, gave them the medical team’s information, prayed for them, and shared the Gospel with them. Not to mention we past a small stream on the way and got to play in it for a little while. We then went back to camp to sleep and leave the next morning.
So that’s what happened to me this past month. Like I said, there were some great parts and my life is now changed from the experience. However, I have little to offer to the people of Nepal right now. All in all, this is a story closer to Clark Kent’s than Superman’s.
God Bless and Go Blue,
Chance
