N E P A L
1. What were your living arrangements like?
We were in multiple cities throughout the month but usually our living arrangements were in hostels with another teammate. But on my birthday we were staying in a small village in one room for all 7 of us. There was a hole in the wall where a chicken was laying its eggs and baby chickens slept in a basket under the stairs. A goat even walked in to that room to wake all of us up!
2. What was the food like? What was the best and worst things you ate? Weirdest thing you ate?
The food was great! We had lots of dahl baht and chipati and veggies. It was nice to have fresh veggies and Nepal is the only country I’ve been to that has free food refills everywhere you go. The weirdest thing was probably water buffalo but that’s pretty normal in Nepal.
Our roommates in one village.
3. What is the culture like? How is it different from ours?
Nepal is a very giving and friendly country; the biggest difference is that Nepali’s share everything. If you take a water with you to Bible study then multiple people will drink out of it (waterfall style) and you might not get it back when it’s time to go home.
4. What did you learn about yourself?
I like staying in one place and pouring into people for longer periods of time than a week. I’m growing a longing for roots!
5. What did you learn about how the culture effects the way the people understand the gospel and live as Christians?
My team at Poon Hill for sunrise
6. What was your most memorable moment from this month?
Watching the sunrise at Annapurna was my favorite thing on the race so far.
7. What was the hardest thing about your month?
Bus rides! Crowded, music blaring, bumpy/curvy road bus rides.
8. What was the biggest lesson you learned?
I learned that I thoroughly enjoy working with teenagers. I always thought I preferred the little kids but teenagers are super fun it felt like hanging out with friends!
Me and some kids at church in the village of Bardia
9. What did you see God doing among the people of Nepal?
Nepali people have very strong faith and live cheerfully everyday. God is definitely blessing them and speaking to the people of this country. I could see the Jesus in the people I met by the way they loved each other and us without holding back or second guessing.
10. What did you learn about the community and the people you served?
Nepali’s love to make you part of their family. Everywhere we went we were instantly welcomed and loved. Lots and lots of food was given to us, lots of thanks, and they always wanted to show us their towns/parks. They are very patriotic people!
11. What FUN activities did you get to do?
We were blessed with the opportunity to hike to Poon Hill in the Anapurna Himalayas!
12. What one thing surprised you the most?
How dusty Nepal is and how hot it can get and how much they feed you!
13. Explain your “typical day” this month.
This month we didn’t really have a typical day but at most churches we would put on mini Bible schools in the morning with the children of the village where we would play games, sing songs, and teach a Bible story. When we were in the villages with a lot teenagers we would have teen hang outs in the evenings. Some days we would be shown around local areas with our contact for that town.
14. What different projects did you work on this month?
At the beginning of the month we started working with a youth group in Kathmandu and traveled with their worship band to do concerts for villages. The next few weeks were filled with 4 other church families that we encouraged and had dinner with and hung out with their youth.
15. Name one main difference between this month and previous months?
This month we traveled around the country to encourage multiple churches so this month was different because we didn’t stay in one place all month or with the same contact.
My Kathmandu teenagers after their concert on my birthday!
16. What was the community like that you stayed in? You were looking forward to being in more of a city this month, was it like you expected?
17. The first place we stayed was the city of Kathmandu and that was fun because it was touristy and had good shopping. Since we moved around I got to experience multiple villages and climates of Nepal. Flat, hot land; cold, mountainous land; and city, touristy life.
-C
