Dearest Nepal,
I was not such a big fan of you my first week(s) here. Your hills (aka Mountains) killed me on a daily, I felt weak, insignificant and quite frankly not good enough to be here. You made my physical struggle real, and it toyed with my emotions as most struggles do (well at least for us ladies) However after a month of trekking these mountains day in and day out, worshiping intensely and praying passionately with your Nepali people – you have proven to steal a tiny piece of my heart – which if I am being honest I didn’t think you could do. Ill admit it, I was a bit skeptic.
Your views are amazingly breath taking and I cannot get enough of the sights I see out of every window of this house. Your mountains surrounds us, green as far as the eye can see – and on a clear day snow capped mountains.
You blessed our teams with a host and family that love Jesus with all of their hearts and you gave our team a translator (supporter) that IS Jesus with skin on. His passion for God and for the Nepali people radiates and I am pretty sure if your desire to grow closer to God doesn’t burn in your soul while around him – there is something wrong with you. He makes you want to lead a better life, step up your game be world changers and kingdom bringers. As if his heart isn’t big enough his smile sure is. He never quits. (Even when advised)
Nepal, you not only pushed me physically – you pushed me spiritually. You allowed me to share the love Jesus to your people. The word of God became a daily part of my day (again) – and sometimes on multiple occasions. It was here I was able to reconnect with God and feel his presence. It was here in your sweet country I was able to breathe deep and take it all in, start to reveal and live again in my true identity in Christ. That alone, is enough.
Your streets are dirty, rocky and uneven. (I fell off a couple times – for the record) Dogs of every age and kind lay scattered on and off those streets. Your children giggle and wave at the mention of ‘namste’ – and any of them that know any bit of english find pure joy in yelling ‘hi’ – ‘bye’ repeatedly. Your ‘resorts’ are lacking the american zest and zeal but I have to give it to you for trying. The markets (aka garage door stores) along those dirty roads are a pure joy to take in. A mix of lays chips, soda, fried dough, candy fill a glass case and to top it off a string from one side to the other donning both shampoo and cheese balls. (great mix, right) Your Mo-Mos are delicious and although may have been the result of a night puking for both Nate, Myles and myself I would still eat again (and did). With the variety of buffalo, chicken and veggie the option is yours. (Oh and the Mexican restaurant in Jawalkehl – The Lazy Gringo even had re-friend bean Mo-Mos which just might be a favorite.. shhh) Your internet connection is sketchy and frustrating at times, but I have enjoyed not having the daily temptation to check in on life at home. Thanks Nepal for keeping me present in your beautiful country. I appreciate that.
Sweet, sweet Nepal you have helped me grow. A lot. This month has been challenging, God was working hard on and through me but here in your country side is where my healing has begun. Here is where my walls have come down, and I have worked fervently with God in keeping them down.
Lets get real though Nepal, I love the views, the food, the culture but my most favorite part of your country has been your people. Your sweet, tender loving people. The church community here blew me away – there passion for Jesus is undeniable. I learned quickly that 3 hours of church service is not that long, where worshipping for over an hour is ‘just how they roll’ the joy the expounds from these people are just about enough the bust the walls down. They stay tuned into the message when its spoken and offer words and nods of affirmation at any point where they feel necessary. Their prayers are not short, and lack nothing – their cry’s out to Jesus are loud and filled with fire and passion. Their eyes are filled with Gods love, their smiles with Gods joy and their giggles can make even the most stern smile. My sweet Sistika stole my heart from day one. What a joy that little girl is. I fell quickly in love with her, and couldn’t get enough of her sweet smile and love. She would sit on my lap, wrap my arms around her little belly any chance she could. If she didn’t want to sit on my lap she was fine with casually leaning on my while holding my hand. Filled with hugs and kisses she was my affirmation that God had me right where he wanted me. (Isn’t that funny how God gives us those little reminders we so desperately didn’t know we needed) The eyes of my tender – loving Granny will forever be burned into my heart (and if not I snapped a glowing picture of her on Nate’s camera) She spoke to me, through her eyes, hand holding and sweet smiles. God is in her, I didn’t have to speak her language to know that. It poured out of her. Oh to radiate Gods love so fiercely that the same language doesn’t even need to be spoken to be known. The desire is real.
Nepal. If you would have asked me a month ago if saying goodbye would be easy, I would have said YES. Instead you snuck in, stole a piece of my heart and made my last Nepali Church service here a whole heck of a lot harder then I thought. Tears filled my eyes intermittently. Whether it be during your Nepali worship as I look around with their eyes closed, arms held high and voices crying out Gods praises, or when the very next worship song being led by a passionate jovial man (Amhar) smiling ear to ear requires us white people (dressed in Nepali garb) intermixed with the Nepalese to dance and sing (what words we knew)… the laughter and smiles that came from our group melted my heart. Or when my sweet girl finds me in a crowded room surrounds me with her tiny arms and gives me more kisses then I know what to do with… Or when our host family calls us up to the front of the church to honor and pray over our World Race Team – donning us with not only their love, support and prayers but gifts that none of us saw coming… As we stood up there looking out across the crowded church room filled with faces that were no longer strangers to us, but our family, our family in the body of Christ – my heart was full. My cup runneth over. As full as my heart was, it was also heavy with the thought of our final goodbyes.
One of the young Moms that I became familiar with and comfortable enough with to hold her baby on multiple occasions accepted Christ at the end of our last church service, as I sat there and held her hand as our host walked her through the prayer I couldn’t keep the joy I had for her and her decision off my face. I was blown away (yet again) There couldn’t be anything better at this point. That I was for sure.
The cliche’ God is so good, grows old, and is sometimes over used. Truth be told with my time here in Nepal coming to an end I cant help but think – God IS so good, the work done here, in me, and in our team is big. I am both thankful and blessed for the growth that came from a month filled with challenges and hurdles, it was a good reminder that with every challenge and hurdle God was always right there with me. (and my team)
Nepal, thank you for being apart of something so amazing in me, and the ever growing kingdom.
Sincerely,
Court
