Here in Nepal everyday looked different, it wasn’t even just every day, sometimes it was even mornings and evenings that were different. We were so privileged to be with the host we were with, he truly adopted us as his daughters. I have a whole blog coming your way called Dad Jokes because of him!
His love for his country and his vision behind every moment was inspiring. Just to hear why he had us where he had us, and the heart behind every place he sent us really reminded me that the little things matter!
This month day one we arrived, took a nap and then headed to a temple. We went to several temples as you will see, but this was the first. He sent us there to pray. To pray for the oppression and lies that the people there were believing. I was fortunate enough to have been in the meeting with our host when we arrived so I was able to hear about the mixes of Hinduism and Buddhism and about the fear those who practice those religions are living in. We went to a temple that was for Buddha and two Hindu gods. We did a prayer walk around the temple and at one point sat down and had some spiritual conversations. A few minutes into that conversation it hit me, we were talking freely about the good news we had to share. People were listening, but that was their choice. At that moment, in that temple we were speaking out truth, but not breaking the law while doing it. The random thought hit me, because Holy Spirit is cool like that and shares things with us, and I no longer felt guilt for not praying the entire time. Our conversation was not what we were initially “supposed” to be doing, but I believe it was what God intended us to do.
(This is a picture from that temple)
Okay, now for day two:
In the morning of our first full ministry day we traveled to a mothers home. This was a home for older women or women who had nowhere to go. The home was started by a Christian women but not all of the women staying there were Christians. The first women we met was 102 and she was still taking care of her self and walking around. We spent time talking with the women, or miming with them was more like it. There were 12 of us and one translator. We prayed for many of the women as they had aging related pain or illnesses. We walked up and down stairs and on my way back down I saw such a gift from God, a little 4 month old baby. The women holding the baby kept gesturing no about many of our questions and when our translator arrived we learned why. She was not the mother of the baby but had no family so she was staying at the home and now was caring for the baby. We were informed that the baby also had no name and was brought straight from the hospital to the home. The baby’s parents had left the baby at the hospital because the baby was born with both genders. The baby also had a skin condition but we assume it was sensitive skin. It was heartbreaking to learn that this baby was abandoned but encouraging to know how loved the baby would be as it grew up. Honestly I will be praying for that little baby for years to come. I will never forget the little 4 month old baby that peed on me and stole me heart here in Nepal!
In the afternoon we headed out to another temple to pray. It was a circular temple and we were instructed to circle the temple in prayer. So we did, some of us sat while others walked. If you have never experienced Spiritual Warfare before this might sound strange, but there was a heaviness in the air at this temple. Feeling this heaviness and knowing I walk within the authority of Christ felt so powerful. I knew every step we were taking was making the enemy angry! When the time was up we asked if we could stop for coffee so we went to a coffee shop across the street from the temple. There was a guitar there and naturally Nikki picked it up, she is one of my new teammates and has such an amazing gift of music! We began singing worship music in the coffee shop and all of the people around us were listening and smiling. All of us realized the door that was opened in that moment. We were singing about the one true God across from a temple for false gods. We could look out the window and see the temple, people in the coffee shop had either been visiting the temple or were going to visit it and there we were worshipping!
The next day was a kid day!!!
In the morning we went to a school. We arrived and they had us go in front of hundreds of children immediately. They were singing and doing motions to the songs so we just followed them. They seemed to be singing to us at one point too. Then we were assigned tasks, to feed the children. The food was made, we just had to give it out. I handed the plates from the pile to the line, a silly task, but it saved time. Others scooped the food and others walked around with extra food. It was awesome to see how many children were being fed! Then after we did the dishes! We fed hundreds of children so we washed hundreds of plates and cups and spoons. By the time we were done it was getting close to lunch time. I am not sure if they serve lunch, but if they do I know they must be busy feeding the children all day!
(We got to wear some rockin’ orange aprons!)
In the evening we went to another place with children. We didn’t know much about what we were going to do, but we did know there would be children! We rode in a bus and then walked for forever, but eventually made it to a children’s home, also run by the women who runs the mothers home. We waited for the children to get out of school and planned our activities for them while we waited. We also talked with some of the older girls who were there already and played with some of the little boys who were there too. When all of the children arrived we sang some silly game songs and then showed them the doctor skit. We prayed over the children then headed on our way. It was a short interaction and our travel was longer than our official ministry time but the smiles on those kiddos faces made it all worth it!
(This picture was taken when we were praying at the end of our time there)
Then came Saturday, the off day in Nepal. We went to church in the morning and my mind was blown! This church was huge! The biggest church I have seen on the World Race so far, AND they had three services! It was so encouraging to see that in the country with the most restrictions God was still moving! We had the rest of the day off after that, and the following day as well. Those were our off days for this month! We might be a little tired, but I wouldn’t trade the days we spent in ministry after this for anything!
With that being said, there will be another blog following this one very soon!
When I reached the second half of day 2 I realized this blog will HAVE to be done in parts!
I hope you enjoyed reading about the first week of our ministry here in Nepal!
There are so many more stories to come and at least one trekking vlog for sure!!
