Now for the second “week” we had in Nepal!
This post will have our days from the last post until we left for Chitwan!
Day one of this week, May 13th, my brother’s birthday!!
On this day we had two different ministries. In the morning we went to a drug rehab center. The center had separate homes for each gender. We learned about the programs while in the men’s home and we also had COFFEE! We learned about their heart behind acceptance, they do not turn people away if they leave the program and relapse. They are completely welcome to come back. Also the programs are free and they don’t not have a plan exactly for how to be funded, but they know God will provide for them, and He does!!
Then we went to the women’s side. The girls were in the middle of their Bible study when we arrived, which was so perfect! Ashley shared her testimony with the girls and they all connected with it so much. The girls were all younger, there were three of them. When we prayed over the girls God gave Kylie a vision for one of the girls about how she will walk into her family’s home confidently. Kylie shared the vision with the girl and she lit up!
(This is a picture of Kylie sharing with the girl)
In the afternoon we went to a school. We were going to join the classrooms and help out the teachers and even possibly teach the teachers, what we were going to teach them I still don’t know. We did have four teachers with us though. The reason I don’t know is that we arrived and the teachers and children were not there. They declared that day a holiday for their neighborhood two days before. But, our time there turned into a tour of the school and then we prayed for the school. The principle was with us and he is a Hindu man. He wondered what we prayed since we were all saying different things as we prayed. It opened the doors for us to explain our personal relationships with God and explain that prayer for us is a personal conversation with the one true God.
(Here is a picture from the classroom, the little girl is the principles daughter)
The next morning we went to a ministry that still holds a space in my heart, one of my squad leaders even pointed out an empty bedroom and said it was open and ready for me to move in. It was a home for girls who were saved from being exploited. We were told in the morning that many of the girls would be from villages. They are often tricked by men and told they are getting married, then they are taken to India on a honeymoon and that is where they are sold into brothels. We got there and I learned about all that the ministry did outside of just their own walls and I was blown away. They reached out and had community development along with a home and program to get these girls and women back on their feet. They had accommodations for their children as well. We met some of the women who were in phase 2 and had learned new crafts and were selling them to learn to earn an income then we met the girls in phase 1. These girls had just entered the program within the year. They were so young. We heard two of their stories and I can’t even put into words the pain I was feeling for those girls. If I had been blindfolded I might have cried listening to them. But I was not, I could see the joy that radiated from them. I could see the peace of the Lord on them and the complete restoration that many of them had already found. These girls experienced things I cannot even imagine, but they have found the grace to fully forgive those who hurt them.
I wish so much that we could have had more time with them, all of us do, but we had to head back after a short stay with them.
(Here is a picture of some art work that was hanging in the home)
That afternoon/evening we traveled so far! We took several buses and hiked a bit as well to make our way to the home of a gentleman in need of prayer. I was a little taken back that we used half a day for this, but it reminded me of the importance of prayer and the power behind it! We prayed over a man who had just been hospitalized but had not regained his voice yet. We also prayed over his wife for knee pain and stomach issues. Then we prayed over their home as they were looking to sell it in the near future. We ended up staying for a short while longer than expected because it began to rain heavily! But, because of that rain, we were able to see the sunset from their porch!
(Here is a picture of the sunset from their upstairs porch)
The next day was an all around dream come true, for everyone! I have read about it, but never thought it would be a ministry I would get to visit. We only went one place this day since the travel took so long. We bussed and then hiked to a leper colony. We thought our visit would be simple, to pray for those who were there and encourage them. But, the ministry was even more incredible as it allowed anyone to live there. The group I was in did pray and did encourage the people we saw, but the main thing we did was evangelize. The three women we talked with were all Hindu. The first women did not want us to pray but we did anyway without really telling her, we did not have a translator. But, as we were leaving I was the last one out and she stopped me and asked me to pray for her eyes. I pointed up and said, it will be to God. And she nodded yes anyway. I don’t know anything more about the situation but I believe a seed was planted. The next two women were together and both Hindu as I mentioned before. The one said she knew about Christianity and her husband went to church without her. She was still on the fence as they were already living outside of their community and without family due to the leprosy and this decision would cause them to be kicked out even more. They did allow us to pray for them and I believe that seed was already planted and our being there was a giant watering can of water nourishing the seed and encouraging it to grow!
(This is a picture of the first women’s hands. I was unable to communicate with her to ask if I could take a picture of her face)
The next day we went on an all day trip as well, it was our official first day hiking! Even though we were still not on our “trekking” trip we hiked and it was exhausting! But so worth it! We hiked up to a waterfall and all bathed there too, for some of us it was our only shower in a while… We reached the little town that was at the top and drank tea and ate our packed lunches. Then we prayed over the city from all of corners of the top of the mountain and prayed for the city below and for the people as well as the entire country of Nepal. Then we hiked down, it was seriously such an amazing experience and I loved seeing the city from above! And on April 27th I had had a dream about the top of that mountain, the second dream I ever wrote down and part of it was prophetic! Hopefully I will have more dream related stories for you all in the future!!
(Here will be a picture of Team Torch at the top of the mountain!)
[We ran out of wifi time]
The following day was an off day! But, I HAVE to tell you about this off day just a little bit!
I flew over Mt. Everest!!
Never did I think I would do it!
Not because of fear but because of finances, but it was less than a third of what I was expecting to pay as well as a once in a lifetime experience that I just couldn’t pass up. I felt weird about it since during that time I was raising money for trekking to bring the Gospel up the Himalayas, but after running the idea past my parents they convinced me pretty quickly that even though I am on this trip, pretty much out of money I needed to do it. I needed to see the glory of God from above. I am so glad I did, God showed me His beautiful creation and provided me with a tax refund that would cover the cost of the flight!
(Here will be a picture of Mt. Everest from the sky!) [I will add these once I have wifi]
