For a split second after the earthquake everything went quiet and the world seemed to stand still. Then all you could hear was screams coming from the village below us. In the moment it was so eerie. A cloud of dust and dirt slowly billowed up the mountain side until we couldn’t see. The earth continued to tremble off and on for the next several minutes.
What happened seemed unfathomable. When the dirt cleared you could see where the terraced land caved and slid below us. More destruction surrounded us and homes continued to collapse along with the sounds of screams. Without hesitation the squad leaders told us to pack up our tents and hike back up to the top of the mountain.
The past few days our squad was relocated to the World Food Program tent outside of the village of Chautara. We didn’t realize the magnitude of the earthquake until walking up the mountain to safety. One of the locals informed us that it was a 7.4 earthquake and that we were only a few miles away from the epicenter.
The squad leaders gave us the option of staying at the World Food Program base or going out to help with relief efforts. Some squamates stayed behind and prayed while others of us re-grouped and went out. I took a small group with me to see what we could do to help. We stopped and talked to several locals and encouraged them even though they still seemed to be in good spirits about the situation.
We ended up at a Korean Red Cross tent talking to some of the medic drivers and eventually talking to the doctors and nurses working there. One of the girls with us was feeling overwhelmed so we stopped to pray with her and as we were praying other approached asking for prayers. One of the locals gave his life to Christ that day and we got to pray over him.
In the midst of all the chaos and destruction it was hard to see how the Lord was working in all the devastation. Then I realized that Christians from around the world have joined together for relief efforts. The group of Koreans from the Red Cross were Christians. I meet a group from a church in India that were Christians. Another group from Russia and Japan that were Christians were being sent into another village for relief work.
We all came together to help as the body of Christ. The relief efforts in Nepal have been a true testament to the statement “every tribe, every tongue, every nation.” The Lord knew I would be here in Nepal with all these people long before I was even born. He brought us all here together because He knows our faith is unshakable.
Last night I went to watch the sunset and when walking back up the hill I stopped in my tracks and looked down at the shirt I was wearing. It read “We can move mountains.” That is what literally happened on Tuesday afternoon. The mountains moved. The mountains moved but our squad was safe in the Lords hands.
P-Squad by all means is [P]rayer Squad. On Tuesday May 12th we had people all around the world praying when another squad did a 24 hour prayer for us and spread the news on social media. They didn’t know what that day had in store for us they only knew of the struggles our squad had been through lately. We prayed our way through it, while others prayed for us as well.
Thank you all for the prayers, and keep praying. This squad has been equipped to handle mighty things but in the long run it only makes us stronger in our faith. Know that we are all in good hands and the Lord is working everything out for our good. He has us here to spread His love and be a light to these people and we are not going to let an earthquake scare us away from doing that.
I LOVE you all!!!!
