So on the other end of town is this massive monastery. There are some mountains behind it that the monks go up on and pray or make burnt offerings on. Well some of our group went on a hike the other day and said it was an amazing view. They had the idea to take up a guitar and a drum. I bought on a previous day a kite! I thought it would be fun to go fly and maybe meet some kids.
So we decided to all take the hike and go up the mountain. Well the day we decided to do this was a huge holiday for the monks. They were celebrating Buddha’s birthday and his death. So the trail up and down was full of people. Of course I brought my kite, how cool would it be to fly it on top of a mountain in Tibet! As soon as we get there, monks started gathering around the instruments wanting to play them. I get my sweet kite out and start flying it. I bet people could see it from town!
None of the monks had any problem with me flying the kite. Several came and flew it with me. It seemed like few have ever seen a kite. I guess they don’t sell very many in this town. I guess they got me! Well the kids came and flew it and so did several older guys. This one kid continually came up to me and said “no.” But yet he wanted to hold the string. So I give it to him. He reels the kite in and then gives it to me. Every time some other kid was flying he would come up and start pulling it down. It was kind of funny.
While I am over flying kites and taking pictures with monks on a mountain some crazy things were happening with the rest of the group I find out later. They started out just playing music. Then they started singing secular songs with lyrics. Then they started singing worship songs. I was thinking to myself “are they going to sing Jesus?” I knew we weren’t supposed to, especially on a Buddhist holiday on the monk’s mountain. Yep, they did! I love the boldness of my teammates! One of the kids started to sing along, most likely not knowing what he was saying. When we left everyone was happy. Everyone wanted pictures with the Americans. Looking back, how amazing was that! Worshiping God on a mountain, amongst monks on their holiday, in a closed country. It is crazy how God uses us to make his presence known. Proclaimed from atop a mountain!
