Nepal has been the most physically demanding month of the Race for me so far. It has also been one of the most memorable and amazing months – and definitely the most “World-Race-ish.” I don’t really even know where to start, so I thought I’d do something a little different and let you in on some excerpts from my journal for this month, to give you a taste of what we have seen and experienced.
January 12, Tuesday
I’m sitting in a church building made of tin in a remote mountain village in Nepal. It took us 4 hours to get here from Kathmandu this morning. Our host is a 20-year-old college student named Alisha. We thought we were coming here to help rebuild a church destroyed in the earthquake, but now we don’t really know what’s going on. We’re only here for five days, and it’s looking like maybe a good five days to practice listening prayer and to bond with new teammates.
The scenery surrounding us is incredible. The mountains are so high here…There are fields of crops and tin houses, and there’s a school around back.
January 13, Wednesday
AM – Nepal is super different than any country we’ve been to so far. And it’s not only the weather. Ministry is not planned out at all – everything since we’ve arrived in the village has been entirely up to us…God, we need you to show up today – without You, this is all in vain.
PM – There were some cool surprises today! This morning started very slow…but then cool stuff started happening! As some of us were about to leave to walk around the village, a line of kids started coming over the hill, down the stairs, toward the church. Turns out that they were coming to receive Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes! We got to watch and take photos as some of the people from the church handed out the boxes. The kids were really excited! It was so cool of God to show us OCC from the receiving end.
Tonight, we went to a home fellowship (we had to do a lot of climbing to get there). It was amazing! We met a family with an 84-year-old grandma. The whole family was brought to Christ by one of the grandsons (adult grandson). We got to sing and pray and give an encouraging word. If life is made of moments, that was a memorable moment.
January 16, Saturday
This morning we had church…I don’t even know how to describe the worship here. The language is so beautiful, and the melodies of the songs just touch your soul. Add to that Holy Spirit Power, and it’s probably the most intense worship I’ve ever seen.
In the afternoon, we went to the hot springs…We got to take hot showers there, and it was awesome! They also took us to the Nepal-China border. There’s a big bridge crossing a river, with Nepalese flags stopping halfway across and Chinese flags starting. The bridge leads to a massive building on the Chinese side. There are also armed guards and a $25 visa fee, so we didn’t actually step foot into China…we just saw it from a distance.
We had a house fellowship this afternoon and then a campfire with the youth. Asis is a 7 year old boy who’s been following us around all week. He is SO cute. He and Martha (age 13) were being so silly on the walk home from the house fellowship. They were making animal noises and sneaking up on Alex and James to poke them…Asis has the BEST laugh and it made me laugh to be silly with them. That might have been my favorite part of today.
Jan 17, Sunday – left the mountain
Jan 18, Monday – rest day in Kathmandu
Jan 19, Tuesday – left Kathmandu around 4 and drove to new town with Julia’s team, stuck in back of Jeep (facing sideways) with Dylan, Derek, and Reuben’s wife Rita for about 11 hours…threw up in a bag, first time throwing up on the Race. Wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
January 20, Wednesday
Today we did my first manual labor of the Race – moving a large pile of bricks from outside to the top floor of the orphanage (4 flights of stairs). It took us until about 2 to finish…This might possibly be the weirdest month of my life so far.
January 22, Friday
This morning, all three of our teams left the orphanage to head for Reuben’s home village. We first took a bus for about an hour, then unloaded and started trekking up the mountain. My pack was probably about 25-30 pounds, with most of that weight coming from my tent and sleeping bag. We were literally climbing up and down the mountains, and more than once I didn’t know if I could do it. But I did!
January 23, Saturday
Today we did construction work. We are helping to build a school…it’s an ongoing World Race project that started two years ago. It’s amazing to learn how they construct things in third world countries with few tools and materials. My favorite jobs that I had today were looking around in the forest for large rocks to use for the foundation of the walls, and sitting in a pile of cement sand and pushing it away from the sifter.
We took a crazy ride through the forest today in the back of a truck, all 21 of us piled in the truck bed. At some points we had to duck to avoid low-hanging branches, and I had flashbacks about how much it hurts to get hit in the face by a tree. But overall the ride was pretty fun.
January 25, Monday
Yesterday morning we went to church. It was a small one-room church that we filled up. They had a guitar and a drum set. Dylan preached, and to start off we sang “Who Am I.” It’s been a long time since I heard that song, and it was really pretty. In the afternoon we went to do some more construction. I helped move dirt and cement.
We did some more construction this morning. I searched for more rocks and helped pass up water jugs for mixing cement.
Later – I went by myself for a bit down the path to a little stream. I sat on a rock, surrounded by greenery, and though, “God made this.” And it made me love Him a little more, because it’s hard not to love the Creator of such beauty…One thing God reminded me of by the stream is that He knows me. He understands why I feel the way I do, even when I don’t. Also, He remembers everything about my life – every single moment that has happened. One of my great fears is that I will lose – or have lost already – important memories. But God remembers. I guess I’ll just have to trust that He’ll remind me, if and when I need them.
Jan 27, Wednesday
Yesterday was one of the most physically demanding days of my life. From about 8:30-2, we did construction at the school. For me, this consisted of climbing up and down the “Death Trail” to collect more rocks – big ones for the foundation and smaller ones to mix with the cement. I also took a few turns hacking at the ground with a hoe and moving dirt to make the floor level.
After that, we went back to pack up camp…We started our hike back to the bus. It took about two hours. We crossed the river about 12 times. At the third crossing, Reuben made me give my backpack to one of the Nepali guys and take his small daypack instead. I was indignant about it at first because I’ve been feeling so strong lately, but in hindsight it was a real blessing…The hike was beautiful, but it was tough, even with the lighter pack…My Tevas were rubbing my left big toe raw. Also, we were constantly getting sand and rocks in our sandals. Crossing the river was a relief for your feet.
In most places, you could see where you were stepping – the water was very clear. But on the next to last crossing, it was getting dark. I slipped on a big rock and hit my shin against it. But I caught myself and didn’t float away…
It was dark when we reached our destination. Some of us changed out of our wet clothes behind a sheet. Soon after, we got on the bus and headed back to the orphanage…
It was a one-in-a-lifetime experience – and frankly, one time is enough for me!
Thanks for reading! Next stop…Cambodia!