I’ve been in Nepal for about 2 weeks now and already SO MUCH has happened! I almost don’t know where’s to begin. Maybe by talking about the beginning? Ok, let’s do it! I arrived in Nepal to fresh, crisp air and the tallest mountains I’ve ever seen (THE FREAKIN HIMALAYAS) and off we went to Thamel (a very touristy area in Kathmandu) for debrief! Debrief is a time of rest before jumping into a new country, it gives you a chance to process what happened in the place you were before, so India for me. This was the coolest city I think I’ve ever seen- I know I say I love every country that I go to but this was by far the coolest (quite literally, it’s consistently cold) little city section I’ve ever been to. Streets lined with restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, clothing stores, vendors and copious amounts of colorful flags flying from building to building! I was overwhelmed by how comfortable it felt, I have never been comfy upon arrival to a new country! I had very mixed emotions about this.
Anyways, debrief was looking up because of all the options of things to do! We were given a lot of freedom and were able to spend the majority of our days however we may please, with some sessions in between. The sessions were great, outside of them I often found myself at a new coffee shop reading or writing and buying warm clothes at the cute little stores! I also found myself at a random house on the side of the road eating a traditional Nepali meal with some of my friends! How did I end up there? Let me tell ya!
For debrief we were given an adventure day! Myself and 7 others chose to wake up at 5:30am and take a 3 hour bus ride to go white water rafting! We had no idea what this entailed- so off we went on the bumpiest ride of my life through the mountains! A few pit stops later, with some impeccable views, we got dropped off on the side of the road at the place where we were rafting! Honestly, it looked pretty sketchy. Middle of nowhere Nepal, a random man hanging us life vests and paddles, sticking all of our stuff into a waterproof bag… we all just went along with it! We then walked down a little ways to the most magnificent river. It looked like a beach in the mountains! The 8 of us, plus our guide, piled into the raft and began our adventure! IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. Each white water fraction that we hit felt like a rollercoaster and got us wet head to toe! It was frigid but absolutely worth it. We passed under bridges, around bends and between the Himalayas! Once done, the mother of our guide cooked us just about the best Nepali meal I’ve ever had. Such a blast and a blessing!
The day after, my team received some sad news, two of our teammates were leaving the race, along with two others on our squad. I’m not going to go into much detail, as it is not my place to say, but overall it was just very very sad. My team is now a team of four, and it is not the same without our two sisters, but we have processed and are doing well! Enjoying our life here and especially our ministry! Ministry- let’s talk about that!
We are volunteering with an amazing family, they help rescue women and children from human trafficking, work with people in the slums, do sports ministry and just let the Holy Spirit lead them through everything they do! It’s incredible. Stay tuned for a blog all about that and the great people that I’ve met along the way!
Aside from ministry, we get some days off! We piled up our days for this month to go on an adventure to Pokhara, an adorable town wedged between a lake and mountains. We stayed at a hostel, explored the area and went PARAGLIDING!! Yes, you read right, I went paragliding. I ran off a mountain into the air with only a parachute and another person attached to me. We flew for 30 minutes and I almost cried because of how breath taking the view from up there was, in pure awe of God’s creation. I literally felt like a bird, I couldn’t stop smiling and screaming “I love my life” because wow, I really do! It’s not just about the fun things I get to do in each country, because that’s definitely not why I’m here. Despite the occasional sickness and changes within our team, life is really dang cool. Getting to proclaim Jesus’ name to the nations, bless others through serving God and be a vessel of His light and love to everyone that I encounter is such an honor. I just happen to find all of that extremely fulfilling and fun! Half way done with the race and living very contently. What more could I ask for?
