Today we ate breakfast, just like every day. Curried potatoes and home fried bread, served with chai tea, piping hot. After, we walked 20 minutes through the crowded Kathmandu streets to a park. This park had brown dusty grass. Kids were running, the elderly were praying. Men were guiding cows through the park, while the monkeys danced throughout the fence line.
We walked over to the fence and looked down the hill. About 100 yards down was a grand temple. Ornate and gilded with gold. Gilded, thats the word. This religion is gilded. It looks so detailed and beautiful and full, but in reality it is hollow and has no substance. There is no hope, no love.
Deepak informed us to pray throughout the park and over the temple. Our goal was to intercede for the people. That word keeps coming up. Intercede. Sometimes, we cannot talk, touch, or interact with the people. It is against laws to share the Good News in temples. This forces us to pray with all our hears for the people. Pray they have the blindfold removed, and seek the truth of the gospel, all while not being able to speak to them about Him. It is so dark there, the enemy has great power. But when we walk in, the evil flees. It is forced to.
The nature was beautiful. A soft river carved the valley. We descended to the river, and walked along the old stone path, dusty and chipped. Old men washed in the bitter river. They soaked their long ragged hair, and wiped their bodies clean. We smiled and said ‘namaste’.
As we entered the temple area, people became more and more abundant. They held flowers, and red dust. People were standing on a balcony, dropping coins off into a raised platform with elevated layers (like a layer wedding cake). Coins would ring off and drop into the walkway and river. Were they praying, or making offerings? So many questions.
We walked across the river, and took pictures. There were alters everywhere. With the red dust sprinkled all over it. Incense sticks were burned, the remaining wooden nubs were stuck into tiny crevasses.
We met up with the other guys, and then it got real. We tried to enter the main temple. Supposedly, there was a holy man who could lift a 90 kilo rock with his genitals. Whoah. We tried to enter, but were stopped by a man with a large gun.
You have to be Hindu to enter the inner temple. Not all are welcome here.
We met some guy from Belgium named Chris. He was exiting the temple and we stopped him. He had some blood on his hands and was trying to wipe them off. He approached us, and we began talking. He was traveling around the world, experiencing the different religions.
He told us how he created his own religion, where he basically takes his favorite parts from all world religions and combines them to form ‘his’. He had some red dust on his brow, and told us he was part Hindu. He asked us what we were doing.
We told him we were spreading the good news of Christ to the world, and that we were brothers. He loved that. He said he loves Jesus, and prays to him every day. He said he loves how Jesus shares and encourages poverty and living simply.
We got his contact info, and moved on.
We then prayed outside the temple. The five of us circled up and held hands. We all prayed at once, like a band of angels speaking in their beautiful tongues. People were staring, but we kept on praying. It is against the law to spread the Gospel in the temple, but we didn’t let that stop us. We prayed so hard for freedom and truth to reign. For evil to be banished and gone forever from that place, and for the Holy Sprit to take control.
Afterwards we walked out towards the exit, and a holy man dressed in orange waved us over. He held out his hand and I shook it, then prayed over him. His foot was wrapped in a bandage, apparently injured from some accident. I prayed for healing, both spiritually and physically.
We then saw a black goat sacrificed at an altar. It was tied by the neck, and men held its feet. Another man swung a sword like saw, and hacked away at the neck. It was disgusting. The blood was redder then anything I have ever seen. I never saw the cut or the fallen head, mostly because of my weak stomach. But if anything, I walked away feeling grateful that Jesus paid it all.
We walked home in silence. The weight of darkness was tangible. This country need light. This country needs Him.
It was a day I will never forget. I am forever changed.
Pray for the people of Nepal. Pray that the enemy’s strong hold is destroyed and that the Holy Spirit reigns here. There is such a fog here, that blinds the people from the truth, as they follow a religion that offers no life. Pray for my team and I, as we combat the darkness, and bring hope to this nation.
Also! I am so close to being fully funded. I am around $1800 away. Would you consider helping me fund the rest of my trip? Anything helps at this point! Thanks for the prayers and love.
Ethan
