Today was a day for the books for sure.
Our first official day of ministry here in Nepal started off with squad worship and readying our hearts for what God had planned for us during the remainder of the day…which, little did I know, was a lot.
After worship, we were lead to the road where we would catch a bus that would take us to the bottom of what they call a hill…let me clarify, it was straight up a mountain. So, we crammed what I’m sure was at least 50 in tiny little buses with a few extra daredevils hanging on the outside. Talk about intimacy… With your squad, team, and the random stranger I was practically sitting on. When we arrived at the “hill,” we proceeded to climb to a Hindu Temple, the tallest point in Kathmandu. Then, as if we weren’t wet enough from sweating the whole bus ride over from uncomfortable closeness with everyone, it started raining. Thanks God. But, a few minutes into the walk, I got a picture that the rain falling from the sky were heavenly tears. God was crying out of pure joy. The rain was a blessing, not an annoyance. Not long after this realization, the rain ceased. As I was walking with Mallory, I told her how cool it would be to see a rainbow, especially with the beauty of the mountains. But, then I said it was impossible. We could never see a rainbow because there were too many clouds.
About halfway up, we stopped to take in the beauty of what God created. Mountains, rice fields, green everywhere. It was magnificent and utterly breathtaking. We interceded on behalf of Nepal and the community by praying and worshipping. After about 30 minutes, we soldiered on up what seemed like 50 flights of stairs. When we reached the top, I saw the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen. The entire city of Kathmandu was laid out for us to see. It was surrounded on all sides by “hills” of green. The sky was bright blue with white, fluffy clouds. And the rice fields lay perfectly at the base of each hill. We spent quite a while enjoying the beautiful picture God had painted for us before heading down the mountain.
On our way down, a few of us saw a river and noticed some Nepali people around it. A few of them had white robes on, so we immediately got excited. Bre wanted to go and talk to them. So, she and I headed down. And wouldn’t ya know it! Just as we had suspected they were performing a baptism! They were Christians!! We asked if our entire squad could join in and watch, to which they said yes. It was an incredible experience. At the bottom of the Hindu temple, in the middle of a Hindu festival, these Nepali people were making the bold statement of saying that they follow Jesus. Whoa.
We rejoiced with them in the special moment when 6 Nepali people publicly declared their faith. Afterwards, they asked if any one of us wanted to be baptized. No one responded. But what my squad didn’t know was that I had been praying about it that entire time. I was scared though, because I didn’t want the decision to be baptized to be a rash, impulsive decision that I made on my own. So, I told God that although getting baptized here would be a beautiful and incredible experience, I wasn’t going to do it unless He told me to. It had to be of His accord. As the Nepali Christians started to disperse, I felt a twang of panic at the thought of leaving without having been baptized. I felt God telling me that now was the time and that I should leave all of my fears behind and follow Him. So, in a leap of excitement and nerves, I pulled Quincy, my teammate aside, and told her I wanted to be baptized. We announced it to my team and then the squad. I asked my team leader, Darcy, to baptize me. As we walked down next to the river, 2 other squad mates announced that they too wanted to be baptized! Hollaaaaa.
When it was my turn to be baptized, I stepped into the icy water with my team surrounding me. It was an incredible experience where I felt so much life, joy, and weight lifted off of me. I was only baptized as a baby, but a few months ago I had realized that I wanted to make that decision on my own sometime on the race. The past two months I had been working through leaving my orphan heart behind for a heart of daughtership in His kingdom. As my team surrounded me to pray and I was baptized, I felt the Lord saying, “well done good and faithful daughter.” He has been calling me His daughter all my life, but only now, did I fully accept that and call Him my Father.
The vision I had earlier of God crying tears of joy suddenly seemed to make sense to me. He was proud of me. Proud that I had declared Him as my Father and me as His daughter. He was rejoicing in gladness that not one, but three of His children chose Him on that day.
So often, it is hard for me to hear His voice or distinguish it from mine, but yesterday, I heard Him so clearly. He was everywhere. He is everywhere all the time. I am just in the process of learning how to listen to Him.
If all of that wasn’t enough for ya, on our walk back down one of our squad mates hurt his ankle badly. We all gathered around and prayed over it. It was still hurting him. As one of our coaches says, try and pray at least three times if it isn’t healed at first. So we prayed again. And again. Then more people joined, so we kept on going. Finally, after the 4th or 5th prayer he stood up and walked with absolutely no pain! His ankle was healed completely. What?!
Oh, but God wasn’t done yet showing His power and might. As we trekked on back to the main road to catch a bus, I looked up to the cloudy sky and saw the most beautiful rainbow. I had said earlier in the day that it was impossible for us to see a rainbow with so many clouds. But, God was telling me no. That nothing is impossible for Him. He continued to prove Himself time and time again, when I continued to have so little faith.
Still looking back on that day, I am mesmerized by God’s handiwork. He spoke so loudly and clearly to me, He brought life to 6 Nepali men and women, He healed, and He did the impossible. Luckily, all it took was having faith as little as a mustard seed.
I cannot even begin to express how excited I am for the rest of this month. God is here and actively working in Nepal. It’s the coolest thing.
If you would like to join us in prayer, you can pray for:
1. Agape Missions, the organization we are working with. They work to free trafficked women and children. They also work to bring hope and freedom to the slums in Kathmandu.
2. We will be trekking for 3 days next week to villages in the mountains to provide earthquake relief.
3. For my squad. Many have been getting sick with colds that have inhibited their ability to fully participate in ministry. So pray for healing.
4. Pray for Kathmandu, Nepal. Nepal just recently came out of being a closed country, so we are still having to be careful with what we say and when we say it, especially with the Hindu festival that has been happening. Pray that the people will be willing and open to hear the gospel.
Love you guys!
Hannah
