After India, I didn’t think that culture shock was going to be an issue anymore. I thought I had the rest of the world figured out. I thought I knew just what needed fixing in the world. Well I still think God has a good laugh every time He blows what I THINK I know out of the water. Let me tell ya folks, the devil works in different ways all over the world and so does our Lord. The good news is that our God is still moving and reigning and just as powerful here, there, and anywhere.
Day one in Nepal, we arrive at a cute little hostel in Kathmandu. It was a popular place for travelers and adventurers to stay. Before we even settle into our rooms, we could already feel the difference in the spiritual climate of Nepal. In India, my team encountered poverty, sickness, self-righteousness, false gods, and oppression. These things still exist here in Nepal, just as they do everywhere in the world, but on a totally different level. Our first week at debrief, I was very weighed down by the spiritual climate set by all the travelers coming through our hostel. Nepal is so heavy with addiction, self-indulgence, and searching to fill internal emptiness that can only be filled by Jesus’s love.
These chains on the travelers we encountered were still nothing compared to the quiet power of the Lord. We held worship every morning and night at debrief, and almost every time a new person would come and sit and enjoy. We wrote Jesus’s name all over the walls of the hostel, so that His presence could fill the place. We made friends with the workers, the hostel guests, and the locals, and the Lord used us to show these people what His presence truly looks like. All these travelers were in search of something, and it was beautiful to be able to hold the very light their souls longed for.
It didn’t matter that we weren’t technically having ministry. In fact, some of the best “Kingdom moments” I’ve had so far on the race have NOT been at ministry! I love how by just looking towards the Lord, we bring change, even unintentionally sometimes. I know the atmosphere of the places we (followers of Jesus) walk through changes, even if it’s just for the time we’re there. I pray that we are a people that brings a culture of love and an air of peace everywhere, that we are foreigners in this land bringing a new light to the world, just by how we love.
Thanks for reading my blog!!
Much love,
Hannah Grace
