Nepal is a beautiful country surrounded by the Himalayan Mountains. Month 3 was All Squad month where our entire squad of 50+ stayed together in a house while also doing ministry alongside one another. I knew that this would prove to be difficult for me, but it turned out surprisingly well as I learned to see the gifts that our squad possessed and how we worked as the body of Christ to bring the Kingdom of God to Nepal. This is not to say that God is not already working there. Every Nepali church we had a chance to visit was full of fervor and passion for the Lord. I was especially encouraged to see this among the young men of the church; it’s something I’ve longed to see in more churches across the U.S. Our squad worked with a ministry called Agape Mission which is run by a husband and wife team, Brian and Ruth along with their kids and team members. They have an amazing ministry that has such a desire to see the people of Nepal come to know Jesus and live out a missional life.
We arrived at our host house on October 10th and our team slept on bunk beds on the 2nd floor. At this point in my journey I was walking through a period of brokenness. We had just left our first debrief in Thamel where God totally wrecked me; I had never felt brokenness like I felt it when we left to head to our host house. This first week or so was a trying time for me, but God allowed me to share with our squad during our first shared worship about my brokenness and I believe God started the healing process for me to walk out of brokenness and into dependence on Him. That first day of ministry we trekked to the highest temple in Kathmandu to pray over the surrounding area and as we head back down we saw a group of people near a small river and some of them were wearing robes. We ended up finding out that they were part of a Christian church and were baptizing 6 people or so. It was incredible! The day only got better as one of my own team members, Hannah, got baptized as well as two other squad members.
One thing that we all enjoyed immensely was at the beginning of every ministry day, we would gather together for an hour to have Amad, or “quiet time” and then around 30 minutes of worship to prepare our hearts and minds for that day’s ministry. The beginning of our first week of ministry consisted of going to another Hindu temple and also a Buddhist temple and praying along the outskirts of them. The last two days of ministry this week was spent at two different slums; you can read my experience about the 2nd day in the slums in my previous two blog posts. On Sunday, we were able to attend KISC, an international church, which was a blessing to get poured into.
The next week our main ministry was construction work in a village that was destroyed by last year’s earthquake. Some of us hiked a couple miles to get there after our bus couldn’t make it up the winding hilly roads. Most of the homes were almost completed so our main jobs were to level the dirt and remove rocks behind the houses to allow water to flow downwards from each level to the bottom. We split up and stayed in some of the partially completed homes for 3 nights, sleeping on our sleeping pads. Our mindset was broaden as we experienced using squatty potties, eating with our hands for every meal, and being covered in dirt while not showering the entire time. It was hard, but well worth seeing how much was accomplished by us being there. The last day we hiked down to catch our bus and the driver who was a Christian bought us each a doughnut and chai; it was so sweet of him. We then had the opportunity for a couple of people to share the Gospel in the back of a truck and sing a few worship songs. I loved seeing the people gathering listening intently to the message of Jesus. While no one came forward to follow Jesus, I know seeds were planted in many of these people’s hearts.
The second to last week and the beginning of the last week in Nepal was made of ministry days that required us to stretch our spiritual muscles and learn to trust the Lord with providing, speaking and leading us where He wanted us to go. The first day we asked for prophetic pictures to draw or paint of someone we needed to meet and possibly minister to. While mine did not show up, some of my teammates were lead to a young woman who they were able to invite to church; she ended up coming with us the following Saturday, which is when the Nepali people have church services. The next day it was about going into an area of need and seeing if people wanted prayer. Our group headed to a local hospital where we walked the grounds and the floors; my teammate and I were able to pray for a few different people. That night at around 8 pm we all met up in Thamel which is a very touristy area to minister to women/girls who work in the dance bars. We split into groups of around 6-7 with one guy from our group included to keep an eye on us and be praying the background. Many of the women in these dance bars are forcibly made to work here or are tricked into thinking they are getting a different job only to have to stay because they have no funds to get back home. They also are typically there to support a majority of their family who would otherwise not have any income coming in. We sat down with them and bought them something to drink so we could “buy” their time. They were so hungry for conversation and love. A few of the ladies in our group were able to met up with a couple of the girls, both of which were only 18 and 19 years old. It’s a very sad situation in which they find themselves and which typically leads to having to do more than dance which happens illegally after normal business hours.
On Thursday we had Faith day. We all headed out with only a bottle of water on us and the telephone number of our host. Phones, money, food, etc. was not able to be brought. We prayed for direction to where God wanted us to go and one of our Nepali leaders felt led to go to a brick factory. We were able to get a free ride half way there and walked the rest of the way. Once there we were able to pray for a man who a couple people shared the Gospel with and also the owner of the factory. Afterwards we left and started walking back. We came back to a house where our Nepali leaders knew a young woman was a Christian and she decided to make us lunch; it was such a blessing. Then her mom gave us money for a bus ride home, we had on our way to the factory had prayed over her and her family. Friday we made beaded bracelets, prayed over them and then handed them out to children on the street we encountered.
Our last ministry the following week was definitely a highlight of my trip. Our mission was to trek to a city in the hills called Nagrakot and find a man of peace to let us stay on his property. We had brought our day packs with tent included if need be. We headed out pretty early and started the hike; it wasn’t too bad as we mainly walked on the side of the roads, we were also treated to delicious ramen during lunch. After lunch we continued hiking but as many of us were getting tired after walking over 6 miles already, we were ready for a break. One of our teammates was able to get an open back truck to take us all the way up the mountain which was another 6 miles or so for what equaled to .20 a person. On the way there as we climbed up the curvy switchback roads the snow-peaked Himalayas came into view. It was such an incredible experience as we held on tightly and viewed the gorgeous panorama before us. Once we reached the destination we climbed to the top of a domed hill where we watched the sunset. A man who was paralyzed on his right side approached us and we were able to pray for him for over an hour and he started getting movement in his hand, arm, and leg! It was such a powerful moment experience God on the top of this hill with mountains and city lights sparkling around us. After we finished most of us were quite chilly and we headed back toward the center of the town. Some of the leaders had an idea to ask the hotels if any would be willing to let some of us stay for free. After going back and forth between hotels, they were able to get what I would call a man of peace to allow 14 of us to stay in the basement of the hotel which had carpet, electricity, two nice bathrooms and was much warmer than sleeping outside in a tent. It was such a great day!
All in all, Nepal was a great learning experience of trusting God to work in ministry and my own life. I’m thankful for God allowing us to be used and for letting me learn to trust and rest in who He is.
*Special prayer request: A missionary we encountered at a church told us that there are currently 7 Christian Nepali people in jail awaiting trial for their faith. She asked us to pray they get a trial quickly and that it would have a favorable ruling as this will set a precedent for an future trials of Christians in Nepal.
God bless!!
