I’ve never been in love romantically,
But this month I fell in love with a family. Our hosts. Our Nepali family.
During this journey, I’ve left little and big pieces of my heart in many places and with people all over the world.
But this time, I gave it all. I left the whole dang thing.
Nepal was month 7 of this race.
Growing up, I learned that the number 7 meant perfection or completeness. It stems from the creation story and how God created the world in 6 days (y’know, however long those God days are) and rested on the 7th day.
And this is what I would best describe this month as:
Perfect.
Complete.
And even Holy.
It’s kind of cool too because ever since I applied for the World Race, I knew there was something about Nepal that would be special from the Lord for me there. It’s like it was calling for me.
Nepal was honestly the country that made me choose this specific route of the race.
I’ve always loved mountains. It’s my secret place with the Lord and favorite reminder of His greatness & holiness. This led me to watch a lot of documentaries about the great mountains of the world and the sport of mountaineering. Most of those documentaries, of course, always highlighted Everest – rightfully so.
So, after we left India, I felt this intense sense of anticipation. The country I was waiting for, was finally coming.
Then, with a smooth landing, weather change of a beautiful chill and a view of mountains, it was finally here.
Enough about me, though, let me tell you about the people who rocked our world in just a short amount of 2 weeks.
Our last meal with the family.
From the very first day that we arrived, we sat in a circle with the family every night before dinner for devotion in the Word.
Every night after that, my team would get so excited when the family peeped their head through the door, saying “hello!”.
Can you see Papa?
During this time, Papa would speak and Gresom (our brother/host) would translate.
Papa would always ask us about how our day went every. time.
And he genuinely wanted to know.
He also loved to speak wisdom into us every night. He has a true gift of shepherding & evangelism.
But he cared for our bodies, sleep and hearts so much that he would often ask, “are you bored? Tired?”
He loved to talk a lot but he didn’t want to bore us. But we would quickly respond with “Tickshaw!” (Good, or ok in Nepali).
We truly loved hearing him speak. He often made us cry.
How amazing is it to come home to a father that cares about your day, wants to know your heart and cares enough to speak into your life like a parent desires to do?
Most people don’t have any of these things.
He vividly displayed the heart of our heavenly Father to us.
We were his daughters.
Mama & Papa. <3
Then there was Mama. She was super quiet in the very beginning and would turn away with a serious pouty face if we made eye contact with her.
But as we did life with her, she quickly started to peel off layers and reveal her true self.
Truth is, she was my favorite person. She was tough, sassy & hilarious on the outside but undeniably caring on the inside.
The first time I knew she liked me was when she reached high up to put me in a headlock. (pictured below)
Yup, that’s right. Mama and I would fight. Hiking up the mountains. On the bus. At home.
She would push and shove and yell things in Nepali that I’m sure were hilarious.
We laughed a lot together.
She knew how to make a room turn into laughter with few words.
The Lord knew the way I love is mostly playful and fun, and a little game of “I’m strong on the outside, but there’s a whole lot of childlike love and tenderness for you on the inside, I just don’t know how to show that with affection.”
And he gave me that through her.
Mama always made me sit next to her on the bus.
She made me feel special.
Like I was the favorite new daughter. (Probably because I looked Nepalese to her) but ill take it.
The rest of the family consisted of our host/brother (who is only 22) and his brothers and sisters.
I wish I could tell you all about the ways that each of these siblings added to our lives, but there’s sooo much to say!
Just know this:
They are all called. Royal. Powerful. INCREDIBLY musically gifted. And the Lord has mighty plans for their lives. If anointing is real, they got it. They sacrifice SO much of their time, education and money to obey & serve in what the Lord is doing in and through their family in Nepal.
I think what made this month so perfect was that it didn’t matter what task we were assigned. It could’ve been the most boring thing (it never was, ok Gresom and Papa?!)
That’s the beauty of it. We could’ve been anywhere at any time with these people and would still have been the most joyful bunch.
Some days, my team & I would even choose not to go into the main city for our adventure day because we desired to be home with them so much.
They were safety. comfort. And love.
This family loved and cared for every aspect of our being. Physical. Mental. Emotional. And Spiritual.
For the first time in my life I lived with a true family unit that I always desired for myself. Past, present and future.
On our last night of devotional, we all said our words of gratitude.
We sang them a song that we wrote them while in the mountains of Gorkha.
They laughed and Papa cried.
He said that song was his favorite memory.
Then our team shared with them words and visions that God showed us about them.
This night was a confirmation of what our team already observed as we lived everyday life with them.
They are humble, obedient & powerful servants of God. What they do in Nepal is truly phenomenal.
I am forever inspired by the way they lay down their lives for the people and churches in Nepal.
It is with every desire in my soul to return to this country. And most importantly, to my new family.
To be honest, most of my team is still grieving. There is so much to say still about what we did, saw, and learned from this month, but writing is hard when all I could feel and think about is how much I miss them. We did everything together for 2 weeks (which still baffles me it was only that long). But love is love. And love swoops you with no time or warning sometimes.
brothers.
Finally,
to our brother, Gresom.
Thank you.
For obeying God’s calling over your life. For putting him first and believing that HE would take care of the rest.
For reminding & showing us how living your life for God is the most joyful and life-giving thing you can do.
For being sassy & the coolest guy we know.
For letting us be your groupies.
For soccer in the rain.
For all the “shut ups”.
For being a KILLER translator.
For all those heavenly worship nights.
For valuing honesty.
For all the laughing.
For following the Holy Spirit.
For never being afraid.
For trusting the Lord with all your being.
For being our genuine friend.
For loving us well as your sisters.
And for welcoming us in and giving us the greatest gift we didn’t know we needed,
Your family.
With all the love,
Jezebelle
