Our last week in China we were blessed to have the opportunity to do a week long tour in Tibet with our whole squad. This blog is to show you a glimpse of Tibet’s beauty and what we got to experience. We saw pretty much every terrain imaginable, from rocky mountains, to sand dunes, salt lakes and beautiful green pastures, Tibet has it all! Let’s begin, shall we…
Lhasa is the capital of the “Tibet Autonomous Region”, or just the capital of the country if you choose to respect the culture instead of recognize the hostile takeover by the Chinese government. Lhasa is beautifully historic, rich with culture, and a “tourist” destination (as much as it can be).
Shops are small, intimate, and relational – knowing the shop keepers and having conversations with them instead of only browsing as in the west will get your better items, better prices, and a friend to return to when you need something else.
Our hotel was the same way; the common space was centered and small, perfect for getting to know people if your travel group doesn’t occupy the whole building…
We were blessed to arrive in Lhasa on opening day of the annual Yoghurt Festival. It was a HUGE deal. The festival was held at Norbulingka Palace, a historical home of the Dalai Lama, so it serves a few purposes. First, it celebrates Tibetan culture (which is heavily based on yak products for economic, agricultural, and sustainability purposes, hence the yoghurt festival). Second, it is an opportunity for a pilgrimage to the palace to pay respects and worship in the Buddhist community.
We tried yak yoghurt. It’s not for everyone. Victoria was excited to share “a spoon full of sugar helps the yoghurt go down.” I enjoyed it, Austin couldn’t get enough, and Jewel had a little bit of yoghurt with her sugar.
Dedan Mingjur Palace – the literal home of past Dalai Lamas. Beautiful, ornate, extravagant, empty. There were tremendous lines to get into the building and once inside, it was bumper-to-bumper traffic to shuffle through the building. Every room had a shrine to be worshiped and receive offerings (even the bathroom, which was part of the tour). Monks worked in each room burning incense, selling white prayer/blessing sashes to place on/around the idols, and collecting the financial blessings people were leaving. It became evident that the temple is a huge source of revenue for the palace, but what was more disheartening is the length people went to so they might feel blessed by a statue. We most frequently found ourselves praying that the tens of thousands of people at the festival in search of blessings and protection would have their hearts softened and opened to Jesus as the only real source of life.
These kids definitely had their hearts open; so did their parents, and their grand parents – all of whom were Tibetan Buddhist Monks. We have SO MUCH to share about this family that they’re going to get their own blog. The punchline: we were invited to share Jesus with a family of monks through an 11 year old girl. Please keep an eye out for this next post.
We left Lhasa and continued across the plateau into the hills. This picture was taken around 14,000 feet, but was only the foothills. Tibetan Mastiffs can grow to be nearly 900 pounds. Just kidding. They actually get to around 150 pounds, which is borderline stupid. I hugged both of these dogs and it was like wrapping my arms around a grown man. These dogs are THICK. Tibetan nomadic peoples use them for security – protection against wolves and poachers mostly. Google them. They look gentle, but these dogs can get down.
This was Bernie (I named him). He was just a pup – full of energy, but still around 150lbs. While his buddy sat patiently for pictures, Bernie jumped down and wanted to play. Me and Austin began rough-housing with him… that was a mistake. This dude’s snout caught me in the chin and it felt like taking a punch. He was so fun. He literally jumped into my arms at one point AND I CAUGHT HIM! He had so much love to share.
This is Victoria’s buddy Jack the Yak. Yaks are a huge deal in Tibet – they provide food, financial income, and clothing/warmth. We met a man from a nomadic family. He said they have over 300 yaks and follow the heard. That’s how they exist. How incredible is that? Sidenote – Da Bois gave him a Tibetan Bible and he loved it. No blog about this yet, I’ll come back and post a link once they’ve written it.
This is Gamba La Pass, a 15,000ft viewpoint of Yamdrok lake, a salt water lake at around 14,000ft (mineral deposits from glaciers in the past). We stopped to take pictures, but instead, the Spirit took that place by storm. Eric borrowed a guitar and PA system from a street performer and started worshiping. The remaining 21 of us jumped in quickly and the locals and tourists received it super well. Sidenote – in Nepal, John and a handful of us were recognized from a video someone took that went viral in China on TikTok (some social media app I’m not familiar with).
Yamdrok Lake was gorgeous. The rolling green hills behind it looked like a painting and you couldn’t help but recognize God’s beauty. We wanted to jump in (despite 50 degree air temperature and probably nearly freezing water temperature) but this is a holy lake where people go to pray and worship – no touching the water.
This is Larry and Bill (I think those are just the first names Victoria thought of). Because of the tourist stop near the lake, a lot of local vendors were selling photo ops and trinkets. There were a lot of fun people to meet and conversations to have. You never know when a door will open to sneak a story about Jesus in. Mark, one of our squad coaches, taught us about Jehovah Sneaky – a little known name for Jesus on account of He always finds a way.
Yamdrok lake is PRETTAY.
Mt Kojin Kangstan Glacier. At about 14,000ft, we only had 10 minutes to take pictures here. John and a handful of others bust a mission and RAN to the base. #expedition squad. They drank glacier water, straight from the source! How beautiful is this?
Here’s a view of our bus ride. This is mostly what it was like, but we also saw snow capped rocky mountains, sand dune deserts, and plains.
This is a view Yamdrok Lake from Simila Pass, still around 14,000 feet.
Absolutely gorgeous.
These are prayer flags erected at the entrance to Qomalangma Nature Preserve – that’s the Tibetan word for Everest.
The nature preserve only got prettier!
For a number of reasons, all of which having to do with violating our Tibetan tour visa, we didn’t make it to Everest Base Camp. Basically, the tour we paid for and the tour we got were different, which violated a lot of travel regulations, so our tour ended in Old Tangri. This is a hilltop temple at a viewpoint of Everest. The squad spent a lot of time here. We’ve learned to pray and worship God at these places (while still being culturally sensitive and respectful) in hopes of intercession and to bring God to people looking for fulfillment.
Temples are stunning places – the architecture, the detail, and the respect people have for them are impressive. We pray for the people that venture into them to worship false idols; that they might have their hearts filled with Jesus as they continue to search for blessing and favor.
This is in front of the temple looking toward the Himalayas. The squad woke up early before we had to leave Old Tangri so we could see the sun rise light up Everest. It was freezing and cloudy so most people didn’t stay long. Five of us stayed until the absolute last minute… and it turned out the cloud-covered mountain everyone believed to be Everest was not!
There she is! Victoria prayed for about 20 minutes straight that God would lift the clouds so we could see His glory. There had been clouds flowing down the mountains like a river and eventually, the river ran dry and Everest was revealed to us! I can’t explain the inspiration and glory the five of us remaining experienced in that moment. We’ve never had an interest in going to Everest, but we’ll be back and base camp is on our to-do list. A couple others vowed to summit Everest in their life-time, but I think we’ll be content with base camp because just so much to do!
#bidaya #bidayaway John’s a dork, but in all seriousness, please check out Bidaya. It’s a clothing company that belongs to Chase and Hillary Bleke, a couple church friends of ours back home. Chase works with the Southern Sudan Healthcare Organization and a lot of the profits from Bidaya go to support the organization. When we were leaving for the Race, we asked to buy some shirts (they’re excellent gear, but we also wanted to help share Bidaya). Chase and Hillary hooked us up with shirts, buffs, sunscreen and chapstick so we can share the brand well. We’ve passed the buffs around because everyone on the squad supports Bidaya! One is on its way to base camp with another team right now, and one is on a mission to hit every country in the world with a friend John made in Kathmandu (he’s currently on 73/210 as listed on the US State Department website).
This was out hotel in Old Tangri – the bucket under the window (center of the screen) was the shower, and the open hallway with the wood on the very left edge is the bathroom. It was a hole in the ground with a nice view of a pasture and the hills opposite Everest. It was simple, but we saw Power here! A squadmate was working through a God moment and everyone ran to support her, including our tour guide, a Tibetan Buddhist named Martin. Martin was a good dude that really stuck his neck out for us because of trouble with the company I mentioned before. After spending a week on a bus with us, he knew who we were and what we were about. He stayed the night with us in worship and prayer for our friend, then walked John to our room. He shared that he felt God has blessed us with the community we share. The love, joy, and hope that is present was something he hadn’t seen before. A few of us took the time to share Jesus with him, a squadmate left him with a Tibetan New Testament in video format, we prayed over him, took pictures, and blessed him by making up the salary his company had taken from him because they organized the wrong tour.
Lake Paiku from a viewpoint. It just doesn’t get old. All these stops really gave us an opportunity to see God and reflect on what we were doing in Tibet (and on the Race). We all just want to serve Him.
I don’t think there was a name for this waterfall, but it was probably close to 100ft tall. Our tour of Tibet will be unforgettable, but we sure documented it well just to be safe. It was an amazing experience getting to see God work in quite possibly the least reached place on Earth. Think about it, sharing the Gospel in the most geographically isolated region of the most protected city in the world, in a closed country… how blessed were we to have such an opportunity?
Love,
John and Victoria
