Well this week has been packed with so many adventures and spiritual growth. I’ve checked so many things on my bucket list off! I got to see Everest! I hiked through the Himalayas beside 2 of 10 of the worlds highest peaks! Let’s dive in shall we?
Trecking
This has been one of my favorite parts of the trip! Our host, at the young age of 60, is a Sherpa and loves trecking to hard to reach villages to share the gospel. His two sidekicks brought us lots of laughter and music! They patiently hiked behind the group as we went. We trecked, trecked, and trecked. It hailed, lightninged, and snowed. It tested our physical limits. But it was so beautiful to stand in awe of fishtail mountain (one of the highest peaks in the world). When it began to hail we took shelter at a random locals house. They opened their front porch to a bunch of foreigners and met us with warm cups of tea. We eventually made it to the trecking hostel for the night. We gathered around the fire and told stories of God faithfulness.
The next day we woke up to watch the sunrise of the Himalayas. We continued our treck for miles and miles. By the evening we made it to the village that was nestled into the side of the mountain. It’s not accessible by car, only by foot. We met our host families as they made us warm tea. I swear there is some kind of magic in that tea. It just brings people together. We hiked towards the other side of the village where we met locals and told them about our God and prayed with them. People are scared of persecution here. It’s one big reason most don’t follow Jesus. We prayed for healing and our sweet Sherpa translated the whole night. He believes that one day that village will have a church. And I believe that too. We returned back home to our hosts and ate traditional Nepali meals with them. We can’t forget the tea. Prince (one of the sidekicks I mentioned earlier) translated as we told about our stories.
This is not the first time that a world race team has been here. I think about the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew. He cares deeply for the one. Our Sherpa will continue to take teams there until everyone in that village knows God. Whatever it takes.
As our time closed in the village we were given bouquets of flowers. We hiked down the mountain. Our spirits weren’t defeated. Sometimes it’s hard to navigate when God doesn’t heal someone. Or when you pour out your heart and it’s not received. However I am not God. And I don’t understand his ways. But I’m going to shake the dust off my feet and move on to the next town (Matt. 10:14). I know that God does things and heals in his timing. We had the faith of a mustard seed. But all throughout the gospel there’s times when Jesus could have performed miracles but the people had a lack of faith (Matt. 13:58). I will continue to shout his name from the mountaintops and the gallows. I just feel it in my bones that we will see miracles. You have the Holy Spirit inside you. You can heal the sick, drive out demons (yes you read that correctly), and do miracles all to glorify Jesus. Read Acts if I’ve peaked your interest.
We finally made it down. Our muscles screamed for mercy after hiking so many dang miles. We returned to the main town and rested.
The Sticks
We took a 5 hour bus ride to the next adventure. We were in rural farm land. There we slept in a church and took cold bucket showers. There were goats and water buffalo everywhere. Kinda felt like home haha. It’s a slower pace than Katmandu. This church has been expanding in the area. They had recently built 5 more churches to accommodate the people so they didn’t have to walk for miles to go to church. A revival is happening there. So many of them are leaving Hindu gods to follow Jesus. People here gather everyday for fellowship. They meet in homes and worship, tell stories of how Gods moving in their lives, and pray for one another. Every. Single. Day. The people are so dedicated to praying and fasting. They love evangelizing. They truly have to to rely on God to provide all their needs. Needs like food and income.
We got to sit in on their fellowship and share our stories and read words of encouragement from the Bible. In the afternoons we played with the local kiddos. We played soccer, jump the creek, and lots and lots of duck duck goose. They loved to sing and dance. They were very curious about us. A lot of the kids were “brick kids”. There’s a bunch of brick factories around the church that make bricks by hand. The people that make bricks only associate with themselves. They are poorer. Hygiene isn’t easily doable. They are made to keep to themselves. The other people in town don’t associate with them. Sometimes the school kids would try to send the “brick kids” away when they came to play. A lot of these kids spend their day making bricks with their parents. They don’t go to school. A lot of them are overlooked and misunderstood. For a little while a day they got to be kids. They got to play games. They were seen. They were loved by people outside their “caste”. They were loved. My favorite part of the day was when we got back from fellowship and I know they’d be waiting outside the church for us when we returned. We played and played and made up so many games. It was beautiful. I think about the verse in Matthew 25:31-46
We also helped with construction in the morning for a house for all the old ladies that lived with the pastor and his wife. They were kicked out by their families for being Christian. So the church is building a home for them to spend the rest of their days.
Summary
As I return to Katmandu I am reflecting on my time here in Nepal. God is moving in so many ways here. People are meeting Jesus through dreams. The church is activated and hungry for people to meet Jesus. Prayer is so powerful. Lives are changing. I know this post was really long but I’ll be back soon to tell more about what I’ve learned on this trip.
Prayer requests
- For the church in the town that they continue to evangelize. For funding for the old lady home and the future children home they are planning to build
- The sweet remote villagers and the brick kids to know Jesus
- There’s been lots of illness in our team so for protection from illness
- Spiritual awakening in Nepal and our team
