While in India everywhere we went people ran up to us patting their heads asking the “blessed” Americans to pray for them. I figured that’s how it would be everywhere and I would just have to adjust to it no matter how uncomfortable it made me. Then we got to the jungle of Nepal. Even though we are the fourth world race team to be put in this location, some of the villages have still never seen white people before. Our first day was evangelism. I thought oh great, now it’s exactly like India. Oh how wrong I was. The first village we went to was a two hour walk in the blistering heat through the rice fields. When we finally arrived at the village we rested in the shade as at least thirty naked children played in the feces covered streets. We sang our go-to action songs then got up to preach the gospel. Before we had the chance to say anything one of the old women that had joined the crowd asked a question. Our pastor then turned around and said “They want to know why you came here.” How blind had I been? They didn’t care at all that the Americans came to sing songs with them or pray for them. They didn’t want us to lay hands on them and pray for them because they had never even heard of Jesus before. They wanted to know what on earth could make us leave our comfortable homes in America and come to this place of misery and slavery that we’ve had the audacity to complain about. The answer was so obvious. We came to share the love of Jesus. Not to be comfortable or cool or ride in automobiles. We signed up to go to foreign countries to preach the gospel and spread the love of Jesus. I feel like God put that question in that woman’s mouth to remind us more than to ask us. They don’t want anything from us but they are so desperate for hope. I have never been more humbled.
In other news: I’m extremely sunburned (no surprise). I have called my mom way more than I need to already this month. We’re in a Malaria area. My faith is being tested. I can’t imagine going through this trial with anyone other than the people I’m here with now. Please continue to pray we stay positive and see God in this.
