Nepal has definitely been one of my most favorite months on the race. My team had the task of what is called Unsung Heroes, which searches out potential ministries in the country for future teams from Adventures in Missions to partner with. However, due to the amount of contacts that is already in Nepal, our team got to build relationships with the Christian community in Kathmandu and come alongside ministry with them. During the month we saw numerous people put their trust in Jesus, men walking around after their legs grew out, and oil start to secrete out of a woman’s hands and feet as we prayed for her father’s back to be healed. Below is my teammate’s blog entry of one of our experiences (thanks Sophia Nalty):
Our first night out, just after meeting the outreach team and before we could even pray for the evening’s direction, the Lord sent souls to us. A lady approached us selling henna (temporary tattoo art) and the leader, a skinny Holy Spirit filled dude named Clem, felt led to ask her, through our translator, if she as dealing with back pain. She said no. He asked her if there was anything else ailing her that we could pray for in Jesus’ name and she said no, but that her father suffered with severe back pain. (In such a “spiritual” culture, it’s not uncommon for native people to accept prayer.) As we laid hands and prayed, the woman suddenly exclaimed that she was feeling heat all over her back. Jesus was moving! Then she started to show us that oil was coming out of her hands and feet. Sure enough oil was literally pooling in her sandals and covering her hands! She began to get scared and ask us what was going on and if this was witchcraft? Our leader explained that no, in the Bible the elders would anoint people with oil when they prayed for them. At this point he asked one of us to share the Gospel with her, so I shared a rapid hot-fire version. The lady soaked in the who, what, and why of the Good News eyes wide with wonder. Clem (the leader) explained that Jesus was anointing her with oil to demonstrate His love for her and His power, so she could lay hands on her father and he would be healed in Jesus name! She said if Jesus was real, He would heal her father right now: Challenge. Accepted. Where was he? Far away. Fine. Let’s call him and pray over the phone. After struggling with a horrible connection, we were finally able to get through and as we prayed the Lord began healing his back: Over the phone. In India.
Needless to say, that woman and her fifteen year old son both accepted the Lord that night!
While all this was going on, our little gathering on the street corner had drawn the attention of other people passing by, including a little fourteen year old girl selling henna. Apparently she had already received Christ through this same ministry and was so excited to see us that she began bringing more people to us, telling them we were good people that could pray for them. Next up was a trio of Chinese tourists. (Did I mention she could speak at least three languages?) Clem began speaking with them in Chinese and the lady in the group asked us to pray for her mother. After we prayed, that lady also felt the same heat all over her body and was so amazed and grateful. One of the men with her asked us to pray for him to because he wanted to experience the same power. We prayed and he did. Boom.
Clem went on to minister the Gospel to that man in Chinese. Some of us prayed for the little girl in English and some continued to encourage the first lady we encountered in Nepali. (At church the next day, she testified that the Lord had given her a dream of the Crucifixion that night!) We ended the night feeding some of the teenage boys who live and/or work on the streets at a nearby restaurant.
