Our first week in Nepal was pretty amazing. We started off in Kathmandu with another team from B squad, best squad called Global Rootz. These are some awesome girls, and I’ve enjoyed serving alongside them. The city of Kathmandu is a melting pot of cultures, and the team had many opportunities to meet people as we walked the streets. We were excited to encounter a wide variety of ministry opportunities during our stay in the city! To sum up the first week – we prayer walked through the Monkey Temple and a Buddhist monastery where lady monks live; while in a park one day, several of us found ourselves entirely surrounded by men and a few women pressing in as close as possible to see the foreigners who were sharing about the love and truth of Jesus Christ; we worshipped together in a building with hundreds of Nepali believers; and we left the city to journey out to a leper colony where we were able to love on, pray for and share with people that so many will not even acknowledge as having any value
Here’s a story from one of the days we visited a slum area. Rain came as we arrived at the slum, so they tried to shove all 13 of us foreigners into a small house. Several of us ended up standing right outside. As we were about to split up, a woman approached Audra (the team leader for Global Rootz) pointing to different areas of her body and placing her hands together asking for prayer. I was nearby so Audra asked me to join her in praying for the woman. We didn’t have a translator, but seemed to understand enough to pray for her….besides Jesus always knows and that’s all that matters. Immediately as we began praying, she began to fall and Audra and I held her up til we eventually lowered her to the ground. The woman sat there in Audra’s arms as we continued praying for her. I’m pretty sure she was unconscious for a little while. A crowd gathered around as we prayed and they began to make hand signs telling us that she was drunk. A few that spoke a little english began telling us that she was drunk. As Audra held the woman, I spoke to the crowd about how Jesus loves all of us just as we are and we were showing this woman the love of Jesus. I don’t know how much they understood, but I asked Jesus to give them understanding. I knew that our actions of staying with the woman were louder than the words we were speaking. One woman came up and slapped the unconscious woman in Audra’s lap across the head. We waved them away and continued to love on the woman. It was such a powerful moment, and Audra began to shed tears as she was filled with the compassion and love of Jesus. This of course drew even more of a crowd and I just continued to smile at them and tell them of Jesus’s love that was available to all of them. Eventually the woman came to, drank some water and stood up. A smile replaced her glazed over look as she grabbed mine and Audra’s hands tightly and led us to her home. We sat in her doorway for another long while laughing as we tried to communicate. We began praying over her home and as we spoke the name of Jesus, the woman shook and opened her mouth as if she was gagging. I have no doubt there was a demonic influence in that place fighting against us, but Audra and I just looked at one another and kept speaking the name of Jesus. Eventually, the woman took us through the back alleys to a small little shop where she served us a tea and crackers. We sang some worship songs as we ate because we still could not communicate. We’ll never know exactly everything that happened that day, but I am confident that the Lord was at work and His presence remained even after we left.
To finish off the day, we ate lunch in a small church that a sweet older lady opened for us. This lady was one of the few believers and leaders in this community. After we ate she asked us for prayer as she was feeling ill. I was finishing a conversation and missed the explanation of why we were praying. When we realized the group was praying, we joined in, but I struggled with feeling like I was praying empty words. I stopped and stood quietly as others prayed. The group began to step away and only a few remained as the woman stayed on her knees with her hands clasped together in front of her. Someone was standing nearby and I was able to ask exactly why we were praying. I didn’t feel like we were done so I was glad to get some more details. I learned the woman had a fever, flu-like symptoms, and pressure in her head. I placed my hand on her head first and then moved it to her neck where I could feel the heat from her fever. As we prayed and declared healing over her, I swore I felt her neck begin to cool. After we finished, she tried speaking to us so we asked the translator to come over. He said the she was exclaiming that as we prayed she felt a burden leave her head and she felt better. We praised the Lord together for the healing He just allowed us to be a part of.
That day was the first time I prayed over someone with complete faith and boldness. It was amazing and I’m humbled to be used in such a way. So much happened that first week that left us excited and ready for what else was coming this month.
Thank you for your prayers! They make all the difference “for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Eph 6:12
You can check out pictures from the month at https://www.facebook.com/TheFunderama/media_set?set=a.10152284307842856.1073741835.507187855&type=3!
