Our first night in Pokhara, I was able to meet a woman by the lake selling jewelry. We were on our way to dinner and we didn’t have a ton of time, but she quickly showed me her jewelry and we chatted for a moment before we headed our separate ways.
A few days later, my team and I planning on breaking up into groups and just walking around the small town we were in, in hopes that we’d be able to meet some new people, pray over people, and ultimately share the Gospel with them. We sat on the floor of the one girls’ rooms and listened to worship music praying and asking the Lord to prepare our hearts to go and evangelize. Before we headed out, our team leader McKenzie, asked if anyone felt like the Lord revealed anything to them or gave them a word, because she felt like the Lord was showing her a fruit stand with bananas.
We wrapped up our time of worship, split into groups of 2, and hit the streets. As we were walking I saw the woman by the lake I had met two days prior. We walked over and began talking to her. One of the things I’ve found on the race is that I love hearing people’s stories. I love getting a glimpse into their lives. So, we sat there and heard bits and pieces of her story. She was a refugee from Tibet. She came to Nepal as a child due to the conflict. She married here, but her husband died. She is a mom to three children, one of whom has also already died. She lives in a Tibetan Refugee village not far from where we are, but she comes into town every day to sell jewelry. We chatted for a bit about her jewelry making business asking about the meaning behind some of the jewelry. She shared that she follows Buddhism and therefore a lot of her pieces had references to Buddhism in them to offer good luck and peace. We shared that we were Christians and didn’t know a lot about Buddhism but were interested in learning more. We chatted for a little bit longer, I purchased a bracelet from her that had no meaning, and we asked if we could pray for her to our God, Jesus. She said no, that she didn’t want us praying to Jesus for her, so we said our goodbyes, promised to come back and see her later, and walked off.
As we walked off, we prayed for her and prayed for more opportunities to talk with her. As we were leaving we passed by an ATM, so I asked McKenzie if I could stop. I realized when I bought the bracelet from her that I has spent all my cash and since most things in this town require cash I wanted to get some more. Truthfully, I kind of felt bad about it as I was pulling the cash out. This is time we’ve set aside to talk to people and minister to others and here I am using time for my own personal needs. Sure, it only took a few moments, but those moments could have been used for something else. I could have easily done this on my own time.
Despite my feelings afterwards, I grabbed the money and we continued walking. As we were turning the corner I looked at McKenzie and said “girl, we need to find this fruit stand.” Sure, enough as soon as we turned the corner there it was. Not one, but two fruit stands. As we approached the fruit stand there was a man there begging for fruit. His arm was handicapped which likely made it really challenging for him to get work. You could tell by the clothes he was wearing and his appearance that he didn’t have a lot of money and had not bathed in awhile. Sadly, the owner of the fruit stand wouldn’t give him any fruit and sent him on his way.
McKenzie started picking fruit and I ran to get the man to come back. McKenzie picked two mangos, and two pomegranates to give the man, but before we paid for it the owner put two bananas in the bag as well. He put the fruit on the scale and McKenzie went to pull out some money only to realize that she didn’t have enough to cover the fruit. Thankfully, I had just gone to the ATM, so I was able to cover the cost of the fruit for the man. The handicapped man didn’t speak any English, but sometimes you don’t even need words to express gratitude. His eyes said it all as he took the fruit from our hands and went off on His own way.
McKenzie and I talked about the encounter with both the woman by the lake and with the man on our way back home that afternoon. The timing of the Lord is everything. We fully believe that the Lord revealed a fruit stand to her in prayer because He knew His child was hungry and needed food. What I believed to be a hinderance to our ministry that afternoon by stopping at the ATM, the Lord was using to ensure our perfecting timing. What I saw a moment of selfishness, where I wasn’t really thinking was simply a way the Lord used to ensure that we arrived at the fruit stand at the same time the man was at the fruit stand. Had we not talked to the woman for so long, had we not stopped at the ATM, we might have missed him. & I have no doubt that the Lord would have used someone else to buy him some fruit, simply because He loves His children, but what a gift it was to McKenzie to see that image from the Lord and then see it come to fullness. What a gift it was for us to buy him fruit that afternoon.
My team and I shared some things we want to work on or ways we want to grow over the next seven months left in the race & mine was working on really living out the truth ministry is life and life is ministry. Realizing that ministry can be done in the going. Ministry can happen walking by a lake, using an ATM, and at a fruit stand just as much as it can be done in the walls of a church and during the time set aside specifically for ministry. It’s easy to get caught up in the “ministry hours” but as a follower of Jesus, my life should be ministry. Everything I do regardless of the time or the location should be a reflection of my love for the Lord and my desire to both worship Him and point others to Him.
