Love IS Ministry

 

It’s been almost one week since arriving in Pokhara and dude I am thriving here. 

Could it be because we are in an area of town called Lakeside? It’s possible. 

One could see how a nature loving, free spirited gal like myself would thrive here. 

I mean, there’s the mountains , the lake- so much tranquility and peacefulness. 

There’s the quaint cafes and small hippie dippie shops I love wandering around in. 

 

 

 

But I think what I love most is … the people.

 

I am literally getting to do this month what I love most – getting to know people and building relationships. 

 

And yeah sure I do this every month. 

 

I mean you meet A LOT of people on the race.

 

But this month I get to see these people almost everyday. 

 

So the relationship gets to bloom you see.

 

Mmmm – y’all I love it. 

 

Today we went to the slums. 

 

 

 

 

Every Tuesday and Friday we go here. 

 

Going to the slums has become one of my favorite ways to minister. 

 

It’s simply home visits. 

 

You go to the slums, walk around and if you feel the Lord telling you to talk to someone you talk to them. 

 

Or they come talk to you. 

 

You get to know them. 

 

Sit with them. 

 

Listen to them. 

 

It’s amazing how just being present is enough to do ministry. 

 

Some people just want to be seen and heard. 

 

That’s what we give them when we visit the slums. 

 

It’s more than money or food. 

 

It’s an offering of yourself. 

 

It’s you saying , I want to sit with you and know more about you. 

 

I want to know how I can pray for you. 

 

It’s simply slowing down and listening to someone. 

 

It’s showing that you care.

 

It’s simply love. 

 

Yes, love. 

 

That’s the ministry. 

 

Today we prayed over “K“, an older man with a prosthetic leg. We met him last week when we went. 

 

As we walked down the street I recognized the black and white bricks of his house.

 

We stopped for a bit and talked with him. 

 

We prayed again today that the Lord would provide the funds for him to get a new leg. 

 

He said he had leg pain and couldn’t make it to church on Sunday so we prayed healing over his leg (He is a believer by the way). 

 

We also prayed for his son – ”R”- who ran away from home (he told us this the first time we visited him) but now he is coming home and going to church with his dad. 

 

We prayed over ”S”. A young girl who’s face is healing from boils. She can’t go back to school until they are healed. We prayed healing over her. 

 

When we finished a man named “K” asked us to pray over him. So we prayed over Kumar. We prayed over the brown spots on his face that are spreading. 

 

I think what was so cool is that he asked for us to pray over him literally right after we prayed over “S”. 

 

It was like the Lord was revealing to us that HE is already at work in this man’s heart. 

 

Because this man had faith . 

 

Faith to ask to be prayed over.  

 

Because of faith , he believed in the power of prayer. 

 

Because of faith he believed he could be healed. 

 

We also met a woman named ”K”.

 

 She was eating at a store and saw us from a distance. 

 

 She yelled out at us, smiling and motioned for us to come over. 

 

We began to talk to her. 

 

She knows our translator ”S.“

 

She said she has been a believer for 2 months. 

 

She asked us to come to her house. 

 

So we went. 

 

When we get there she said her house is dirty inside so she made a place for us to sit outside. 

 

We sit down and y’all she is grinning from ear to ear . 

 

One of the brightest, biggest smiles I’ve ever seen. 

 

You would have no idea the hurt she goes through because that big beautiful smile hides it so well. 

 

As we talked some more she began to open up to us. 

 

She told us about her husband. 

 

He is abusive. 

 

He is not a a Christian. 

 

She pulls up her dress and shows us the bruises on her legs. 

 

She said they fight because she is Christian and he is not. 

 

And when they fight she drinks. 

 

(She had been drinking that day) 

 

My teammate asked her if she had a bible. 

 

She said she has one. 

 

She got up and went over to her house and searched under some things piled up in front of the house and grabbed a small blue book.

 

Her bible. 

 

It was dirty. 

 

It was wet. 

 

Some of the pages were ruined.

 

She brought it over to us to show us. 

 

She said when she gets a bible her husband will take it and throw it out. 

 

We talked some more. 

 

We told her she is beautiful. 

 

We told her she is strong. 

 

We called her friend. 

 

We called her sister. 

 

Our translator read psalm 23 to Her. 

 

And then we prayed over her. 

 

In the middle of praying her husband appeared. 

 

We kept praying. 

 

He didn’t say much , she handed him some money and he left. 

 

Shortly after that we said our see you laters (we are going back next week). 

 

She was so happy. 

 

She smiled very big again and said bye to all of us. 

 

I think the Lord is teaching me several things. 

 

1) lose the box. 

 

We put God and ministry in a box too much. 

God doesn’t need us. But he allows us to be a part in building His kingdom.  And ministry is more than projects and donations. It’s more than passing out food to homeless. 

 

Are those things ministry ? 

 

YES . 

 

Yes they are. 

 

But so are other things. 

 

Very simple things. 

 

Like spending an hour out of your day to sit with a lady outside her house and listening to her share things with you. Like playing “double this, double that,” with children until they get tired. Like laying hands on someone and praying healing over their body. Like going to the same shop everyday getting to know the owner and share your story with him. Like meeting a tourist and quickly becoming friends , getting dinner together and sharing the gospel with her.