Fresh out of the gates, Team Gladiators and Team Undefined got our first ministry assignment: trek the Himalayan foothills to encourage the Chepang people in their faith and share the spirit of the Lord with anyone else. Now, first let me clarify, the Nepalis consider what we trekked to be foothills, but we Americans were very sure that these were mountains. The entire trek was quite the physical challenge to say the least – crossing the river 30+ times, careening up 45° mountainsides and stumbling back down them, all with our packs in tow. Many of us were humbled by our lack of physical strength amongst the nimble Nepalis and we quickly realized that we would not be able to manage our journey without their help.
Fresh-faced Gladiators on the first day of the trek [photocred: Jackelyn Mead]
Pastor Sham outside of our first church in Manahari
Our main guides, Pastor Mithun & Pastor Sham, led us through the mountains, often carrying some of our packs and always finding Chepang churches who could provide meals and shelter to our teams. Each time we arrived at a village we were warmly embraced by the Chepang. We were told that in some of the villages we were the first Americans to ever visit, so they were incredibly excited to see us make the journey to their homes. As they provided us with many meals, room to sleep and sometimes gifts, we in turn shared stories of the power of the Lord in our own lives and how they too could live that out.
Sharing my story at our first Chepang village [photocred: Jackelyn Mead]
Using an inflatable globe [courtesy of Dee Bloodworth!] to teach world geography! [photocred: Jackelyn Mead]
The Chepang women tirelessly served us in meals all week
The Chepang are a very humble people group, because only 150 years ago, they began crawling out of the caves in the Himalayan foothills to make new lives for themselves in village communities. Currently, the Chepang are one of the most marginalized ethnic groups in Nepal. They lack representation in the government, so their basic needs are often overlooked. The Chepang are fighting to build education in their region, but the severe lack of literacy is a large hindrance to implementing this quickly. Fortunately, many of the Chepang people have heard and heeded to the Gospel, and are embracing the Word with inspiring reverence. The introduction of Bibles to their region has certainly aided in their literacy struggle.
The witch doctor on his drum
In the middle of our travels we were greeted by a Chepang witch doctor, who still lived partially out of a cave. During our visit, he offered to play his drum for us, which at first we understood as mere entertainment. Yet as his beating and chanting grew, we realized it was more than that. By the end he was shaking and banging his drum furiously in the air, chanting hard and loud. Pastor Mithun explained to us afterwards that the witch doctor had welcomed evil spirits in his drumming, but they were not coming to him as strongly as they normally would. The frustration we witnessed was a reflection of this. We realized that the presence of the Holy Spirit was driving away his “magic,” keeping the evil spirits at bay. At the ceasing of the drumming the witch doctor and his wife allowed us to pray over them. The witch doctor told Pastor Mithun that he had heard of our Lord before and he said that one day he may give up what he was doing to learn what it means to become a Christian.
Trekking away from our last church [Notice the date it was established – we went forward in time]
As we trekked I realized how our journey related to our personal walk with Jesus. We were faced with unknown trails, ups and downs, rocks and crags, walking in feces and the scorching sun, just like the many trials and tribulations we face in life. But whenever we reached the river, everything was washed away – the dirt, sweat and exhaustion melted away in the refreshing mountain waters, just like how Jesus is our living water. Our energy was renewed whether we only walked through the river for 10 seconds or when we spent 30 minutes swimming, bathing, and relieving ourselves 😉 Those sweet times of respite helped us regain our focus on Jesus and allowed us to continue to our trek of faith.
[photocred: Jackelyn Mead]
