Sitting on top of a bamboo roof on a boat, passing dense jungles on both sides, I could hardly believe this was my life. Dozing to the sound of the running motor, eyelids fluttering whilst looking at millions of stars fade away into a glorious sunrise, I formed the words “thank you” on my lips and spoke them in my heart. God was caressing me in a moment of pure beauty. 14 hours of boat adventure later, we arrived at a small village on a hill- a picturesque image you would see in a movie. The only difference: we weren’t graceful actors.
It was becoming dark, it was raining, and we had heavy packs to carry up a mountain. Somehow or another, we made it up the hill and had to hike about 3 km to get to our car (which was unable to reach us in the mud). The hike was amazing. I felt like Joan Wilder from “Romancing the Stone” (if you get that reference, I love you) as we blundered through the thick jungle with headlamps and excitement. We saw a green mamba snake (which our guide threw rocks at), we heard waterfalls all around us, and we were muddy from head to toe by the end. We got to our truck, and half of us piled in whilst the others hopped in the truck bed to have the bumpiest ride of our lives. What I didn’t notice at first was the biggest leech I’ve ever seen sucking the blood out of my ankle. “I freaked out” is a big understatement. Screams brought Abraham over (who was traveling with us), and he quickly plucked it off my ankle as if it was a leaf. Of course I thought I was going to die, so I refused to look at my ankle for a while in order to stop thinking about it. An hour into the truck ride, Hannah shone her light on it, and I legitimately about died. Blood was everywhere, it looked like goo, and it was bright red- apparently leeches put anti-coagulates in your blood so it doesn’t clot, so my foot looked like someone had hacked at it with a machete. I bit Hannah’s shoulder as she wiped it all off; I couldn’t look at it. And so began some of the best 2 weeks of my life.
Picture it: green mountains with white beards sunbathing. The view was never-ending, and up in the clouds, it felt like nothing but beauty could touch us. Our beautiful guest house, complete with a living area, a kitchen, beds, mosquito nets, 3 bathrooms for 7 girls, a balcony, and a little “tree house” below for a particularly nice view, was truly a home away from home. We arrived on our first night to a welcoming committee, a full dinner, a beautifully clean house, and a personalized sign that read “Welcome World Race Ladies of the Lord.” I had died and gone to heaven. The only thing that kept me from thinking that I was at a 5-star resort was the gigantic bugs straight out of Jurassic Park. Dive-bombing cicaedas that have NO sense of direction flew at us like enemy airplanes whilst mosquitoes, bees, and beetles galore hit us from the front. Throughout our stay, we had many “pets.” We had a huge gecko about the size of my head named Randal, we had a mouse named Cotton-Eye Joe who came back 4 times (until he met his demise from our cook Mawi), and we had many unwelcome guests that were along the lines of Shelob (the spider from LOTR). I have never seen spiders this big; they were certainly not welcome in OUR house. We decided to retaliate against the bugs, and we caught cicaedas (I finally overcame my fear and learned how to grab those nasties by the wings), taped them to rocks, and used our sling-shot gifts to send them flying over the mountain. All jokes aside, it wasn’t the place that made Lungthulien heaven; it was the people.
I have never in my life encountered such hospitality. They served us constantly and barely let us do anything for ourselves. They cooked every meal for us, they cleaned around our house, they did our laundry (and they REALLY cleaned it, unlike my amateur hand-washing abilities), and they always made us feel welcome. Our hosts, Rosy and LC Bongpui, were all things amazing. We were there to work with PMS school, Partnership Mission Society, which was one of 28 in India started by Dr. Rochunga.
Very important side note about Dr. Reverend Rochunga Pudaite: He created a legacy. A forever-standing, earth-shattering legacy that left 95% of his Hmar tribe shouting praises to the One, True God. A small boy from the tiny village of Senvon, he trekked 100’s of miles to gain an education and work towards translating the New Testament into the language of his people. He started Bibles for the World, an organization bent on mailing millions of Bibles to people worldwide, and he faithfully ministered to people in every capacity that he could. “Well done good and faithful servant” was never a truer statement than when applied to this man. It was amazing to read about him, live in an area very much impacted by his legacy, visit the place where he grew up, and talk to many whose lives were changed by his dedication to God. We would not have gone to Lungthulien if he had not said “yes” to God’s call- it was because of God’s work in Dr. Ro’s life that Lungthulien and many of the Hmar tribe are Christ-followers.
Anyways, we taught children in classrooms, we visited nearby villages to work in their local schools, and my favorite part was when we held a field day for the kids in Lungthulien. I have never felt like a cruise director more. We got all the kids pumped up, we had a dance party, and most importantly: we had a slip n’ slide. We had the 3-legged race, we had a sponge toss, we had sack races, we had tug of war, and more. It was so much fun and probably my favorite day of the race so far. Check out a video created by one of my teammates, Shalyee, here to see a recap of our time in Lungthulien and some footage of the field day.
The great day wasn’t over after the field day. Late at night, as we were watching Cinderella with a few of the girls of the village, the kids and teachers started a spontaneous night of worship. It was the most humbling thing I have ever experienced. They were not merely singing to the Lord; they were wailing, faces in the dirt, expressing their love and adoration for the God they so desperately adore. It was beautiful and heart wrenching. There was so much prayer, so much raw worship, and so much gratefulness to the King of Kings who died for us. I will never forget that night, and I am so happy that I was able to experience such an incredible experience.
What’s going on now?
After leaving Lungthulien, my team took the boat back to Hmarkalien to be with our squad for a few final days in India. Then, we flew to Nepal, where we had debrief for about 5 days in Thamel (the backpacker’s district).
Big changes happened in Thamel. We had some major team changes, and I am super pumped to say that I am now a Team Leader for Team August! We are six girls in all: Elizabeth, Lexi, Mary, Amber, Sarah, and me. We are working with a ministry in Kathmandu, and we are doing a variety of things. We are working in the slums, doing prayer walks, visiting children’s homes, carrying bricks up stairs, visiting a leper community, and trekking for 3 days at the end of the month (yep- trekking through the Himalayan mountains to reach an Untouchable community). We couldn’t be more thrilled, and we are all so excited to be in this new season of the race. It honestly feels like a new World Race, and I will definitely be keeping ya’ll posted!
Prayers would be appreciated for:
-The people of Lungthulien, the kids there, and their growth in Jesus
-My squad’s health, as many people have recently been very sick and have visited the hospital
-My squad during this time of transition: We have 3 members being raised up as Squad Leaders for the next 6 months, and all of the teams were completely changed around. Prayers for growing unity and growth during this next season would be much appreciated.
