January finds me in Nepal. Home to Mount Everest and home to a series of earthquakes that killed nearly 6,000 people. Even though we won’t be there until nearly a year has gone by, a year is not long enough to put broken lives back together. We will be able to spread lots of love this month.
NEPAL
Geography: Nepal is landlocked smack between India and China (or Tibet… the area is under dispute). This is a trade advantage for them, but they also have the world’s highest mountain range which contains 8 of the tallest peaks on the planet. Over 4,000 people have climbed the tallest peak, Mount Everest, and nearly 250 have died in the attempt.
Size and Climate: This country is about the geographical size of Tennessee and has 30 million people, which is just about the entire population of Canada.
Because of the Himalayas, the climate can be very different depending on where you are. Obviously in the north you have very cool summers and brutal winters. Meanwhile in the south you have subtropical summers and winter is cold. My squad will be there smack in the middle of their winter. I have to pack for 10 months of hot countries and then somehow have enough to keep me warm in Nepal! Fortunately you can buy climbing equipment and warm clothing there thanks to all the tourism that comes through. Last year alone mountain climbing brought $12 million to the country. (Fun fact, climbing Everest can cost over $200,000. A solo climber pays $25,000 just for the license to climb the mountain. That doesn’t include the guide, the bottles of oxygen, tents, equipment, etc. Who wants to pay that much money to risk losing toes or dying?? I’m not that crazy.1)
Language and People: Nepali is the most widely spoken language, but it’s only spoken by 40% of the population. In the last census 123 languages were declared as their “mother tongue”. It makes me so thankful for a country where we predominantly all speak the same language, even though, fun fact, the United States does not have an official language. Look it up.
Their population pyramid is looking pretty solid. Not nearly the rectangular base of India, but certainly not like Uganda. We see more stability here.Their GDP per capita is $2,400 with 25% of their population living below the poverty line ($1.25 a day.)
The CIA World Factbook says “Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world, with about one-quarter of its population living below the poverty line.” Now those of you who have been faithfully tracking my blogs should look at that and go, “why is that? Their GDP per capita is higher than any other country besides India and their population below the poverty line is about standard for what we’ve seen…” To that I say HOORAY! I’m beginning to brainwash you forever towards the bias of statistics. You’re learning to think critically and not take things at face value, but also learn that poverty is relative.
No matter where you are there will always be someone worse off than you are. I’ve been in houses in Guatemala without wifi, air conditioning, a dishwasher or running water, and they don’t have a clue what they’re missing. They’re happy as can be. The answer is not to give them washing machines and microwaves when they don’t have electricity to plug them into (oh I have stories.. don’t even ask unless you want an earful) that’s thinking with the white savior complex. “Oh, if they just had more stuff then their lives would be better and we can fix their problems.” The only solution to their problems is Jesus. We can’t go in thinking that material things will make the quality of life better and they will stop having problems. We are not going in to show what they lack, we are going in to show the love of Jesus and be His hands and feet. That is all.
The last things of note, for consistency, is that 81% of their population is Hindu, 9% Buddhist, and 4% Muslim. Only 1% of the population claims Christianity. A mother averages 20 when she has her first baby and has 2-3 kids. (The age of a mother, by the way, helps to illustrate what opportunities there are for women in the country as well as shed some light on how they are viewed in society. In the U.S. a woman is nearly 26 by her child’s first birth and she has, on average, 2 children. These stats show you the rate the population is growing and the view of women in society. They aren’t arbitrary statistics.)
Why I’m Excited: If I can get over how unprepared I feel about the cold (please don’t let it be too cold…) I’m excited about Nepal. I could go on and on with pictures of the devastation caused by the earthquakes, but that’s borderline sensationalist media. That’s like those pictures of the starving children or puppies in commercials asking you to give .25 cents a day. I’m not writing to you pleading the cry of the most vulnerable and using their pictures to raise money to go. I will be serving the real Nepal, the real India, the real Rwanda. You can find pictures of opulence or devastation anywhere, and I don’t want to paint an unfair picture of “how poor these countries are” and “how much they need me” because that isn’t true. They don’t need me, they need Jesus. I’m simply being the hands and feet that the Lord has so graciously chosen to spread his love. I’m the luckiest girl in the world. Yes there will be poverty, yes this will be very hard, but this trip isn’t a vacation for me. It’s not a chance to have an adventure or see the world or travel because I want to, it’s a chance to love on people and cultures I would never have had the chance to make a difference in if I stayed here. It’s a chance to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those who the Lord is sending me to. That’s what this is about.
If you want a blog to read about the squad who was there days after the earthquake, Emily Bjerstedt wrote a beautiful one called “Earthquake Empathy” that’s really worth checking out. Her squad was there for the second earthquake and she does a beautiful job explaining how they were able to love on the people who’s lives had been ripped from them as well as those the news crews were ignoring because their lives looked intact. I’m thrilled to get to love on these people… If we don’t end up working with disaster relief, other squads have taught English in villages, ministered to sex workers in the Capitol, loved on pastor’s children, taught in churches, hiked through the mountains to minister to tiny groups of people for a few days, and witnessed in coffee shops, bars, and houses. I have no guarantee for what ministry will look like any month I’m there, but I’m excited to get to serve these people who’s worlds have been turned upside down and show them the never failing, never shaking, love of Jesus.
My match grant is still running through Friday, June 12th. By then I have to have raised $3500. Please pray about whether the Lord would ask you to support me. Through your gift the Lord will use me to impact someone’s life, and your money is doubled through this Friday. Please consider partnering with me by donating through the SUPPORT ME button at the top of this page. Thank you for sending me to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
1 – http://www.livescience.com/32851-do-not-post-why-does-a-permit-to-climb-mt-everest-cost-70000.html
2 – All other data from the CIA World Factbook for Nepal
