Hey friends and family!
Month two is in full swing now and I am currently in Kathmandu, Nepal! Nepal is definitely WAY different than home and even India. I found myself homesick for India the first week of being in Nepal, which is pretty comical since I didn’t even think I would like India.
Nepal is all squad month, so all 52 of us are living under one roof and doing ministry together! It has been an awesome opportunity to get to know other people from my squad and dive deeper as a unified squad.
Ministry has looked different every single day so far. The first day we hiked a mountain and prayed over the entire city and cast vision for what the month would look like as a squad. Our second day of ministry we went to the slums and got to participate in children’s outreach and praying over the communities in the slums. My heart literally broke with every additional step in the slums. Our third day of ministry was soccer ministry…literally the BEST ministry I could have ever asked to be a part of. We got to play pick up soccer for hours with Nepali children and then share a bible story and lunch with them. Our fourth day, we went for a prayer walk in a giant public park and then went to a Buddhist temple to pray over it. Today, we went to a church and sang songs, preached, and shared a testimony. In the upcoming days we are partnering with women at risk ministries. After that we will head out to villages for village ministry.
I don’t even know how to put into words all that God is teaching me, but it’s AWESOME. The Lord is leading me into freedom, I’m laying down burdens that I’ve been carrying and I’m growing in intimacy with the Lord. Thanks to my teammate Mikayla who led our team in an exercise in meeting Jesus in our daily lives, I have been meeting Jesus on top of a snowy mountain daily. He meets me on top of this beautiful snow peaked mountain, sits down beside me, wraps a blanket around me and just lets me lean against Him. As we sit there in complete silence I feel no urge to speak to Him because just sitting in His presence with His arms around me is enough. It truly is one of my favorite parts of each day.
Each day as I meet Jesus I find my heart becoming less burdened and my mind less cluttered. I’m excited to continue to meet Jesus daily whether it continues to be on top of a mountain, at Cannon Beach, or wherever else He leads me to. This is one way I am growing in intimacy with the Lord and I am excited to continue this through out the rest of my life.
I challenge you to try it. At first it can be really awkward and weird, but as you continue to walk into this with an open heart the Lord meets you right where you are. Travel to your favorite place and allow Jesus to show up. He’s waiting to sit with you whether it is in complete silence or to have a conversation with you!
We are being challenged to write two blog posts a week for the rest of our World Race so as I grow in this area, I will be connecting with you all more regularly. I’m really struggling to find words to explain and share all that is happening, but as I blog more regularly I’m hoping to get better at sharing.
Thank you so much for following my journey as the Lord leads me through the World Race. One of the best ways for me to share my experience with you all is for you to ask me questions, so please leave questions and comments below and I’ll respond to them!
Once again, wifi is limited and I really only am able to get on wifi for posting blogs, so to all of you awesome people who are emailing me, I will respond to your emails when I get to Vietnam or sooner if I get the chance!! Please don’t stop sending me emails, I love staying connected with you all!
Love you all so much!
Michelle
Meet my sweet friend from church today (unfortunately I can’t pronounce/spell her name in english)! After the service we had people come up to us for prayer and as we were finishing up praying and the worship team was playing there last song I saw this sweet girl and grabbed her hand and started to dance with her. As I twirled her around she kept on giggling and smiling up at me. We became instant friends and for the next 20 minutes she sat in my lap, gave me kisses, and we laughed together as we tried to play something like patty cake. Such a blessing to meet her today and spend time loving on her!
Here’s a panorama from the rooftop of the place we are staying in Kathmandu. I stole Leah’s hammock for a few minutes to bask in the beauty of Nepal! We plan on trying to sleep in our hammocks one of these upcoming nights!
