That’s it and that’s all folks! My month of Nepal is complete and I’m leaving on a jet plane Friday morning (Thursday night back in the States) to India. 1/11 complete! Am I happy? I’ll give you all the Nepali head shake on that one(A yes & no all in one). I tell you I am excited to continue on in ministry, to have the opportunity to travel and gift God’s love to other people of other cultures. But, my heart doesn’t know which way to turn. It has been torn up starting from the middle, and has been handed out to many of my brother’s and sister’s in Christ here in Nepal.
Being here for nearly a month has caused relationships to form and grow. As we have wandered through the dirt walls of the rice paddies, as we have trekked through the down pours of rain, and as we have daily greeted all the town folk as we pass by to ministry we began to see the same faces. We recognized them and we have been given the opportunity to ask, “How is your walk with Christ been?” We have just enough time in a month to invest in their lives; to challenge and grow our brothers and sisters! And I would say that I have seize this opportunity with my whole heart!
I have invested my life & my love, and gifted it all away to the Nepali people. And quite frankly, it hurts. It causes me great pain to leave those I have spurred on in the faith. I don’t know how Paul did it, as his heart was much bigger than mine. But now I see that I am blessed to suffer this way! I would rather give it all, and suffer greatly, than to hold back and not have this wrenching heartache. God gave it all for us, right? He suffered more than we can imagine for choosing to love and pour out his everything (Phil. 2:5-7). He made himself nothing, so that we could operate out of an overflowing state of the Spirit! He did so that we may continue on with this gifting of love and the pouring out of our whole selves.
So the past week throughout our house fellowship gatherings, and prayer intercession, the realization of leaving these wonderful passion filled people has just been just snowballing! This past Saturday was our last church service with all our Nepali friends. People from all across the valley came! They called our whole team to the front to give us gifts (The men: Nepali hats. The women: handmade scarves) and then proceeded to pray over us and the ministry we will continue on in the next 10 months. It was powerful, how a people with so little, from a worldly perspective can give so immensely from a not of this world perspective! How a body of believers who are so heavily persecuted can be so full of astounding joy! I pray I carry this perspective an attitude with me as I venture on into the next wild ministry! In fact, that is my prayer for us all. To remember that a midst the pain, the struggles, the seemingly all consuming darkness that is this world we remember one thing. That we rest our hope on the living God! The One true God who lives and moves and breathes with in us! That we hold His power in our hearts and that His love is all the joy we could ever have! The Nepali believers have reminded me to operate out of this Pure joy and to not carry the baggage of past experiences. Let us see through the lens of the Nepali people my brothers & sisters!
Upcoming Ministry:
We will be heading to Hyderabad, India next where my Team & I will actually be blessed to continue preaching for the month of August in Village Evangelism! …What is God trying to do, make me a preacher? Haha! We will be working closely with a few pastors in the area serving in the following ways:
Door to door ministry, feeding the poor, leading Worship, Scriptural teachings, preaching at gatherings, Healing ministry, youth ministry, and aid in church planting! Let’s get Excited!
