If you’re contemplating going on the world race the best bit of advice you will ever receive is “have no expectations.” During all squad month in Nepal, we divided our squad in half and set off to two different destinations. One group set off to the mountainous region of Pokhara and the other half went to what we were told was “the jungle.” My team was in the jungle half and we were imagining a much different environment than what we actually lived in. We were prepared for no electricity, no running water, and were hoping to see elephants everywhere. We actually ended up staying in a huge church in a rural town called Urlabari. We had clean water, electricity, even a shower! I got to sleep in a real bed with a mosquito net and they made us tons of delicious Nepalese food and tea each day. We missed the elephants, but this turned out to be one of my favorite weeks of ministry.
The first few days of ministry were so great! We put on church services for our host’s congregation, did construction work, and visited homes/villages to pray and preach. I loved the construction work because I haven’t been able to work with my hands in a while. After one church service we prayed over a man who was deaf in one ear and he started hearing out of it! We also got to crash a Nepalese wedding in the neighborhood! They invited us in because we were foreigners and they were so hospitable. We danced for a while and then they stuffed our faces with Indian food!
I quickly made an awesome friend with our host’s son. His name was Milan, which was easy to remember because of the city in Italy. He was the type of guy who wore a smile no matter what he was doing. We hit it off right away and he taught me how to ride a motorcycle (sorry mom and dad). I wasn’t ready to drive in traffic so I often hopped on the back of his bike and we would weave through traffic, exploring the town. Ministry was normal until the unexpected reared its head at us once again.
On the fourth day we woke up for ministry and learned that a member of our host’s congregation died. We road a bus to the funeral service and the heaviness set in right as we pulled up. They had the casket on a truck behind us and we carried it to the body. The woman died unexpectedly of an asthma attack and left behind three children. The haunting wails of her children at the funeral service will be forever seared into my memory. I was very impressed that everyone from their church showed up to grieve with the family. This was obviously a very tight knit community. Pastor Benjamin and Milan put on the funeral service and were able to share the gospel with the nonbelievers in the crowd. After the service the body was placed in the casket and we moved back on the bus to the burial site. We went to a graveyard in the forest and the locals began to dig the grave. I didn’t know what to do, but I didn’t feel right just standing there. There was nothing I could do for this woman in here lifetime but I could serve her family in the burial. I joined the locals in digging the grave and it was the most eerie experience of my life to date.
Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.”
I thought a lot while I was digging in the hole. I realized that although my spirit lives forever with God after death through Jesus Christ, my bodily remains will spend more time below the Earth than above ground. Death is sobering. I was reminded that what we do, the relationships we build, and the legacies, we leave behind truly matter. Life is short; we can spend our whole lives climbing the ladder of success or seeking every enjoyable life experience and not make single impact on the scheme of eternity if we aren’t walking with the Lord. I’m further challenged by this experience to give my life over to the work of God, which lasts beyond our short years.
Prayer: “Father awaken us to our own mortality that we may give our lives over to what will last and what brings you glory. May your global church live in passion and zeal for you all of our days before we walk with you on the shores of eternity. May we hunger and thirst for righteousness so that we may be satisfied in you. Teach us to abide in you, use our gifts for the growth of your kingdom, and may we savor every moment and experience of these epic lives we have been given. Thank you for life- let us live it in the fullness of you as your children. In Jesus’s holy name, Amen”
