Nepal is a place of the painful sort of beauty that makes the soul long for heaven. Mammoth mountains greet you every morning and tip their hats goodnight as the sun sets behind them. Getting to travel around this country for the month has been a special sort of privilege. And it’s only fitting that our meetings here all began by divine happenstance.
After a short debrief with our entire squad, our team began what is called “unsung hero month”, where we are given the task of finding ministries and organizations within Nepal that would benefit from having teams of people come to assist them in the future. Armed with naught but a list of people not to contact, we began our adventure.
A snap from a rafting detour at debrief
After a day of the best research Google could provide (not a lot), and after agreeing to go check out a sketchy village where the sketchy people selling souvenirs outside of our hostel lived (YOLO, right?) we agreed to end the day by meeting for dinner. We entered the restaurant with close to zero direction for the month and a curiosity as to how it would all work out.
Sitting next to our table, whiskey on the rocks in hand, was the liveliest character of a woman that you ever did see. You could tell that she was a woman with an interesting story and so a conversation began. As it turned out, she was a missionary who had been serving in India for ten years and was now in Kathmandu for a little R&R. Upon hearing our tale, she immediately called up an old friend who ended up being a major contact that drove our networking around Nepal for the month.
Apart from meeting after meeting with several incredible people doing incredible work around the country, we have been blessed with all sorts of unexpected adventure as well. We first found ourselves the guests of a jungle lodge in Chitwan, complete with rhino tracks and hot chocolate. On our way to speak at a church one evening, we passed a snacking rhino, an angry water buffalo, a bathing elephant, and some napping gators…all on foot. We rode an open-air jeep under the twinkling stars to get home while singing Christmas carols and trying not to freeze to death.
A taste of Chitwan
After six hours on the bounciest and rowdiest bus ride through the winding mountain roads (we literally were catching air in our seats), we made it to Pokhara and readied ourselves for the sketchy mountain village. A death-defying taxi ride later, we began the (what turned out to be) two hour treacherous trek into the tiny village nestled in the foothills of the Annapurna Mountain Range. I was huffing and puffing and bringing up the rear of my annoyingly athletic companions, while little Nepali children and old Nepali men and women sprinted up and down the 90 degree paths past me with ease.
After forever and a day, we made it to the village. We had a nice chat and smiled as our bed of plywood was set up in a stone room (we really were grateful for the hospitality). After a long chat and a long meal, local villagers poured in to play music and dance. The stars kept time as we shook our groove-things. Although they were cloaked in the night, even the mountains couldn’t help but bob their heads. After a nights rest(lessness) and being grateful that we woke up at all (there’s always a risk) we brushed our teeth, said our goodbyes, and hightailed it through the heart of the mountains- barely making it to our bus that would give even the scariest amusement park ride a run for its money.
Safely back in Pokhara, we are now taking more meetings and getting ready for Christmas. I’ve been trying to incite the Christmas spirit by reading A Christmas Carol out loud to my team. It may be working a bit, but it is strange to be so far away from everything associated with this time of year. Ready or not, Christmas is coming. It’s coming without ribbons! It’s coming without tags! It’s coming without packages, boxes, or bags! This year has caused us to puzzle ’til our puzzlers are sore and caused us to think of something we hadn’t before. Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!
In truth, as much as I miss it, it is refreshing to be away from the panic and stress associated with the Christmas seasoning in the affluent western world. It is nice, for a minute at least, to have all of that stripped away and be forced to think on what Christmas is all about.
My team and a couple of others have decided to take to the mountains this Christmas. We will be doing a three day trek to a place called Poon Hill. So while everyone is cozying up to a fire, I will be spending a total of 25 hours playing Bilbo Baggins, clumsily traipsing up and down a Himalayan mountain, praying to baby Jesus to let me live another day. The company will be great and I know it will be an unforgettable Christmas.
This year will be the one that is used when I’m feeling insecure and want to seem interesting at parties- “oh that’s cool, but let me tell you about the time I trekked in the Himalayas over Christmas”- and one that I will probably never forget (unless I die of out-of-shape-ness or oxygen prevention on the mountain). However, the absence of family and friends is sorely felt and it’s becoming more and more apparent how much time has passed since I’ve had a proper burrito. Please continue to pray for a fresh awakening and fresh excitement for the ministries and for the work we are doing around the world!
Thank you so much for all of your love and support. And Merry Christmas! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, Every One!
Love,
