This week I finished ministry in Nepal and I am so grateful to say that it was a week I will remember for the rest of my life. I truly feel like I got a taste of Heaven.
The beginning of the week started with me catching the stomach bug that has been circling our house for a month. I slept all day Monday and finally started to gain small amounts of energy Tuesday and Wednesday. I went out into the city for follow ups with the women that we met in the cabin restaurants from the previous week (I spoke about the details in my last blog). I felt so emotionally and physically exhausted that all I wanted to do was rest. However, I was invited to go out to a village Wednesday night to meet some of my squad mates at a prayer tower for all night prayer. I wasn’t sure if my body and heart could handle staying up all night to pray in this village but I decided that evening to give it a go. We drove for a half hour over a mountain and along a bumpy road to reach this quant village tucked away right outside Katmandu. Raj, our driver pulled into this big red building slightly tilted off a hill. He showed me up the stairs where my squad mates greeted me with peaceful smiles and singing worship as they dangled off the roof. My soul settled.
I walked around the compound that was decorated in green plants and framed windows made of tires. The whole place was completely sustainable off the resources right around the house and everything was made of recycled material. There were five women cutting fresh vegetables on a tree trunk cutting board. I was offered mint tea and went to set my stuff down in my room for the night (where I got my own bed, this was huge…). I joined my other teammates around a big wooden table overlooking the valley and we opened our bibles to start studying the Word. We shared stories about ministry the past few days and debriefed all my emotions from the cabin restaurants. Over a massive feast of lentils, rice, vegetables and Nepalese spiced sauces I got to hear the fascinating history of Pastor Narayan, the man who ran the compound. He was a Hindu man who grew up in a village in India and had an incredible story of conversion to Christianity by seeking different gods and running away from home to find the truth. He had a vision to start this prayer tower twenty years ago and after traveling different parts of the world he finally settled in Nepal with his wife to build the tower. It became a home for handicap adults. Anyone 16+ with a physical or mental disability could come live at the compound. Most of the time other pastors or people brought these adults to Pastor Narayan because they were rejected from their society or families because of their disability.
So I walked into this big red home with smiling faces, a home where everyone had a part to play whether it was to cook or pray or garden. Everyone was welcome and everyone had purpose. After dinner we entered their little chapel in the prayer tower and attended their service. We read a passage from the Bible and sang and prayed in English while they did the same in Nepalese. After the service our team took the first shift of the night from 9-10pm to continue praying in the chapel. We sang worship and prayed as a group over our families, the compound, our squad and Nepal. We stayed up a little while longer to talk before going to bed with a wake up call at 4 am so we could continue praying. I was still feeling extremely tired from my sickness and was worried about getting such little sleep but knew this would be an amazing opportunity to be with God in such a special place.
I woke up at 4 am with no sickness, complete energy and a heart eager to praise. I climbed to the roof and turned on my music and sang for the next 3 hours. My squad mates and I watched the sunrise over the Himalayas and soaked in the beauty of Gods goodness. My heart is usually happiest during worship so getting to sing and pray over this village from dark to light was such a gift. You could feel Gods presence here, you could feel his protection because of this shield that these people had built around this compound. There was not a physical shield but they have someone praying in the prayer tower every hour of everyday. The people had been praying for 17 years !!!! 17 years of prayer non stop!!! This was the most incredible thing I had ever heard! No wonder my heart was filled with complete joy and peace when I walked in, God was present and keeping close watch over his people here. These people cried out to God at all hours of the day, even if they couldn’t speak or walk or hear, they knew God and they were faithful to Him.
The rest of the day felt like a retreat. We were fed all day with delicious homemade breads, honey, vegetables and dishes that filled us to the brim. We did a few hours of service by helping them paint and drill holes into a pipes for a new water system (turns out I am pretty skilled at this?). We spent a couple of hours in fellowship, learning and lifting one another up. We went deep into the Word and shared with one another how God was moving in our lives. In the afternoon Pastor Narayan drove us to a mountain where we got to take a long walk in the forrest. It filled my soul!! Trees and nature!! AH I was so happy. We walked and talked and eventually packed our bodies into his old metal truck and drove as the sun went down. We didn’t want to leave this place, so we didn’t. We decided to stay another night so we could continue to love on the people, to cook with them and pray with them in their service. We went to bed with happy hearts. We sleepily crept out of our rooms and shared tea and breakfast with Pastor Narayn before we packed our things. As the morning came to a close we went around to pray for every person on the compound. We prayed for healing and deep love from the Father.
This place resembled what I imagine Heaven to be like. A place where the garden is overflowing. A place where physical and mental limits are broken, but where souls and hearts come together. A place where we are in constant rejoice for how good our Father is. A place where there is always room at the table and conversation never ceases because there is always more praise and give thanksgiving for. Heaven will be a place where we want to serve one another with full hearts and laughter. Living in this community gave me such a great glimpse as to what great community and fellowship looks like. I could not be more grateful to leave Nepal on this note, a refreshed experience of how God calls us to live. I am so excited for Thailand but know that when times are tough or I am feeling down I will take my mind back to this place and remember the eternal promise that God has given us.
