Due to the sensitivity of and safety for our ministry, I cannot share pictures with faces of the young men we live with here.
A number of countries we’ve been to use titles such as “aunty,” “uncle,” “brother,” and “sister” which are used to show respect to those you come in contact with. I’ve said my fair share of all of them and typically seen them solely as titles with the exception of my wonderful Sister Chantel in South Africa. That was, until this month in Nepal. This month I’ve gained 10 brothers and they truly feel like brothers.
I can’t say that I’ve ever had the privilege of brothers. Our month here in Nepal has changed that. Our ministry houses women and children that have been rescued from the hideous crime of sex trafficking. They house, rehabilitate, teach them skills to restart a new life, and expose them to the Gospel. It’s incredible being here. Most of my work has been behind the scenes projects and of course the young men here, ages 9 to 18.
Leading us on a hike to the waterfalls.
What can I say about my brothers? Our month together kicked off the moment we loaded the bus at the Kathmandu airport and some of them were there to greet us. Since then the three of us men on Team Breathe have been there to help lead morning devotions, with homework, play plenty of games and sports, have movie nights, go out on the town for lunch or to the mall for a movie, or just hang out and talk about life, faith, dreams, or whatever else the Lord leads conversation to. In return they’ve shown unconditional love, taught us the best way to hand wash our clothes, taken us on a hike to some beautiful waterfalls, cooked some great meals of chicken, duck, and mo-mos, and shared in their many talents and gifts. We have guitarists, artists, singers, cooks, soccer players, and more. I really do mean talented too. Then there are the special occasions, like a birthday when they woke up Michael at midnight to surprise him with singing, gifts, a cake, and plenty food. These brothers have made the ministry this month one of my favorites.
A few days ago I was the sickest I’ve been on the entirety of the Race, even beating out the trip to the hospital in India at 3 in the morning. Taking 10 trips to the bathroom/squatty between the times of 10:30pm and 4:00am for everything you can imagine was a little rough. My brothers knew about it, and each time I ventured out the following few days to get some tea or something, they’d ask how my stomach was and let me know they were praying for me. Every Time. “How are you feeling brother?” “Is your stomach doing better brother?” “I am praying for you brother.”
The boys had the day off from school after city wide strikes. This is how we spent it.
Sadly, just their presence here is an indicator that life has not been easy for them in the past. Only three of them have their mother here with them, two of them are actual brothers themselves. As far as I can tell, fatherly figures outside of this ministry and the teams that volunteer here don’t actually exist.
Here’s what they do have though, because that’s much more important. My brothers have a love for God and a desire to chase after a loving Father even if they never experienced that from an earthly one. They desire to be Men of God. My brothers ARE Men of God. There is no doubt of that in my mind after this month. My brothers have each other. The 10 of them share two rooms. They look after each other. They love and support each other. After nearly a month here, it’s pretty shocking how little I ever see arguments take place or fights over something. It does happen, but for 10 young men living together, you can see that they love each other as family. My brothers are dreamers. They dream of being engineers, restaurant owners, in the military, social workers, guitarists, and more. I believe they’ll achieve those things. My brothers have the abilities to achieve so much in their lives. It’s been an honor spending this month with them.
I love Nepal. Those are the Himalayas clear in the background. This is from the roof of our minisry.
