Well friends, this month in Nepal has been quite the doozey. It has flown by and I can hardly believe that we only have one week left before we head to our debrief in Kathmandu where we will be given new teams for our last three countries in Central America. Since the moment we arrived here, I’ve felt like I could breathe deeper. Coming off of a difficult month in noisy, hot, crowded India, the vast greenery and mountain coolness of Nepal has been a much needed refreshment for my body and soul.
This country has a natural beauty that is simply indescribable. We happen to be here during the rainy/monsoon season, so EVERYTHING is lush and green and tropical. The mountains seem never ending, and the rice fields go on for miles passed what the eye can see. My team has been so fortunate to travel to different parts of this amazing country, which brought us from a national park that seemed like something right out of Jurassic Park with vegetation growing everywhere and rhinosaurus and elephants roaming the streets to a town nestled in the middle of valleys with a river that runs right under the city, and in the next few days into the snow-capped Himalayan mountains where we will literally be on top of the world. This month’s adventures and sights have been nothing short of spectacular…but all of it pales in comparison to what I have seen God do in me and through our daily ministry.
My team did not get the chance to partner with a specific ministry this month; rather we continued to live out our life is ministry and allow God to move through us each day to see where He would take us and what He would want us to do. At first I found myself a bit discouraged by this lack of ”doing’’, as I always seem to be when we don’t find a specific organization or family or host, but God quickly showed me just how much He has done in these past few weeks without us being connected to a scheduled ministry. As I sat one day reflecting on my time in Nepal, I realized just how many conversations I’ve had with people about the gospel, just how many times I’ve spoken the name of Jesus to someone who doesn’t believe in Him as their Savior, and just how many times I’ve been able to tell someone of God’s love and hope who is feeling unloved or hopeless. I see myself growing in boldness to share my faith with a stranger, wanting to start conversations about Jesus or to ask others what they believe in or where they think they will spend eternity. I feel my heart softening to a world and people who worship false idols and spend so much of their time praying to a man-made statue that will never love or care for them. I sense the Holy Spirit prompting me to talk to the girl sitting next to me on the bus or to pray with the taxi driver who we shared the gospel with. I look back on these last few weeks and realize that I (we) have had more of these spontaneous, gospel-sharing conversations with random strangers or our waiter or the hostel manager than I have had all year. Here I prayed over businesses to ask God’s blessing for the owners and their families. I answered questions from a young Hindu girl about who Jesus is and what He did while He lived. I sang songs of worship to the God I believe in with a Hindu family while they sat and listened to words that praise our Jesus. And all the while, God continues to grow the desire in me to share His love with others not just by ”doing” something good or serving someone’s needs, but also by speaking the name of Jesus and caring about their eternal destination if they do not know Him.
At the end of the day, we can serve a meal to someone who is hungry, we can hold a crying orphan to comfort them with gentle love, we can pray healing over the sick (and we SHOULD do all of those things)…but if we do not speak the name of Jesus and tell the world about who He is and why He came, if we don’t share the gospel truth to a world that is lost without the salvation of Christ, all of the ”kindest” acts of service will never get them into heaven. We serve a God who WANTS His people to live in eternity with Him. 2 Peter 3:9 says, ”The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” We hold the keys to His kingdom; we know that Jesus is…”the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6) and that no one can come to the Father except through Him. We MUST share this truth with others. This news is too vital to keep to ourselves! It is my prayer that more and more, everyday, wherever I go and whoever I talk to…that this will be the reason why I go into the world. This should be the reason why I live every day. THIS is the reason why I left the comfort of my home for 11 months. THIS is why I’ve endured long travel days and sickness and days without a shower and sleepless nights…to tell the world about the love of my amazing heavenly Father and the sacrifice His Son made on the cross in order for me, for ALL of us, to spend eternity in heaven with Him.
For the past few days I’ve had the words from a song I learned long ago in children’s church echoing in my head, which seem most appropriate here in Nepal…
Go tell it on the mountains
Over the hills and everywhere
Go tell it on the mountains
that Jesus Christ is Lord.
