It was a cold, wet, rainy night of October 31. A Halloween night in America. When 14 hikers went trudging through the Nepali mountains ready for a warm bed. Us having been in India and, warmer parts of Nepal for awhile, we were not really prepared for the cold we faced ahead. After a seven hour bus ride and a hike ahead, we weren’t prepared for that evening. It got dark quick, rain lapping at our feet (honestly, we were soaked). Being an hour behind schedule we weren’t ready for a dark hike. It was pouring down rain, windy, and freezing cold. Most of us were in shorts and some didn’t even have extra jackets. After about two hours we finally made it to a hostel on top of the mountain. Hot black tea awaited us, along with chicken fried rice and a warm bed. We had no idea what it looked like outside due to the darkness. We were told “be awake at 5am for sunrise”. We didn’t expect what we saw that next morning. We woke up to a chilly chilly morning, after getting dressed and packed up Katie and I walked out of our little room to see the Himalayas straight in front of us. I was in complete aw at it. I was not expecting to see that. The sun was just beginning to rise. We met up with the others and hiked up a hill to see the views better. Wow, no words could really be spoken with the beauty around us. We have an amazing God who blessed us with a beautiful world to look at. It was quite chilly, but oh so worth it. We sang songs, took pictures, and just stood in aw of creation. After another hot tea and breakfast we started our five hour hike. Honestly, probably one of the best days of my entire life. We hiked 15,309 steps, climbed 95 floors, and was at an elevation of over 7000 ft. We saw the Himalayas all around us, and huge cows. I can’t really explain how beautiful and truly amazing it was. I felt like I was in a movie. It was like a fairy tale seen. Stone steps, waterfalls, and mountains throughout the day. I will be honest, by far the hardest hike or physical activity I’ve maybe ever done. As I looked ahead above me I’d get tired just looking at the hundreds of more steep steps ahead of me. It got me thinking about the future. How, like the steps ahead, it worried me looking up at the trials ahead of me. Looking down at my feet though, kept me focused on the task at hand, not the more physically trying things ahead. That’s how I want to take the rest of the race. Looking not ahead, but living in the moments day by day. The lord has placed the steps ahead of me for later once I reach that step. But as of now, I live in this moment right now, and his plans are so good. We kept on walking, one foot in front of the other. Yes, we stopped a lot (to take pictures of course. And a breather). Just the fact that I was trekking through the mountains of Nepal made me happy. Like wow, coolest thing ever right. As the day went on we made it half way to our destination. We ate lunch at a travelers hotel thingy out in the random mountains. After that we started the last 2 hour stretch straight down to our host homes. It was a hard two hours. It was steep, and very very slippery. We finally made it (actually an hour early) to homesteads. Homesteads are houses that travelers stay in. They are owned my natives in the area. We got tea (we drink lots and lots of tea) and then headed to 4 different homes. After settling in we went to minister to a family. We told them about the love Jesus shows us and brought him the gospel. Afterwards we went back to the houses, ate dinner, then had team time. After team time Katie, Dekpok (ministry host this month) and I sat with the couple who were housing the three of us. They have had many race teams before us stay with them. We talked to them about the lord and drank more tea. It was such a sweet evening. We had a little fire going and were sharing stories and just had a wonderful time. It really topped the amazing day off. Sadly the trek is about over. Tomorrow we head to Polkera for a day off, then back to Katmandu to pack up for Africa. The lord is so good, I wouldn’t trade the last few days for anything. It really taught me to lean on the lord for strength and endurance and not to rely on myself. Without the lords help, i dont know if I would have made it up the mountain. He gave me the strength I needed to live out one of my
Dreams. As Nepal is coming to a close, I am so grateful for the things the lord has shown me this month, but that’ll be the next blog. As for now, continue to pray for Nepal, the people, and the hearts of those we’ve come in contact with. So much love to everyone!!
Love from Nepal,
Mara
