My team, Unwritten, and our 5 squad leaders trekked the Himalayas for 4-days to reach villages that have never heard the name of Jesus before. To say the least, this was one of the hardest and most amazing experiences of my life so far.
The first day we drove 7 hours to Pokahara where we would start our trek. Then we hiked for 2 hours, climbing up stairs the entire way. I never realized how out of shape I was until we were 5 minutes into our trek.
As we reached our trekking lodge for the first night, we set our bags down and then…watched a bus drive right past our front gate. All we could do was laugh. But on the inside, I was wishing I could have taken the bus here instead of climbing up stairs for the longest 2 hours of my life and quietly thinking, “I didn’t know buses could drive to remote villages..?” (Don’t worry, we arrived at the remote villages in a couple of days.)
And then, God started to speak to me through my thoughts. He asked me, “Do you want to take the easy way out or take the road less traveled?” Ouch. Of course, I’d heard this saying many times before..but never in this way. At the end of our trek, I learned that there is a sweet satisfaction in knowing that you took the harder way through and still made it out alive.
We hiked for 6 hours the second day and 6 more the third day. We would stop along the way to talk to the people we encountered and give them tracks telling them about who Jesus is. Each morning we would wake up with our hearts set on making it to the unreached village. The fourth morning we woke up, excited to finally meet the people we have been praying for. We hiked down stairs for almost 2 hours to reach the village. There were definitely no roads leading to this place..we were finally getting to the part of the trek that I was expecting.
When we reach the bottom, we walk up to the cutest little village I’ve ever seen. We begin to walk around and stumbled upon a married couple named Santa and Durga. They owned a small bed and breakfast, where they hardly ever had any guests. We asked if we could sit down and talk with them for a little while. They seemed very excited, and Durga began to make us tea and popcorn. We sat down with Santa and began to ask questions about his life. The conversation flowed smoothly and he began to ask us questions. We used the opportunity to tell him about the World Race and the God we were serving. My teammate Jen started from the very beginning of the Bible and walked him through Jesus’ life. Durga made sure to tell us through the window that she was listening to us speak as she worked in the kitchen beside us. As the conversation continued (through translators, of course), Santa asked questions about Jesus and the things we were telling him. We were able to encourage him with the free gift of grace and the love of the Father.
I think we really impacted his wife, Durga, in a bigger way than we realized at the time too. She told us how she had been listening to Christian radio for some time and was excited that God has sent someone to tell her about Him in person. I like to think that God sent us to show her how much she is loved and cherished by Him. I hope our visit to them encouraged her to pursue an intimate relationship with the Creator of the universe. I know the Father is doing a much bigger work in that village than we could ever imagine, and for that I am so so thankful.
(Santa & Durga)
Never in my life had I felt that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. Moments like this is exactly why I signed up for the World Race. Our team will never forget Santa and Durga. And we are trying our best to have other World Race teams sent to Santa and Durga to further disciple them and live life alongside them.
The last day of our trek, about 2 hours from our final destination, we stopped at one last house. The family that we encountered were different from the other people we talked to on our trek. This family was part of the Untouchable caste in the caste system. No one has ever been inside their home, accepted a cup of tea that they have offered or touched them because of the stronghold that the caste system has on the Nepalese society. So naturally, our team wanted to defy all the cultural norms and show this family the way that Jesus feels about them. A few people from our team asked if we could wash their feet. This was our way of actually showing them that they weren’t untouchable to God. It was so awesome to be a part of an experience like this.
If you ever get the chance to defy cultural norms (in a good way) and show people that they are loved by the Creator of the universe, please don’t even hesitate to say yes. One small way that you can experience the love of the Father is by pouring it out on other people.
