On the race you get to sleep in some really weird/awesome places. I’ve slept on the roof of a half built concrete structure, the floor of an abandoned house, and a storage closet. This month, I am once again tenting on a roof, but it is probably the most beautiful view you could ever imagine waking up to. I already dread the end of the month when I have to pack up my tent and bid farewell to this most incredible sleeping spot. From my tent I look over the rolling valley of Kathmandu off into the never ending foothills of the Himalayas. On the roof there are no need for alarm clocks because the heat of the sun gently wakes you up when the day has begun. Nepal also has a much different calendar and system of time. It is year 2072 here, and they have 13 months. Also, Saturday is the true sabbath day here. On Saturday morning, it is next to impossible to find anything open to get a bite to eat. And if it weren’t summer vacation for the kids, they would need to be packing their bags tonight to be ready for school Sunday morning. Saturday morning is also the designated day for church services. So as I lay in my tent on the roof overlooking the city, and as the sun filled the sky, reminding us of a new day, what woke me up was his beautiful chanting. Somewhere not too far from our house the sound of many voices with drum and tambourine could be heard filling the airspace. You could not see from which direction the voices came as they echoed through the tiny back alleys and streets of Nepal, but it reached our roof top and woke me from my slumber. As I get out of my tent to sit on the edge of the roof to do devotions and prayer, the chants and tunes of the songs become familiar. They are shouting and singing praises to our God. It was the most beautiful new day as the sounds of praise filled the newly lit morning beneath the mountains. I just sat and listened and joined in on their worship in my own language from the roof. As I sat there I was reminded of what was revealed to me just a few days prior I. psalm 46. Verse 5 says:
God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed.
From the very break of day, God will protect it.
These people were just extremely shaken and moved by this earthquake. Pain and fear filled their lives and they still choose to praise God in the break of day. Later this morning, we went to a church service ourselves just a few blocks away. There we had one of the most amazing worship services I have had on the race so far. We sang that ‘Gods praise will forever be on our lips’ for what seemed like forever. Time was suspended and forgotten in that moment as that chorus just repeated itself in different languages for who knows how long. Today was just a great day of worship with people from different parts of the world and who have different backgrounds and trials they are going through, but still choose to worship our God. It was beautiful.
