Constant Change

Wow! What a month! Finding out we were coming to Nepal already threw a curve ball in our race since we were expecting to have gone to Jordan. However in the midst of the unexpected, God already knew every detail beforehand. Little did I know Nepal would be one of my absolute favorite countries on the race.

The only constant for the last few weeks has been the constant changing. Every week we have moved locations, going from the city, to the mountains, to a town, back to the mountains, to another city, and now headed to another location. This month has truly taught me what it looks like to surrender comfort and possessions.

Over the last couple of weeks I have worn the same pair of clothes many days in a row, showered in the river, gone to the bathroom outside, hand washed my laundry, and lived in the middle of mosquitos and any critter that wants to join for meals or during rest while sleeping on the ground. Might sound miserable to you, and at times there were definitely screams when leeches attached to your feet or spiders crawled on your body, but even then I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. It has been an honor to be in the uncomfortable for the sake of reaching this nation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

So here’s a brief overview of what ministry has looked like here in Nepal! To provide privacy and safety to our hosts and the people here no faces will be directly shown of those we have met with unless given permission and no exact locations will be mentioned as well.

THE MOUNTAINS

After arriving and traveling the long windy roads up and down the mountains we ended high up in southern Nepal. For a week my team as well as one other did ministry alongside our host and a local pastor in that village. Each day we would wake up early, spend time alone with the Lord, eat breakfast, and then head out for the day. For the next 5-6 hours we would hike further into the village and up the mountains to visit people at their homes. This time would then be spent getting to know them and sharing the gospel with them. Some have heard of Jesus before, and some have not. Most however were not believers. After visiting 2-4 families we would head back to our home for lunch and an afternoon break while the sun was blazing. Then late afternoon we would go back out to visit another family and head back for dinner afterwards. When finished with dinner we would worship together as a mini squad and then get ready for bed.

While visiting families we had many opportunities to share testimonies, the Gospel, and meet people right where they’re at in love. My team also witnessed a man we prayed for who was unable to see clearly receive healing and can now see clearly! One common request from the people was to pray against spiritual attacks of the enemy. If you don’t believe in the spiritual realm here’s your awakening to it. Some people were attacked physically from demons, whether it be walking on the roads and beat up with blood dripping down their body when nobody else is around, or being held down or attacked in their sleep, the stories from these people were intense and real. Not only would they experience physical attacks, but many often requested prayer for protection in their sleep from nightmares. Many had stories of nightmares (most likely caused from the witch doctor’s intervention or spirits they were reaching out to) that kept them awake in fear. One girl close to my age told us that in a nightmare the witch doctor told her she only had three years left to live. Another told us a witch doctor in her dream was trying to drown her. But the sweet ending of this dream was that she grabbed onto a vine and pulled herself up and a man in white walked her around a land filled with white houses and people dressed in white. This dream was likely from the Lord, but it continues to prove that the spiritual realm is very alive.

While in the mountains seven people got saved, many were healed, and families of believers were encouraged. It was such a blessing to get to endure the physical hikes and experience a new life, people and culture for some time.

TOWN – CHURCH

Now for our time in town. Days were similar to mountain days except each home we went to was a home of a believer in the local church. We would fellowship together by starting off with some worship and then sharing testimonies with one another. It was inspiring to hear the faith of these believers. Some were the only believer in their family and were having to make the decision to leave their family or leave Jesus. Some were the first believers in their family who then led their entire family to Jesus. Some experienced healing and decided to follow Jesus after that, and some have been following Jesus for a long time and have yet to experience healing. No matter what, they each shared powerful testimonies on how they came to hear about Jesus and have persevered through persecution and suffering.

Again we experienced the intensity of the spiritual realm by being in this town. One woman shared a story of how one night she forgot to pray before bed and when she woke up in the middle of the night four men (demons) walked inside and said “we have been waiting so long for this” and attacked her. When she woke up in the morning she had bite marks all over her so severe that her granddaughter couldn’t even look at them. She said that since then she hasn’t forgotten to pray before going to sleep. I don’t share these stories to scare you, but instead to share the truth that in this world we “do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the… spiritual forces of evil…” (Ephesians 6).

We also saw that a very common way people were coming to know Christ was through miracles. To be completely honest I don’t know if I have ever witnessed seeing a miracle in the United States. I am sure many have been healed and miracles have happened because of Jesus, but it’s not something you hear of often. On the other hand, people are getting healed here left and right and miracles happen daily. After hearing these testimonies over and over we asked the pastor here why we don’t see this kind of stuff in America. There’s a few answers he gave but to keep it short one idea is that here the people are very expectant of a miracle happening. They cry out to the Hindu gods and to Buddha and are left searching and hoping for something, so when they show up to the church in an ambulance or call for a pastor to see them they are fully expectant that God will and can heal them by faith. The great part of this is that receiving healing brings so many people to trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior and follow Him. The downside of this is that some often only view Jesus as a healer and eventually leave the faith because they are satisfied and content again. One thing that remains the same though is that miracles do happen every day.

THE TREK

Here’s the final wrap on what I want to share regarding ministry for now. After we spent time in southern Nepal we headed west to an area in the mountains that is completely unreached. Not a single believer there. For 3 days we hiked about 20 miles to get to a specific village that our host has a vision for. The vision is that one day a local leader will be raised up, a church will be planted, and the entire village will become Christian. While we were there we met with five different families, and although none of them decided to follow Jesus at the time, seeds were definitely planted. One man showed a lot of interest in following Jesus, but like many others the cost didn’t seem worth it yet. His family was not ready to believe so he wasn’t ready to make this decision on his own. Even though we didn’t get to see the harvest, it was such an honor to get to be the first to share the word of God to these people. Now we wait with expectation that as teams continue to be sent to that village in the years to come, one day the locals will say yes to Jesus and the truth will set them free.

THAT’S ALL FOR NOW

Thanks for following along with me on this journey! A quick praise report is that I am still physically feeling very well! Even through the intense hiking and constant moving the Lord has given me so much strength. As often as it comes to mind I thank God for healing. It has been so nice to feel great.

These next few weeks will be very busy. Today we are traveling to a surprise location to spend time with our mentor resting and preparing for South Asia (country remained unmentioned for safety purposes). Next week on May 22 we will fly out and have debrief for a few days. Then we will travel to meet up with our parents for parent vision trip for 5 days, and then travel to our final ministry location of the race. Time has gone by fast and it is crazy to believe I will be home in less than 3 months! I can’t wait to hug all my friends and family and share more about my future soon!