God is our provider. Not only in our needs but In our desires! Four days before our departure date to Nepal, I was still short $3,000. As a school, in total, we were short around $35,000! As the deadline approached, it was more and more challenging for me to stand firm in my faith that God would provide. I was losing faith and the moment I did, God supplied. The usual ! I should have known better than to doubt Him. One of my team members donated $1,000 to me that night. The next morning I had people contacting me, telling me they felt they needed to help me get to Nepal, by donating and spreading the word to others. This continued till the night before I left ! I received everything I needed and so did my entire school of 35 students. God supplied us with all the money, as we were counting down the days, he supplied till the last moment. What I've learned is that He shows his faithfulness in a way that glorifies Him the most!
So now I'm in Nepal! After two very long days of traveling, layovers and four flights, ( Honolulu to Tokyo, Tokyo to Taipei, Taipei to Bankok, and finally Bankok to Kathmandu) we finally made it. The first thing I noticed was the smell. We landed at around 10pm so we couldn't see much but it smelled like a campfire and I've realized now that it's a permanent smell here. The people burn their trash, and have bonfires every day as a source of heat which I absolutely love. It's nice to see family and friends gathered around the fire keeping warm, having good conversation, always laughing together. As far as I've come to know these Nepalis, they are such a welcoming and loving group of people! They have nothing, yet are always filled with so much joy.
Everything is so very different here and in a good way. It's such simple living. First of all we greet everyone by putting our palms together, bowing our heads and saying, "Namaste" or "Jeimasi" if you are greeting a christian. It means Jesus is messiah or praise the Lord. There are many everyday things that are very different here. We sleep on the floor in our sleeping bags, which I've honestly never slept better, crazy to say. We obviously don't shower every day. There is no hot water so we wait till there is a warmer day to shower (by filling up buckets and pouring it over ourselves) and it's still pretty freezing ! Same with laundry, we wait till its a warm day and wash our clothes outside and then let them air dry. There are squatties and we always have to make sure to to have toilet paper at hand because they don't use any here ( they use their hands and then wash them.) To flush we fill up the bucket and pour it down the hole. Nepalis use their hands to eat, only their right hand, of course, because their left is used in the bathroom. So far we have eaten lots of spicy foods ! Oh, and drink chai tea for days which is great. So far three of us have gotten pretty sick to our stomachs.. Only days till the rest of the team cracks haha
Every day we travel to different slums and villages by foot. We walk through paths within rice fields and gardens, it's so very beautiful! When we look up, we see great green mountains on one side and the Himalayas on the other ! There are goats, ( my new favorite animal ) cattle (seen as Gods here) , chickens, dogs, children screaming Namaste from their houses across the fields to us ! It's the sweetest thing to hear every single time we take those paths. Of course, people stare at us like we are aliens, I guess they don't see many foreigners around here. I see many women here, mostly older women, carrying massive bags of rice, vegetables, wood , etc on their back. They tie the bags or baskets to a strap and then put that strap on their heads that carry all the weight ! I don't know how they don't snap their necks. A German friend we met here tried to help a woman once and he could barely carry it ! He couldn't believe how heavy it was. He immediately put it down and they all laughed it him, probably thinking, " We old women can do this every day and this young guy can't hold it for a minute!" Those are some respectable granny's !
It has been such a blessing and a dream come true for me to be here. The morning after we arrived, we jumped right into ministry. Every morning we go out to pray for different churches and their ministry. We pray for Gods hand in it, for prosperity and for Gods guidance. There is a major cast system problem here in Nepal so one morning we hiked up a mountain to this spot where you can see both sides of Kathmandu. The left side was the lower cast, many fields and poor villages, broken down houses and on the right was the higher cast, they usually have more money so nicer houses are built in that area. We pray for unity. People should not be labeled by what they do or how much money they make or what their last name is. God has made us all equal.
Every afternoon we have an open air which is just setting up anywhere and having a service with the ministry we are working with. We usually start with a fun dance called the pate pate then one of us preach and do a skit at the end. After the church people gather and play Nepali songs and we dance for hours with the children! Little Nepali girls are so beautiful. Their parents dress them up so cute and even put bold makeup on them at times. They all have nose rings which I think is really cute too. It is very different from what we are used to seeing but it's very beautiful. We have so much fun with them. It brings me so much joy just to hear their laughs, they snuggle me with hugs and kisses constantly ! I've had mobs of little girls playing with my hair as I prayed not to get lice! But even if I did it's so worth it ! I know that's crazy to say but it's a blessing for me to connect with these little girls like I have.
On Saturday we had a church service and I was asked to give a 20 minute long message. Of course I was terrified but as soon as I got up there I felt at peace. God spoke through me yesterday and the people received it! I was so happy and grateful ! I didn't understand the words of the Nepali worship songs but I felt Gods presence in that little church. I've never seen a group of people so on fire for God. It still amazes me. Many Christians are persecuted here. They are looked down upon, beaten, rejected by their family, cast out and they still don't lose their faith in God. You could put them through hell and they would still stand firm in their faith in Jesus and proclaim that there is only one true God, their father Jesus Christ !
In the United States it's easy to forget about our creator and supplier because we have everything we need. Here they have nothing. All they have and live by is their faith in God and he does perform miracles here! A Nepali was raised from the dead after being dead for three days ! The worship leader at the church was healed completely of a skin disease he had all his life. He had boils everywhere, he couldn't even wear clothes and God healed him. He fell from the top of a high tree and died! Then after much prayer, God raised him from the dead also!
So that's my update for the week! Congratulations if you finished reading it. I made it longer than usual because I have wifi very few times. Thank you for all your support ! Keep us all in your prayers as the holidays come. Although we have a new and wonderful family here, It is the first time being away on Christmas and New Years for most of us and we will be missing our families at home very much !
It can only go uphill from here! There is so much ahead of us <3
