Nepal 🇳🇵

Hello Everyone

Hello! Welcome to my Nepal post! You are in for quite the treat. It was by far the most memorable of the countries up to this point.

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Life Update

You have probably heard it said “It was the best of time and it was the worst of times” boy oh boy was that true for me in Nepal. Some of the most amazing things happened here (I will tell you one in detail later), and I got the most sore and sick I have ever been, probably in my life.

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What’s it like in Nepal?

The people: The people of Nepal were lovely. They were very community minded and so we did a lot of house churches and house visits during the evenings on most days. They usually didn’t speak English and so we had a translator with us while we were out. They were also generous to give drinks and snacks when people came over. The people there also deeply believed in the spiritual realm (which is very real) and that Jesus heals, and so, because of their great faith, many people were healed miraculously in their communities and it was a big way that people learn about Jesus there. In the mountains it was actually normal to bring your sick or injured to the church instead of the hospital because it was close by and people would be healed there.

Transport: We traveled on foot or by Tuk Tuk for short distances, then for long ones we got buses. Because of the mountainous nature, and the bad road quality, the bus rides were winding, and full of potholes and bumps that lift you from your seat. A lot of people got carsick.

The clothing: Most women wore a Kurta, with is a long dress length shirt with slits, and matching pants, men looked normal in just basic pants and shirts. The kids on the mountain were left naked to run around until probably about 4 years old, except when there was church or visitors.

The weather: It was very hot and very humid. You almost never could look out and not have a hazy view.

Other: To show the bottom of your foot is an insult and most all places have you sit on the floor. (So my back and knees were in soooooo much pain)

What’s God doing in Nepal?

Healings and miracles is the short answer. People are hungry for truth and they know very well that there are things that influence our human existence in the spiritual realm. They have witchdoctors and talk and work with demons, there are attacks on their homes and lives with things like sleep paralysis and the Witchdoctors solutions are expensive and temporary at best. They also see Christians and churches heal people, do miracles, bring peace and when someone is suspected to have demon possession all the religions of the area know to send them to the church because only Jesus can cast out demons. The communities did not have many resources so they had to put their trust in someonthing and when they put it in Jesus, He provided. It was crazy and beautiful.

The plants and wildlife were beautiful and we went on a few adventures to see them.

There were banana trees everywhere and I wanted to eat a fresh banana so bad

The hazy sky made the sun look red when it set

Elephants are sacred here and so they are well taken care of and you can go see them, pet them and even ride them. We saw a mom and her calf at a sanctuary and rode elephants on an elephant safari the next day where we say pecocks, a rhino and two types of deer.

We had the blessing of exploring the area a little as a group and learned how often wild life roamed the streets. There was a rhino on the road we were warned of but never saw.

We went to a cultural dance performance and I really loved the use of the stick like things in the dances.

We also took a canoe ride down a river infested with man eating crocodiles and got to see some! No touching the water allowed.the boats very very thin and long. The fit like 15 people and a lot of my group of a tad nervous to say the least.

Gator house

We saw an elephant breeding site with a little museum

There were such cute house lizards and lizards outdoors too. So many lizards!

The mountain was a little rainy but good. The first pick shows the controlled fires they do constantly to keep the mountain safe. You see them day and night glowing on tbe mountain side to clear the dead brush. The other pics include a hike to a giant waterfall, the super high bridges we had to cross, the fish we caught by hand, the crab I caught and the bananas I “hunted”.

This was a view and the gifts from a house visit high on the mountain! I got a banana!!

The storms here always had pink lightning 🌩 🩷

Above I show the “mountain medicine” as we jokingly called it and a banana. That is a cup of mountain dew and in the culture you eat and drink everything you are given minimally and if you can fit more you are encouraged to. I cannot stress this enough 2 bowls of mountain dew in your stomach after, during and before a very hot and hard hike is not easy. And sadly eating bananas at every house visit also got to be a lot. It was a hard blessing to swallow but it was so sweet to be loved enough to be given in abundance from people who barely have enough for themselves.

Below are a couple more nice shots of the mountains.

We did a trek to another area on the last few days and for as beautiful as it was the land leeches in the 1000s really killed the mood, so limited pics on this. Once we got to ghe village my group got to share with a family in the untouchables cast and it was good but hard to see. The family, being already so ostracized, although likeing the idea of following Jesus, didnt want to become even more so leaving the practices of the local religion their friends and relatives follow. The housing hosts gave us flowers to say goodbye and we enjoyed the mountain views on our way down.

As I said, I and many others had been very sick for a while and were trying to recover, so the leadership planned a rest and prayer week in before we traveled to South Asia. It was beautiful and restful. Our Alumni SQL’s flew in to see us and I cried for joy because it was so sweet of them to come. They had a beautiful pool, fun milkshakes and a lovely mountain view. I am so deeply grateful for this time to rest and feel better and God moved in my heart to help me lament and let Him reach the most hurt parts of me and show me where He was.

The plane ride included more stunning mountains and A LOT of culture shock…to be explained later

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Story Time

The day we went to the Witchdoctor’s house, he and his wife fled for fear of “the army of the Lord”, leaving a daughter-in-law at home to watch the kids. When we arrived, she was gentle but dismissive at hearing the love and freedom God offered. This left us all to wonder what God had for us, if not this appointment. We were told the son of the Witchdoctor also had left, but that Witchdoctor had a daughter, with a big family, that lived further up the mountain. We climbed even higher than before, and found the daughter, her husband, and her kids at home. “Namaste”, we greeted them. They welcomed us in with such kind hospitality, and sat upon the dirt while we were given mats. The 7-ish kids were stacked up against their mom, watching us with curious eyes, and their parents waited intently to hear what we had come all this way to say. The guide, who just happened to be our pastor too, told us to speak, and as we sat looking at each other to see who would go, I knew it was me, so I started talking. I asked them if they had heard of Jesus and the father told us how he heard long ago and went to church for a short while but couldn’t remember. The Holy Spirit stirred in us and I began to tell them of Jesus. How I know it was the Holy Spirit was because of how different it was when compared to any time, I had seen me, or anyone, share, before this. There was no fear. I poured out Jesus’ story with love and passion and it was as if God’s love was moving through, and were carried in, my very words. I could almost see the words actually touch their hearts. As the Lord spoke through me, their eyes softened and lit up with excitement, while held locked in anticipation with mine. This my seem normal as I say it, but anyone there can tell you that it happened as I spoke, and we did not speak the same language. I think we all noticed. The translation was between every sentence or so but, looking back, it felt as if no time moved at all. The story flowed with understanding like I had never seen. My team held back tears, and so did I, because we had never experienced something so beautiful like this. When I ended speaking, Kiley added a bit more and then we asked our guide to ask if they want to follow Jesus. They said yes as if they knew they couldn’t live without it, and that was not normal. In all out previous countries, to hear someone even say yes was not normal, so we were a little stunned. As it sunk in our minds, we got up, encouragingly moved the family to the mats, and clarified who wanted to make this choice. It was everyone. We anointed the parents heads with oil, and had them all pray with us. They all accepted Jesus into their hearts and, you can ask any of us and we will tell you, we could see it in their eyes. There was such light and freedom in their eyes. Especially the father. An inward change so visible we could see it on the outside. They had hope. We shared one last story of the prodigal son and gathered to leave. “Jai Mashi” we said, gesturing as we left. We started that visit greeting them in a traditional non Christian Nepali greeting, and we left saying “Jai Mashi”, the Christian greeting meaning “Praise the Lord”. Never has those words as a greeting meant so much to me.

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Fundraising Update

Still fully funded and blessed to be on the field.

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Spiritual Update

In a country full of idols and heaviness, the Lord granted me peace. In a profectic prayer time with my team in Turkey someone told me of a vision they had of a butterfly, flying in a feild, being held by a flower and given rest and how God was saying He was the flower and He wanted to give me rest in Nepal. I didn’t realize that it was emotional rest or how much I would need it, but He knew. So I spent a lot of time in Nepal resting with the Lord and letting His presence fill me up and give me peace. I also knew that this ment I had some emotional work to do in my next season, but I put that out of my mind for the time being. I was “dying to myself” physically, a lot, to reach the people of Nepal. The food gave me diarrhea, the seatting arrangements on the floor caused back and knee pain, I hiked mountains with that pain only being added to and at the end of the journey I got a Amoeba and was VERY ill, but I went out over and over again and loved on people. We prayed for people, houses,and families, shared the gospel and watched 4 families accept Jesus into their hearts on the mountain. I know it is true that once you bloom you also have to drop all your petals and open up to drop seeds. This country was a blessing because God was kind enough to let our seeds take root before our eyes. I went to the mountain in the second group so I also got the blessing of listening to how the Prayers of the first group were answered and that was very faith building. This country left me to wonder how much I have been putting my faith in things other than Jesus to help me and encouraged me that to take the steps of faith to let Him be your provider is to not be left dissapointed. my lamentation session also ope ed my eyes to the ways God has been in my story and started to instill hope. And, as expected, by the end of the country, it left me looking into the proverbial mirror and ready for the next chapter of where God was leading me.

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Prayers

Pray for our ministry in the city as well as in the mountains, and our amazing hosts and pastors who helped us reach and minister to people there

Pray for all the families that accepted Jesus, that they join a community and get to grow and learn about Him more and more.

Pray for me and my health. That I stay well and never get any kind of parasite again.

And I pray for all my supporters that the experiences and stories here reach each heart to see how God is working around the world, and to open their eyes to how God is working with them, right where they are at.

Answered Prayers

We are still safe as we are getting well

God used us for great things here

Thank you

Thank you all. This journey has been amazing and it’s not even over yet. Your continued kindness and support help uphold me here and I am and forever will be grateful.