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Final Thoughts on Nepal
Nepal is a difficult country to adequately explain in words - it is a sensory overload experience. The sights of poverty and Hindu temples around every corner. The sounds of cars constantly honking because of poor road infrastructure - driving more than 5 miles an hour seems to be an unexpected luxury. The smell of burning bodies near the Bagmati river. The taste of dust in your mouth as you walk along the streets. The feeling of both the bright sun on your body and the heavy spiritual oppression that you feel as you look at the hopelessness on peoples’ faces. There appears to be a multitude of tourists who come from around the world to see the beauty of Mt. Everest, but that money is not reflected in the living conditions of the people, even in the capital city. There is not much that looks outwardly developed or beautiful.The week definitely had its share of chaos. Half of our team was struck down with food poisoning, our schedule was changing from day to day, and simply getting around from place to place seemed to be a constant challenge due to the busy traffic. The day of the church service was also a bit crazy. Our service started at 10:30am, but there was another church service using the same rented hall until 9:30am. The worship team was made of young nervous teenagers from 11-21 years old with little musical training and a less-than-stellar sound system. After our first rehearsal, I remember thinking that perhaps we were in over our heads. The team's only experience had been leading worship for their small church, and now we were preparing for a 1000-person service. But they had such genuine hearts to worship the Lord and we had spent much time praying together for the service.
The day of the church service, I remember the worship team leading us in the song “Seek Ye First." For many of us, it’s a song we have not sung since we were children. It is basically Matthew 6:33 put to music - “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” I remember looking around the room and seeing hundreds of Nepali people lifting their hands in worship - Christians who represent less than 1% of the country and many of whom have been disowned by their families because they are following Jesus. I saw a joy on their faces and the hope that they had that was so different from the people we saw as we walked around the city. A peace in the midst of chaos. One true God among a country with thousands of false ones. It was an immense privilege and humbling experience to see how God is working in this spiritually hostile country and to see many make first-time decisions for Christ. I was once again humbled to see how God works through our weakness, allowing us give 100% of the glory to Him where it belongs.
-Missions Team
