Nepal Week 7

This past week has been nothing short of amazing. As my time grows short, I am so thankful for moment after moment that I feel challenged, stretched, and changed. I am also thankful for the moments that I know I will cherish for many years to come.

Wednesday night, I stayed with a friend of mine. This is the girl who got me connected with New Creation. She and her roommate are both fantastic women who are working in the area of sex-trafficking prevention in Nepal. The village we went to see is actually the village they plan to move to before the end of the year to continue their prevention efforts. They are both sweet, humble, compassionate women of God. They welcomed me into their house as if I lived there, too. Honestly, it was so nice to not stay in an empty house that night. I’d almost forgotten how nice it is to have roommates =)

Thursday, we got up early and met the YWAM teams at the bus station. Our group consisted of two YWAM teams, one from the New Zealand base and one from the Colorado base, my friend and her roommate, myself, and the woman in charge of the ministry Beauty for Ashes. BFA is a business that teaches women rescued from sex-trafficking how to make jewelry. BFA then sells the jewelry on behalf of the women and pays them a salary. Other than the founder, the management is all Nepali. She was taking the YWAM groups to this specific village because it is one that many of the girls trafficked to Kathmandu come from. She goes there often to pray over the space. Once we made some introductions, we got on the very crowded bus and began our four-hour adventure up the hills and out of the valley.

The village, Nuarkowt, is beautiful. It is at the base of the hills just outside the north side of the Kathmandu valley and has green land as far as the eye can see. As I stepped out of the bus, I was happily surprised to breathe in clean air. I gazed that the beautiful landscapes, surprised that I could see so clearly. It has been so long since I’ve seen a place where dust and smog do not fill the air. It was such a welcome sight.

During our time in Nuarkowt, we spent some time prayer walking through the old palaces and through more rural parts of the village. When we weren’t walking or speaking with local people, we spent time in prayer and worship or just getting to know each other better. It was so nice to be with other people. After staying in a house by myself for most of the summer, it was nice to have a roommate and to have people to share meals with. It also reminded me of traveling with my classmates from the India leg of this trip. It was wonderful and encouraging to spend the weekend with them in the village.

Life at the salon has been interesting this past week. Because of the increased business, I’ve actually been helping with the actual business. Obviously, I am no beautician, but they asked me to help bring hot towels, mix the water for manicures and pedicures, and other odds and ends like that. Let me tell you, it is always a challenge to work in situations that you have no experience in. It was very humbling to work in this way to help the salon. It was also very fun. The girls thrived off the energy that the extra business provided and it’s obvious that they enjoy their jobs. And, if I am to be completely honest, it was nice to not be in the office doing paper work =)

I am so blessed by the relationship with my Hindu shop-owning family. We speak almost every day and share a little bit of life together. They share with me more about their culture and I share with them a little of mine. Now, though, things are getting interesting. They invited me to go to with them to an international church on Sunday, the same church I visited earlier this summer. I am going with them, or course; I just find it highly amusing and wonderful that I am going as their guest. Great things are happening in the life of this family =)

I would like to ask for some specific prayers for this family. A friend of mine (who wishes to remain anonymous) has prayed and feels very led to help this family. We are trying to find a way for this relationship to be more of a business partnership instead of free aid. If they enter into a partnership for their business, they will build and expand their business in a way that makes their family sustainable. It will also maintain their dignity because they will not be “poor people” receiving aid from the powerful white American. They will be partners growing a successful business, improving their quality of life in the long run. My friend also wants to provide a scholarship for the son. This, too, would be something he has to work for. He must report to my friend once a month with an update of his grades and a short paper explaining what he learned that month. They family is touched and excited about the prospect of a business partner and a scholarship; we are just struggling to figure out how to make the business part work. The prayers I desperately want to ask for us to get this set up quickly. I leave on Friday, so we have limited time to sort this out. It is also hard to communicate with my friend who is still in America. This is such a great opportunity for this family; I just don’t want to mess this up.

I leave Kathmandu, Nepal in less than a week. It’s hard to believe that my journey is so close to the end. I am excited to come back to America, but I am sad to leave this place and leave the friends I have made here. I’ve adjusted to this beautiful place so quickly that life here feels natural. I will miss the girls at the salon and their bright personalities. I will miss walking home with the shop owner to drink tea and talk about the day. I will miss going to Nepali church with friends and enjoying sweet fellowship afterward. I will miss dinner on the rooftop of the house. I will miss the sweet didis walking in the street with their beautiful saris. I will miss this place, but I don’t want to spend a whole week saying goodbye. My prayer is that I can stay in the moment, say my goodbyes when necessary, and enjoy my last 6 days here.

This is probably my last blog until I get back to the States. I plan to post one more to tell you about my last week here and to offer reflections on this trip as a whole. Thank you all for your support and prayers over the course of this summer. This has truly been a life-changing experience and I am thankful that you wanted to share this journey with me. See you back in America.

Weeks 5 and 6 in Nepal

Long time no see! I apologize for the lack of a blog post last week; I finally got a bout of travel sickness and spent a couple of days resting and rehydrating. I assure you that I am back to 110% and am taking some antibiotics, just to ensure that I stay healthy. Today, I feel as though I could run a marathon and ascend the peak of Mount Everest =)

Despite my falling ill, my fifth week still had exciting adventures and precious moments. One of the moments that I will hold dear happened on that Sunday:  I got to see an American friend from McAfee. She is also fulfilling her contextual ministry placement in South Asia this summer and happened to be in Kathmandu with her team for a couple of days. It was so good to see a friend and familiar face! We’ve been doing our placements for about the same length of time, so we were able to process a little of what we’ve seen this summer in light of the books we have to read and the papers we have to write. We also just got to laugh, which is always good for the heart.

I must admit that something she asked me challenged me. She asked a simple question, one I am sure many of you will ask me upon my return:  “What is God teaching you this summer?” I sat, completely at a loss for words; I had no idea. I mean, I know I am learning about all of the administrative responsibilities involved in running a business and the importance of great communication, but I could not think of anything theologically profound that God is teaching me. I also admit that I had not taken the time in my prayers to ask God what He’s teaching me. It is something I am making a point to ask God now. I do not think my friend realizes how much her question challenged me to seek God more in these remaining days, and I am thankful that she took the time to ask.

The next day, I met with the shop family for breakfast and then went home to sleep. It was not until the next day that the sickness hit me again. Because of that, I did not go to the salon for more than a small amount of time that week.

While I was ill, I had ample time to reflect on my ministry here (or watch a movie when my brain was just too tired to think).  Upon some reflection and prayer, I came to a couple of conclusions:

            I am angry. I am angry about the poverty I see and how little I can do about it. I am angry at the corruption in the government. I am angry at the systemic problems I see. I am angry about how some of the foreigners treat the Nepali people. I am angry at the lack of access to good education. I am angry at the injustice I see. I am just angry. And in spite of that anger, I love the people here, even the people who cause suffering in ignorant ways. I know that it is not healthy to stay in an angry mindset, but I also know my anger is justified. That being said, angry people don’t evoke change; genuinely compassionate ignite it.

            God calls me to love, despite and in spite of my anger. I know that seems so obvious a task for a missionary, but love is one of the hardest things to do, yet is the most crucial component of the Gospel. As I wrestled with God about my anger and about God’s calling for me this summer, I felt as though God gave me a powerful word. I share it with you now as if sharing a piece of my heart; the moments I share with God in my prayer journal are precious and sacred to me, but I feel a strong conviction to share it with you now. I also share it with you nervously; I know that I am human and cannot fathom or interpret the ideas of  God. I also do not claim to hear from God this clearly often; sometimes, you just have to trust:  “I called you to love. That is always My first call for you. Do you think I do not know how it feels to love those who do not love others? Look at this world! I created and love everything that takes in breath. Still, they kill out of hatred, steal out of spite, and slander out of jealousy. Yet I love them all, even and especially the prodigals. It causes Me great pain, but I love them.” My next question remains unanswered still:  how do you deal with the pain of loving people who don’t show love to others? That, I think, requires a grace that is beyond human comprehension.

Yes, those are only two points, but they are full of deeper questions for me to wrestle with this summer and for many years to come. I think they are points that anyone desiring to do poverty alleviation in a developing country needs to wrestle with, too.

I was so happy to go to church on Saturday; I didn’t get to go the previous week and I missed it greatly. It was so good to see my friends and catch up; one of them just finished her undergraduate thesis, another worked long shifts at the hospital. It was just great to see them =)

Monday, I got to speak with a friend back home for a little while. She is the friend from school who lived in Nepal for a time. It was good catch up and talk about Nepal, adjusting to life back in America, and just laugh and joke. After a season of not feeling well and wrestling with those hard ideas, it was wonderful to talk with a close friend =) After our conversation, I reveled in my restored health and spent the day exploring places I had walked through before but had not taken the time to stop and really look. I saw children playing futball, ate a samosa at a small Nepali café, and walked through winding streets full of shop vendors. It was so wonderful to see more of daily life in Kathmandu.

I also got to spend time with my shop keeper family on Monday. Their son is on holiday this week; his school just finished exams. He is so happy to have time to play and his parents are happy that he did well on his exams. I failed to mention in my previous posts about them that their son is the top student in his class. I’ve seen him work on his homework, and I understand why he is the top in his class. He is smart on his own, but his parents encourage him to reach his full potential and help him with his homework. They invest in him in a way that is beautiful, and I am honored to watch and even be a part of it. On day, he let me check his math homework =) It’s humbling and exciting to be welcomed into this family.

It was so good to see the girls at the salon after not seeing them for almost a week. I was also glad to get to know one of the employees better. Last week, the shop owner hired a new beautician and she is in the middle of training with us right now. She is a very sweet girl who has come from a very awful working condition. We hope that she will be a good fit for the salon and learn quickly.

Business at the salon is picking up, which is a huge answer to prayer. More people are finding out about the services we offer and the quality of those services. I am confident that New Creation will be a strong business and ministry.

Not too much over the past few weeks, but the things that did happen were so worthwhile. This week, I would covet your prayers deeply. Thursday, I am accompanying a friend and a team from YWAM to a village outside of the Kathmandu valley. We will return Saturday or Sunday. I am SO excited to see a little of village life and to see what life outside of the city is like. I am also nervous because I have no idea what I’m going to be doing. I know it will be good, whatever we do =) That being said, I’d really appreciate prayers for confidence, health, and assurance for myself and the team that is going. Also, please pray for us to have compassionate ears to listen and loving words to speak (when necessary).

At this point, I am counting days, not weeks, until I return to the U.S. (16, for those wondering) and it is such a surreal feeling. I know I am going to be sad to leave this place, but I do not want to start saying good-bye yet. Thank you for your continued prayers and support; they mean more than you can imagine.