Expecting the unexpected is quite easy when you have no expectations to begin with. It also leaves a lot of room for you to be awed around every corner. And that is exactly what happened in Nepal. From the very moment we stepped off the plane the adventure of not knowing what would happen next, began.
After we spent quite some time to sort out an unexpected visa situation, we were greeted by Pastor Padam and Rudra, our Nepali hosts, with welcoming scarves and big warm smiles- a taste of what would be two weeks of heart-warming hospitality. We really found a “family away from family” in Nepal. It’s incredible how people from different cultures can grow up worlds apart, with different traditions and rituals and with different values and yet when we fellowshipped with them we realised that the same Spirit dwells in us all and through that we might as well have been friends for years!
Our hosts really spoiled us. We were blessed with at least three delicious traditional Nepali meals every day together with a cup of my favourite, Masala Chai. Everything they did for us spoke of love and respect. We were given the opportunity to encourage the church and the community by sharing our testimonies. I knew that the bar had been raised for our ministry in Nepal but I did not quite expect that it would be lifted that high! But when God raises the bar He also comes to lift us up to reach it! How amazing to realize that He had taken my story and made it into His so that He can use it for His glory!
In 2012 I had lost my heart in Africa and I didn’t think that it would happen again soon. But I experienced the same humbling hospitality and love living with the Nepali people that I did two years ago in Mozambique. I had lost a part of my heart in Nepal: Sleeping on our roof under the stars, wandering through tree-laced villages, singing along with Djembe drums and cheerful Nepali voices and sharing stories with our new family. I have always wondered why, since I was little, I had always had a great love for nature and quiet places and why I love to find the beauty in the smallest things. I wondered how God would use this in my life. Well, like the Nepali would say: PRAPTI! Got it! I had come to realise that the desire and excitement I have for simplistic, solitary, beautiful places and humble, caring people were given to me by Him in preparation for what He has planned for me. So that I would be content when He sends me to places like this. He places desires in our hearts to lead us into His will and then He comes and fulfil those desires.
I will never forget how God spoiled us in the small things: from chocolates, to beautiful sunsets and everything in between. We had learned so much in our short time here and our hearts were shaped in so many ways. Any expectations that we might have secretly had was completely exceeded. What an incredible experience! Nepal WAS really special.