As we approached the end of our road trip we finally had
reached the India border but all the monitoring stations (where they check for
traffickers and trafficked victims) were closed for the night so we found a
lodge to stay in and needless to say it pushed all of us out of our comfort
zone. I realized for the first time on our trip as our team leader prayed for
us before bed that I needed to be thankful for having a roof over my head no
matter what the conditions are. This lodge/hotel was the roughest conditions we
had stayed in yet and I think more than the actual quality of the conditions,
the idea and feeling of being on the border where over 10,000 girls are
trafficked annually left me with a deep churning feeling in my stomach. The
reality was y’all that a girl or multiple girls who had been trafficked more
than likely stayed in the same room I stayed in that night. They most likely
cried themselves to sleep and dreamed dreams that would never come true in the
same room I slept in. That made my heart hurt and my spirit cry out to our
Father. The weight of the issues we are learning about here are so heavy and
something I definitely cannot carry by myself. After lots of prayer and telling
stories with my room mate for the night my head hit the pillow and I rested in
the Abba’s embrace.
In the morning we woke up and headed to the border
monitoring stations and to the offices to visit and meet the real modern day heroes
who are doing the ground work in this anti-trafficking movement day in and day
out. After the long night and feeling the heaviness of the sex trafficking
going on in this area I caught a glimpse of God’s glory in the morn. We ate
breakfast up near the roof of our hotel/lodge and as I was praying and thanking
God for keeping us safe and for lifting my burdens through the night I spied a
beautiful green luscious tree and it was full of the most gorgeous
spectacularly white birds I hadn’t seen ever. I couldn’t believe there was such glory and beauty among all
the brokenness and filth and horror in this town. It was as if the Lord was
clearly reminding me that he was near and its in his hands. It was incredible
to see the work they are doing and to hear their stories and struggles. I’ve
never been more inspired. One thing that has been really really eye opening is
that this work is not in the hands of westerners – it literally is the Nepali
local churches who have teamed up with THI and are doing all the work on the
ground and that is also the only way I could be effective. Yes – it’s been a
bit of a humility lesson for sure – to realize that I can’t be the one out
there on the field – I would draw too much attention and yes I am not as in
tune with the culture and never will be as much as a Nepali person is. God is
definitely using my gifts and the THI staff’s gifts to help operate the whole
organization but it’s been really extremely eye opening to see how things
really work and function.
After we wrapped up at the border half way through the day
we headed on to our next city – Chitwan. This place is gorgeous. It is where
some of the children’s homes are located and it is also home to some of the
biggest national parks in Nepal. Yes y’all that means wild and beautiful
elephants. My dreams are coming true. Had no idea but we get to ride elephants
and do a bath session with them. I am officially loosing my mind. Its really
awesome the joyful things that we get to do in the midst of learning about
these really hard and oppressive things. I’m extremely impressed by the way the
trip has been planed out and is perfectly balanced. God is good. Churh today –
because they do church on Saturday’s here – was 3 hours long. It was mind
blowing, all in Nepali (I have been taking Nepali language classes but not
enough to understand the whole sermon haha). It was so wild to see the fire
these people have for Christ. I am asking God to truly burn in me the way he
burns in them. They never want to stop worshiping and never want to stop
praying. Please Give me some of that God!! So encouraged by these brothers and
sisters.
God is stretching me and teaching me so much. It really is
so hard to put it all into words. The best way I can describe it maybe is
through this vision God gave on the bus while we were traveling a day ago. As I
was looking out the window there were all of these dried up river beds where
the rocks had overtaken the land and the water had been sucked out. These rocks
were left so thirsty for water and I heard God telling me that he is coming like
the rain, he is going to saturate each and every dry river bed in my heart that
I feel like he hasn’t touched yet with his love and grace. He is pouring out
more and more of his spirit over me and revealing the depths of his heart to me
and it will be like streams of living water that will flow in and through me
and then in and through those I encounter – on this trip and in life always. I
love God and all he is doing and all that he is. I know his heart is for me, it
is for Nepal and it is overflowing. I am simply praying I have the capacity to
soak up every drop.
"My heart heard you say, 'Come and talk with me' and my heard responds, 'Lord I am coming.' "
-Psalm 27:8
I love y’all – thanks for your prayers and support.
"And yet, O Lord, you are our Father, we are the clay and you are the potter. We are formed by your hand." - Isaiah 64:8
Pray that I would allow God to continue to mold and shape me here for his Glory and Kingdom. I long to be the work of his hands.
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