Thamel

Our last stop in Nepal.

In Thamel we stayed in a hotel. It was the first time we had a bathroom with a shower in our room. Wow what luxury!

Once there we had a meeting on sex-trafficking, for one team was going to be involved in this area. The other areas were teaching in school and street ministry. Our leaders broke us up into 3 groups. The sex-trafficking team would go out at night and go into massage parlors, and by asking the right questions would be able to determine if they were involved in sex-trafficking.
The other two teams would go out during the day.

I was picked to be involved in street ministry. I had no idea how much I was going to love this. I finally found my true calling. We would start out by praying and asking God to bring the people to us that he wanted us to minister to. Our first time out was hillarious. As we got on the street these vendors began to hassle us wanting us to buy their goods. We in turn began to turn them away. All of a sudden it hit me. Here these people are coming right to us like we prayed and we were turning them away. It's times like these you slap your forhead and say Dah! I'm sure God also had a good chuckle.

My devo read that day: Our lives should be so filled with Christ that they create a thirst within others for the gospel. Witnessing is really interaction. The more we practice sensitivity and sincerity telling others about Jesus, the more responsive people tend to be. The Kingdom of God is not going to advance by our churches becoming filled with men but by men in our churches becoming filled with God. I was always amazed at how God always had the right word at the right time for me.

The rest of the week literally was walking the streets and sharing Jesus, praying, and just getting to know them. I feel I was groomed for such a time as this. The reason I say this is because I had been a hairdresser for 23 years, where God pushed me past my shyness to get to know people, to make me talk and also to listen. So for me it was second nature. I loved hearing the stories of the people we met. We got to go visit a family who were christians and share with them. We were so encouraged by their faith. We also went to a concert where they were playing the instruments they make there. It was so amazing. I loved listening to all the different sounds.

I loved how these people looked for us when we were out. It gets to the point where they don't even push to sell their goods anymore, they just want to visit with you and be your friend. This one day I was out walking and one vendor was really bothering me to the point were I couldn't stand it and then along came one of my christian vendors. He came up along side me and pushed the other guy away. I was in awe at how he protected me.


I went into one store where this artist was explaining his paintings. They have seven stages they have to go through to get to Nirvana. Their gods are all reincarnated so they have millions. They have these mantras they have to say everyday. I asked what would happen if they missed a day, he couldn't tell me. I thought how horrible to live this way, never knowing where you stand. It was overwhelming at times to see the blindness of the people. That is why Christ came to earth. To save the lost such as these. Our God is a God of love!

It was in Thamel that I got to experience my first Nepalee massage. Wow what an experience. I have never had a massage where two women work on you and tag team each other. Needless to say they did a good job, but I had a hard time not laughing through the whole session.

Easter started out as a morning worship in our leaders room, then we were given Easter eggs. That was such a treat. Then we went to more of an American church service, where the minister gave the message saying, the greatest news that was ever told came from a graveyard. Everything at Easter is empty but full of promise. The empty cross symbolizes God's forgiveness, the empty tomb is eternal life, and the empty burial clothes symbolizes personal relationships with Jesus. The cross is the receipt saying paid in full. After church we were treated to an amazing meal at the house of the people that have guided us throughout our time in Nepal.

I will share with you again another devo. that really hit home. To live in harmony we first need to know we are all madly in love with the same God. That is the only way to peace in this world. What I've discovered during this outreach is that you are given one chance to share Jesus. Don't miss it.

On to India. I couldn't believe how fast our time in Nepal went.