Nepal has left me speechless. The Nepalese are quite a beautiful people. They are decent and polite to foreigners. Their eyes, deep and intense. They need to know Jesus. I think everyone from the group could sense it as well. Charmaine brought up a good point when she said that there was so much more for them than just living and working to survive. Nothing much bad about them other than their devilish driving and the incessant horning on the roads.

I think I'm beginning to understand being in the grace of God and relying totally on His strength. There were things that could never have been done without Him. So many things that could have gone wrong, people who could have gotten hurt and people who could have gotten lost. But He made everything turn out right.

On the first night, after shopping for sleeping bags, some of us wanted to go to buy some bottles of water and snacks. So there were 8 of us who split into 2 taxis to go to the supermarket. But when we reached the supermarket, the taxi with Keith, Elissa, Georgina and Nathalie had not arrived. Gloria and I were slightly panicky and we were praying individually that nothing would go wrong. After 30 minutes of waiting, walking and searching, we saw them trudging up to us holding grocery bags in their hands. Their taxi driver had dropped them at the wrong supermarket. Thank God that before we got on the taxis, we were joking about the the location of the supermarket and it made them remember the name. God is good!

On the 2nd day, we were on the bus up to Phulbari and we ran out of fuel. So we were stranded in the middle of the road halfway up. We could have gotten frustrated and irritated at the bus drivers but I really praise God that the team stayed positive. We had our first glimpse of the Himalyan skyline because of that incident. We climbed up onto a plateau where we could enjoy the scenery while waiting for the driver's assistant to fetch petrol. I believe that even when things go wrong because of man's foolishness, God turns it around for our benefit.

They had a church service on Thursday because that was their day off. Church was just a small dark room at the back of their store / cooking area. We could not all fit in. I loved it when they started to worship God. It was like tribal rhythmic singing. Just voices with a single percussion instrument. But the presence of God was fantastic. There was this one little boy, the evangelist's son singing his heart out. A beautiful passionate voice.

The times of worship in Nepal were heavenly. Peter put it the best in Acts 10:34.

Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,
but in every nation anyone who fears him
and does what is right is acceptable to him.

The word fear means to be in awe, to show heartfelt respect or in modern day terms, it simply means to worship. There was such a strong anointing for renewal and for the nation of Nepal in our prayers and worship. I remember Georgina leading us in a fantastic time in His presence. God showed us in verses like Psalms 95:1-5 and Isaiah 40:28-31 the depth of His grace and strength. It would be the recurring theme for the entire trip. It is my prayer that the grace and strength of God be visible constantly in my life. That means never again relying on my own efforts. Never again trying to achieve but always accomplishing for His Glory.

I pray that just like the sunrise in the mountains. The glory of God will shine through me and many others into the full glory of His return. I pray that His glory will illuminate the beauty in others and in me. Beauty is seen when things around reflect the sunlight. Father in all I do, it is your light that has to be seen. That is utmost.

~~~ You are faithful ~~~
Lord of all the earth
how You care for me
You have made me
You will save and carry me always

You are faithful
Your joy is my strength

Lord You are my God
I rely on You
I put my hope in things not seen
Your promises all true

Always You’re with me
Your hand will lift me
My trust is in Your hands
| Hillsong - Saviour King |