Zoe and I went with our new friend Anabel a hilarious Mexican American who has been volunteering with Iris here in Nepal for the past month or so. We went with two faith filled Nepali sisters, Sadhana and Rabina, to the villages where they grew up and planted churches and where Sadhana is now raising 4 foster/adopted children. Their family was some of the first believers in that area and now there are hundreds, and a church in both their communities, these women were revolutionary in so many ways and are pioneers, I am so happy to learn from them and partner with them. Our time was marked by worship, play, encouragement, declarations of faith and joy, prophetic words and songs and encouraging activating the local believers even more to see the Kingdom come more and more again in their area and nation.
One day we went to worship and pray over their family's land where they hope to rebuild a house for the kids (the one they are currently using is full and is declared structurally unsound after the earthquake). They want to build a playground and garden, and home for the kids, a home for elderly, and a training center for discipleship seminars and Bible training.
With the help of Sadhana's invitation and translation, we got to minister at a youth service Friday night, which ranges from teenagers to 30s. Anabel and Zoe shared testimonies encouraging them to go for all that the Lord has for them and to step out in faith and in the Spirit. Then I led them in some prophetic encouragement games with each other. It was so fun, they really went for it and were so encouraged. Then praying with several people afterwards, one woman was healed of pain from her womb where she had been struggling with issues for some time, and her husband and one other person were healed of back pain and they each started praying for each other and for me. Meanwhile others shared about recently losing a family member and were loved on and ministered to.
Afterwards we headed up the mountain a small moonlight hike to a home group. We sat in their upstairs room as the whole room filled with people of all ages and we worshipped together. And we shared a bit and prophesied over some of the group and then just had a soaking worship time and so enjoyed the presence of God, our friend Raju (who with his wife, Sabina, helps Sadhana staff the kids home) broke into some really freeing spontaneous worship songs. It was such a sweet time, topped off with milk tea :)
Free time was usually spent worshipping around the house and making up songs, learning Nepali and pulling the kernels off the corn with awkward hindi soap operas playing in the background, and playing dutch blitz with Aamaa's 6 adopted sons (they are living in 2 rooms above the church since the earthquake, until they have resources to build a new home, and they graciously gave us girls one of the rooms for the few days we stayed with them) We left them the card game, and left Sadhana a ukulele to learn and keep worshipping and making up songs with. :)
Our first day there, Sadhana took us to pray for some believers who were sick and needed encouragement. Mahesh and his wife are young and very active believers who help with the youth and raising up disciples. His elderly mother has been sick with respiratory problems, asthma, and what sounds like COPD for sometime and requiring oxygen at home (which is a very big financial burden in their community and economy), and recently had gotten worse with an infection. She also is a believe but was soo discouraged and lying in bed seeming quite hopeless and feeling miserable in bed. We spent quite a long time just praying and worshipping over her in their room and then praying over and encouraging Mahesh and his wife, and then just laughing and enjoying fellowship for a while, and finally she started to brighten up a little bit. They reported to us a couple days later that she had begun to get better that day and require less and less oxygen and had turned a corner in being encouraged and hopeful.
My favorite moment of the trip was worshipping and praying over a couple in their roadside cafe. They were also believers, he had been struggling with low blood pressure issues for over a year. They were preparing food for the lunch crowd when we came to pray, but he was so encountering the Spirit of God, and all of us, that we just kept worshipping as several people came to look in the doorways of the tiny 3 table cafe/kitchen looking for lunch. They stayed around listening and watching as we worshipped and then shared some testimonies of miraculous multiplication of food. And afterward he told us that usually when he tries to pray or worship he has a tightness and heavy spirit that bothers him, but that now he felt so light and free and was able to experience the presence of God. So sweet!
Oh, I almost forgot another favorite moment, the photo below reminded me: One afternoon a few Hindu friends stopped by to visit after school and we busted out the oil pastels and everyone got creative. Sita (sitting on the bed with a pink scarf) drew this picture of a flower, and afterwards Zoe and I began to prophecy over her and encourage her based off what God showed us about the picture she had drawn herself. All about a seed that was already planted in her and the promises of God coming to pass for her... she was soo encouraged, and then told us that she was 4 months pregnant with her first child! So we got to pray together for her and the baby and she took home her picture with a big smile.
