Journey To Nepal

I have often wondered about people who live in faraway places, those with unfamiliar religions and customs, who have never heard of Jesus. Most of us raised in the church have heard of unreached people groups, those who have just a tiny amount of Christians amongst them. But have you heard of frontier unreached? According to joshuaproject.net, approximately "one-fourth of the world lives in these Frontier People Groups and have almost no chance of hearing about Jesus from someone in their own people group." These are the lost of the lost, where Christianity makes up less than or equal to 0.1%, and there is no confirmed or sustained gospel movement (https://joshuaproject.net/frontier).

One Sunday, a prayer request was made for the people in Nepal that were doing God's work. I felt like the statement was directed right at me, and it began a journey that evolved very quickly and demonstrated how God can put things together that we cannot imagine. After the service, I spoke with Nathan Taylor and asked if he knew of any trips or work regarding Nepal that I could become involved in. He shared that, because of Covid, many foreign countries were still closed to outside visitors. That night, while at a church event, my wife and I ended up sitting with Michael and Carol Ball. In casual conversation, I shared with Carol my earlier conversation with Nathan, and she quickly became confused, thinking I was referring to her son (also named Nathan). After some clarification, she told me that her son was currently planning a trip to Nepal within the next few months. Having never met her son, she connected us, and we talked the following day. I was so excited at the opportunity to participate and amazed by how God had brought it together in just a matter of days. After completing the paperwork I was approved to join the trip. I paid the deposit but felt overwhelmed once I realized how expensive the trip would be and the amount of specialized gear I would have to purchase as well.

You see, I had signed up for an Extreme Team. Our mission would be to travel to a very remote location and backpack through mountainous villages where vehicular traffic was very limited and difficult. That meant I needed camping and hiking gear and not the kind you get from Wal-Mart. But God… Within just a few weeks, and through others who answered their own call from God to give towards my trip, I was able to cover most of the cost of the trip and the cost of all the gear that I needed.

What I didn't know at the time was God had set me on a journey that would forever change my life. As I traveled to Nepal, I met up with other team members at various airports on the path to the other side of the world. The ten days that followed were such a whirlwind. It took 3 days, 4 airplanes, and about 8 hours riding in multiple on and off-road taxis to arrive at our first village.

I found myself face to face with people who had never seen anyone from America, never heard of Jesus, and never seen a bible before. Each team member was assigned a personal translator, and every morning my translator and I would set out with the goal of sharing the gospel. Our translators shared their own stories of the miracles they had seen and how they came to know Christ too. We were never turned away; rather, we were invited into many homes where I was able to share with both men and women, young and old. The villagers were happy to listen and eager to learn. Most of the homes we visited consisted of one or two rooms, occasionally lit by one light bulb. They cooked using a clay oven and got their water from a spigot outside. Each had an outhouse where there was a squatty potty.

They all had gardens, and some had cows that they used to pull plows with to till the garden. It wasn't uncommon to see chickens and goats as well. These people truly worked the land to survive. One day we walked five hours to reach a village. Needless to say, the days were long, and my body was quick to remind me that I'm no longer in my twenties! As the rain poured down on our tents each night, I had time to reflect on what God was doing both through me and in me. I could sense a change and knew I'd never be the same after this trip.

In all, our team of 10 shared with over 400 people in just five days. And while the journey was difficult, it was so rewarding. To know that people back home were supporting me both financially and through prayer strengthened me to work harder and push myself out of my comfort zone. I struggled with leaving, having very mixed feelings knowing that I missed my family but that my work was still not done here in this jungle, amongst these people. I went to share the Gospel with unreached peoples, but God used it to reach me in an unreached part of the world.