When I was younger, I had a fascination with the small nation of Nepal. I had dreams of grand adventures involving climbing giant mountains and trekking through tiger infested forests. Most of the time, when the nation of Nepal is mentioned, people immediately think about Mt. Everest. That was really all I knew about the country as well, until my first visit there.
For two weeks, our team of 4 stepped away from our normal routines to photograph and film the work our friends were doing with some village areas in Nepal. Our adventure into the small village began with a long, bumpy 6 hour bus ride on ‘roads’ that were more like dirt pathways etched into the side of the mountain. For the local people it’s a normal part of life to squeeze into the spare space of buses packed with anything from animals like chickens and goats to sacks of rice and other crops. As our bus swayed back and forth, it came to a halt in front of a suspension bridge that stretched over a river. We all jumped out of the bus and grabbed our packs to continue on the next leg of our journey. None of us knew what to expect, but we were ready to experience life in the small village we were trekking to.
After several hours of hiking, our guide pointed up at a large white arch marking the entrance to a village. We had made it! The arch had colorful Nepalese writing painted on all sides and stood right next to the school that kids run barefooted down the mountains to. We crossed over a river on a suspension bridge, and prayed as we entered the village. Curious people looked our way and children ran to meet us with palpable excitement on their faces. Looking around, I noticed clean dirt pathways, trash bins hanging from trees, and hand-cut stone homes. The group we worked with during this trip, has a community transformation focus. On day one of our time in the village, I was convinced whole-heartedly of the impact our friends and others have made on this village. Through partnering with the village leader and others, our friends helped start homestays, build fish farms, latrines, trash bins and hand washing stations. As they help transform village life, they also work hard to educate and inform the local people on the dangers of human trafficking.
Though our time was short in this beautiful village, I learned so much from the people we lived with. I came on this trip with an expectation for God to speak to me Himself about ways I can make a difference. Learning from the incredible people of Nepal was a very unexpected surprise. As a mom, I was very impressed with the young kids and their willingness to help cook our food and pull weeds from the village leader’s garden. Kids worked and helped without being asked and did it all with a smile on their faces. These same kids would run up and down the mountains, barefooted, to visit friends and run errands for their parents. The display of contentment in their daily actions was something to be desired.
Contentment shown by the people in their everyday actions was the biggest lesson I learned while in Nepal. With as little belongings as these people have (in comparison to the western world), they were content. They have their food, their goats and water buffalo, and their very limited wardrobes, but the most important thing they have is not a thing. It’s family and relationships with the people they live with. Eating a meal with your friends and family is highly valued and more important than cell phones or movies or video games or the latest trends. Sharing a meal with people who are closest to you is a lost art that we can learn from. To take that a step further, cooking together, or simply being in the kitchen as someone prepares a meal is an amazing chance to converse and talk life. Some of my favorite moments involved sitting on grass mats in our host’s kitchen, just watching her as she cooked our food and served us tea in stainless steal cups.
People may be drawn to this region of the world because of the adventurous trekking and beautiful scenery, but there is so much more to this place. It is a nation full of people that have so much to give to the world. I am convinced God’s heart for the nation of Nepal is to gently draw people in to experience His majesty and might through the incredible views and to experience a little taste of His love for us through the joyfully hospitable people. Our team left that place with the heart of God for the Nepalese people and so much hope and passion to see them reached with the light of the Gospel.
