that one time in Nepal.

I never thought this thing was going to be easy, but there were also moments this month where I said, “God, I didn’t know it was going to be this hard.”

To date, Nepal has been the most challenging month of my World Race.

I have seen things I’ve never seen before. I have been pushed, stretched, challenged, and tested. A few days before our half way point, Valentine’s Day, I thought to myself, “Wow. We’re not even half way yet.”

And God said, Keep Going. I Have More.

As I write this from the chaotically exotic and beautiful city of Kathmandu, I look back on my hardest month of the Race, and see it as one of the sweetest. In the uncomfortable places, I see where the Lord was and what He was doing.

The Word of God says, “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way” (James 1:2-4).

I know God wants me to keep going. And even though it sounds too good to be true, I know He has more.

I’m re-reading my journal right now, starting from before I left for the Race, and I came across a quote from our documentary training that rocked me.

It read, “If a character hasn’t changed, the story hasn’t happened yet.”

You see, an author’s job, a screen writer’s job, is to create a story. He writes in characters that want something, and they have to overcome something in order to get it.

An author forces his character to prove what he declares. Think of Tolkein and Sam.

A character says: “I want this.”
An author says: “Do you? Show me.”

That’s a story.

God is an author.

He is writing my life.

I believe I’ve been caught up in a great story, and I believe I am changing.

As I re-read the pages of my journal, I found a list I wrote called “What I want out of the World Race.” And on that page I wrote these things:

I want to take Jesus’ name to the ends of the earth.
I want to be challenged.
I want to be put outside of my comfort zone.
I want to grow deeply in my relationship with the Lord.
I want to see Him in new ways.
I want to be in dangerous situations so that I can test what I say when I say I trust God.
I want my paradigms to be shattered.
I want to take God out of the box I’ve put Him in.
I want more.

This month God gave me a chance to live out what I say I believe.

I say: I trust You, Father.
God whispers: Do you? Show me.

It’s hard sometimes, most of the time, to communicate everything that I’m experiencing to my loved ones at home. But I’m going to try. I desperately want for others to know and understand what God is doing in this year of my life. February has left me with a lot of “That-One-Time-In-Nepal” moments, so before a blog about a more specific moment, here’s a few things that happened…that one time in Nepal.

That one time in Nepal …
…when I saw the Spirit of God touch a blind woman’s heart.

…when I saw God heal a hurting man’s wrist.

…when news spread we were in a village and people brought out their sick to be prayed over.

…when we heard a man’s voice in our apartment building one night and our ministry contact said, “Do not worry. That is a refugee from Pakistan. He is a new brother of the faith and running from the Taliban.”

…when I became friends with this little lady who lives on the streets. She wanted prayer, we spoke the name of Jesus over her in Nepalese and she began laughing and jumping up and down. 

…when we worshipped in a public park and a little old Hindu man ran into the middle of our circle and started dancing his heart out.

…when the Bible came alive: where I saw shepherds herding goats in the mountains; women carrying water from the well; and Followers of the Way gathering in one another’s homes to worship a God their country doesn’t know or understand.

…when my teammate got baptized in a Nepalese river; no one else was around, except a single wandering Nepalese man—an English professor, an intellectual, an atheist—and we had a 45-minute conversation answering His questions about who Jesus is and at the end, he let us pray for him.

…when we saw by candlelit and I boiled hot water on the stove in order to shower.

…when I carried a live chicken home from a village and then ate it for dinner.

…when we sat around the cooking fire with our Pastor and his family and they were overwhelmed with emotion sharing they had married outside of the caste system, became Christians and then were shunned by their families. They said they had missed having a house full of family, but with the 14 of us there, God reminded them they have a big, big family in the Lord. And that brought them a lot of happiness.

…when we greeted our brothers and sisters with the secret, “Hey,-I-know-Jesus-too!” hello that sounded like this: “Jay-mah-see.”

…when the women walked into the valley in the early afternoon and bathed in a river.

…when we randomly danced and sang with a group of 60 Nepalese children and teenagers getting out from school, and we ended up sharing the Gospel with the whole crowd. (I even got to play Eve!)

…when I didn’t shave for three weeks and wore the same few outfits for 15 days. (True story.)

…when we took a rickety bus, up a steep, steep mountain on a narrow dirt road and I had to put my actual life in the hands of God.

…when I faced my fear of dark, small spaces and crawled through a cave with a thousand bats hanging on the ceiling.

…when we walked for eight hours straight to reach a village and my feet blistered on the soles.

…when I shared at a women’s Bible study about grace, and trusting God loves you despite your imperfections.

…and lastly, when God showed me that spiritual warfare is an actual, visible thing.

I can’t thank you enough for sharing this story with me, for BEING a part of my story, and for all of your prayers, love, support, and encouragement.

All of my love,
Katy

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 P.S. In case you want more, here’s another list for you!

Ten Observations About Nepalese Culture
1) Picking your nose in public seems to be socially acceptable.
2) So does hacking a lugi.
3) Saying yes does not involved a head nod, but rather, a side-to-side head bobble.
4) Monkeys are like squirrels. Monkeys on roof tops. Monkeys on power lines. Monkeys, monkeys, monkeys.
5) The national food is called dal bhat. Rice and lentils. And everyone drinks tea. Coffee isn’t coffee and cream, it’s “milk coffee.”

6) Currently, the government is trying to pass a law that would make Nepal a complete Hindu nation, forcing our brothers and sisters here to go more undercover about their faith in Jesus.
7) Don’t touch anyone with your left hand. And take your shoes off before going inside someone’s home.
8)  Saying “holy cow” takes on a whole new meaning. 
9) Ladies, cover your head with your scarf during prayer. Wear a red marking on your forehead if you’re married. (A typical age for girls to get married here is 15. Arranged marriages are common, and a part of the culture many love and embrace, including the women.)
10) Say hello by placing your hands together, bowing your head and saying, “Namaste.” For brothers and sisters in Jesus, “Jay-mah-see.”