Nepal 2019
Day 6_Sunday

Joe Lee

God’s Kingdom

Sunday was a restful day for many of us. Especially as the day before, we had to split up into small teams and head to a few local churches to preach and give talks. On Sunday, the entire team was in Banepa, tasked to help out in the youth camp. Their schedule was packed full of worship sessions and activities. 

One of the highlights was seeing the talents of these local youths. There was a memory verse contest whereby those who remembered bible verses had to bravely recite them in front of the rest. Even though we could not understand what they were saying, the talents that each of them possess is inspiring to see. Many of them are from disadvantaged backgrounds while others came from loving christian families. Throughout the camp, as part of Nepal's conservative culture, the boys and girls sat apart from each other. We decided that we could spread ourselves out to sit and mingle among this group of diverse youths. To them, we were new and exciting foreign friends that they wanted to get to know, likewise for us too. 

For the boys, many of them were distracted while the talks were going on. Boys being boys, they were shy and didn’t want to seem uncool. But as we got more opportunities to spend time with them, worshipped alongside them, even danced around them, they slowly but surely, started to open up. They would laugh at us and join in the dancing too, but of course with a little encouragement. I felt the Holy Spirit’s presence working in that room, and we got to see all the boys transform into confident young men filled with a passion for God, throughout the camp.

The games we played involved plenty of running around and with little competitiveness. Not being able to speak Nepali made playing the games a complete mess. But what seemed like an uncoordinated nightmare, turned out to be a fun mess. Nevertheless, the youth were excited to play and loved every second of it, even though they were oblivious to the fact that they were playing it entirely wrong. This reminded me of

Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding”.

This was such a positive testimony to have faith and trust in God’s plan, it seems to always turn out differently than what we can expect or imagine. Through faith, the Lord’s blessings are always bountiful and in abundance. 

After the games, Henna and Brenda shared their testimonies, and I led a talk about ‘Career in the Kingdom’. I have not had much experience speaking in camps before and was initially nervous. After some personal reflection and prayer, I felt God spoke to me. He wanted me to encourage the young hopefuls to search for His blessings in their lives. My session was to help prepare them for their working lives ahead, and I felt like there is no better way to do that then to instill in them the confidence that God created each of them as perfect in His image. Each of them have unique and individual gifts they can use in any workplace or career. I took the chance to get them to identify the gifts written in Romans 12: 6-8 and fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5: 12, ending with a final encouragement to trust in the Lord with all their hearts.

Immediately after my sharing, Isabella brought the youth through an inner healing session where they learnt about forgiveness and how to handle their childhood traumas. It became evident to us that not every child attending belonged to a loving wholesome home. There were many stories of brokenness, false beliefs and heartaches among them. Upon learning this, we wanted to give them a safe space to share about their issues and traumas they had experienced, and also take the opportunity to pray and minister to them. It was such a valuable moment and day to me.