Nepal 2019
Day 9_Wednesday

Joe Lee

From Bumpy to Jumpy 

We set off from Banepa at 7:30am sharp and headed towards the west of Nepal to an orphanage near the national park. The distance didn’t look too far on the map, but then again it never does on Google Maps.

Nothing prepared us for the journey we were about to embark on, except a warning from Yang, Brenda and Isabella—the only members of the team who had been on this trip before—that it was going to be a long journey. It turned out nothing like what we anticipated. 

We left the bumpy rocky trails of Banepa and drove towards the roads of Kathmandu. Traveling in Nepal is a challenge due to the nature of the terrain and the lack of proper infrastructure. In Kathmandu, you’ll feel a sense of relief that there are proper tarmac roads. But you will soon realise that their standard of maintenance is so poor that there are seemingly speed bumps every 100 metres in the middle of the highway. These speed bumps are cracks that have appeared across the roads overtime. They are not intentionally designed. So I asked the local drivers why the roads are the way they are, they responded indifferently, saying: “Its normal here, the roads are falling apart. There are potholes everywhere, and dirt and rocks are used to cover them. But that’s if you are lucky.”

On top of that, dust and exhaust fumes were thick and polluting the air. Despite the travel conditions, we had a journey to make, but was saved by having travel sickness tablets in hand. We stopped for regular breaks at service stations, where the toilets were squat style, with poor sanitation—far from what we are used to in the developed country I live in. However we did not let the physical conditions dampen our spirits, but went on undeterred with much fiery passion for God’s word.

I even had the opportunity to share a morning devotion on-the-go. It was about my experience with christian counsellors and the lessons that I’ve learnt about emotional awareness. I shared practically how everybody can be aware of how their physical health affects their mental health, and vice versa. I then left them with this encouraging verse

“We are assured that through Christ who gives strength, we can do anything.” 
Philippians 4:13

It’s been 3.5 hours into the journey and we’ve hit the rural roads. They twisted round the mountains, went up and down, into valleys along rivers and hilly terrains. While I was enjoying the breathtaking scenery, it was a struggle to keep motion sickness at bay. In our efforts to distract ourselves and fight off our breakfast coming back up, Henna came up with a few games for us to get to know each other. Lead by the command and the devotion sessions from the days before, we took on the challenge to exercise speaking words of encouragement into each other’s lives, as

“Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”
Proverbs 16:24

She then suggested that we would take turns to share our individual thoughts to each team member, on how he or she has blessed and encouraged us with their presence. We called this activity: Honeycombing :) It went on for hours. Many compliments followed, and we shared things we saw in each other that we didn’t see in ourselves. For myself, I was encouraged by the kind words of others sharing how positive my presence often was and how I am able to keep calm in many situations. I’ve never thought of myself in that way and often felt quite the opposite internally. Blessings were in abundance on the journey. God commanded us to be kind to one another as it strengthens our bones and the fact that none of us got sick enroute was a great testimony. 

At 3pm, we pulled up outside the orphanage’s steel gates. We saw a vast land with hundreds of kids running towards the minibus. We barely entered the grounds and had to stop because the kids surrounded the minibus. The excitement they had was incredible. There were smiling faces everywhere waiting to greet us. Many of us had never met these kids before, but when we got out of the minibus, they immediately grabbed our hands and wanted us to be their friends. They were teaching us their names and showing us their home. It was at this point, the overwhelming sense of love came upon the team. Although we felt tired and sick from the journey, a sense of reward took over. This moment made the whole journey worth it all.

The love that was shared with us in the orphranage touched each and every one of our hearts. That night, we shared a lovely Korean dinner prepared for us. Most of the food were grown from the grounds of the orphanage’s land. After dinner, we went to the hall to watch some dance presentations, which the kids had prepared for us.

The most touching part for our team was getting in line to greet and hug each and every child goodnight. With 200 children, this took a while but it gave us the opportunity to show the children love and affection that they may not have always experienced. Spending time with the children in this way, was a humbling experience for me. I felt full of gratitude for what I had growing up as I realised how lucky I was to grow up in the west with parents that lovingly raised me. I thought I came to give love to these children, but instead, I received in return an amazing feeling of gratitude for God’s love. A love that far outweighed any gift I could share with them.

Isabella Hart

A Goodnight Hug

Today we travelled to the orphanage. Pastor Lee and his wife (a couple who runs the orphanage) were in Banepa for a conference, and decided to join us after to travel back to the orphanage together. We knew it was going to be a long journey so we started off early. We had a few short breaks—tyre-pumping, petrol-filling, body-relieving, tummy-stuffing breaks. At last, we arrived at the orphanage at about 3pm.

As we were coming through the gates of the orphanage, the children ran out to greet us, crowding around the minibus that we were in. The bus had to slow down so much just in case it might run over any of them. Immediately getting off from the minibus, it was photo time, followed by another photo time, then another and another. They were ecstatic to see us! For some of us, they have only met for the first time, but they were so friendly and welcoming. Pastor Lee had to tell the children to give us time to settle down before they would leave us alone. As a team, we quickly settled and got together to plan our program for the kids, which included the setting up of a medical clinic, sharings for morning devotions, teaching and games.

After dinner, we gathered in the main chapel, where they had a welcome program specially for us. The kids presented us with songs and dance, full of joy and energy. They are so talented. We really enjoyed it. Some of us even joined them with the dancing on stage.At about 9pm the program came to an end. It was time for them to head back to their dormitories. Before that, Pastor Lee told us that their tradition was to give a hug to each child and staff, to greet them goodnight before they head to bed. So we lined up in a single file, and each child would pass us one by one. By the end of the night, we hugged about 200 of them!

Although the children had no parents to look after them, looking around Nepal and seeing other kids on the streets, it’s safe to say these children are the fortunate ones because they have somewhere to live securely, someone to clothe them, feed them, love them and most of all point them towards eternal life.

Hung on the wall of the chapel was a motto that read: ‘We are the future of Nepal, We are the hope of Nepal’. This is a prayer as well as a mission statement. Let’s dream big with them.