How you can help Nepal and how Nepal helped change me…

The slideshow above is just from days 1 and 2 of my return to Nepal, post earthquakes.  These pictures are some that I wish I could forget and in the same token I hope I never forget.   These snapshots which are forever in my heart have changed me forever I pray.

The day after I arrived in Nepal we took our first ride out of the valley to visit  a Reach Global partner church in one of the hardest hit villages of Nepal.  We stood on Holy Ground as we stood around the church rubble that had buried 8 church members.  I have never seen such raw emotion as we led the villagers in a small counseling debriefing  beside the rubble of the church which buried 8 of their family.  I held a baby  who somehow survived when the rest of His family did not. I held a hand that begged me to lay hands on her, pray for healing of her heart as she lost her family in the earthquake.  I held a tear, many as we prayed.  These friends need our prayers and our help (stayed tuned to the end of how you can help).  To drive through villages where the entire  villages have no houses standing.  To watch terror in eyes when aftershocks shook the ground we stood on — and they wondered if they would ever feel solid ground again.

Each village we visited I watched the pastors of the partnering churches, many of them who had lost their own homes and were living in tents.. I watched them stand on solid ground of unshakable faith.  I watched them shepherd their people to believe STILL  in the goodness of God.  I watched the churches we visited (some were standing, some were completely ruined,and some were broken ) sing about the goodness of God, lift their hands and pray with all their heart.  They had lost everything but  clung to the God  who promised them  one thing , that He is with us, ALWAYS.  That in this world we will have trouble, but He has overcome the World.  That He is our solid foundation.  That He is good.   And even when we question everything, He is still the same. 

I am challenged by, changed forever by and encouraged by the faith of the Nepalese Christians even in the midst of the unthinkable.
I am heartbroken for, burdened for and praying for how we can help these Nepalese brothers and sisters as they live out the unthinkable.

I am burdened for,  asking prayer for, and believing God for those I met that do not know Jesus.   Less then 1  percent of Nepalese are Christians.
On one particular trip, as we went with the Reach Global partnering pastors to buy tin supplies to help the rebuilding process in Ghourka  we drove 12 hours round trip in a jeep on crazy roads.  When we got there I met 5 Hindu ladies.  We talked and laughed in the streets as they were surprised I spoke Nepalee.  After we laughed, they talked of the terror of the earthquake, of how their families had lost everything, and how they had no hope. 

I told them I had hope.  I had hope in Jesus.
They had never heard of Jesus.  Ever.  Not once had they heard His name.

Would you pray for the Nepalese pastors and Christians as they continue to spread His name.

I was beyond blessed to cry with, laugh with, hold hands with hundreds from village to village as we led in counseling seminars/debriefing training.
I was  beyond heartbroken to hear their stories, but holding hope for Them, with them, in the God who loves them.

The children got me.  We did lots of trauma counseling with children at the partner churches.  They have been forever changed.  Their drawings depicted their fears, the  terrible things their little hearts had seen.  One little guy  drew the three people he saw killed.  Another little had not spoken since the earthquake.   I pray God takes their little hearts and brings healing.    Reach Global is prayerfully working towards not only rebuilding homes,  but building community centers alongside of them so they can help children like this heal, and  can provide them with the hope of the gospel.