October 16, 2015
DAN+NEPAL Life is Good | Nepal is Good | Jesus is Amazing
So Far‌ On September 24th my team and I set out for Kathmandu, Nepal. After five very long layovers and three days of traveling we arrived tired, jet-lagged, and a little delusional. For the record, this is my first time out of the country, so talk about some culture shock that was happening to me and my Miami bubble mentality. For instance the streets are just complete chaos and it's basically a life or death situation every time you want to cross the road. No lanes, no street signs, and no traffic lights. As well as trying to watch out for motorcycles not running you over, you also need to keep out for not having a cow run into you, and also try not to get chased down the street by a pack of stray dogs. It's real out here everyone. My team is compromised of 4 amazing leaders and 8 awesome students. All of us coming from different areas of the world. Literally. On our team is people from Bangladesh, Dubai, Ireland, England, South Africa, Maui, North Carolina, Minnesota, and of course Miami! We are partnering with Iris Ministries Nepal. Which is a branch off of Iris Ministries Mozambique, Africa. The ministry is filled with amazing people who are all on fire for Jesus and have the same huge passion of wanting to see Nepal know that Jesus is the one true God. Nepal is known as the "Hindu Kingdom" because 90% of the population is Hindu. Right now we are in the midst of a six month festival. The purpose of the festival is worshipping this massive tree that is about 60 ft. Huge crowds will gather and follow this tree around the city and pray to it. It looks just as ridiculous as it sounds. On our first week of ministry we all gathered around the tree, and with my guitar I led worship at this crazy Hindu festival. 1
October 16, 2015
It was quite the experience. Fear of man did not exist in that moment either I just started singing out loud “Our father in heaven hallowed be Your name� like it was no big deal that I was singing this at this serious Hindu festival. Right away the atmosphere changed, people gathered around us and were drawn into our team. We brought light into this dark area and started praying for people and saw God work in them and heal many people of stomach pains, leg pains, and head pains. It was an amazing experience. Since then we have seen many many miracles and breakthroughs in the Nepali people. Our team has seen deaf ears opened, the mute speak, and pupils grow on the blind before our very eyes. Many other crazy miracles too. God loves this nation so much and it is so evident. We just came back from a remote village called Dhading, and it was so humbling. This village was effected a lot by the earthquake so many villagers do not have homes. We went there for earthquake relief and to love on those people in the village. For eight days we ate potatoes, rice, and beans everyday for lunch and dinner. And one day we bought a goat and I sadly watched it get its head cut off, we cooked it and then we ate it. A very interesting experience over all. The village was just so beautiful though, hidden in the mountains, God's beauty was seen everywhere. As God works in the Nepali people, He is also working in me so deeply. I have never felt so close to God. Over the past months I have been completely wrecked by the love of our Father. I have learned so much more about His unfailing love, mercy, grace, and overwhelming peace. YWAM has been the most amazing opportunity and I'm so privileged to have experienced it. I have encountered God like never before. And I'm learning that we shouldn't just have an amazing encounter with God once a month, but we should be encountering Jesus daily. We should wake up encountering God, walk through our days encountering God, and fall asleep encountering God. I have learned that a season at the feet of Christ can do more than a lifetime of trying to do anything on our own. We have about a month and a half left here in Nepal, and I'm so excited for the amazing things I know that God is going to do in this nation. I will keep you all updated as best as I can and as wifi is provided. God bless you!
!
With Love, Daniella.
2