To the Mon and Back

Before Royal Servants sends out the teams on their Missions Trip, they have all the teams come together on a hayfield for a week of training - I say 'hayfield' because that's what it is - it's a hayfield that we camp on for a week. I didn't have any expectations whatsoever of what Training Camp was going to be like but I didn't expect it to be like that - as soon as we got there, a Royal Servants staff member came on our bus and said 'We believe in you more than you believe in yourself'; I really didn't know what to think of that until I saw the rows of tents where we would be staying for our training and my first initial reaction was 'Oh my goodness, what have I gotten myself into?' I knew that the week I was going to be there training was going to stretch me and it did - but looking back on it, I wouldn't have had it any other way because if I hadn't been uncomfortable and out of my elements, I wouldn't have gone to God even close to the amount that I did and my relationship with Him wouldn't have strengthened as a result of just the Training. Training Camp definitely takes you out of your element - you're woken up at 5:30 in the morning, you have 5 minutes to get ready and then you run your obstacle course as a way to start your day - I have to be honest, I wasn't a fan at first because I didn't like having to get up in the morning and run but the obstacle course wasn't about that - it was about building your team members up - God was constantly moving through us at Traning Camp a lot but this was one moment where I think everyone was seeing it - His kindness, His encouragment was just flowing through out each person when they were completeing the obstacle course. After breakfast and Praise and Worship, we had what was called 'Quiet Time' with God - this was one of my favorite parts of the day at Training Camp just because I got to spend an hour and a half alone with God, having Him reveal Himself through His word and just constantly praying to Him for strength and perseverance. One of the things that I loved about the Training was all the teachings that you got, to prepare you for overseas - before the Training, I don't know how comfortable I would feel sharing my faith but now I feel so equipped - the days at Training Camp were a lot like that - get up early, breakfast, Praise and Worship, Quiet Time, Lunch, Teaching, Dinner, Praise and Worship, Teaching but through all of it, I really felt that I was getting strenghthened in my relationship with God. I was so out of my element at first, I had the bare necessities to get me by, I didn't have a comfortable bed, it was HOT, I didn't get a shower for 5 days but it really makes me realize how blessed I am because of God and it really makes me appreciate the little things in life, like a simple summer breeze.
So, after the Training was over, we left the hayfield, did a last minute Walmart run, stayed over night at a GORGEOUS church and left the next day - I wasn't looking forward to this flight - I can barely handle 2 hours and this was going to be a 14 hour flight to New Delhi, India, a 10 hour layover, and then a 75 minute flight to Kathmandu - the flights were O.K. though, not to bad - we had all the movies that we could watch on the plane and some pretty decent food too - the layover was long but to be honest, all I wanted to do was sleep and then watch some soccer at the airport - the flight to Kathmandu was interesting though - right when we were about to take off, the pilot had to slam on the brakes because there were some birds on the runway - it turns out that there weres some other problems on the plane and we were stuck for another 2 hours while engineers had to figure it out...
All is well though because I... am... in... Nepal! When we got through customs at the airport and got all our luggage loaded (which was an interesting experience because everyone wanted to help us (they were looking for tips) and we didn't know where to go because the traffic over here is crazy (literally, there are no lanes so you go wherever you go), we left the airport and started to drive to Nepal... my first reaction to Kathmandu was that it was GORGEOUS but definitely poverty stricken - what broke my heart for the first time was that I found out that where we are staying right now is the NICEST part of Kathmandu, even with all the poverty (another thing that broke my heart is the annual income for people here is $463 a year - that definitely made me think about how I spend my money)... so we get to our hotel and get our bags in our room and we all wanted to do something but we were all so jetlagged that all we could do was go out to dinner and then go to bed.
So, the next morning we get up and have our breakfast (the hotel staff is letting us cook all our meals on the roof which means we have a GORGEOUS view of Kathmandu while we are up there) and had another teaching - this teaching was a bit different though because it was talking about false gods and this was to prepare us because we were going to a Buddhist and Hindu temple called the Monkey Temple. I prayed to God that He would break my heart for what was breaking His - in Nepal, there are 25,000,000 people and there are 30,000,000 false gods - there are more false gods here than there are people... that moved me to tears... we get to the Temple and there are 365 stairs to climb - along the way, we had people begging us for money and selling us stuff already - the whole time that I was in the Temple, all I could think of was the story in John 2 when Jesus drives out all the people selling stuff and exchanging money - this was exactly what this Temple was like - there were people selling stuff, there were money exchangers, there were beggars - people were more interested making money off people than worship - this was not a happy place - there was no worship - it looked like these people's beliefs were a burden to them - all I could think was that these people were worshipping for pretty much nothing - they're worshipping false gods - their gods can't protect them or hear their prayers or get them out of trouble. I'm sure that what I felt in anger was 1 millionth was God has always been feeling.
Today though, was a whole different story - we went to a Nepali Christian Church and what a difference! The people that came here were HUNGRY for God - they had such a passion, it was intense - all the time, their arms were up in worship and they were praising God. One cool thing in this church, is that they all pray at once - loud loud prayers to God - at the Buddhist and Hindu Temple, they had these prayer wheels that they spun that prayed for thousands of things at once but there was no joy to it - it should be an HONOR to praise God and lift your burdens to Him - He wants you to go to Him so bad! It made me sad at the Temple that the kids who were there, that was how they were going to be raised - it made me sad to realize that they didn't know that there is another way. That's why I feel so convicted to be here and share the Gospel and my faith - we were called here by God as disciples to spread His word and give people the opportunity to come and know Christ - it's crazy to think that I might be a small part in changing someone's eternity.
One of the things that struck me as awesome about the Nepali church is that they pray so much - they started with 5 minutes in January and are now up to 35 minutes a day - by Dec., they will pray for an hour every day - it's definitely making me think...
The weather here is hot, humid, and rainy but I love it - same with the food... I miss you guys so much and I can't wait to update you again!
Love love love you guys!
~Monica