By David Kho, DTS student
A small, clear bead of sweat slides down my forehead as I climb the steep and winding dirt steps up the mountainside. As our group reaches the top of the mountain (or “hills” as Abel, one of our interpreters, would say) we decide to stop for a rest.
We are on our way to our very first house fellowship in Battar, our supposedly 40-minute walk somehow turning into a two-hour journey. But as we get up from our rest and continue our trek into the mountaintop farming village, I feel we must be near.
We walk onto a narrow side path, with rows of crops lining us on either side. I see a small, one-room hut up ahead with some women and children waiting expectantly for us on the concrete porch. A small overhang gives shade to the dusty porch, and as we approach, the women put their hands together and greet us, “Jamose!” (pronounced jah-moh-see), which is a shortened Christian Nepali greeting meaning, “Christ has the victory.” We put our hands together, greet them back, and then sit down in our salty pool of sweat.
There are four women and four children there at first, and given the remoteness of location, I think it is a good turnout. But as we wait, more and more people arrive. By the time we start, every inch of the porch is covered and more women and children are standing in the sun waiting to hear us speak.
Kristen leads with a song on guitar and then Sanjana gives her testimony on God’s plan for our lives. Kristen follows with another melodious song of praise, and afterward I speak on God’s faithfulness. I speak of how God cares even about the small things in our lives. After one final song from Kristen, Julianna gave a wonderful message on finding our identity in God and in what He says about us, instead of in achievements or in what other people say.
Unfortunately, we left soon after Julianna finished her message, but I know that God worked through the words we spoke both in ourselves and in the Nepali people. All of us speak only on things we have learned ourselves, and for Julianna, giving the first message at the first house fellowship in front of a sizeable amount of people was a milestone in the truths God has spoken about her and her identity in God.