Reminiscings from the Roof of the World
Return to the “Magical Kingdom” — Trip Two Begins
Just a few weeks after returning from my first visit to Nepal, Katie asked me, “Mom, I want to take another team to Nepal over Christmas break. You wanna go?” As I was longing to take the spirit of the Christmas season to a place that had never known a Christmas my response was quick and it was positive! Almost immediately our days were filled with preparations for Christmas in the “Magical Kingdom” of Nepal. This trip would focus on school assemblies, visits to as many as possible of the seven Bhutanese refugee camps on the far eastern border of Nepal, and as always prayer walking and intercession. Proverbs 18:16 advises, “Giving a gift can open doors; it gives access to important people!” (NLT). Pleas went out and plastic totes began filling with first aid supplies, medicines, toothbrushes, shoes, and whatever else we could present to school headmasters and their young students along with candy, balloons, props and tools for ministry to children. Weekly team prayer would be crucial to the success of our upcoming journey and we also enlisted vital prayer partners to stand with us throughout our preparations and journey to the other side of the globe.
And then, just like that, at 11:45 pm on Saturday, December 16, 2000, our eager team of twelve including five-year old Abbie flew out of Kenai Municipal Airport to meet the 3:00 am Anchorage to Taipei flight. After an extended delay in Bangkok we arrived in Kathmandu at 3:00 am on Tuesday the 19th. Bone-tired we stumbled into our rooms at the Student Guest House in Thamel where finally we slept hard. A hearty breakfast and luscious milk tea were served to us on the roof of the guest house at 11:00 am while the welcome December sun warmed on our still weary bodies.
The afternoon was spent praying at key religious areas around the Thamel sector of Kathmandu. First stop was a Buddhist stupa near our guest house. We prayed around the stupa inviting the presence of Almighty God to overcome the darkness. A western tourist was very agitated and accused us of trampling the holy site. After a bit, undeterred by her rebuke, we gathered and prayed over the land in all directions.
– Towards the North we prayed against darkness and bondage, that they would be confined like a black hole, and then we prayed release of Light and Freedom.
– Towards the South we prayed against deception and for release of Truth.
– Towards the East we prayed against idolatry of the sun and the militancy which was arising in the nation and then prayed that the knowledge of the Son would rise over the land.
– Towards the West there was a school. We prayed against the god of education and then prayed for the students of the school.
While standing on the north side of the stupa we noticed men tearing down a brick building behind us and felt led to release angels to tear down the stupa as well.
We then walked to Durbar Square, an area dedicated to idols and temples, which had become popular with the ‘60s’ migration of European hippies who traveled overland to Kathmandu. (Many of their left behind vehicles were still belching smelly, black pollution throughout the city.) Along the way we prayed against the many idols which we passed including the “toothache god”. I watched the people worshipping and noticed that their faces without exception were sad and empty.
On arrival in Durbar Square we first visited the palace of the Kumari, the “living goddess”. After a lengthly wait during which she was being prepared for her scheduled appearance, the Kumari emerged at an upper balcony window for only a brief moment and it was clear by her facial expression and demeanor that she was not pleased to be making her required presentation before the public. After the brief glimpse we walked over to a brick temple and up the steep stairs to the top. Halfway up one of our team, Steven, began vomiting. Deepak, one of the Nepali leaders, told us that vomiting was a fairly common physical reaction for a Believer when encountering such oppression.
As vespertine darkness fell on our first day in country we were feeling hefty backlash from the spiritual darkness. I, as well as at least one other team member, was feeling quite ill by evening. However, we still had to sort through and repack our things which would be sent ahead to east Nepal the next day.
On Wednesday, 20th we visited Pashupatinath (the Shiva temple I wrote about in Part 3) and spent an extended time praying against the strongholds of that area. As before it was overwhelming and discouraging. With so much filth and chaos and so much darkness it was a struggle to even know how to pray!
By the time we returned to the guest house in Thamal I was feeling acutely sick. In the foyer I sat down at a small internet cafe to email home and inform our intercessors of a schedule change so they could be praying appropriately. I felt so ill that I could not even get the email address typed in correctly and had to call for Katie, who was again leading the team, to come and assist me. We all were undeniably feeling backlash from the spiritual battle upon which we had embarked. The oppression, however, began lifting during dinner (about 8:00 pm) and I believed that was evidence of the powerful prayers going up for us back home.
After dinner the men of our team, including Steven who was still unwell, along with four of the Nepali team departed for east Nepal by bus. Their estimated arrival time was 3:00 am however they would encounter a twelve hour delay on the road. We ladies would leave by car in the morning with the remaining Nepali team members. As I drifted off that night my heart was full of expectation as I joyfully anticipated the beautiful sights my eyes would behold, the wonderful people I would meet, the wealth of information I would learn, and the amazing opportunities that would present themselves over the next days of this wondrous adventure ahead.
Coffee, Tea, and Reverie 