Prayer at the Palace
Before breakfast on Friday, June 8, I headed to Himalayan Ezra Institute on foot since it is an easily walkable distance from Robby and Leona’s house. It was a lovely walk and I was accompanied by all the early morning sounds of a city waking up. I taught on prayer using Isaiah 62 as a template for interceding for Nepal and Kathmandu.
In the afternoon Mr. G drove us all to the Nagarkot area east of Kathmandu. Nagarkot is a 1-1/2 hour drive each way. It was an incredibly beautiful trip on a one-lane dirt trail with lush forests and verdant vegetation accompanied by bird songs and the beauty of God’s creation all around. At approximately 7000 feet (2000 meters) was a breathtaking panorama of the Kathmandu Valley, Mount Everest, as well as other peaks of the Himalayan range of eastern Nepal. Robby took us to a spiritual “high place” and asked us to pray over the local area, valley, and city below us. Driving back we stopped at a beautiful resort and relaxed with afternoon tea. Then we visited a Tamang village and prayed for the church, the people, and over land where they wanted to construct a building to meet in.
The evening news of the day revealed that after much delay the investigation of the royal massacre had begun. There was one eye-witness account, the King’s nephew, a doctor, who had escaped the shooting without injury. He testified that the guilty party was the Crown Prince; apparently many do not believe his testimony.
On Saturday, the day that Christians gather in Nepal, a pastor and church leader picked me up in taxi and took me to their church to speak. I spoke from Ephesians 1 and a teenaged girl translated for me. It was her first time to translate but we did okay (I think LOL). The nation was still in mourning so no music was permitted. However the pastor said that God’s people would still worship. So we sang in a whisper, a cappella, so to not be heard outside the room. They prayed for an hour or more. The gathering was wonderful and the people were very receptive, hospitable, friendly, and appreciative — full of love for their Savior! The pastor then took me back home and told Robby that he wanted me to come back and give another teaching.
Sunday I walked to the Jawalakhel traffic circle and caught a taxi to Thamel, the tourist sector of Kathmandu. I first stopped at Student Guest House’s internet cafe where I spent 2-1/2 hours catching up with things back in Alaska (very slow internet in those days). Then I did some shopping — Nepali wrap skirts, maps, postcards, and super glue for my shoe that broke on the day of my arrival in Nepal.
I wanted to prayer walk around the palace and Singha Durbar where the Prime Minister’s office is located but it started to rain so I stopped for tea and ice cream to wait out the shower. In my journal I wrote, “In my wildest dreams I never would have imagined I would be sitting here alone in a “deli” halfway around the world. There is just such a compulsion to be here doing this. The intense love I feel for this place and these people has to come from Him. It is an incredible privilege to be here. I feel He is going to turn the nation 180 degrees and I am so excited to get to see it.” The surrealness of this trip continued throughout my weeks there.
After the rain let up I walked two times around Narayanhiti Royal Palace grounds. An intense spirit of travail came over me, so much that it was hard to walk and look normal enough to not draw attention. About halfway around stomach pain began and my feet were raw (mental note — Don’t wear these shoes again! — I now in 2024 have no recollection of those shoes or the raw feet except for the post in my journal.). I discerned that the spirit of anarchy was strong and also a spirit of antiChrist. I wanted to to walk around Singha Durbar but made a wrong turn so decided Singha Durbar would wait until Monday. As soon as I ceased praying the stomach pain also ceased.
Monday morning per Daniel G’s request I started a series on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit at the Bible institute. Later Valerie, Dudley, and I prayer walked around Singha Durbar, the palace, and Parliament. We prayed Isaiah 9:6-7 and Dudley sensed that there are a few good men in the government and that we needed to pray protection for them. On the back side of the complex there were heaps of garbage, swarms of flies and a horrible stench; we felt that represented a foundation of corruption in the government and that “The Lord of the Flies” was in control. We then passed a large vacant area representing spiritual void and covered by a beautiful facade in front representing the deceptive ways of the adversary. We lifted up the name of the God of Truth, Righteousness, and Justice. When we passed guards in towers on the wall we prayed for more “watchmen” as in Isaiah 62. We prayed from Jeremiah that God would tear down and root out the corruption and build up and restore with a just and righteous government, and that He would either change the Prime Minister’s heart or remove him.
At the royal palace Dudley sensed a wall preventing penetration of good. Valerie sensed a need for humility, that the assassination was because of pride. In front of a bamboo grove on the grounds I prayed that the government that takes from the people and keeps them under oppression and bondage would be replaced by one that covers its people with protection, provision, and blessing — the shady bamboo covering on the government grounds seemed to represent protection. On the back side we passed an area of laundry hung out to dry. With a chill I remembered that on this very spot on the previous trip at Christmas we had prayed that God would “clean house and do laundry” in the palace.
From 4:00 to 7:00 pm we prayer walked at Boudhanath Stupa. “My poor feet are a mess!!” I journaled. On return to the house we learned that the announcement of the massacre investigation had been postponed until Thursday.
On Tuesday after teaching my morning class we revisited the Scottish bridge, Bhag Bhairab Temple, and the Ganesh temple where a chicken had just been sacrificed. (Photos are posted in WoftH Part 22.) Then traveling by car we prayed over the Kathmandu Valley from Phulchowki, the highest of the hills surrounding the valley and a famous hiking destination known for its lovely jungle, wildflowers, and for its excellent birding.
On Wednesday I taught at Himalayan Ezra Institute and then went to pray again around Narayanhiti Royal Palace. There I declared that all glory and honor belong to our God and that “He will share His glory with no other.” I proclaimed Him as King of Kings, the Righteous, Just, Holy, Pure God.
After teaching my class on Thursday, June 14, I returned to the house for breakfast. The morning newspaper had arrived which said that the massacre report would not be released to the public until Monday because of the Thirteenth Day Hindu rites for the death of the King which would be followed by a holiday on Friday. The report, however, was read on TV that night in both Nepali and English. The conclusion was that the Crown Prince was the perpetrator which left a lot of unanswered questions in people’s minds, things that just didn’t “add up”. In the evening we enjoyed a big dinner at the house with Robby and Leona’s pastor and wife in attendance. I went to bed quite excited because a road trip was on the agenda for the next few days.
Coffee, Tea, and Reverie 
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