Go Tell It On The Mountain

Go tell it on the mountain.  This phrase has taken on a whole new meaning for me this week. Previously I didn’t think this was any great task, it would take about as much effort as shouting from a rooftop. But no, sometimes it is not so simple as that.

Monday and Tuesday of this week Lauren and I were able to join two of the TLM staff working in with SER (read more about what they do on her blog here). We were taken into the mountains to visit some of the community groups supported by TLM. It seems like that shouldn’t be any big deal, you just take a drive over, maybe do a little hiking, have your meeting and batta-bing-botta-boom, hop back on the jeep and make your way back to Anandaban. If the road were too bad to drive on you’d just come back another day or have them meet you in town later—at least that’s what we’d do in America.

If it were just about a meeting maybe that would be the case. If it were just about supporting a community group, bringing the check for a micro-loan, taking the minutes of the meeting, and getting back to your life, to your family then maybe you could just leave it at that, but that is not the heart of TLM, that is not the heart of these people, that is not the heart of Christ.

Waiting for the city bus in the rain

Today I found the heart of Christ in what was to be a simple trip to visit a community group in Thansing, Nepal.  The day started at 8am when Lauren and I woke to get ready for the day. We were supposed to meet the TLM staff vehicle at 8:30am about a half mile down the road. We’d just locked the gate behind us and realized neither of us had our umbrellas…you just don’t do that during monsoon.  So at 8:31am we locked the gate behind us for the second time and somehow managed to make it to the pick-up spot for 8:34am. No vehicle. 10 minutes later…no vehicle. 20 minutes…30 minutes…finally a phone call. It’s running late. 45 minutes later they finally picked us up and we were on our way. Not even 5 minutes in motion sickness got the better of me. But “K garne” as the Nepali would say, “What to do?”

Foggy Mountain Road

After about 2 and a half hours and a good bit up the mountain we stop. The driver and Kashi disappeared into the fog walking down the road to see if it was safe enough to drive on. They came back shaking their heads, a mudslide made the road impassable for our two-wheel drive vehicle to pass. I asked “So do we hike from here?” and laughter was the first response intermingled with something about 6 hours. They told us that we were just going to wait for the city bus and we would take that the rest of the way. And after about 2 minutes of waiting…it starts to rain. So we piled back in the vehicle and decided to “find the bus.” And find it we did, full of people and sacks of grain. 

My not so short legs

The aisle was stacked about 2 feet up with sacks of food for a remote grocery that we crawled over to get to the 3 seats at the very back of the bus. After managing to wedge my not so short legs into the 10 inches (literally) between my seat and the seat in front of me.  We figured out after about 30 seconds why the seats were empty once the gallon of water that had previously filled the seat was then absorbed into our clothes. Then a stream of brown water started dripping onto Lauren who was sitting about 3 rows up from me.

We continued in this way for about 15 minutes before the bus stopped for lunch. This was a nice opportunity to stretch our legs and further master our squatty potty skills. After about 20 minutes we were back on the bus, in the rain, headed up the mountain. 30 minutes later the bus stops. All of the men pile out to see what is the matter. Another bus headed down the mountain was having engine problems and broke down in the middle of a curve preventing any other vehicles to pass by. At this point it is far past the meeting time, so Sulachona called the chairwoman and told her she could dismiss the people to go home because they all desperately needed to get back to rice planting. Following another 30 minute delay the bus was fixed and we were back on our way again.

Driving over a mudslide

Waiting for the bus to be fixed

The bus then stops yet again 30 minutes later for 20 minutes to unload all of the burlap sacks of groceries lining the aisles.

A waterfall on the side of the road

I learned that in Nepal, there doesn’t seem to be a road obstacle too great to prevent you from pressing onward. We drove over so many dangerous seemingly impassible roads and had so many unforeseen delays on that 3 hour bus ride. Caved in roads. At least 5 waterfalls (which literally just flow right over the road and you drive right over). Car problems. Cargo. Motion sickness. Rain. And too many mudslides to count. But in those 3 hours I learned so very much.

Sometimes, the road to the top of the mountain is not an easy one. The reason you travel that road cannot be just to shout out that Jesus Christ  has been born, but that the birth of Jesus Christ in your own life motivates you to act in obedience to all that He has called you to do. Even if that calling takes you up the side of a mountain. Even if that calling means you have to cross over a seemingly impassible mudslide. Even if you are delayed and cannot from your own understanding and perspective move past certain obstacles.

We must trust that if God has called us, then surely He is able. We must be willing to rely on those around us who have been through these places, who speak the language, who have an understanding and perspective of these obstacles that we may not be able to grasp. We must be willing to both push on and just go along for the ride wherever it may lead. We need to know and trust that we are not climbing the mountains of our life just to exercise our vocal chords, but that the journey to the top speaks loud and clear to those around us that Jesus Christ has been born into our life. That He is the reason we push on through so many trials and He is the one supplying us with the ability to push on.

While this day was seemingly a complete mess God showed Himself faithful by simply showing Himself. Today I pray that you are encouraged to press on to the upward call of Christ. I pray that as a body we would learn to walk with one another and learn from the experience and love of those around us. I pray that we would choose to see our circumstances from the eyes of Him who has walked before us and also walks with us. I pray that the good news of the Gospel would fill us with the desire to proclaim the name of Jesus. I pray that His heart would burn within us! Blessings to you my family in Christ~