One of the last things we did in debriefing was write a summary of our trip. We were broken down into small groups, and each group covered some aspect of our trip. My group wrote the culture and heritage section!
Here's our group report:
Group Dynamics
The group dynamics played a great part for the Nepal team this summer. We had five senior staff who led the team. Job and Bethany Hammond worked together with the rest of the senior staff, Jack and Kelsie Becker and Ian Buettner to lead the team to Kathmandu, Nepal. Under the senior staff, ten college-age staff disciplers joined the team to mentor and lead 2-3 students in their discipleship groups. All 22 students came for the first time, while 8 of the staff disciplers came as alumni.
Students were encouraged to put into practice their leadership skills over the course of the summer. These skills included two students leading worship, three students leading ministry, and students taking their initiative to lead and work together in Life Transformation Groups (or LTG’s) they were placed in. Along with these leadership roles, the staff disciplers assigned smaller tasks of leading the small group time’s wit in the Discipleship Group and leading the cooking tasks when the group had been placed in cook crew for the meal. The staff disciplers were pushed outside their comfort zone as well by being assigned the task of taking the jobs of the senior staff on the travel day to Pokhara, Nepal. The staff disciplers worked together with good communication skills to lead the team in ministry, medical, finances, food, and the position of Job as team leader for two days. The senior staff worked together by modeling leadership and taking turns leading the team.
When our group met for the first time, we hit it off and that set things in place for the summer. Despite being a team of 29 girls and 3 guys, we were able to avoid drama and instead grow as a team by learning each other’s love languages, personality qualities, strengths and weaknesses and by putting into practice accountability and confrontations.
Looking back, God had constructed our team to have our personalities blend, forming a unique team with many first time experiences. Our personalities came out when some members of the team chipped in a few rupees to buy Job and Bethany their first pet fish. On our last night in Pokhara, Job and Bethany treated the entire team to a Nepali buffet dinner served by the hotel. Afterwards, we all went to the performance stage for a dance party.
When we came back to Kathmandu for debriefing, the staff disciplers tread Job and Bethany to a well deserved dinner at the famous Rum Doodle. Food in Nepali is pretty inexpensive so eating out is a very big part of our meal time in the Nepal team. Some of the favorite foods of the team were momo and milk tea. Dinner groups were an essential part to our bonding as a team.
We have come to the conclusion that our team is simply the best. The things God has taught us and the memories we made will stick with us for the rest of our lives.
-Stacey, Michelle Bernard, Katie, Moriah, Courtney, Nina, Karissa and Kim
Spiritual Growth
Job Hammond has hammered into our minds that everything we do is a ministry, and this started at training camp. Discipline was key and instituted promptly on our first day as a team. Through discipline we learned to represent God in all that we do. We became disciplined in our quiet time and how we functioned as a group. This caused us to grow spiritually by training us to take the way we live our lives and our walks with God seriously.
Training camp was the beginning of D-group time, which helped us throughout the summer to be accountable and to have strong Christian fellowship.
When we got to Nepal, the learning wasn’t done. We had daily teachings to help continue our spiritual growth throughout the summer. One of the key tools that assisted us in growing spiritually was memorization. With weekly cumulative memorization tests the discipline of scripture memorization was instituted to become a daily practice for the rest of our lives. Another daily practice that was installed in our schedule was quiet and devotional time. This helped us to learn the importance of learning God’s Word and taking time out of our day to spend with Him. One of our major studies was the book Do Hard Things which taught us to push beyond the expectations put on US teenagers and to push us to go beyond our best, get out of our comfort zones, and to make more of our lives. These teachings were engrained in us and were easily used to help us in our ministry experiences.
As we ventured into Nepal, we grew spiritually through three types of ministry; village ministry, servant evangelism, and intentional shopping. Through sharing our faith openly with others we were able to solidify what we believe and how to portray God’s love to others. We learned how to show Christ’s love in a practical way through servant evangelism, by serving the needs of others without asking for a reward. This is a principle we can take home. Through forming relationships with the Nepali people we learned to hear people and the story of their lives, and take the genuine interest in each individual’s salvation. We also learned to meet people where they we at and how Christ is applicable in all stages of life. By interacting with the cultures and religions of Nepal, as a team we are able to see God’s character clearer.
When we finished our ministry in Nepal, our spiritual growth didn’t stop. Through this time of transition, we were able to close our time here in Nepal and prepare ourselves for arriving and continuing our ministry at home. We learned to identify ourselves with who we are in Christ rather than with our experiences in Nepal. Through teachings we learned how to continue our spiritual growth away from the team environment.
Throughout the summer we learned that when we trust God completely and seek His plan for us, anything is possible. God has displayed His faithfulness in indescribable ways this summer, and we will strive to grow closer to God and stronger in faith with each passing day.
-Kristen, Ashley, Mimi, Michelle Linde, Gage, Whitney and Hannah Petersen
Ministry/Evangelism
One summer, 38 hours of travel, 19 days of ministry, 13 villages, 1,000 seeds planted and 55 new Nepali brothers and sisters in Christ. Over the course of the summer we engaged in a variety of ministry opportunities. We participated in steer evangelism, servant evangelism and other types of evangelism. Through these experiences God gave us multiple opportunities to minister in the lives of the people of Nepal.
One major part of our ministry this summer was traveling to 13 different villages to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Walking, busing, paying, inviting and performing were all vital aspects to a typical day of village ministry. Once we arrived at our designated village we immediately jump into a time of prayer; praying for open hearts, high energy, and souls saved. Next, we begin inviting people using the phrase “Nataak herna aanus” ("come watch our drama") and watch our performance area fill with locals. A typical performance included two dances, two puppets and two dramas. Splitting into pairs, we then jumped in to conversations with the Nepali people, sharing our faith in Jesus.
The language barrier was often difficult and most of the time frustrating, but we are thankful for the three translators that we had throughout the summer. One story in particular, where one of the translators and three students were used by God, was an exciting and powerful day of ministry. The three students shared the gospel with an 89 year old man who had practiced Hinduism hi whole life, and had never heard of Jesus Christ. He was very open and receptive to the gospel and reading the “Four Spiritual Laws” in Nepali for 50 minutes. He could not find anything wrong with the facts that were presented before him. He did not accept Christ immediately but told the group of students that he would follow the Bible and the commands of the Bible from here on out. Those three students and translator took the initiative to share Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, and they chose to leave the results up to God.
Not all of our ministry required a lot of traveling. The second type of ministry we were involved in was in the form of intentional shopping. The purpose of intentional shopping was to go out and build relationships with the shop keepers of the city we were staying in. We were able to buy things for our friends and family at that time, but the main goal was to initiate conversations with the hope of going back to that shop to build on the relationship.
Another branch of our intentional shopping was in the form of servant evangelism. The purpose of servant evangelism is to establish relationships, not by shopping, but by serving the shop keepers in any way possible, with the goal of showing Christ’s love in a practical way. Incorporating intentional shopping and servant evangelism, one group decided to help with the construction alongside the road at a local German bakery and coffee shop, known as Black and White. As a result of their service and intentionality with the owners, a relationship has been established and trust has been built. Actions speak louder than words, and their actions planted a seed that will hopefully be watered by other believers.
Apart from our two specific types of ministry, our team also participated in a plethora of other ministries such as: teaching/leading a kids Sunday school class at an evangelical church, playing with kids in an orphanage, building relationships with girls who have been rescued from the sex-trafficking industry at Shanta’s House, loving on the people of a leper colony; rubbing lotion on their disfigured hands and feet and giving them snacks. They live on 400 rupees a month, two kilos of rice a year, and three pairs of clothes a year, and we were able to show them Christ’s love through physical touch and simply being with them. A few other ministry opportunities we participated in were: a college age evangelical Nepali youth group, the Ghandaki Boarding School and Rainbow Ministries. Rainbow Ministries is an organization, led by a local church that is designed like a weekly VBS to reach out to the children in the community. Our team was in charge for a whole afternoon and we divided up into four stations: song, games, story-telling, and craft. Through each of those stations we were able to hang out with a couple hundred kids and show them God’s love.
In conclusion, God greatly blessed our ministry and evangelism time in Nepal. We saw God move in powerful ways in all areas of ministry we participated in. With the effort of the whole team and leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit, 55 Nepali people professed Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
-Kaila, Amy, Emilie N, Jamison, Cody, Chelsea and Hannah K
Culture and Heritage
Nepal has one of the most fascinating and unique cultures in the world. Our team really enjoyed getting to learn about it. We found that freedom of religion is so new to Nepal, the majority of the people we encountered where Hindu or Buddhist. Their religion is more than a belief system. It is a family tradition, passed down through generations that impact every part of their lives. We took several days to learn more about their religions by visiting places of worship. Doing this allowed us to more effectively minister to them.
First we visited a Buddhist temple called Swayambhunath. It is more commonly known among tourists as the monkey Temple for the abundance of free-roaming monkeys. Because it is more touristy, it was difficult to see it as a place of worship. There were lots of prayer flags and prayer wheels, which the Buddhists use as avenues for sending their prayers to heaven. There were also Buddhist monks chanting ritual prayers, but they seemed very stiff and for show. Everywhere we walked among the temple, vendors tried to sell us souvenirs.
The next day we visited a Hindu temple called Pashupati Nath, It is a common site for cremations, which we got to witness. There were also many holy men sitting around known as Sadus. As a form of worship they are known for their dreadlocks, colorful face paint and frequent use of hashish, also known as pot. They will take pictures with you, but there is a small price.
One of the most unsettling things our team was a young girl called the Kumari, worshipped as the incarnation of the temple of the goddess Shiva. She spends her life locked in a building except for three daily 30 second appearances in a window and an occasional festival experience. This is her life from age three until a drop of blood leaves her body.
In Pokhara, we visited a Buddhist monastery in a Tibetan refugee camp. It was much more worship focused instead of just for tourists, and it was much darker spiritually. Again we watched the monks chanting, but this time it was a mix of adult and child monks. The atmosphere was very demonic, which made the team feel very drained, while opening our eyes at the same time.
After being in so many spiritually dark places, it was a refreshing change to visit an Evangelical Christian Church in Kathmandu. The entire time we were in Nepal, people greeted each other with the word Namaste, meaning I salute the god within you. Among Christian, we learned to used the word Jamase, meaning I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ. Being able to worship with other believers was extremely encouraging.
Outside of visiting places of worship, we also experienced daily life in Nepal. We took two days and hiked the Himalayas. In Kathmandu we hiked 8 miles, and in Pokhara we climbed over 1600 steps to an ornate Buddhist temple with an amazing view. It was amazing to see the cities we stayed in on a bigger scale and admire the gorgeous landscapes. Almost every night, we ate out for dinner. We each got 100 rupees per meal, equivalent to about $1.16. Even on such little money we were able to eat a full meal. Some of our favorite entrees were mom, which are dumplings stuffed with anything from buffalo to apples; chowmein, which is a noodle dish; and tenthuk, which is the Nepali version of chicken noodle soup with large dumplings in it. For drinks we were unable to drink the tap water because of bacteria. We instead drank Coke, Fanta, Sprite, milk tea (a creamier sweet version of black tea) or water that we had in our water bottles.
Living in Nepal was quite the experience. The streets are ridiculous. Traffic is fast and chaotic. The roads double as sidewalks for pedestrians. Livestock such as dogs, chickens, water buffalo and cows, which are considered holy and are the national animal of Nepal, roam the streets. Outside of our hotels we rarely had access to western toilets. Instead we used squatties, which are simply holes in the ground. When we walked the streets we were regularly offered hashish or asked to buy items from the shopkeepers sitting on the curb outside their shops.
Overall, Nepali people are very hospitable. It was super easy to get to know them, and they frequently offered us milk tea. Our entire team enjoyed our time learning about Nepali culture.
-Marci, Anna, Meredith, Mallory, Emily K, Heather and Penny
Here's our group report:
Group Dynamics
The group dynamics played a great part for the Nepal team this summer. We had five senior staff who led the team. Job and Bethany Hammond worked together with the rest of the senior staff, Jack and Kelsie Becker and Ian Buettner to lead the team to Kathmandu, Nepal. Under the senior staff, ten college-age staff disciplers joined the team to mentor and lead 2-3 students in their discipleship groups. All 22 students came for the first time, while 8 of the staff disciplers came as alumni.
Students were encouraged to put into practice their leadership skills over the course of the summer. These skills included two students leading worship, three students leading ministry, and students taking their initiative to lead and work together in Life Transformation Groups (or LTG’s) they were placed in. Along with these leadership roles, the staff disciplers assigned smaller tasks of leading the small group time’s wit in the Discipleship Group and leading the cooking tasks when the group had been placed in cook crew for the meal. The staff disciplers were pushed outside their comfort zone as well by being assigned the task of taking the jobs of the senior staff on the travel day to Pokhara, Nepal. The staff disciplers worked together with good communication skills to lead the team in ministry, medical, finances, food, and the position of Job as team leader for two days. The senior staff worked together by modeling leadership and taking turns leading the team.
When our group met for the first time, we hit it off and that set things in place for the summer. Despite being a team of 29 girls and 3 guys, we were able to avoid drama and instead grow as a team by learning each other’s love languages, personality qualities, strengths and weaknesses and by putting into practice accountability and confrontations.
Looking back, God had constructed our team to have our personalities blend, forming a unique team with many first time experiences. Our personalities came out when some members of the team chipped in a few rupees to buy Job and Bethany their first pet fish. On our last night in Pokhara, Job and Bethany treated the entire team to a Nepali buffet dinner served by the hotel. Afterwards, we all went to the performance stage for a dance party.
When we came back to Kathmandu for debriefing, the staff disciplers tread Job and Bethany to a well deserved dinner at the famous Rum Doodle. Food in Nepali is pretty inexpensive so eating out is a very big part of our meal time in the Nepal team. Some of the favorite foods of the team were momo and milk tea. Dinner groups were an essential part to our bonding as a team.
We have come to the conclusion that our team is simply the best. The things God has taught us and the memories we made will stick with us for the rest of our lives.
-Stacey, Michelle Bernard, Katie, Moriah, Courtney, Nina, Karissa and Kim
Spiritual Growth
Job Hammond has hammered into our minds that everything we do is a ministry, and this started at training camp. Discipline was key and instituted promptly on our first day as a team. Through discipline we learned to represent God in all that we do. We became disciplined in our quiet time and how we functioned as a group. This caused us to grow spiritually by training us to take the way we live our lives and our walks with God seriously.
Training camp was the beginning of D-group time, which helped us throughout the summer to be accountable and to have strong Christian fellowship.
When we got to Nepal, the learning wasn’t done. We had daily teachings to help continue our spiritual growth throughout the summer. One of the key tools that assisted us in growing spiritually was memorization. With weekly cumulative memorization tests the discipline of scripture memorization was instituted to become a daily practice for the rest of our lives. Another daily practice that was installed in our schedule was quiet and devotional time. This helped us to learn the importance of learning God’s Word and taking time out of our day to spend with Him. One of our major studies was the book Do Hard Things which taught us to push beyond the expectations put on US teenagers and to push us to go beyond our best, get out of our comfort zones, and to make more of our lives. These teachings were engrained in us and were easily used to help us in our ministry experiences.
As we ventured into Nepal, we grew spiritually through three types of ministry; village ministry, servant evangelism, and intentional shopping. Through sharing our faith openly with others we were able to solidify what we believe and how to portray God’s love to others. We learned how to show Christ’s love in a practical way through servant evangelism, by serving the needs of others without asking for a reward. This is a principle we can take home. Through forming relationships with the Nepali people we learned to hear people and the story of their lives, and take the genuine interest in each individual’s salvation. We also learned to meet people where they we at and how Christ is applicable in all stages of life. By interacting with the cultures and religions of Nepal, as a team we are able to see God’s character clearer.
When we finished our ministry in Nepal, our spiritual growth didn’t stop. Through this time of transition, we were able to close our time here in Nepal and prepare ourselves for arriving and continuing our ministry at home. We learned to identify ourselves with who we are in Christ rather than with our experiences in Nepal. Through teachings we learned how to continue our spiritual growth away from the team environment.
Throughout the summer we learned that when we trust God completely and seek His plan for us, anything is possible. God has displayed His faithfulness in indescribable ways this summer, and we will strive to grow closer to God and stronger in faith with each passing day.
-Kristen, Ashley, Mimi, Michelle Linde, Gage, Whitney and Hannah Petersen
Ministry/Evangelism
One summer, 38 hours of travel, 19 days of ministry, 13 villages, 1,000 seeds planted and 55 new Nepali brothers and sisters in Christ. Over the course of the summer we engaged in a variety of ministry opportunities. We participated in steer evangelism, servant evangelism and other types of evangelism. Through these experiences God gave us multiple opportunities to minister in the lives of the people of Nepal.
One major part of our ministry this summer was traveling to 13 different villages to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Walking, busing, paying, inviting and performing were all vital aspects to a typical day of village ministry. Once we arrived at our designated village we immediately jump into a time of prayer; praying for open hearts, high energy, and souls saved. Next, we begin inviting people using the phrase “Nataak herna aanus” ("come watch our drama") and watch our performance area fill with locals. A typical performance included two dances, two puppets and two dramas. Splitting into pairs, we then jumped in to conversations with the Nepali people, sharing our faith in Jesus.
The language barrier was often difficult and most of the time frustrating, but we are thankful for the three translators that we had throughout the summer. One story in particular, where one of the translators and three students were used by God, was an exciting and powerful day of ministry. The three students shared the gospel with an 89 year old man who had practiced Hinduism hi whole life, and had never heard of Jesus Christ. He was very open and receptive to the gospel and reading the “Four Spiritual Laws” in Nepali for 50 minutes. He could not find anything wrong with the facts that were presented before him. He did not accept Christ immediately but told the group of students that he would follow the Bible and the commands of the Bible from here on out. Those three students and translator took the initiative to share Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, and they chose to leave the results up to God.
Not all of our ministry required a lot of traveling. The second type of ministry we were involved in was in the form of intentional shopping. The purpose of intentional shopping was to go out and build relationships with the shop keepers of the city we were staying in. We were able to buy things for our friends and family at that time, but the main goal was to initiate conversations with the hope of going back to that shop to build on the relationship.
Another branch of our intentional shopping was in the form of servant evangelism. The purpose of servant evangelism is to establish relationships, not by shopping, but by serving the shop keepers in any way possible, with the goal of showing Christ’s love in a practical way. Incorporating intentional shopping and servant evangelism, one group decided to help with the construction alongside the road at a local German bakery and coffee shop, known as Black and White. As a result of their service and intentionality with the owners, a relationship has been established and trust has been built. Actions speak louder than words, and their actions planted a seed that will hopefully be watered by other believers.
Apart from our two specific types of ministry, our team also participated in a plethora of other ministries such as: teaching/leading a kids Sunday school class at an evangelical church, playing with kids in an orphanage, building relationships with girls who have been rescued from the sex-trafficking industry at Shanta’s House, loving on the people of a leper colony; rubbing lotion on their disfigured hands and feet and giving them snacks. They live on 400 rupees a month, two kilos of rice a year, and three pairs of clothes a year, and we were able to show them Christ’s love through physical touch and simply being with them. A few other ministry opportunities we participated in were: a college age evangelical Nepali youth group, the Ghandaki Boarding School and Rainbow Ministries. Rainbow Ministries is an organization, led by a local church that is designed like a weekly VBS to reach out to the children in the community. Our team was in charge for a whole afternoon and we divided up into four stations: song, games, story-telling, and craft. Through each of those stations we were able to hang out with a couple hundred kids and show them God’s love.
In conclusion, God greatly blessed our ministry and evangelism time in Nepal. We saw God move in powerful ways in all areas of ministry we participated in. With the effort of the whole team and leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit, 55 Nepali people professed Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
-Kaila, Amy, Emilie N, Jamison, Cody, Chelsea and Hannah K
Culture and Heritage
Nepal has one of the most fascinating and unique cultures in the world. Our team really enjoyed getting to learn about it. We found that freedom of religion is so new to Nepal, the majority of the people we encountered where Hindu or Buddhist. Their religion is more than a belief system. It is a family tradition, passed down through generations that impact every part of their lives. We took several days to learn more about their religions by visiting places of worship. Doing this allowed us to more effectively minister to them.
First we visited a Buddhist temple called Swayambhunath. It is more commonly known among tourists as the monkey Temple for the abundance of free-roaming monkeys. Because it is more touristy, it was difficult to see it as a place of worship. There were lots of prayer flags and prayer wheels, which the Buddhists use as avenues for sending their prayers to heaven. There were also Buddhist monks chanting ritual prayers, but they seemed very stiff and for show. Everywhere we walked among the temple, vendors tried to sell us souvenirs.
The next day we visited a Hindu temple called Pashupati Nath, It is a common site for cremations, which we got to witness. There were also many holy men sitting around known as Sadus. As a form of worship they are known for their dreadlocks, colorful face paint and frequent use of hashish, also known as pot. They will take pictures with you, but there is a small price.
One of the most unsettling things our team was a young girl called the Kumari, worshipped as the incarnation of the temple of the goddess Shiva. She spends her life locked in a building except for three daily 30 second appearances in a window and an occasional festival experience. This is her life from age three until a drop of blood leaves her body.
In Pokhara, we visited a Buddhist monastery in a Tibetan refugee camp. It was much more worship focused instead of just for tourists, and it was much darker spiritually. Again we watched the monks chanting, but this time it was a mix of adult and child monks. The atmosphere was very demonic, which made the team feel very drained, while opening our eyes at the same time.
After being in so many spiritually dark places, it was a refreshing change to visit an Evangelical Christian Church in Kathmandu. The entire time we were in Nepal, people greeted each other with the word Namaste, meaning I salute the god within you. Among Christian, we learned to used the word Jamase, meaning I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ. Being able to worship with other believers was extremely encouraging.
Outside of visiting places of worship, we also experienced daily life in Nepal. We took two days and hiked the Himalayas. In Kathmandu we hiked 8 miles, and in Pokhara we climbed over 1600 steps to an ornate Buddhist temple with an amazing view. It was amazing to see the cities we stayed in on a bigger scale and admire the gorgeous landscapes. Almost every night, we ate out for dinner. We each got 100 rupees per meal, equivalent to about $1.16. Even on such little money we were able to eat a full meal. Some of our favorite entrees were mom, which are dumplings stuffed with anything from buffalo to apples; chowmein, which is a noodle dish; and tenthuk, which is the Nepali version of chicken noodle soup with large dumplings in it. For drinks we were unable to drink the tap water because of bacteria. We instead drank Coke, Fanta, Sprite, milk tea (a creamier sweet version of black tea) or water that we had in our water bottles.
Living in Nepal was quite the experience. The streets are ridiculous. Traffic is fast and chaotic. The roads double as sidewalks for pedestrians. Livestock such as dogs, chickens, water buffalo and cows, which are considered holy and are the national animal of Nepal, roam the streets. Outside of our hotels we rarely had access to western toilets. Instead we used squatties, which are simply holes in the ground. When we walked the streets we were regularly offered hashish or asked to buy items from the shopkeepers sitting on the curb outside their shops.
Overall, Nepali people are very hospitable. It was super easy to get to know them, and they frequently offered us milk tea. Our entire team enjoyed our time learning about Nepali culture.
-Marci, Anna, Meredith, Mallory, Emily K, Heather and Penny
