Sharing Life Together After the Earthquake

Sam and I thought we would be back in the States by now. Our 2 year assignment with ServLife International was ending, we sold most of our belongings, tied up loose ends, and were about to spend our last night in Pokhara before heading to Kathmandu for a few days and then flying back to the States. And then... the earthquake hit.

Sam and I quickly realized God's plans for us in Nepal were not at all done yet, he had us here for this specific time, so we cancelled our flights and extended our time in Nepal, for at least a month, to help in any way possible.

Of course there are many needs, and many people and organizations better equipped to meet those needs, but even before this disaster, Sam and I have always felt strongly that God brought us to Nepal for the relationships He put, and continues to put, in our lives, just as Ambika had said to us during our first visit, "We need brothers and sisters to come alongside us and laugh with us, cry with us and share life with us."

So that is where we began, with those He had already put in our lives. We visited our house helper, Kailii Didi, and learned she had not been able to get in touch with her father or mother who live in one of the worst hit areas. We knew a group of people who were heading out to that district in a few days and were able to get her parents names and a picture for those going to the area to take to ask around.

Wendy with Kailii Didi and her daughters

And while we later found out Kailii's parents were/ are safe and unharmed, I knew at that moment, before we knew any news about her parents, that we had already done what God brought us here to do. We had built real relationships, despite language barriers, cultural barriers and more, we were here sharing life together with all the beauty and messiness that entails- laughing, crying, loving, praying.

Ambika, Aama and the girls from
Peace Loving Nepal arrive in Pokhara

Of course, a huge priority for us was relocating our family, Ambika, Aama and the girls from Peace Loving Nepal, to Pokhara and out of Kathmandu, where they were living outside, afraid to go back in their house due to cracks in the walls and along beams from the first earthquake, with tremors continuing to come multiple times a day. In fact, the tremors are still continuing - 4 of them just yesterday! It took 5 days, due to the airport in Kathmandu being closed and the road between Kathmandu and Pokhara being blocked from landslides, but they finally arrived in Pokhara.

Aama enjoying a bed after
sleeping outside for multiple nights

After taking their first showers since before the earthquake, eating a delicious dinner, sleeping soundly for 12 hours and a big breakfast the next morning, we headed to one of the hospitals in Pokhara to visit and pray with people from one of the hardest hit districts. 

Here are a few stories from those visits to the hospital...

Wendy hugging a woman named Maya (means love) who was there with her teenage son who was injured. Five members of their family were killed in the earthquake. Even though she was not physically injured, she pulled at my heart more than anyone else. I spent extra time just sitting with her, talking to her as best as I could in my broken Nepali (with some help from Ambika), hugging her and letting her know it was okay to cry, as she kept trying to fight back her tears.

Ambika and Anipa with an 11-month old baby girl named Anuska and her mom. Their house collapsed on them and they were buried beneath the rubble for 6 hours before being dug out. Anuska's mother told us that Anuska cried for a little while, but when she stopped crying her mom was afraid she had died. Luckily, both Anuska and her mom are recovering nicely!

Gam Maya is 23-years old and 9 months pregnant with her first child. Her husband was killed in the earthquake. Her father is pastor of the church in their area.

Sarki is blind (he was blind before the earthquake). When the earthquake struck, the rest of his family were out in the fields, so he was not able to get out of the house to safety and something struck his head. He now has internal injuries and said whenever he lays down to sleep his head throbs with pain. Despite all of this, he was happy and smiling each time we visited, praising the hospital staff and saying that before he had only heard of Pokhara, but now he knows that it is a great place where the people care so much for others (we heard this same comment from several people during our visits).

Expressing our thanks to some of the nurses for all of their hard work.

As other groups came to care for the people in the hospitals, we became aware of another need not being met. We went to visit some rural homes just outside Pokhara, to talk with the families, see and hear how the earthquake had made their homes unlivable, share the Gospel, provide tents/ tarps, rope, rice, lentils, oil, salt and biscuits (cookies) and pray with and for them. 

This was the easy part -
with stone steps!

The following day we went a bit further out to the district of Syangja. This time we took tents/ tarps, rope and New Testaments, as we had heard that these families had food and water. It was a full day of walking up mountains, talking with and seeing earthquake stories and damage, praying for and with people, giving some families tarps/ tents and rope, and even more families Bibles. Sam visited every damaged home in the village. 

At first I was a bit skeptical, as the areas we went to were south of Pokhara (the opposite direction of where the worst hit areas are), including the village where our taxi driver was born. It made me wonder if we were being taken advantage of as foreigners offering aid. As they day progressed, though, my fears quickly faded, seeing homes that were unlivable, people living in fear and more excited that we had made the long, difficult hike up the mountain out of concern and love for them than for the tents/ tarps.

Ambika and I talked more about it the next morning. She told me that she shared, "We are Christians. God loves us and by following Him we are learning to love better and that's why we are here, because we love you. We're not here to tell you what to believe. We have brought the Bible that speaks of God's love for us and for you. If you are interested, read it and see if it is true."

She said people kept saying, "We already know you are here because you love us. No one else, not even from our own VDC (Village Development Committee), has come to check to see how we are, and you came from far away and made the long, hard walk up the mountain on a very hot day to check on us." Every single person we asked let us pray for/ with them and accepted Bibles - some asked for additional Bibles. 

After visiting with many families, we had lunch at our taxi driver's parents' home - the most delicious dal bhat (lentils and rice) Sam and I have ever had! 

Local guys who did the hard work
of hauling tents up the mountain

Also, a few local guys helped us haul the tents/ tarps up the mountain. Two of those guys were either friends or family of our taxi driver, but one guy asked to help after we visited with him. We learned that he is extremely poor (by Nepali standards), his wife ran off and he's trying to provide for his children, one of whom is disabled, so at the end of the day, Sam discreetly went over to him to thank him for helping, and as he shook his hand he gave him some money for his help, not wanting to make a big scene of it or embarrass the man in front of others. A few minutes later, the man pulled Sam and the taxi driver aside, asking the taxi driver to translate, to express his heartfelt surprise and extreme gratitude, that this really saved them in this time of need. Sam let him know it was not him, but God who provided. 

Then, we began to head back down the mountain as a storm seemed to be rolling in. Along the way, we detoured to another small village... and by detoured I mean we were almost down the mountain, when we took a turn to go see a few more houses. We were all exhausted but agreed, thinking they were close by and easy to get to... until we started climbing back UP the mountain! By the time we realized this was not a quick detour, we were too far into it to turn around. 

Nepali women are AMAZING...
my heroes!

As Ambika, Sam, Anipa and I poured sweat, searched for our last bottle of water and mumbled about how tired we were, a Nepali woman carrying a huge basket filled with straw on her head came walking up the mountain behind us, not even breaking a sweat or breathing hard. I asked Anipa to tell the woman that she is my hero and I think she's amazing! Of course, the woman laughed, as that is just part of her daily life in Nepal and not anything amazing to her. When we got to the houses (which is where Amazing Woman lives), Sam and the guys went to look at the damaged houses, while Ambika, Anipa and I were taken to sit on one family's porch.

An elderly woman who took hold of my arm from the moment she saw me, saw how excited I was about a baby goat and promptly sat me down in a chair, put the goat on my lap and got a bunch of leaves for me to feed the goat. 

A young boy (maybe 8 years old) sat in front of me and we talked some. It was his goat and as the whole village came to watch me holding, petting and feeding the goat, the boy said, "go ahead, take it home with you". I will never be able to put into words all the emotions I felt at that moment. Truly one of the most precious gifts I have ever been offered. Don't worry, I didn't leave there with a baby goat, although I'd be lying if I said I didn't REALLY consider it!

A few of the people from the village
who came out to see us

Then the woman whose porch we were sitting on brought out dudh chiya (milk tea) for everyone - not just us, but pretty much the whole village who had come out to see us! The taxi driver joked that we had only brought a few tents/ tarps, but this woman gave the whole village tea! She replied that "Even if we are dying in an earthquake, I will make tea!"

As we left, the elderly woman who took hold of my arm as soon as she saw me, walked with us, holding my arm for about half the way down the mountain, actually making it harder for me to walk, although her concern for me was so touching, I didn't want to say anything. When she finally said goodbye to me, she told both Ambika and the taxi driver to hold my arm and guide me down the mountain. Ambika tried to tell her I was fine on my own, but she continued to watch me with a worried look on her face, so I asked Sam to hold my hand until we were out of her sight. As soon as Sam took my hand, she turned around and began walking back up the mountain to go home.

We are now back in Kathmandu and preparing to go out to one of the other villages tomorrow, named Lele, that has not received any aid. The next day we will go with Lazarus to a village that was severely affected, and where several of our ministry partners are. I am both scared at the devastation I know lies ahead, as well as grateful that we are here and able to offer even the smallest bit of relief, comfort, concern and love for so many people during this time.