Easter Overseas

It’s the morning after Easter here in Nepal, and as I sit here and write this Ransom is laying by my side, still fussy with a new onslaught of symptoms (post stomach bug the night before last). Suffice it to say the bug has *ahem* moved south.

Our Easter has been quite different than what we are used to. There were no family pictures in our matchy matchy Easter outfits. Dane left several days ago for Humla where he and the rest of the team are trekking through the snowy mountains to reach our Tibetan friends that we have not seen since our trip in September last year before the snows came. I am five months pregnant so Ransom and I are back home in Kathmandu, missing him, and missing the last chance to see our friends before we head back to the states this summer.

There were no Easter baskets full of candy, or decorations of any kind. Our landlord’s wife (they live on the first floor of our house), a former preschool teacher, came up yesterday morning and brought Ransom a single egg because she remembered that today was important for us. Though she herself is Hindu, she told us how in school they used to color the eggs during Easter time because it was a fun activity for the kids. There is an egg-shaped candy available here with chocolate on one side and a toy on the other and though not officially and “Easter egg”, it was the perfect little gift for Ransom (though he never would have known the difference). A small simple gesture on her part, but it meant a great deal to me. I’m grateful for her kindness and care over our family especially while Dane is away, and for a chance to talk about such an important day.

I was able to Skype with my mother back home for a short time, and at the end of our conversation an Easter parade went passed our house. The entire group was composed of Nepali believers, walking through the streets of Kathmandu, singing praises and proclaiming that Jesus has risen. It was beautiful.

So this morning I am continuing to nurse my sick toddler, who more than any thing else right now simply needs me to be there and hold him. I continue to clean the towels and blankets from a night spent catching and cleaning vomit, all of which must be washed by hand because we don’t have a washing machine. There is still a list of things for me to do in preparation for the group of college students who are coming in May, eager to serve the Kingdom and transform lives in unreached places, and between a needy toddler and back loads of laundry and needing to get out to buy groceries alongside it all, I try to keep my sanity through cups of coffee and the hope of this toddler napping. Somewhere through the scuffle of shifting around old dirty towels for new ones in the middle of the night I realized I lost my wedding ring from my finger, and cried a little as I searched blindly for it in the dark wondering why this had to happen when Dane was gone. I found it hours later in one of the towels.

It is not the picture perfect Easter Sunday, it feels a little like being thrown into a tornado to be honest, and I’m struggling to get my bearings and hold on for dear life, but through it all I have seen the Lord’s loving and gentle hand. Through non-believing neighbors who brought my son a gift after a rough night, through refreshing conversations with my mother, and through Nepali believers singing praises and proclaiming Jesus is risen passing by my house. His work neither starts nor ends with me, and for this I am grateful. I am grateful for a God who rose from the grave and defeated death. I am grateful that he is using us and others worldwide to proclaim his love to those who have yet to hear. I am grateful to be part of a team that aren’t content to sit by as idle Christians, but run for the front lines. I am grateful for coffee after sleepless nights and long days, and that the Lord heals the sick and strengthens the weary. I am grateful to celebrate Easter without the extra trimmings and frills and in the midst of daily life (and a little bit of chaos) stop and praise the Lord because he is exactly who he says he is, and he sits on the throne.