My favorite coffee shop is located in a relatively small part of the world, down an alley with stringed lights, diagonal from a bakery, and on the second floor of a cement building.
Can you picture it?!
There are no street names, no stop signs, no street lights. Someone could blindfold me and I'd know how to take you there; just please make sure I don't run into a taxi, rickshaw, or dog.
You step out of the semi air conditioned hotel into a sticky, humid, hot air. You take a left and follow the road of shops, food stands, and clothing stores until you come to an intersection. Did I forget to mention you walk on the left hand side of the road, not the right?
You hang a right at the busy intersection and maybe brush up against a taxi trying to navigate the crowds. I've bumped into more taxis with my body than I have actually ridden. You take another right at the first alley, where the pastry shop is at on the corner. You walk halfway down past the "laundry mat" and then walk up a set of cement stairs.
Himalayan Java. Kathmandu's first legit coffee shop/chain (to my knowledge. It definitely was not there my first summer in Nepal in 2012, but it was most definitely there in 2013 because that's where I spent all my rupees).
Here's why this particular coffee shop is my favorite. I've seen many a coffee shop in my 15 years of international travel. I started doing cross-cultural missions when I was 14 years old and haven't stopped since. (I think I just gave away my age but I'm okay with that). I have been to some swanky coffee places in my travels, especially in Western Europe, but this little country and this little coffee shop in the corner of the world that is Nepal is different.
In this country:
I was introduced to my first experience of culture shock.
I witnessed firsthand a people that had never heard of the name of Jesus.
I shared in the light and life these people had even though they lacked basic necessities.
I watched people with leprosy (actual leprosy) smile back at me when I touched their limb.
I listened to a friend read part of the Gospel of John to a man who just wanted to listen to God's Word but couldn't read or find a way to get to church because he lived in the slums.
In this coffee shop:
I had some really painful moments I had to work through and process.
I had some really sweet moments I cried over.
I had some really challenging moments I wasn't sure how to navigate.
I've processed a lot of life at these tables with coffee in hand. I've shared in meals with fellow leaders as we hammered out ministry details for the next day. I've had quiet moments with the LORD at my usual spot (until my cover is blown by my students who accidentally find said coffee shop ;) ).
Nepal was not the first country I ever traveled to. It was my eighth.
From that moment on, I knew it was different. I knew I was different. Since my first exposure to this beautiful country, I have been to ten other countries. (This doesn't include the seven before Nepal). And every time I get asked where my favorite place has been that I've traveled to it's always an easy answer: Nepal.
The people, kids, way-of-life, passion, zeal, perseverance, joy...is unlike anything I have seen anywhere else in the world. Their thirst and hunger for Jesus and for their own people to know Jesus is deep. Their church services are held in hotels, houses, or old buildings and when you sit knee-to-knee with another sister in Christ to worship the same God, something shifts in your heart, mind, and spirit. When you take communion together and pray in different languages but to the same God, your heart breaks open a little wider.
I felt alive in one of the poorest parts of the world.
Why? Because of the work, presence, and power of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit at work in each of our lives right where we're at. Yes, the Lord used another part of the world to influence me in huge ways, but hear me.
You do not need to go across the ocean to experience the work, presence, and power of the Spirit. You can experience him across the ocean but that is not the way or the only way. In fact, I am most connected to the Lord in my room with a cup of coffee, door closed, sitting in my little blue chair. Facts!
This country and these people have changed me. So has all of the small moments of faithfulness that no one will ever see or hear about publicly.
"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." (Psalm 16:11).
So, I share this with you today to share about a part of my life that has been impacted by another place in the world, but I hope you hear that you don't need to escape your daily realities to experience Him.
Different cultures provide different experiences.
Different locations don't provide a more powerful experience, just a different one.
Different ministry opportunities don't overshadow the ministry in your home or in private.
My Himalayan coffee shop is dear to me.
My little blue chair is dear to me.
Both are dear for different reasons and in different ways.
The Lord used Nepal to change me in ways I didn't know I needed changing. That changing didn't stop when I left Nepal or when I went back three other times. The change came with me back home and has impacted the way I live here.
Maybe you have a place that has really impacted you, or maybe it's an event, a camp, a small group, a person, or a conference. Don't let the change you experienced then stop there. Take it with you into other seasons of your life. Because it may be a different location or even vocation, but it's the same Lord, same Father, same Spirit.
My change started in this corner of the world.
This change has continued in the suburbs of Minnesota.
Be faithful with where you are, where He has you, and what He's entrusted to you.
He's using it and you. In the public and private. In your home and at work. In the mundane and the messy. In the nap times and the lunch times.
He sees you in your corner of the world. Wherever that may be.
"The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds." (Psalm 33:13-15).
[Guided Prayer]
Father, use what I have where you have me. The change you began in me in that specific time and place in my life, continue that work in me today. Bring to my mind that work which you started. Continue to use the things I have experienced in this life for my good and ultimately your glory.
Meet me on the other side of the world if that's what it takes. Meet me in my room or in the laundry room if that's what it takes. No matter where I am, in your presence there is fullness of joy. Thank you for the experiences you have given me to show me more of yourself and your Father heart for me and towards.
In Jesus' name, amen.
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