Easter Sunday

I had the most interesting Easter Sunday!

In morning we did an open air in a market. (open-air evangelism: we go to a busy place and then dance, share stories of how Jesus transformed our lives, dance some more, do a drama, and someone usually preaches/shares a message to the curious crowd that gathers. Then we talk more afterward to the people who stick around.)
So we did one of those, and then were scheduled to do another one somewhere else.

So we get our backpacks and are led by our translator to this house with a colourful tent outside. We were greeted with "Jai-ma-see" (Glory to the Messiah! ... a greeting Christians say to each other), and were led to sit in the chairs set up. We were served orange drink and soft music played in the background.
We still didn't know what was going on or why we were there.
More people kept coming, and being seated.
I figured it was an Easter Service.

Then we were told through broken English it was a memorial service for a guy who died a year ago.
!
And then we were told it was our translator's uncle's dad who was a Christian and died 2 weeks ago, and it was a memorial service for him.
I was asked to preach at the 2nd open-air, but our leaders asked me to preach here instead. (plans change when you're on outreach!)
There were a lot of Hindu friends and relatives there. So we did a Jesus drama,
and then I preached on what God told me to preach on that morning. How Jesus is for everyone, whether you're born into a Buddhist, Hindu, atheist, or anything family. Because you're a person. You're made in God's image, and that is worth enough to God to send Jesus to die and to take care of the sins against you and cancel the debt you will never be able to get rid of.
So I preached,
under a colourful tent,
at a guy's memorial service,
on Easter Sunday.

Ha! it was great.


I must not forget to add that God is also doing such a refining work in me though.
Beneath the funny/thrilling circumstances I find myself in,
A lot of my areas in my life have been confronted and my holes exposed. I am pushed spiritually to my limits and then the thin areas that I thought were strong, take me by surprise.
Some of my attitudes, actions, and motives of the heart were showing in this very-demanding setting,
and I asked God why I was like that.
Atop a cliff overlooking a Kathmandu slum, we had worship in the late afternoon on Easter Sunday, and God began to speak clearly into my life like only a perfect Counsellor can do.
Bottom line:
I had believed deep, subtle lies that I didnt even realize.
Feelings of worthlessness, and being performance-oriented.
Pretty much, the lie that "my presence is only worth something if I can offer something of value (words, advice, song, a smile, etc)/bring something to the table."
Different fears finally being revealed to me, that I never could see before:
Fear that I'm not going to be good enough.
Fear of failure. Fear of getting in trouble, fear of being bad.
the lie, that "what good am I if I fail?" Love based on merit. Conditional.

Which left me feeling like a fettered bird. A little bit tense when I'm getting to the end of my rope, because I need to prove my value. Talk about performance-oriented! Yikes, sounds exhausting.

Which explains why I love certain worship songs which are about the unconditional love of God. That I can just BE and BE LOVED. For nothing I can DO, but just because I AM.
Ahh... what a relief.

Revelation by the Holy Spirit, touches and transforms like nothing else!

So that's the latest with me,
day by day I am walking in this familiar, yet new and deeply profound truth that I AM LOVED. Unconditionally, by the King of kings.

Bless you all!