Walk slowly

After a tiring 24-hour journey from Dublin to Kathmandu, stopping off in Heathrow and Dubai, the team of 8 arrived in Tribuvan airport to encounter what was to be the first of many challenges to our habitually fast-paced way of doing things…..queuing for visas. Whilst we had thought we’d been smart by applying for these online before setting out, we discovered that somehow the Electronic Travel Authorization forms we’d all printed out, complete with ID photo, were not valid, and instead we had to go to the back of the line and fill out another form on a large automated machine. Feeling a little dazed by the long hours of travel, this was a challenge. However, we soon found there were a number of Airport staff standing by, ready to encourage and help us, always with a welcoming smile and a patient demeanour.

After about 45 minutes we all managed to navigate this process and, passports stamped, could walk through to arrivals to collect our luggage…..only to meet our next delay….noone of our 8 cases were on the plane. There had been a problem with checking these through from Dubai due to some lack of an agreement between Emirates (our main booking airline) and FlyDubai who were taking us from Dubai to Kathmandu. Thankfully we had packed a few spare clothes in our hand luggage – but it was still disconcerting not to have the 25kg of “stuff” we’d all been packing so assiduously. And of course we had to wait again, filling out more forms, with yet more smiling and patient airport staff!

Soon, however, we were through and walking out into the meeting area, where we were warmly welcomed by BJ, our host for the first week of the visit. She of course had had to wait too, and in fact had been there for 2 hours. Knowing what a very busy person she is – being Executive Director of SDSS as well as bringing up her two kids on her own since her husband Bikash passed away in 2022 – we might have expected her to be in a rush.  Not a bit of it – she welcomed us with open arms, a big smile and not a scintilla of frustration, presenting us all with a lovely Nepali scarf.

Over the next few days we were overwhelmed by the kindness and patience of our hosts, shown in so many, many ways. One experience that stands out was attending a church service, led by our long time partner BBK, who is a wheelchair user. Although BBK opened and closed the service, we noticed how many other young leaders were involved in leading, with an extended period of praise being led by a young woman, backed by 6 or 7 young musicians and singers, and then another young man (also in a wheelchair) leading a time of heartfelt prayer where the whole 150 strong congregation joined in, ebbing and flowing for about 20 minutes.

Throughout the service, however, we could see people with all sorts of different disabilities walking in and obviously feeling so cared-for and at home. There were a number of wheelchair users, people on crutches, people living with Leprosy, the blind and people with cerebral palsy…all mingling happily with the able bodied. The atmosphere was electric, with young and old lost in praise, some crying out in thankfulness, others dancing for joy, and even an Asian trumpet being blown!

Compared to the services in the Church of Ireland there was none of the pressure to get through everything within the hour, no clock watching and no rushing off to get the Sunday dinner on….people had time for each other. In fact after the 2 hour service finished, most stayed on for an additional period of praise with the 60 or so Sunday School children when each was presented with a shoebox of gifts (donated via an organisation called Samaritan’s Purse).

As Jenny Smyth had reminded us during the team commissioning service back in Glengormley a few weeks ago, we were learning to “walk slowly”.