Sahunis and Sahujis (Nepali Storekeepers)

I had heard that the small shirt shop just down the street from our home was owned by a Nepali Christian woman.  So one afternoon last week, I went for a look since I have no shirts that cover my rump, as is necessary in most of Nepal.  Sure enough, the lovely Sahuni was Christian.  We talked in a mixture of English and Nepali.  She was helpful in picking out a couple of shirts for me, but before allowing me to pay (after a discount for being a believer myself), she stopped and said we must pray.  She held my hands and prayed in a mixture of Nepali and English, for me, my family, and for Nepal.  This was not in some secret back room.  Her store is the size of most American bathrooms and has no doors to the street but is simply wide open for passersby to easily view inside.  It was really an encouraging experience to meet a strong Nepali Christian.

The next afternoon, Jack would not go to sleep for his nap despite all my best tricks.  I begrudgingly put him in the carrier and walked out into the stifling heat in search of zucchini.  I was surprised to find it at one of the little fruit/vegetable shops near our home.  I have shopped in this particular pusel (shop) previously, and the Sahuji smiled and said, “Namaste,” as I approached.  We ended up chatting in Nepali for about 20 minutes, covering many different topics.  The farther into conversation we got, the harder it was for me to keep up in Nepali, but I was still quite happy to talk for so long in this challenging language!  Ram, the Sahuji, even started asking me questions about religion.  “Are you a Christian?  Do you go to church?  What do you do in church?  When do you pray?  How do you pray?”  Wow!  This confirmed that Nepalis are generally quite open to faith conversations.  I, in turn, asked him about his Hindu beliefs.  Perhaps you might say a prayer for Ram: like many Hindus, he is accepting of all gods and has trouble understanding or accepting that Jesus is the only way to the One True God.

It was a blessing to have my frustration over Jack’s lack of sleep turn into a faith conversation with a local shop keeper.  And of course it’s exciting to finally be reaching a point in language that I can actually talk to the Nepali people!  Praise God with us for these things, but please don’t stop praying over our language abilities and opportunities for more faith conversations—we have much farther to go!