Known for his deep sense of compassion and his kind-hearted wisdom, Silas West, outgoing Director of Community Care, has been a founding figure of Word Made Flesh from the very start. He and his family have undoubtedly created a spiritual legacy that extends far beyond the Nepal and Omaha communities, as they have inherently shaped the theology and vision for all of our WMF communities.
Silas headed to Kathmandu, Nepal to establish a WMF presence in September of 1997. His fiance at the time, Kimberly, was serving in Honduras, but soon came to complete a Servant Team in Kolkata. The two were married in 1999 and started a new life journey together in Nepal. More than 15 years later, Silas, Kim, and their four wonderful children—Jedidiah, Adia, Elijah and Priya—are transitioning into a new manifestation of their vocational calling. As we send them out to continue God’s work in the world through their family, we celebrate the grace of their lives, their stories and their friendship by reflecting with them on their tenure with WMF:
What are some of the key scriptures that have guided your service with WMF?
Early on, before we ever started, some of us would do Bible studies with Chris about God’s heart for those who are poor. One of the passages we would meditate on was Psalm 68, especially verses five and six, which says “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows is God in his holy dwelling” (NIV). That idea—that God is a home for orphans and widows—would go through my mind a lot. It just so happened that the two homes we were led to start in Nepal were both reflected in this verse. Karuna Ghar (Home of Compassion), our home for children who had been left without parents, and Prem Ghar (Home of Love) for elderly women who have lost their families.
Much of our effort, our energy—recognizing and reflecting through these verses who God is—all that we did on a daily basis became in itself a liturgy. We were trusting the kingdom of God in this way of restoring the lives of people.
What are some of your favorite memories from Nepal?
Silas: My favorite thing was sitting around and sharing coffee with Gautum in the morning. Whatever the day brought, no matter what was going on, we could spend hours talking together (sadly for Kim sometimes!). We had that kind of friendship where we really, really knew each other. So even though we were from different cultures, we could leave many things unsaid. We could hold each other accountable. It’s my favorite part of being in Nepal and my favorite part of going back.
Kimberly: One of my favorite memories is of spending time with the ladies at the children’s home. We would all do our laundry together and hang out. There was an amazing element of companionship. Community in Nepal was just like being with my family. We had aunts and uncles and cousins. We had Gautam and Rekha. We lived together. We raised our children together. We had family in our own house; people who were really involved in each other’s lives. We always had people around, people involved, people to help, so we were never lonely. We simply lived life together.
Your beautiful friendship with Gautam and Rekha Rai began in a small momo (a steamed dumpling) restaurant. Through that relationship they were baptized, and helped cast the vision for Karuna Ghar.
A couple of years into our time there, right after Jedi was born, Gautam and Rekha asked if they could be baptized. This was early on in my ministry career, and I had never baptized anyone before. But together we went through scripture and the basics of doctrine on baptism, and we asked one of our pastor friends who was on our board if he knew where we could go. At that time, Christian baptism was still illegal in Nepal. But that Sunday, we all went to church together. I actually gave the message.
Afterward, as we were walking to the nearby river for the baptism, the pastor asked Kim to go and get “the baby-carrier” thing for Jedidiah. A little shocked, we asked him why. His response was that it would be of use “just in case” we needed to pick up and run from the police. Needless to say, it was an amazing experience.
What is one of the most important things you’ve learned through serving with WMF?
When I think about my time with WMF, I think about community. Community has been one of the key themes for our family. So many people think of community as this perfect thing, but it rarely is. It’s only what you bring into it. When you have an ideal in mind, it leaves a lot of room to blame others when things don’t go right, when people fail you, when they mess up. But community is about what you bring and how you choose to live. You can’t help but experience grace, for yourself and for others, when you’re in community. That’s what being with WMF has taught me the most.
How are you and your family carrying this lesson of community as you transition from WMF?
Jack Nicholson’s character asks, in the famous movie, “What if this is as good as it gets?” I think about that line a lot, because the truth is that sometimes, what we have in front of us really is as good as it gets.
This isn’t a downer. It’s actually hopeful. Because here and now is where God meets us and meets the world. Here and now is where Jesus is entering into the world incarnationally through us. God meets us where we are, not just where we hope to be in five or ten years.
When we get dissatisfied, the temptation is to move away just because we didn’t find what we were looking for. But that means we’re probably never going to find what we’re looking for. It’s the lesson of community again. God meets us here. I want to leave WMF well, carrying these lessons, so that I can enter well into a new thing. All of the years of life that I’ve lived in community with WMF are gifts and graces I’m bringing with me to a new community. I hope that it will be a gift to others.
Your family’s lives are certainly kniit together with the Rais, all of the children of Karuna Ghar, the Ammas, and so many more friends in Nepal.
Absolutely. Recently, Priya wrapped herself in a sari, proclaiming that she was going to get married. I asked her if she was going to wear a sari for her wedding. She turned to me and said, matter-of-factly, “Yes, because my people wear saris at weddings. I’m Nepali!” Our kids witness to us what Christian community means, what it means to become one with each other.
As we celebrate you and your family, what are your hopes for the future? What is on the horizon?
Actually, what’s next for us springs from our life in Nepal. We are currently preparing to welcome foster children into our home, and hopefully to be able to adopt. Our kids couldn’t be more excited. In fact, because of the life that they lived in Nepal—how they saw the world, and how they experienced who God is and what it means to be a Christian—it is an expectation that they have for us to open our home to children who need it. For them, it’s the tangible reality of serving God.
We asked the West children to share their favorite things about Nepal!
Jedidiah:
You could see Mount Everest!
Adia:
How kind everyone is there!
Elijah:
Dal bhat (a lentil and rice dish). And my friends and everybody there!
Priya:
The Monkey Temple. And having tea with my Aunties!