After a long time....

Hello all. Sorry for the delay in updating you all. Things have been good, but busy, and I haven’t wanted to sit through painfully slow internet connections to upload a blog. The past two months have gone by in a blur. I can’t believe that three months are almost past already! Though the past months have been really great. 20 students came for a two month outreach from Australia. It was quite a shock at first to have so many young people running around. A group of about 8 joined me and the two Canadians for about five weeks. It was a good five weeks. We spent time in a local village, praying and also organizing a clean up event, where we cleaned the village and also were able to share through skits, songs and speaking that we need cleansed on the inside as well. We also spent a week working in the cabin restaurants. This was a great time for some of the students to connect to the cabin girls and also to the neighbors and shop keepers in the area. I was sick that week, and it was quite a struggle to have the energy to translate and go out all the time, but God was good and I was able to help the students connect to the people around us. We met many people who are interested in learning more about Jesus and we still continue to build those relationships. Now I am back to working in the local church plant. It has been good for my Nepali skills, but a challenge for me personally. I enjoy the people so much, but our time can sometimes feel stale and dead. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would fill our meetings, and that we would know God’s will for our time and how to spend it. I wrote before about our land purchase. Praise God that the money all came in! It is so good to know that God also wants to provide and give us good things! He has confirmed that by giving us the land monies. Thanks for your prayer and support for this as well! The countdown is on. I will be back in the US in about 3 months! It is so hard to think about my time here coming to an end. I have enjoyed my time here so much, and feel a little like a deserter that I am leaving Nepal during such an important time. In about two weeks, Nepal will hold elections, voting for a government who will rewrite the constitution and all its laws. Nepal has been in a state of limbo for a while now. The temporary government has postponed elections several times over the past year and a half, and now it seems like the election might actually take place. Be praying for Nepal. More than anything, pray that good, caring and responsible Nepalis will vote in the elections. Many are not interested and have planned to take vacations instead. Nepal is a young democracy, and many have felt like their voice has never been heard. This election will put into place the constitution that will govern this land. From this election, the future of mission and organizations and workers like me may change forever. If good people (especially Christians) choose not to vote, then people in this land don’t want a democracy. It is so easy for our people here at the base to pray fervently for Nepal, but are still unwilling to seek God about voting. Pray for them. Many of you have read, seen and heard much about the unrest in Tibet. I have heard of some clashes here in Kathmandu as well. Don’t worry, I am far removed from that side of town, and here in the village, we haven’t seen or heard anything about the situation in Tibet. Pray for this land as well. We know that God has created Tibetans, and He loves them. Pray for peace to be restored to this land.

GREETINGS FROM NEPAL

Hello all. As I sit typing this email, I can see some people farming their terraced plots of land and can hear someone filling a bucket from a water pump. Behind me in one of our classrooms 13 students are studying the Bible in Nepali. They are part of a several month course where they will read through the Bible three to five times. They are learning the Inductive approach, which will teach about the times and authors and situations in which the Bible was written. This is quite a challenge for many of them, who are taking this course in their second language. Sabina, our hospitality director is running around preparing rooms for the 23 Australians who are coming for outreach today. The sun is finally breaking through the fog and things are warming up. The birds are chirping, the flies are buzzing, people are taking layers of clothing off. It is a good day. After returning to Nepal I made a room change. My room now is much smaller, but that makes it easier for me to heat. I also have a new roommate; a team of three came from Canada after I got here. The room is great, except that it is much louder than the last room I had. It gets morning light, so I can thaw out pretty easily! Also, making big base news is the process of buying a new plot of land! Our base is situated right next to a Madrassa. This is a Muslim boarding school for boys. Most of these boys are from the southern part of Nepal or India. For the most part, we live pretty peacefully. They are very nice when we need help or space, or when our volleyball goes over the fence. They have begun to buy up plots of land surrounding our base. It is frustrating to see that the plots of land we have been praying for are being bought up by people who don’t like what we are doing. They recently began negotiations for a plot of land right next to us. They were planning to buy it for some housing. Miraculously we were able to arrange to buy the land before they put any money down. We paid two Lakh Rupees (200,000 or $3,100) for a down payment and need to pay the remaining 14 Lakh (1,400,000 or $22,275) within three months. PLEASE pray for this provision. God has done one miracle in letting us begin the process of buying the land, but we need to see another to actually buy the land. If you feel led to give, let me know! I will keep you posted on the happenings here!

last few minutes in America

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go... I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again. So my last few hours have been filled with packing, weighing repacking, reweighing and getting everything cleaned up. Hard to believe that I am leaving the US again. For some reason this time is a bit harder. I think it is because I was only back in Denver for two weeks. I am excited to go back to Nepal and finish what I started, complete this trip and be with friends there. This time is a little different though. I leave Denver at about 5.30pm today (Monday), and I arrive in Nepal on Wednesday at about 1pm. I am SO NOT excited to be in transit, trapped in the small seat with 500 new best friends. I can only hope for well bathed small people to sit next to me, and for good movies on my little screen. I arrive in Nepal on Wednesday which is typically the day we have our base staff prayer meeting. It will be fun to see everyone at once, and have see people I otherwise wouldn't. Not sure what my ministry plans are, I think I will be working on the same team as before, only this time a team of three is coming from Canada. I think I am going to lead the team (or I guess guide the team is a better term), helping them adjust to Nepali life and culture. We'll see. Thanks so much for praying for me! I have been so blessed by you all! Your calls, emails, comments, hugs and coffee have been an encouragement! I feel like you go with me when I travel, that I am not alone. I received word that the insurance policy I took out will reimburse me for my flight to the states in November. This is a great help, keeping me debt free and lifting that burden from my shoulders. Blessings to you all! Come visit!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

My time with my grandmother has been good. We have decorated several rooms, sent out MANY thank you cards for condolence gifts, and begun the task of getting Christmas cards sent out. I have felt almost more detached from friends while in Southern Colorado than I did in Nepal. There aren’t many people my age in this town, at least I haven’t met any! I have to drive into town in order to answer email. I still enjoy my time here though! It is fun to spend time with Grandma as an adult. It has been a very special time. I plan to stay in Monte Vista until just after Christmas. Without a car it is difficult to nail down an exact date, but there should be people headed back to the front range after the holidays. I purchased my ticket to head back to Nepal on January 7. I am excited to head back to Asia, and hope that I haven’t forgotten too much language in the six weeks I have been in the states. Please continue to pray for me! I haven’t received word regarding reimbursement of my earlier plane ticket to come back for the funeral, and I would REALLY like to have that money to pay for this ticket back! Transition back to American culture hasn’t been too hard. Thank you so much for praying for me. I head back to Asian culture in about three weeks. Please keep that in mind for me. Wishing you all the merriest of Christmases, feeling the presence of Jesus, and His miraculous birth!

Celebrating 25 years!

Christianity in Nepal isn’t even 60. Before 1950 being a Christian in Nepal was punishable by deportation and loss of citizenship. For the few that accepted Christ, their land was taken from them and they were made to leave the country. My mission started in Nepal in the 80s. A team of three people decided to live and work in Nepal. Two Americans and a Dutch girl began working in Kathmandu. The days were hard and they faced MANY MANY hardships. All were put in jail for illegally “proselytizing;” witnessing and converting Nepalis. Until about a year ago it was illegal to baptize some one, a crime whose punishment was six years in jail! God however isn’t held by legislation and His purposes are being fulfilled in Nepal! My mission (I haven’t said the name for security reasons) has grown from three to more than 400 in 25 years! In the beginning ministry was very limited, but now we are working in about every zone (state) in the country! We had a celebration last month to remember what God has done in Nepal, and to look to the future for what God wants to do here! I was so blessed to be with so many Nepalese who has given up so much for follow Jesus in Nepal. Many don’t have good relationships with their families because they have chosen lives of service and ministry. I was so encouraged to be with so many people who love Nepal and the Nepalese people. The three original workers (who are all still working in Asia) came and helped us remember what God has done. We were more than 300 pressed into our small Kathmandu base, but it was so fun to be together.

Dashain (daas-sai)

Dashain and Tihar are the two main festivals in Nepal. They are Hindu festivals that celebrate the planting and harvest of rice and other crops. The Dashain festival lasts about 15 days, but the tenth or “dashain” day is the most important. The festival takes place during the middle of October. During this festival each day is given to a different God or animal and the people worship them. One of the days I find most interesting is the day they worship iron. People will worship their cars! I was in a fabric store that had their scissors on display. Imagine owning your own fabric business but worshiping the scissors that you use to cut the fabric! Tihar is the first week of November and it is the festival of lights. It reminds me a bit of Christmas in the states because people put up twinkle lights everywhere, and many people put luminaries along their walkways. This holiday also lasts several days, each day worshiping different animals or Gods. The cow, water buffalo, the goddess Laxmi, brothers and even dogs. One day is given to the worship of street dogs because their barking scares away the evil spirits. Brothers are worshipped by their sisters, each one asking the Gods that her brother will live long, bring lots of wealth and honor to the family. One night in particular is important for worshiping the goddess Laxmi. Laxmi is the goddess of wealth and luck. The people will put tea lights and candles along their walkways, having lined the path with a coat of red mud, to guide Laxmi to their door. If they don’t light the path, the goddess will not see their house and skip over them. Isn’t it interesting that when we don’t understand truth, we will grab on to almost anything to save ourselves. So many people are fervently working to get favor by gods that don’t have power. They try desperately to gain merit from animals and family members. Please remember these people in your prayers. They so desperately need the freedom from religion that Jesus offers. They can easily have assurance of salvation, and the blessing that comes with being a child of God!

Cabin Restaurants

Some of you have heard about the research project I have been doing. This has been among the ‘Cabin Restaurants’ along one stretch of road here in Kathmandu. Cabin restaurants are restaurant/bars where each booth is partitioned off, so it is difficult to see in. The restaurants offer food, drink and along with it, the company of a woman. These restaurants are very common in Kathmandu, though they are officially illegal. My research has been to find out about the girls who work in these restaurants and what circumstances led them to this line of work. Almost all of these girls come to Kathmandu from their villages. Most are between the ages of 19-25, but I met some as young as 16 and as old as 39. These women are uneducated. About 60% are divorced. Their husbands having married another woman kicked them out and forced them to fend for themselves. The girls come to Kathmandu to find respectable work. Maybe they think they can find labor jobs, house cleaning or factory work. Once in Kathmandu the reality of their situation is realized. Already labeled a “divorced and uneducated village woman” (pretty much the four worst things you can be) it is very difficult to find work. In fact, it is next to impossible. The girls eventually find their way to cabin restaurants. They are given a salary of about 2,500 Rupees a month ($40.00) which is about half of what is needed to survive. They are usually given food by either the restaurant or the customers who come in. In this way they are close to being able to keep their heads above water. The customers who visit the restaurants are all very different. Some are young, 15 year olds others are very old. If it is their first visit, they will sit down and one of the girls will sit with him. He will usually order food (and drinks and cigarettes) for two. During his visit, he is allowed to fool around with the girl. If he likes her, he will some times tip her, and when he comes back as a regular she will always sit with him. The girls will work about 12 hours a day, seven days a week. They get no days off and if they are sick or have to be gone for any reason, she is usually docked pay. About half of the girls are prostitutes, sleeping with these guests either at the tables, or after hours. The stigma of these woman is that she is a pollutant. If her family finds out what she is doing, she will be excommunicated. If she were to find other work, or get married, and her husband or employer found out, she would be kicked out, immediately. It is thought that once a cabin girl she is bad for life. If she works in a hotel, she would try to pick up on the men, try to make them be unfaithful. This is a terrible cycle. Some of these girls have children. How can she afford education for these kids? How can she find a new job when everyone looks down on her. How can she get an education when she is at work from nine to nine. Would you pray for these women, and others who work in Dance Restaurants and Massage Parlors. Pray that God would show himself to her in a new way, as a lover who is kind and isn’t there to take from her, but to add to her life. Pray for more organizations who rehabilitate and rescue sexually exploited women to begin work in Nepal. Pray for stricter laws and those that enforce this illegal business. Thanks friends!