Khatmandu

Well, today is leaving day and how we got this opportunity is a story in itself. Throughout the past week our team has made so many different connections in Khatmandu and one of the main connections we have made was with a pastor here in the valley. My team member, Isaac and I, were asked to come and speak at his local church about All Nations and the reason we are here in Nepal.  I spoke about All Nations and the past two months in South Africa. Isaac preached about Stephen and his dedication to sharing God’s love. He gave such an encouraging message and the pastor loved the passion Isaac had behind sharing the Word and how DBS worked. After the service was over, we went into his office and he started talking about training his leaders. The pastor gave us three different locations in Nepal, where he asked us to go and teach his leaders DBS. He arranged interpreters and accommodations for our team in the different areas as well. The most exciting part is what we are going to be doing. We will be training his leaders for two hours or so in the morning then will be trekking into the surrounding villages in the Himalayas. Some areas could be as long as four hours into the villages. I am so looking forward to these hikes! The first area we are headed to is the Dolkhara region; the beginning of Mt. Everest’s hiking trail. From there we will head towards Chaku (sounds like Chaco) and then possibly head to the Chitwan region and then end in Pokhara. Our group is looking forward to getting out of the city and heading into the mountains! I personally cannot wait to hike and am looking forward to the exercise and clean air! God has been good, I mean again a week ago, we had no idea what we were going to do and now we have the next couple of weeks planned for us. Looking forward to getting in those mountains, please pray for the team.

The electrical

Other than that our week was full of just exploring the territory. We saw different parts of Khatmandu and learned how to walk on their streets and that in it self is an adventure. After one of our visits to Thamel, to get some last minute supplies for our trip, we jumped into a van to head back to the apartment. The van started out with about 10 people, by the end of the trip, the van that holds maybe 15 was carrying 25 people and the driver kept looking in the back seat, where we were sitting, to see if he could squeeze another person into our mix. The seat comfortably held three. There was already five of us back there. Talk about getting squished. We had a bright side though, if the van were to get in a wreck or something we would all be fine, because we were so tightly squeezed in no one would have moved.  We also met some awesome people this week. There is a group above our apartment that is just on fire for the Lord. Most of them have stories, where basically they bought a one-way plane ticket to Nepal and just waited on the Lord to see what they were to do next. The stories they share and the experiences they have had are ridiculous.  Some of them have no support, yet the money has come in to live and they have survived here for some as long as five years. It was so cool to see the faith they have and their obedience to the Lord. I was also really encouraged by some of my friends who recently came to the Lord. Some of their families have kicked them out and people who are supposed to love them unconditionally have physically and verbally abused them. I was so encouraged by the faith that they have and their willingness to basically give up everything to follow the Lord.  

We had a lot of fun this past week as well, just hanging out with the team. One night we were in the room talking and a bat flew in. It was probably the funniest thing that has happened to us, because all three of us ladies sprinted into three different rooms and slammed the doors shut behind us. We left our other team member, Isaac, out in the cold. The funny thing was he had no idea what was going on, basically he just walked in and we all sprinted into different rooms. When he realized what was going on he grabbed a broom and finally was able to get it out of the house. It was really funny to watch though and some of us found we could be professional sprinters. We also hand washed clothes for the first time and learned how to haggle prices. We have had so many stories over the past week it has been crazy. All in all it has been a good week, but I am so excited to head to the mountains. I cannot wait to see the village life we are going to experience there!