Arrival in Kathmandu

Wendy & Sam at Lazarus' church.

After a year of planning, selling all of our things and saying goodbye to family and friends we finally flew into Kathmandu, Nepal just over a week ago.

The last month in the States was especially hard, having to say goodbye to family, friends, co workers, and Lifebridge Church. As our son, Simon, drove away for the last time the day of our departure this all became so real. There is both grief and excitement as one chapter in our lives closes and another begins.

Looking back over the past year and how God has guided our steps we also realize how blessed we have been to have had the most amazing friends and family giving us help and encouragement every step of the way. Who knew what lay ahead for us as Lifebridge Church introduced us to Nepal January 2012? We didn't even know where Nepal was back then!

For the first few months our main priorities are to begin to learn the language and culture and begin to cultivate relationships, spending time with friends and Servlife leadership on the ground in Kathmandu. We are also spending a great deal of time trying to figure out where we will live and what we will be driving. This sometimes looks very different than it does in the West.

Nepal: This country is so full of beauty of both the country itself and more so of its' people. In Nepal the culture is based much more around relationships rather than individualism and individualistic accomplishment. Time moves much more slowly here which is sometimes difficult for me (Sam) as I like to push forward and get things accomplished. It took a few days for me to slow down and wait on God to lead us, giving me many 'opportunities' to learn patience (I'm still learning)!

We are learning many lessons and making many mistakes but God's grace and great friends are helping us navigate through them all. We plan to blog more soon, so stay tuned!