Learning to Adjust to a Fluid Life and Ministry

A time of reflection, we have been in Nepal for 18 months. At times this seemed an eternity, and at others, a small window of time. Wendy has taken the opportunity to write most of our blogs, handled all of our accounting and she has done a great job. I just want to take a minute and appreciate her, Wendy, I'm so glad we are on this journey together. I would not be here without you. You push me to be a better man and keep me from making a mess of things,  most of the time.  Sometimes I still get one past you.

As most of you know, I'm the adventure type who loves to drive up mountains and see and meet the people in hard to reach villages. These past 8 months have looked very different from that, I had to stop doing the part of the job that I was comfortable with and try to recreate a MicroFinance program, which is an amazing tool that God has used with us in Nepal and hope that this increases 100 fold. I'm extremely excited about our new program. Wendy and I, along with Peter, just finished developing the Official ServeLife HOPE Fund Operations Manual! I just can't get over how amazing my wife did with this part of the work, she stayed up many nights and put hundreds of hours into this. This is definitely a strength that she has, and I am so glad that she put up with me during the creation of this. I know I can be hard to work with but we are learning to work together very well.

So today starts the next chapter of our adventure. After all of the new documentation is approved and complete, around January 15th, I get to start heading back out to the villages again, so we are getting the vehicle ready for rough travel again, and forming plans. Our new procedures have us doing a 6 day class with 2 groups of 5 people each. I am going to have the opportunity to spend more than I ever have in a village at one time. Spending up to 2 to 3 weeks at a time. Should be a blast and a challenge as I will find out fast my need to learn more of the language. My new partner Peter Ghimire and I are extremely excited to be going back out on the field. We thought that I might be able to turn over the HOPE Fund after 2 years, but it feels like we are just getting started with a completely changed program.

Peter and Lazarus have asked us to stay longer to assist them further, but we will have to see what God's plans are about this. Wendy and I are open to the idea of staying as long as we are needed, and doing more good than harm! Please pray for us that God gives us a clear path forward. If we do stay on, we will be praying and seeking a new vision and a new commitment.

ServLife International has been great to us, and we want to thank them for every opportunity they have given us, also giving us grace when we slip and sound advice during difficult times. They are truly a fantastic organization, really making a difference.

Just wanted to say a special thanks to our Home Church, LifeBridge Cypress, as well as their mother church St. John's Lutheran, you have helped make sure that we are well cared for. Thank you for your love for us and the peoples of Nepal. We believe what we are doing here is eternally important, and you are all a huge part of that as well.

The View from our Rooftop, feel free to come visit!

Thanksgiving In Nepal

This time of year is one of the hardest for us. It is the holidays, where friends, family and good friends spend time over a good meal and great conversation. This year's Thanksgiving was more than we expected here in Nepal.

We have started going to a weekly Fellowship on Thursday evenings with expats from all different countries, representing many amazing organizations. You wouldn't know it by the pictures but these guys are the real deal, they have given up everything to be here, some of them over 20 years.

We got to have the dinner at our house which was held on Thursday the 27th, so we prepared the best thanksgiving meal we could for 17 people, and only 3 of us were Americans, so it was a blast going around the room and seeing what everyone was thankful for. This group has been great for us and has given us a home away from our church home back in the states that we can lean on. We take turns at one anothers houses and splitting up the sharing A typical night would look like a not so fancy dinner followed by  talking, giving advice, worshiping and praying. We thank God for giving us this group.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends and family back home. You are never out of our minds and prayers, especially during this time of the year.

Life in Nepal

My last few posts have been a bit serious, so I thought I'd lighten things up a bit this week with some pictures of what life is like here in Nepal...

Driving in Kathmandu - all directions go at once!

Electrical wires in Kathmandu! Even funnier when you consider that despite all of these wires, Nepal still doesn't have electric 24/7 unless you have an inverter (back-up battery)!

Kathmandu Department of Immigration Restrooms???

Nepal Dept. of Immigration Arrival Form.

Notice the 4th row down, the choices for SEX - Male, Female, Other???

Um, I hope they meant Pest Repeller, NOT Rest Repeller!

The life of many dogs in Nepal

The life of our dog, Assa ("assa" is the word for "hope" in Nepali... fitting since we're part of the HOPE Fund!) 

Assa looking out our bedroom window

And what is she looking at? That would be two buffalo plowing the field behind our house - although we are fairly certain Assa thought they were REALLY BIG dogs!

And what did I see when I recently looked out one of our windows at the field on the side of our house? I only wish I had seen buffalo plowing the field - instead I saw women BURNING the field!

Koinonia

Koinonia is a transliterated form of a Greek word meaning contributory help, participation, sharing in, communion, spiritual fellowship, a fellowship in the spirit.

Christian or not, I think most, if not all, people have a desire to be part of a community, a group of people, whether big or small, where they can participate, share, contribute and spend time together. Even as an introvert who LOVES, LOVES, LOVES my alone time, I too need community. 

In the States I was fortunate to be part of an incredible company, Great American Business Products, for over 13 years. And although it was not a spiritual fellowship, it did offer many aspects of koinonia in the sense of being a group of people who contributed, participated, and shared life with each other, not only at work, but as some of my dearest and closest friends and "family".

On top of that, Sam and I are fortunate enough to be part of LifeBridge Church, another amazing group of people who are truly seeking God, as well as being the church, not just "doing church" or "going to church".

And that's on top of our actual family and other friends! 

Our LifeBridge Family

So when Sam and I moved to Kathmandu, the biggest loss was not selling our house, cars, or furniture. It wasn't no longer having heating, air conditioning, 24 hour electricity, or even my beloved washing machine. It was being half a world away from all of the wonderful people God has put in our lives. 

Luckily, God immediately surrounded us with community here in Nepal through Ambika, Prem, Aamaa, the girls and Ambika's sisters, brother-in-law, nieces, nephews, and friends, as well as Lazarus, Martha, Rajendra, and many other Nepalis, not to mention our dear friends from the States, the Kim family - who we met in Colorado before coming to Nepal! 

The Lemmons, Darvas and Kims in Colorado

It wasn't until we moved to Pokhara that we had to seek out koinonia a bit more. Of course, we already knew the Darvas' from Australia (who we had also met in Colorado before coming to Nepal!). They are wonderful, and introduced us to a great group of people, mostly expats, who meet weekly for dinner and fellowship, which has been an incredible source of koinonia for us.

Our Church Home in Pokhara

However, finding a church home and getting to know our neighbors with our limited Nepali proved to be a bit more difficult. But now I am extremely excited to report that after almost 6 months in Pokhara, we have found a church home here, Santwana Church! It's about a 15 minute walk from our house, which means I can easily go even when Sam is away without having to take a bus or get a taxi. And on clear days, when the mountains aren't hiding behind the clouds, we get to walk most of the way to church looking at one of God's most incredible creations, Mount Machapuchhre, which is an amazing way to forget any troubles or worries and prepare to simply appreciate and worship God!

Also, the pastor and his wife know Abraham & Om Maya, some of our Nepali friends who live Houston, which is an added bonus. And although the entire service is in Nepali, I can actually understand some of it, and a few of the women have been nice enough to help me find the passages of Scripture in my English Bible, so at the very least, I can follow along with those parts of the sermon! What is really refreshing, though, is that as foreigners we've often felt like guests or even like we're on display at some churches we've been to, but at this church they just treat us like anyone else, which is exactly who we are!

Sam playing football (soccer) with two
boys from the neighborhood

And we're starting to build some relationships with our neighbors. One lady invited me over to visit and have apple juice last week. Also, two of the neighborhood boys came by asking Sam to play football (soccer) with them the day before that, which I think is beyond cool. Those same boys have also started coming by to borrow my bicycle almost daily since then, and two of the women who tend the field next to our house, who I've talked with and given bottles of water when they are out in the field a long time on hot days, came by the house recently and asked me if I like saag (leafy greens/ spinach). When I told them I do like saag, they asked me to come with them. We walked across most of the field to an area where they had just picked a bunch of saag and gave me a handful of it!  It seems we are becoming part of the neighborhood, and not just the "bideshis" (foreigners) in the house at the end of the path. 

A Cheese Puff Thanksgiving

During most of my childhood my mom was a single mom, raising me and my younger sister on her own. And while we always had a roof over our heads, food to eat, clothes to wear and the luxuries of electricity, plumbing/ running water, a tv, etc., I also remember times when I would get up to make my lunch for school only to realize that I would have to take one or two hard boiled eggs and fill my thermos with water, because that was all there was. One time, there weren't even any eggs. There was peanut butter and jelly, but no bread, so I wasn't sure what to do. Then being the resourceful child that I was, I spooned out some peanut butter and some jelly into a foil ball and took that for lunch!   

After I grew up and was on my own, the financially tough times continued for a while, like the Thanksgiving that all I had to eat was cheese puffs... and no, I don't mean the "high class, name brand 'Cheetos'", I mean generic cheese puffs! 

There was also a period of about 6 months or so when my dad was homeless and living in Michigan in the winter. There was a big part of me that wanted to help him, probably as much to alleviate my fears and worries for him, as much as to actually help him. I was an adult, making decent money at the time - no more cheese puff Thanksgiving dinners for me! I could have paid for the bus, plane or train fare for him to come to Houston and then let him live with me until he could become self-sustaining. But he had been living with another relative and chose to leave. What do you do when you know you can help, but your not sure if the help you can offer is ultimately going to help or hurt the person?   

Why do I mention all of these things? I mention them because all those things have had an impact on who I am today. Growing up I learned the difference between needs and wants, and I learned that I don't need (or want!) a lot of stuff to be happy. In fact, as anyone who knows me at all is aware, the less stuff I have, the happier I am. I know what it's like to have others look at me like I'm "less than" or avoid me because I'm the weird kid eating peanut butter and jelly with a spoon out of a foil ball for lunch. I know what it's like to want to help someone and not be able to or to be the one that needs help, but not want the help that is being offered. 

Because of all of these experiences and others, I've had a heart for the needy and the homeless for as long as I can remember. Before Sam and I came to Nepal, some of the people in our church were getting involved with Cy Fair Helping Hands, and I wanted so much to be part of that, but it seems God had other plans for me and always made sure I was unavailable when there were opportunities to help. 

There was a short time a few years before that when I used to go to areas of Houston to talk and pray with people living on the streets... and it wasn't always prayers for them to get off the streets. Sometimes that's what they wanted prayer for, but many times, they just wanted to be seen and heard as real people, each with their own story of how they got to where they were in their life, not just "a homeless person" that needed to be rescued.  

So that leads me to now. A few months ago I started seeing this woman on my way to language classes who appeared to be living in the corner of a field next to a short brick wall surrounded by trash and some plastic bags. A few times I said "Namaste" to her and asked her how she was, and although she would sometimes smile, she never really responded. So one time when Ambika had come to visit, I asked her to go with me knowing she would be able to talk with and understand the woman better than me. 

Between that visit with Ambika and from speaking with some of the people in the neighborhood who speak some English, I've discovered that the woman is mentally ill, but wasn't always mentally ill. Years ago she was married, lived in a house nearby and had a son, but while giving birth to her son she lost conciousness and after that she was never the same again. Although I think she still has a home nearby and people have offered to help her to get off the streets, she tells everyone who asks that she wants to stay where she is. 

I've asked the people in  our weekly fellowship group if they know anything more about her, but that's all anyone seems to know. And since she doesn't want to "move" from where she is living now, no one knows what to do or how to help. 

So I prayed about it and realized, that just because we would feel better if she were no longer living in that field, it doesn't mean that's all we can do for her. So what if she wants to stay where she's at? 

I can still go and talk to her, even if it's just for 5 minutes a day in my limited Nepali. I can take her bottles of water and food occassionally, an umbrella when it's raining and a jacket, blanket and warm socks when it's cold. I can pray for her and let her know that she's loved, that she's not forgotten like a piece of trash to be discarded and thrown away.

I call her aamaa, which means "mother" in Nepali and is a term that is commonly used here to refer to woman of an older generation, regardless of whether or not they are the person's mother or not. I always try to look her in the eyes when I talk to her to let her know she is seen, and while most of the time she will look down or away when I talk to her, she always looks me in the eyes when I tell her (in Nepali) that I love her, Jesus loves her, she's beautiful and God's daughter. 

When Ambika and Prem's girls visited Pokhara they went with me a few times to go talk to this woman, and after a few days she gave us permission to pray for her. We also stopped at two shops down the street to get things they thought would be good for her- bananas, a cucumber, a toothbrush, toothpaste, cookies, hand lotion and they even drew some pictures for her. I noticed that while she put the rest of items we brought to her aside for later, she immediately displayed the drawings the girls made for her on branches of a bush she was sitting next to. 

Today I took aamaa some bottles of water, some food and a "vase" (a plastic bottle) of marigolds from our garden. When I arrived she was re-arranging some of the trash and folding some rags and clothes... her version of Spring Cleaning, even though it's Fall. She took the plastic vase of flowers and set them on a rock ledge "table" and set the bottles of water and food to the side for later. We talked for a few minutes, and I told her one of the rags she was folding was "pretty pink". She finished folding it and then offered it to me. 

Unfortunately, I was thinking too practically (what would I do with it?) and politely declined instead of appreciating and accepting the generous gift she was offering me... not a mere pink rag, but the gift of being able to offer me a gift, something she probably rarely, if ever, gets to do anymore. For that I am both deeply sorry, as well as overcome by her extreme generosity. There I was hoping to reflect God's love to this woman, but she, who has almost nothing, is mentally ill and most likely has no idea who Jesus is, reflected Him to me.

Update from the field!

Learning a whole new culture and how to adapt is still a work in progress. Adam, ServLife's Director, also believes with our two year commitment that we should not make language a priority. Our friends that arrived just after us have already reached proficiency level I in the language and are about to begin their work. I am very excited for them, but I still only speak at a 2 year old's level. Wendy does better than I do, but we both still have a long way to go, and we are hoping to soon be able to put the required time into language learning.

When I first took on this role of HOPE Fund Director, Wendy and I really had no clue what we were getting into. We believed at the time we were coming in to greatly expand on a very successful system. We knew there would be some small changes and tweaks to get the program functioning more efficiently, but as we learn more, not just about the HOPE Fund, but about microfinance in general, we are now starting to see more clearly not only the things that have been done well, but also some significant areas for growth.

Peter

Peter, my new partner and the one who will eventually lead this program, and I are working on some of the changes already and it is getting exciting. Wendy and I are also working very closely together, discovering as much information about microcredit as we can get our hands on - and there is a lot of it available! We are working with another NGO that has been doing similar work for over 30 years in Nepal, as well as researching one of the first microcredit programs in the world, the Grameen Bank. We have learned a lot from both our mistakes and successes and feel very confident that God is guiding us, equipping us and giving us the grace to continue His work with the HOPE Fund, mapping out every procedure starting with village selection and ending with an exit strategy for the HOPE Fund, as the people in the villages rise out of poverty. Our new program will also involve much more teaching about finance, savings, health and sanitation, and nutrition. This is a great deal of work, and learning on our part, but it is rewarding being part of what God is doing and how this program will roll out and save lives.

This next week, I get to go back to Kathmandu and spend time with a team we will have there from the States. I will also be making a trip to Raxaul, India to be able to finally see our massive training center and children's home there. They have built many new buildings and this home will be able to house 100 orphans! I'm very excited to see what God is doing there.

Wendy and I are very passionate about the people of Nepal and hope to be serving them for the foreseeable future, but to do this we are going to need more help from our partners, friends and family. One time donations are more than welcome but we do need to build a strong base of those who would give on a monthly basis. The money we initially raised has dried up, and those who made one year, monthly commitments came to an end about 8 months ago. We invite you to prayerfully consider giving again and help support the work we are doing in Nepal. If you would like to help please visit this page.

Thanks for all of your prayers and support!

Sam

20 Years Ago Today

On August 22, 1994 I was laying in a hospital bed. I was only 22 years old and the heaviest I'd ever been (or have been since) weighing 180 lbs. Even with the doctors leaving the IV in too long, so that I was much more medicated than I should have been, the pain was intense.

Outside the rain was coming down so hard that I could not even see the parking lot beyond the hospital room window. It was over, and just as the doctor and nurses left the room, the electricity went out and after about 10 seconds the back-up generator came on. Although the lights in my room remained off, the room was softly lit by the pale gray glow from the storm outside. I remember being thankful that the electric hadn't gone out sooner, as well as feeling comforted by the heavy rains that were drowning out all the noise of the world. Although I was not a Christian yet, I felt that something beyond me created those few minutes in time where the whole world seemed to stop, as if to acknowledge that something important just happened.

In fact, something important had just happened, Simon Andrew was born!

Today, 20 years later, is a celebration of that day, a celebration of the amazing, talented and handsome young man who I am lucky enough to call my son. As I look back on the past 20 years, I can see God in so many moments leading up to Simon's birth, as well as in many occasions since then.

Like the dream of a little blond-haired boy named Simon 2 nights before I knew I was pregnant. At the time, my exact words were, "That's the stupidist name I've ever heard. I would never name my child Simon!" I may not have believed in God at the time, but He already had plans for Simon, including his name, and so "the stupidist name I've ever heard" soon became a name I love dearly.

Or how about the drive to the hospital when we ran over a snake in the road? Other than being freaked out, wondering if somehow the snake could have gotten caught on the tire and might somehow still be alive and about to slither into the car (thankfully it wasn't/ didn't!), that isn't a moment I've thought much about since then, but now Genesis 3:15 comes to mind, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

One thing I did think about was the number 22. Simon was born on Aug 22 at 2:20 pm when I was 22 years old. It wasn't the last time I'd notice the number 22 in connetion with Simon.

 Simon was 5 weeks premature and could not even maintain his own body temperature for the first 8 hours after he was born, so he was taken to the nursery where he was kept under a warming light- like a fast food burger! He would get so tired after just 3-4 small sips from his tiny bottle that he would fall asleep, so the doctor decided that he needed to stay in the hospital until he was eating better. Now I am not your typical mom who can't be away from her baby (I live on the opposite side of the world from him now!), but leaving him in the hospital that second night after he was born was almost as painful as childbirth itself. Luckily the next day he was allowed to come home, but he had jaundice and had to keep going back to the doctor to give blood samples so they could monitor his bilirubin levels. I knew this was for his own good, but remember crying and calling the doctors "vampires" who were taking "all" of my baby's blood- I can be a bit dramatic.

One of my favorite drawings by Simon

From a very young age, Simon loved to draw. He has an amazing gift and until he was about 16, if you asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he would say he wanted to be an artist of some sort. Japanese animation, graphic design, creating video games, maybe even ads for the military were all possibilities at one time. I will never forget the time I told Simon we were going to go to Schlitterbahn Water Park for the weekend. I thought he would be super excited, and he was, but first he wanted to make sure that we were leaving AFTER his Saturday morning art class. This was a class he took every Saturday for many years, so I figured he wouldn't think twice about missing 1 class, especially to go to a water park, but I was wrong. We ended up leaving for Schlitterbahn AFTER his Saturday morning art class.

Aunt Natasha turns Simon punk rock-
a sign of things to come

Then in 11th grade, Simon and some of his friends started a band. Honestly, when I found out about it I figured it was just a phase. What teenage boy doesn't dream of being a rock star? Besides, Simon didn't know how to play any instruments and had his mother's singing voice (not the voice of an angel, if you know what I mean), so I figured the dream would die out pretty quickly on it's own. Again, I was wrong.

Through his passion for music he has taken it upon himself to learn so much. Although we offered Simon voice lessons, he instead chose to teach himself guitar and has become a much better singer all on his own. And something I noticed almost immediaitely was his natural talent to write lyrics as well as to organize band practices and meetings, along with ideas and plans for recording, videos, albums and things like that. I have watched as band members have come and gone, yet friendships have remained strong, not letting band disputes or differences get in the way- a talent much bigger than art, music or anything else.

Mother's Day weekend before Sam and I moved to Nepal, Simon and I went to Austin. As we rode in the car Simon was in charge of the music. We listened to stuff I had never heard before as well as a few songs that I had listened to when I was his age. Then, at one point a song came on, and I thought it was one of his friends, CJ, on guitar. CJ is an incredible guitarist. I was shocked when Simon told me it was him on guitar!

Simon pursuing his dream

This past year his band has started to get gigs at some well-known clubs in Houston- clubs that my sister and I both frequented in our younger days, which is very strange and just makes me feel old! They've also made it to the finals of a Battle of the Bands competition that will take place on August 31. And although I still sometimes dream that he would have a more stable job as a Graphic Designer, I could not be more proud of Simon for following his dream and passion.

But there have been many times when he has amazed me, like when he was in kindergarten. We were outside waiting for the school doors to open. It was winter and pretty cold out, and we noticed this little boy standing there in his pajamas. He was obviously embarrassed, not to mention cold. Simon walked over to him and started talking to him. The boy's parents were divorced, and he didn't have a change of clean clothes at whichever parent's house he had stayed at the night before, so here he was in his pajamas. His name was Mayonnaise. Several kids had gathered around him by then, and I figured they were about to start teasing him about his name, his pajamas and anything else they could think of. But Simon told him not to worry and that they would go find a teacher to call his other parent to bring him some clothes. That's when I noticed the kids around him weren't teasing him, they were huddling around this boy, protecting him, telling him they'd all go with him to find a teacher. Just then a teacher opened the door and all the kids walked in together to tell her. That's MY boy!

And then there are other times he's amazed me, like when he was 17. I had just gone into my bedroom to have some alone time when Sam walks in and says, "I think we have a problem. I just saw Simon's friend carrying Simon's bean bag chair across the front lawn, and he didn't go out the front door." So Sam and I walked into Simon's bedroom to see him moving out through his window! And why was he moving out? Because we had made him "friend" us on Facebook. Yep, that's MY boy, too!

Yes, there have been more times than I care to remember when I've cried... "God, what were you thinking making me a mom? I'm no good at being a mom!" And even more times when I know Simon has said, "God, what were you thinking making HER my mom? She's NO GOOD at being a mom!"

So here we are 20 years later and things are nothing like I imagined, but I do believe things are exactly as God planned. A few years ago as I was reading my Bible, a verse that I had read many times before jumped out at me in Luke 22 (there's that 22 again). Luke 22:31-32 says, "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

Happy 20th Birthday, Simon! 

We love you, and we're so proud of you. 

You truly are a gift from God. 

Simon's first birthday- he liked the ice cream cake!

My favorite picture of Sam and Simon                                 My favorite family picture                      

A Little About Nepal

Most people know little or nothing about Nepal, except maybe that it's the home of Mount Everest. To be honest, up until about 3 years ago, I couldn't have even told you where Nepal was on a map (it's between India and China) and didn't know it's where Mount Everest is located.

Although nothing compares with experiencing Nepal for yourself, and no amount of words or pictures will ever truly capture how amazing this country is, I realize not everyone has the time or desire to come to Nepal. My hope is that through this blog, we are able to give a bit of a glimpse into Nepal. And while the greatest part of Nepal is her people, which is why so many of our blogs are simply about our day to day life with them- celebrating birthdays, Christian weddings, Hindu weddings, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and more, I recently realized that there is so much about Nepal that we have not shared. So for those who would like to know a little more about Nepal, the country, here's a glimpse.

First some statics to put things into perspective. Nepal is slightly larger than Arkansas, or about 1/5 the size of Texas.

Population of Nepal: 30.4 million                         Population of US: 317 million

Nepal Unemployment Rate: 46%                        US Unemployment Rate: 9%

Nepal GDP Per Capita: $1,200 USD*                   US GDP Per Capita: $50,700 USD

Nepal Inflation Rate: 9.5%                                  US Inflation Rate: 2.1%

Nepal Literacy Rate: 60%                                   US Literacy Rate: 99%

Nepal Life Expectancy: 67                                  US Life Expectancy: 78.5

Infant Mortality Rate: 43 per 1,000                       US Infant Mortality Rate: 5.9 per 1,000

*Nepal's GDP per capita is $1,200, which puts Nepal in the bottom 5th percentile in the world. To see more comparisons, click here.

Besides Mount Everest (or Sagarmatha, as it is called in Nepal), here are some other popular places to help you get a feel for Nepal:

Swayambhunath Stupa in Kathmandu- aka "The Monkey Temple" that Sam and I lived across the street from our first few months here. In the video (link below) it talks about how it's rumored to have 365 steps to the top, although we've heard that's not actually true. However, Sam used to go running and did prayer walks around the temple and up those steps many of the mornings during the months we lived across the street. I am not as "gung-ho" as Sam and usually slept in, although I did make it up those steps, just barely, on two separate days, which I figured is enough for a lifetime! And we never counted those steps, so I'm not sure if there really are 365 or not, but both times I climbed them it felt like 365 MILLION steps! Click here to watch a  video.

Pashupatinath in Kathmandu- this is where the Hindu cremation ghats (the cremation area with steps leading down to the Bagmati River where the ashes, etc. are swept into after the body is burned), including the Royal Ghats (where the former kings, other royalty and big political people of Nepal were/are cremated). We've been here twice, and each time I have found it very surreal with people bathing downstream from where the bodies are being burned and swept into the river, as well as cows standing along the river eating & pooping, holy men walking around half-naked with yellow and orange paint on them, lots of shrines, smoke from the cremations, monkeys and merchants selling jewelry, paintings, handicrafts, water, snacks and more- all with people dying and being burned maybe 100 meters away! Also, the holy men are happy to let you take pictures of them, but only tell you afterwards that you must pay them for the pictures, and if you start to walk away, they will follow you until you pay them. Click here to watch a video. 

Pokhara is the city we live in now. It is a popular tourist destination with the natural beauty of Phewa Tal (Phewa Lake) and the Annapurna Mountain Range as a backdrop, which is a popular trekking circuit. We have visited Phewa Tal multiple times, including a trip with Ambika and the girls, but have not done the Annapurna Trek yet.

The birth place of Siddhartha Gautauma (Buddha) in Lumbini, Nepal. We have not been here as it is in West Nepal, but click here to watch a video.

As for architecture, Durbar Square shows some of the common Newari style buildings in Nepal (Newaris are one of the people groups of Nepal). Click here for a video.

While many of the homes in Kathmandu and Pokhara are made of concrete, brick and/ or stone, the older homes, as well as homes in the rural villages are typically made of wood, clay, mud and/ or cow dung with tin, wood or thatch roofs, like the one we stayed in during our first trip to Thingan back in June 2012.

So that's a little bit about Nepal, the country, but as I said before, the people are the greatest part of Nepal. Often, Nepali people will ask us what we think of Nepal. When we tell them we LOVE Nepal, they almost always react with delight and thank us as if we've just paid them a huge personal compliment, which just makes me love Nepal even more.

For God

Prayer. What do you think of when you think of prayer? For me it conjures up lots of images as well as mixed feelings.

Images of candles, solitude and perhaps a cup of tea. Time when I talk to God and share my hopes, dreams, concerns, worries and praises, time to think beyond myself for others and their prayer needs, time to be still and listen for God's still small voice- much nicer than the alternative of making Him take drastic measures to get my attention!

Of course, there are also the prayers that are spontaneous throughout the day. Thanking God for the cool breeze that accompanies a monsoon rain, especially at night after a long hot day, as well as desperate prayers as I struggle to communicate in Nepali or even to simply study Nepali! 

Prayers for friends, family and the people of Nepal in general with their struggles and hardships, some that are familiar to all of us... for children to do well in school, jobs for the unemployed, healing for the sick, but also prayers that are not as common for those of us from America. Prayers for the Dalits or "untouchables" because even though the caste system was officially outlawed in Nepal in 1990, and while it is not as predominant or rigid today, it is still very much a part of life in Nepal, especially in the rural villages. Prayers for the government which has been working under an Interim Constitution since 2007. Prayers for things like safe, clean drinking water and electricity, or for families to be able to afford the luxury of education for their children.

But I am also convicted when I think of prayer, knowing how many opportunities I miss to talk with and listen to God. Prayers that others have asked me to pray that I pray once or twice for and then forget. Prayers that aren't just a list of me telling God what I think He should do, but prayers where I go before God, be still, listen and let go of what I think and "let" Him be God. Prayers that aren't just a quick "shout out" to God, but an enjoyable conversation with my Abba, Father, the living God who loves me more than I can comprehend.

Last night before I went to bed I was reading through my prayer journal, which I'm sad to say I had not looked at in about a week. As I read through the current prayers, as well as looked at all of the prayers that are highlighted in yellow (prayers God has answered), I was filled with a longing to spend today with my Abba, Father... a Sabbath day, if you will, but more than that. 

Unfortunately even Sabbath days can be more about me than God. They also can be days where I do things that fill my soul... read my Bible, pray, sleep, have good food, relax... all good things, but today is more of a "date day" with God for me. It is all of the things I do on Sabbath days, but more. It is simply being with God and enjoying His presence. For that I don't need candles, a cup of tea or even my Bible.

Having said all of that, I never imagined that I would write a blog today. That doesn't fit into my idea of spending time with God. But today is not about me, so when I felt God nudging me to simply share my day with others... to share Him with others... not as a blog I need to write, but as a love letter to Him and to anyone He leads to read this blog, I sat down and did it. 

As I read back over it, I question why God had me write this. To me it seems rambling and like it doesn't really say much. There are no pictures. Surely with an extra day or two I could come up with something better, something I would be more pleased with, but as quickly as those thoughts came, again I felt God saying, "This is not about you. This is not a marketing piece." So here I go posting this entry in faith that He knows better than I do... this one's for You, God. :)

Love,

Wendy

Moving to Pokhara

What is moving like in Nepal? For us it was another adventure.

We were well prepared with things carefully packed, had LOTS of help, including an American friend of ours, Ambika, all ofher girls, one of Ambika's nephews, Ambika's brother-in-law, Pastor Lazarus, his assistant Ramhari and Ramhari's uncle (who was also the driver of our moving truck), as well as me and Sam, so you would think it would have been pretty easy... or at least WE thought it would be pretty easy.

The truck arrived at about 7am, and as I already mentioned, we had packed carefully, knowing that the road to Pokhara is winding and not always paved. There are no Uhauls in Nepal, so our moving truck was a 10 wheel vehicle that looked something like this...

Along with all of our stuff, we loaded our scooter and motorcycle on the truck. Then Ambika, her nephew, her brother-in-law, Sam and I all rode to Pokhara in our Tata Safari, while Ramhari's uncle drove the moving truck. It was a teary good-bye, as everyone else stayed in Kathmandu. Although the truck left about an hour and a half before us, we got to Pokhara about 2 hours before the truck showed up at the house. By the time it arrived, it was dark, the wind was picking up and we could hear thunder and see lightning off in the distance heading our way.

Dirt path from our house to the road..

If that wasn't enough stress, the truck was too big to make it down the dirt road to our house, so we had to carry everything down the dirt road- not super far, but with it being dark and a storm approaching, and lots of stuff to carry in, that didn't make things any easier!

We also discovered that the motorcycle had fallen over in transit and gasoline had spilled on some of our stuff, the motorcycle was scratched and the kick-stand was severely bent. The scooter also had some damage and just about every piece of furniture we own was damaged in some way or another, mostly scratches and cosmetic damages, but a few things were completely broken/ ruined... thankfully nothing irreplaceable like keepsakes, pictures, etc.

The really cool thing was that quite a few of our neighbors (who live along the dirt road) came out to see the bisheshis (foreigners) moving in, and they all immediately started helping us unload the truck. It was pretty amazing to have all of these strangers helping us like that, and not only did we get everything moved into the house before the rain arrived, we even had some neighbors ask if they could bring us tea or make us dinner! We very graciously declined their offers, being more in need of showers and sleep than food, but Sam and I have already discussed inviting them all over in a few weeks for tea and food.

View of Mount Machhapuchhre from our roof.

Each day since the move has continued to be an adventure in both the good and bad sense of the word. We have the most amazing view of Mount Machhapuchhre from 2 of our bedroom windows and our roof (the roofs here are flat and used like balconies, not like most roofs in the States).

But, we've also had to have the electrician and plumber here for the past 2 days (and the plumber will be back tomorrow) getting us set up and fixing things. Some of that we expected, like having the electrician setting up our inverter for our back-up batteries during loadshedding (when there's no electric) Luckily, we're down to only 10 hours of loadshedding per day right now!

Squatty potty downstairs

Western toilet upstairs

And some of it was a surprise, like the western style toilet that is in our upstairs bathroom (as opposed to the Nepali style "squatty potty" we have downstairs) needed to be completely replaced. Our first night here we noticed there was a crack in the tank and the base, so it was constantly leaking, and by the next morning it was getting worse (actually gushing water), but when we called the landlady she said it was not like that before and we must have broken it.

Even after the plumber said that it was an old toilet and that the cracks had been there a while and there was no way we could have caused the damage, our landlady would not replace it. And while I'm glad to have my very own "squatty potty" downstairs for practice for when Western style toilets are not available, I was not ready for it to be my only option (let's just say I have personal experience with "pee sprinkles" on my pants legs- sorry, that was probably too much information!), so now we have a new toilet for about $70 USD... I can think of a lot more fun ways to spend $70 although not having to use the squatty potty all the time is actually beyond priceless! Oh how the things I have come to appreciate have changed! lol!