Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015!

2014 Comes to an End

We were able to celebrate Christmas with the precious girls from the Peace Loving Nepal girls' home, as they visited Pokhara for a week during their winter break. While we surely missed our family and friends back in the States, this was surely a great Christmas gift!

Aama & Wendy in matching pajamas! 

And this time Aama, who is 89 years old, was able to make the trip to Pokhara. Ambika told us Aama looked out the bus window the whole time (about 5-6 hours) excited to see all the trees, the rivers and the small villages they passed along the way. Aama also did more walking than she has done in years, took her first boat ride on Phewa Tal (Phewa Lake), enjoyed crepes for the first time at a restaurant by the lake and was able to breathe without wheezing for the first time since we've known her thanks to the cleaner air in Pokhara! By the time they went back to Kathmandu, Aama looked years younger. It was an amazing blessing spending what could be our last Christmas in Nepal.

Everyday in Nepal brings new challenges and opportunities, as well as learning and teaching opportunities - often combined! We are not here to teach our ways, as Westerners "knowing it all" (because we certainly don't!), but to be open to forming friendships with mutual learning on both sides. After being in Pokhara for 7 months, we finally invited some of our neighbors, none of whom are Christian, over for dinner and celebrations on New Years Eve. We were able to share with them about Christ and our beliefs while still respecting their Hindu and/ or Buddhist beliefs.It was a celebration with song, dance, dinner and laughter. The girls from the Peace Loving Nepal Children's home came and shared their love and sang song after song for us, and Ambika shared some of her testimony. The Bible tells us that the world will know us by the love we have for one another, and I believe this shined through on this amazing night. It was a demonstration of love, and the neighbors have expressed a desire to get together much more often.

So many times in life we do something, and everyone says "we should have done this sooner!" Well, this was one of those occasions. Our neighbors stayed and talked about life and shared stories of blessings and hardships, truly starting to get to know one another. We were unsure if they would be uncomfortable in our Christian home, and we were careful not to shout our beliefs at them, while still clearly letting them know how we felt and what we believed. Our fears were apparently totally unfounded as more than half of the guest stayed for several hours after dinner was complete. The pictures at the end are those who remained after our meal and entertainment came to an end. In a community based culture like Nepal, it seems we are finally starting to "get it"... and we are truly having a blast sharing our lives with others.

At the end of last year, we told of unexpected challenges. Well those have not gone away, but God's grace is bringing us through in huge ways! Our main "job," while being here is the HOPE Fund. While this started a bit bumpy and did not move along as quickly as we had hoped, all of this has now changed.

Wendy and I are in high gear with the HOPE Fund, which has been totally reworked and fleshed out as we did a huge amount of research. I'm very proud to tell you all that we now have about a 60 page Operations Manual (complete with forms), outlining all of our procedures and steps, from selecting a village all the way to an exit plan, and moving on to another village. 

Wendy has been amazing and we have really come so far, learning to work with one another and being around each other almost 24/7. When we came here, the HOPE Fund was my main job and Wendy helped in other things, but we finally figured out that she was desperately needed by me and by the HOPE Fund! This gave her a new purpose and has revitalized us both. 

While we have been hard at work and swamped with paperwork, I have not been able to visit any villages in 7 months. Later this month, I get to start traveling to the villages again, living among the villagers for much longer periods than I have previously had the opportunity to do. This is such an exciting time, creating a new program, and starting it in two villages by March/April. Preparations are already being made, and much work has to be done prior to funds actually being given in a village. 

The first few visits to the villages I felt so ill prepared, not knowing much information, and having difficulties getting information, on the previous loans. But now, I feel like we have been completely educated to be able to make a real difference and truly have a program that helps the poorest of the poor. I'm not sure if I have ever been more excited in my life! This program is our infant and to get to be a part of seeing it grow and transform is going to be a huge win for us all - God, ServLife, ourselves, supporters, and the Nepali people.

2015 Begins

What will 2015 look like for us? We are not completely sure! We would love to finish extremely strong with the HOPE Fund and our two year commitment with ServLife, but by no means do we want to leave the field in Nepal. 

Lazarus and Martha

 The leadership from the local NGO came to Pokhara on the 3rd of January and we were able to have an amazing time as we continued to work on the HOPE Fund with Lazarus and Peter. They gave us strong words of encouragement and we all really look forward to our continued friendship, no matter where God ends up having us. We made a commitment to not look to far into the future until we complete our current task, so we are all in anticipation as to what God's plans for us are in our future work in Nepal.

Our HOPE Fund documentation should be complete in March, and at some time after this point, we will be coming back to the States for a time of rest, and to wait upon God and see what his plans are for us in the future. 

May God bless you all in this New Year!

P.S. Wendy has found a new love for dogs, becoming very attached to Assa, our 9 month old German Sheperd. This pictures explain it all...