Waking up in Nepal

It has been 33 years since Kirk and I have done this! It is part of the adventure however & P.T.L., there are NO cockroaches (as in the Jesus Center Ministry). There is a certain energy to it and always some kind of action going on. I guess it’s like being in a huge family. Sometimes we are like parents, sometimes auntie & uncle. Here the children say Liz Mom or Liz Auntie or Kirk Uncle. On our first trip back in November, the first day Will went downstairs apart from us, (we were getting our room organized at the time) we looked down from the 4th floor to see the children with Will in the play yard. We later asked Will what they were talking about. There IS somewhat of a language barrier. However they told Will “You are not only our friend, you’re our brother”. Isn’t that sweet!!! They had been praying for us and specifically that we could come. A few months back Pramita told me that they had trouble understanding Will’s name, as they had been learning it in verb form. She explained why we gave him that name, that he is the “Will of God”. They liked it so much that they asked if a new little baby came to this children’s home could they name him Will? Yesterday after they ate popcorn, Will played football (soccor) with all the guys for a couple of hours. He is gradually building up his stamina, as we all are. Staying on the 4th floor, and walking to the store will do it. We were discussing at lunch today, that we’ve all lost weight but Will. He is growing and I am trying to feed him all I can. I have fresh fruit available for snack time during school. He is eating about as much as me and I’m glad. I try to keep on the lookout for good, healthy snacks. I can’t be overly concerned about price here because nothing ever goes on sale. I am so blessed to be able to provide for my family. I thank God for His provision and for His wonderful people back in Jacksonville, Arkansas (JCF). Without your sacrificial giving we would not be here and these children would not be fed. Our prayer is that others would catch the vision and that this children’s home & bible school would not have to run at subsistence level. A big thank you to so many others for their giving as well. God is the great Accountant. Nothing given in His name from a pure heart ever goes unnoticed or is forgotten, you can rest assured!

Love to all

Liz

Hello folks!

The electricity has been on at the wrong time and off at the right time. I wanted to tell you about what happened two weeks ago. Remember that I told you how dark it is in the basement? One night the three of us were in the kitchen, plus Bro. Vic and Sarmilla. It was devotional time, and we heard a loud scream by a bunch of people. We thought maybe they were shouting for Jesus. We later found out that as some of the children rushed into the room, some of the chairs were knocked over, causing Rakesh Ram (the youngest boy at six or seven) to fall and hit his head. He had to be taken to get stitches. He felt much better after Pramita promised to get him a candy bar every day until he got well. A couple of days later, Prajowl, Rakesh Ram, and Pramita, loaded up on the motorcycle to get R.R. a tetanus shot. That was a sight to behold! I’m sure that was no big deal for anyone else since whole families ride on one bike here. The only person required to wear a helmet is the driver! That same week, Eva was sick, and it came to our attention that she had a tooth coming in way up on her gums in the WAY wrong place. Pramita knew of the situation, but there was no money for a dentist, especially at the end of the month. Pramita was able to get her an appointment the next day, and got it taken care of. Thankfully, Pramita knew the receptionist who gave a whopping 3500 rupee discount. In American terms, it cost $22 U.S. ! One call to those that love her in the U.S., (Larry and Janice), and the bill was paid. Mind you, this is one week, concerning two kids! Last Sunday on Kirk’s day off from GBC, we went to a Christian book store to buy some bibles to have on hand and one to give to our friend, the recent convert from Hinduism. The building was totally unmarked! They would probably draw persecution if some people knew they were there. We are so insulated here in the Christian community (we live in the church, for crying out loud). We sometimes forget the opposition.

God bless you all,

Liz

p.s. I’ve got to go make popcorn for the kids w/Anita’s help.

The big talent show was last night! It was held in the basement. The kids in resident put on quite a show! It was mostly in Nepali, so we had to read between the lines (in English). There were three skits, a song in English by Sunita (Hosanna In The Highest), a dance number by Roda & co., a song by Will, and a reading by Samuel. Every “act” was about some aspect of truth in the bible.  There were three judges and prizes. They picked me to award the prizes! What fun! The plan is to have a talent show every Friday night. I told Kirk today maybe we can have popcorn & Kool-aid next week. Today Nitu told me how much she enjoyed the popcorn I made for the kids week before last. I’d like to make it again, maybe tomorrow and then Friday night. Pramita had mentioned to me that some of the children in outlying poverty- stricken areas lived on popcorn & wild nuts. It went thru my mind that popcorn might bring back bad memories. A few of the children here have parents but the parents have too many mouths to feed. The children came suffering from malnutrition. When Nitu said that today, I realized that I can’t over think everything. My biggest goal concerning the children is to “cause no further pain”. They have been through enough. God Bless Them Every One!

Thanks for tuning in,

Liz

Hi, everyone! I used my electricity yesterday to bake a cake. Yes, it was from scratch. What else is there? Jacob, we enjoyed your birthday cake! Wish you were here to celebrate. I owe you one! Thankfully, I found margarine here (as I think I’ve mentioned). I’m pretty well getting in the cooking groove now. The fresh vegetables are so good! From what I understand, there is a region that still has a growing season underway. There are fresh vegetable carts and stands everywhere in the city. We are in the suburbs of Kathmandu, so I go to the shop mentioned in the previous post. I even have Kirk eating the fresh green beans! WOW! I’ve been putting them in stir-fry and sauteing them in olive oil. All veggies have to to be soaked in water with a couple drops of iodine to kill bacteria. I noticed even Pramita does this! Vic got sick yesterday. Please pray that he can shake this bug. We can never let our guard down. Back to veggies. There are many that I have never seen before! I’d like to try some, but I need to take Pramita with me  to give me advice. Some of them may be more expensive than I want to pay. Pramita is very busy teaching in the school, as well as being the principal. She wears many hats here, another idiom that takes much explaining. But hey, we have time! Speaking of time, someone asked via e-mail if time was passing fast or slow. It just is. I feel like we have been baptized into Nepal, totally emersed. The rhythm of life here is such that it takes everything one has for survival. And we’ve got it easy! Last week when we went to the home of the new convert (yes, I’ve got to master her name), I found out that she is considered “middle class”. The family of four live in a two room apartment with an indoor bathroom. She served the eight of us a boiled egg each. I am very proud of Will for eating it, since he doesn’t like boiled eggs. She also served us a delicious hot drink, a mix of tea, coffee and milk, along with cookies. She called Will a cute baboo(boy). The past church service, she brought Will a package of cashews, which he was really happy about because he’s always HUNGRY after church. This sweet lady may be the Ms. Carol or Ms. Sheila in Nepal! When people bless us in these ways it is so humbling, knowing what little they have. May God richly bless His people! Amen!

Love to all

Liz

Today was the first official day of classes at Grace Bible College for this semester. We have a total of 15 students to start and more are coming soon. We had a great first day. We begin at 8:30 with devotional time followed by Scripture review from 9-9:30. We are having the students read 5-10 chapters a day and then a very short test each morning on the reading to ask for questions. Then the schedule is as follows…

9:30-10:45 Vic is teaching on the Trinity and Christology

11:00-12:15 I (Kirk) am teaching Soteriology (the study of Salvation) beginning with the Covenants.

12:15-1:15 Lunch

1:30-2:45 I again teach on Biblical Pastoral Counseling/Understanding the Human Heart (you JCF’ers will be familiar with this!)

3:00-4:15 Vic teaches on The Gospel in NT Symbols (Baptism/The Lord’s Table/The Lord’s Day)

4:15-5:00 the students have personal study time.

The material moved pretty fast today so we should have time before it’s over for another round of subjects. Please pray for us and the students that God would be in our midst! It is such a joy to be here and again thanks so much to everyone who has helped to make it possible!

With love in the Savior,

Kirk

Today is the first day of school. Will is beginning with math, which is his hardest subject. When we were planning his schedule before we arrived here, he suggested that we put math first so that he would be well rested with a full stomach. That is a very good idea! We do not need any issues when it comes to math. Today is the  first day of Grace Bible College also, as many of you know. Please pray for Kirk and Vic as they teach God’s word. May the presence of God be in their midst. May God grant understanding to each student and may the language barrier come down. Please be in prayer with us for these things.

The children have devotionals morning and evening. Their singing can be heard rising up from the dark basement, as there is usually no power. Amit or Pramita give a devotional or in some cases, the children pick among themselves to lead. Leaders are being grown here. Pastor Tika was raised here, as was Amit. These children have truly been “called out of darkness and into His marvellous light” 1st Peter 2:9. I was privileged to be asked to give the devotional. I’ve been praying about what to share for close to two weeks! Bear in mind that both devotional times are when I am preparing meals. I had settled on Sunday evening. Was I surprised when Kirk preached on the same passage, Psalm 139. This passage exemplifies God in three ways. 1. Omniscient-all knowing, 2. Omnipresent-all seeing, 3. All-powerful. Our God, the true and living God, is in control of the universe but he also knows everything about us every moment of every day of our lives. I wasn’t prepared for it to be so dark in the basement. I had to use a flashlight to read my Bible. In addition, I didn’t anticipate needing an interpreter, which Pramita fulfilled. Please pray for these precious children. I want to tell you more of their personal stories soon.

Love to all,

Liz

I wanted to make known an error from my last post. It would cost $30 per MONTH for each child to have an egg. Sorry about that. I am always in a hurry when I post  to use my electricity wisely. Sometimes I need to cook since the oven is electric. Pramita is making us curry for lunch (YEAH), so I have some free time. Amit, the resident worship leader here at Covenant Christian Fellowship (CCF), is giving Will a guitar lesson. Last Thursday was the first day. Will is excited about learning. Amit is teaching him thoroughly. I’m impressed. Will told us after last Friday’s lesson that Amit noticed his too-long-to-play-guitar finger nails. Grabbing some clippers, Amit cut those nails in a flash. The thought of that scene still makes me chuckle. Because of the fact that Will is allergic to dairy products, he takes a calcium supplement. His nails seem to grow so quickly. Well that’s my excuse for not giving my son a proper grooming! I wanted to point out though, more importantly, Amit’s servant heart. His humble attitude, his passion for worship, and his love of the gospel, are a blessing to behold. May God use him mightily to reach the people of Nepal. Amen.

Liz

I just wanted to give a quick update on the Hindu family that we went to visit this past week. I had related in two previous posts that the mother had been coming to church and wanted to know more about the Gospel. A team of us went there day before yesterday and after Pastor Tika spoke to her about turning from idols (from Ps.115:1-8) and turning to the true and living God who made heaven and earth and then sharing the Gospel with her, she was ready to surrender to Christ as her Lord. She was in church this morning and her countenance was markedly different! She truly had the joy of the Lord! What was so awesome to me was how the believers here confront the idolatry question head on, no compromise. When conversion happens there is a total break from Hinduism. It is so evidently God and so full of Glory! Please pray for her that she will be strong as she will inevitably suffer persecution as she follows Christ. Pray also for her son to come to the Lord. He was there when we shared the Gospel and was very open but he left the room when we prayed and then didn’t make church this week. He is though under heavy conviction and we believe could be very close to the Kingdom of God.

Also, we start classes at GBC on Monday. We currently have 15 solid students. Tika and Pramita are screening them very carefully as regards to their walk with the Lord and their sense of calling to the ministry. Many are back from last year and there are a few new ones as well. We hope to add more as funding is available.

Finally, we never want to be remiss in thanking each one of you for your support, either for the kids of NLCH, GBC or for our family personally. We could not be here without you and from the bottom of our hearts we thank you.

We’ll post again soon so stay tuned! Hopefully with some new pics as well.

Kirk

So much is happening that is exceptional that it’s  hard to find the time to tell you what our new normal is. We have no routine yet. The bible school starts on Jan. 31st. Also the school children have had a break due to cold weather, since there is no heat to be found. I believe it’s been about a month-long break. We decided to keep Will on the same schedule and it’s given us all adjustment time also. I warned him that he may have to be schooled a little longer because of this. I fix breakfast, usually eggs and toast a lot. Will has cream of wheat or rice with toast. I see my main priority as making sure my family eats as well as we can. Oh, and we found corn flakes! We also found shelf stable milk that’s good. We use a French press coffee maker (thanks to Steve W). I can’t believe how expensive food is compared to the income here! It looks like we’re spending about the same amount of grocery money, the best I can tell. I wish I’d kept up with receipts, but it’s been too crazy. I plan to next month. Chicken breasts are $4 a lb. They are sold in a pack of two (frozen), which feeds us three plus Vic, who will be co-teaching with Kirk. We’ve had a lot of pasta and rice. One day we had an American meal of oven fried  chicken, canned corn, fresh green beans, baked potatoes and bread. Some people showed up at lunchtime so we had to make it stretch. I had to cook our big meal at noon because the power went off at 1:00p.m. Thank God we have gas for the burners. The stove is electric. I also want to mention the price of eggs. They are about $1.64 a dozen! They are cheaper if you buy a larger flat but there is no wrapping around them so we’re afraid of dropping them on the walk home. There are two small stores within walking distance and a vegetable shop. Back to the eggs. It would cost more than $30 dollars a day for each child to have an egg. Inflation is very high. I really don’t know how the people make ends meet. Good news! We have not been sick! Thank you for your prayers!

 Liz

Kirk here…

Last night was one to remember! We had written earlier about the Newarri ceremony we were invited to attend by Momita’s family. It was a very traditional Hindu ceremony with very ancient rituals at the center. Last night was the follow up to that. It was anything but traditional however. It took place at the “Party Palace” and was basically dinner (very good traditional Nepali food) and lots of “Disco Danc’in”. Not even Nepali dancing, just disco. Bee Gees, Lady Gaga, and lots of Nepali Hip Hop! Before it was done everyone got into the act, except for Vic, whose strict Baptist background made his feet unable to get any rhythm going!  He did say at one point he found himself tapping his foot but that he had repented. Most danced at the insistence of our hosts. This morning my left knee feels like a horse kicked it. I am evidently too old for such shenanigans! It was all good fun and we built some bridges with this precious family. Momita is the only believer among seven sisters. Please pray that we will be able to share the light of the Gospel with them!

Also I had mentioned in an earlier post the Hindu lady who had come to church. She returned last Saturday, this time without the Hindu markings on her forehead. She said that there was a pronounced change in her son that we prayed for and tomorrow we are going to her home to share the Gospel further with her. Please pray for this opportunity as well that God would open her eyes as He did Lydia. 

Also keep GBC in your prayers. Classes start on Monday and Vic and I have been hard at the study. It is shaping up to be an awesome semester with some great students. Also we have had some real miracles concerning financing. Many of you back home have responded to help with some immediate needs here as well as for GBC. For all of your help we thank you from the bottom of our hearts . I will try to write again later with more specifics. Blessings to you all!