Waking up in Nepal

The drive  to Chitwan last week was breathtaking.  There were beautiful terraced mountainsides and foot bridges across sweeping valleys. Since we were driving on the left the trip was enjoyable. Will gave you an account of the great elephant ride. The “ride” home was equally as memorable but in another way. This time our vehicle was hugging a sometimes shear drop only inches away. Sections of the road were eroded, and twice (at least) we came within a foot of a head-on collision with one of the many large trucks and buses that travel that road, overloaded, mind you. This was the most terrified I’ve ever been. The first couple of hours into the trip, I was pretty much at peace. Fatigue set in and one too many times of passing on one too many blind curves, which you would not believe, almost made us lose it! Kirk had traveled the highway (very high) before, but it had always been at night. I truly did not know if this was our trip to heaven, well, not this time.

 Many of you know about another couple that live here at CCF (Covenant Christian Fellowship), Prajowl and Momita Mothay. Prajowl is Pramita’s brother who also went with us to Chitwan and was our photographer. Momita’s family invited us to a Hindu ceremony last Friday at a temple here in Kathmandu. In this ritual, Momita’s beautiful little niece, 5 year-old Samridhi, was married to the bael fruit. This fruit represents her future husband, in hopes that he will be a good and kind man. From what I understand, this is a custom unique to the Newari people. After the ceremony, they served delicious Newari food. We were not given forks, so we ate with our hands, just like the rest! Tomorrow night (Tuesday), we are invited to a follow-up party. Please pray that we can be a faithful witness of the Lord Jesus to this precious family.

I’m finding many layers of need here. There is the surface shell that’s easy to see at a casual glance. After a question or three, I think I have a grasp on the situation. Not necessarily so. The yolk of the matter is either humanly impossible, or very expensive, or both. These resilient believers do the best they can with what they have and praise the Lord, in spite of the hardships and difficulty, pain and physical suffering. For example, I learned that Esther needs an egg a day and milk to take with her medicine. She does not get it every day. The other children need one too for extra protein, but, you guessed it, they can’t afford it. The yolk of this matter is this. Last week we bought eggs for the children. When Will and I walked them over to the children’s kitchen, basically a concrete room with a gas stove, we found that the refrigerator was NOT working. With the weather being so cold now, the almost daily walk to the store and the fact that they only get meat once a week this is not a critical issue. In about one month it will be one. To top it off, the frig in “our” kitchen isn’t working properly. The freezer works, but the bottom isn’t cold enough. Thank God, and Don, we have a dorm size frig in our room. The temperature gets very hot here in May thru August, so a working frig is a must. I have to digress. The children get lentils and rice pretty much daily so they are getting some protein. You can rest assured that Pramita Miss (as the children say), has her finger on the pulse (another idiom) of this ministry. She is an excellent mother to her children. May they “Rise up and call her blessed” as the scripture says in Psalm 31:28. I always sénse God’s great pleasure with her when I pray for her. She is carrying a load that is humanly impossible, but as the scripture says, ”Nothing is impossible with God.” She was made for this and called to this. God has equipped her. We are eye witnesses to His glory at work thru human hands and a humble, submissive heart. (We love you, dear sister Pramita). Please pray for this mother of 24 children. Love to all, Liz

Hi, it’s Will here! I am so glad that I get to talk to everyone back home. I am blogging now so I can tell you how cool yesterday was for me. In fact, it was the coolest thing I have ever done, and probably will ever do. I went down to Chitwan to ride real live elephants through the real live jungle for my (early) birthday! To get on the elephant we had to get on a huge platform with rickety stairs. We got the biggest elephant, and she was huge! The first thing we did on her was cross a little stream. As we went, dad spotted a crane and a peacock. Then, we went into the jungle, all the while looking for wildlife. We then reached a large clearing to look for rhinos. There we saw deer, birds, and tall grass. The grass was so tall that it was probably about two feet above my head, on the elephant’s back. It would be terrifying on foot! We saw a lot of deer, but towards the end we still hadn’t seen any rhinos. Then dad yelled “there they are!” and sure enough, there were two large rhinos, in the wild! All the other elephants circled the rhinos so they did not get out. We studied them for a while, and then went back when they escaped. We have posted pictures below.

Yesterday we took a day to do a little sightseeing around the city as this is Vic’s first time here. Pramita had been invited to a Hindu wedding and she thought we might like to see it as they are very elaborate. In the end though, they wouldn’t let us in. No foreigners allowed and especially not non-Hindus. It was taking place at the Pashupati temple so we took a tour of it while there. For those of you who have been here on past trips it is the one where they burn the bodies. When we left all we could think of is “I need a shower”. The smoke was thick from the cremations as they were burning about 10 or 12 bodies. It is a very bizarre place and it is palatably demonic and grievous. There is such darkness in the Hindu system. I have posted some pictures below.

On the other hand God’s grace is so very evident in the believers here. When you contrast what they came out of with their joy in Christ it quickly becomes clear that only God could have done this work in their lives. He is Awesome and by His grace they know it!

It is also becoming clear to us that we are not just here for Grace Bible College but also to be an encouragement to the believers (and especially the leaders) of Covenant Christian Fellowship. Pramita, who I believe is the most selfless person I have ever met, said something in a meeting that so blessed my heart. We were discussing their financial situation and she said “I have no worldly ambitions so I do not care if I am paid or not. My reward is to see the children (of New Life Children’s Haven) smile.” Excuse me while I blubber. It is this core group (Pramita, Pastor Tika, Amit the worship leader and the whole staff of CCF) that we believe are our primary purpose for being here. It is truly an amazing thing that God, in His providence, has done in knitting our hearts together with these precious people.

We love and miss you all, (PS-see more pics below)

Kirk

What I need is a calendar! What I have this morning is electricity and time, both rare commodities. We are well, by the grace of God, truly. Thank you so much for all of your prayers. One thing I am understanding all the more is how much it means when people tell me they will pray for us. And I must say, I’ve recently noticed (before I left), that I can almost be certain, if a person really means that they will. If you’re like me, sometimes I’ve said it with no follow thru. I’ve also come to value as even more precious the prayers of those who love me (us). I can feel the love and earnestness in their voices, and in that knowledge comes an immediate peace. We, God’s people are not in this struggle alone. We have a Father and a forever family! I (We) love you all.

Now, for an update. We sent the older teens off with a prayer for their final exam to complete high school (their version), which is a completion of 10th grade. John, Anita, Smiley, Shristi and Esther have been studying very hard. Please pray for these dear young people that they will have God’s direction in decisions concerning their future and His grace to keep them strong in the faith.

We did a big shopping trip last Thursday at the old Salesway Dept. store. That is where we got our towels. The lowest price we could find was $7. We have a couple that we had left here (courtesy of the Coxs). We bought 3, and Kirk suggested that we each have a different color for easy identification. It is amazing how much confusion a little idea like that saves! I brought an over-the-door hanger for our towels because when one showers EVERYTHING gets wet! The shower head is in the middle of the bathroom, so water (hopefully hot) goes all over. We hung the hook on the outside of the door. I can assure you that one needs a dry towel when one steps into  50 degree (if your lucky) temp. We agree that the cold is the hardest thing to contend with. Thank God we brought lots of layers! I have become a believer in scarfs. I’ve realized that in the past when I’ve scrunched my shoulders up, it’s my neck that is cold! (brilliant conclusion, huh?) In America, we just turn up the heat! But I hear that warmer weather is coming. My hopes are set on that!

Also, after church last Sunday (loved being here!), Samson (Hi, Samson!) stayed and asked Will to help him with his English. I made them p,b&j sandwiches, Pramita ate one, too. Samson asked Will if he had ever heard of Scrabble. Ironically, that was the only game we brought, and Will had just gotten it for Christmas! Samson came over yesterday afternoon. It was actually raining (a rare thing this time of year), and the power was out. They played Scrabble all afternoon. I am quite sure it was helpful for English (Samson), as well as for spelling (Will).

Didn’t mean to write a novel, but I haven’t even scratched the surface.

Liz

Kirk here…

Yesterday (Saturday) was church day in Nepal. Under the Hindu monarchy Saturday was the only day the believers were allowed to meet and that is still the traditional day for church. We had an awesome day! I preached on the Sovereignty of God in every facet of our life. From our very formation in the womb (Ps.139), to when and where we live (Acts 17:26) and most importantly to our Salvation in Christ (Jn.6:44, Phil.2:12-13, Ro.9:16). Finally, we looked at God’s Sovereignty over our circumstances and our enemies (Job, 2Chron.20). The presence of God was very strong and many wanted prayer when we were done. One Hindu woman was present and came for prayer weeping. She wanted prayer for her son who is (I think I understood correctly) on drugs. We prayed for her as well that God would open the eyes of her heart to understand the Gospel and receive Christ as Savior. Please keep her in your prayers that God would do just that.

All in all we are doing great other than being a little cold at night. Well, a lot cold actually! However today it is raining and everyone says that is the sign that almost immediately it will warm up quite a bit. Like tomorrow immediately. Something to do with a jet stream shift. Please pray they are right!!!

The children are all doing well and Will is fitting right in. They have worn him out playing football (soccer) for two days straight. It is so precious to be with them. Every morning early and every evening they gather in the basement to have devotionals and worship. Amit the worship leader at CCF usually leads, as do others, and the sound of their little voices comes all through the building. It is a little taste of heaven I think.

On the Bible school front we are gearing up to start probably the last week of January.

Well I will go for now. I hope to post some pictures soon. Please keep us lifted up in prayer. We sense it every day!

Kirk

Kirk here hijacking Liz’s blog…

We will be meeting in a day or so to lay plans for this semester of Grace Bible College. Please pray for Vic Connell and myself as we get ourselves and our material ready. Also pray that the Lord would bring us the right students and that the funding for them would be there. We need at least 1000 per month to run well. If anyone would like to help contributions can be sent to Jacksonville Christian Fellowship, 654 Quail Trail, Cabot AR 72023.

We already have many people calling wanting to come so we need the Lord’s wisdom on which ones to accept. Also pray for the overall ministry here of Covenant Christian Fellowship. There are many, many needs and very few resources. Not to sound to dire however as there is much joy here even in the midst of the need. The Christians here have given up everything in many cases to follow Christ and God in turn pours out His very evident love!

Love to all in our Savior,

Kirk

Santi, Liz and Pramita!!!

We will soon be arriving in Nepal! Jan.12th 2011!