week 2

These are the youth that we taught Bible Overview to at Manu's Church--they were awesome!!

I am going to share with you what my mornings are like here-i think its my favorite part of my day. I wake up around 630 and get ready for the day, grab my instant coffee--which i have learnt to appreciate and i head up to the rooftop with my Bible and journal. I love to climb to the top of the roof and just watch people, watch the locals go through there every day things. The neighbor is on his rooftop beating out a huge pile of cotton and a while later he is sewing material around it and making a mattress. There is a sweet little Nepali man who is always on his roof, in his bathrobe drinking his coffee and always waves hello to me. Down below there is the newspaper delivery boy who drives his bike on the dirt road and when he gets to a home he rolls up the newspaper and throws it up to the house-sometimes its even two or even three stories high. There are the little Nepali ladies that have laid out all their fruit, and vegetables that they are selling and they are enjoying talking with the other ladies that are selling their goods. Down below their are chickens walking everywhere and Roosters being loud. And then there are the street dogs who are always in packs and go from one place to another--sometimes causing trouble and barking a lot. Down below there are ladies washing clothes and laying them on their tin roofs to dry. And i cannot forget the little boys that always hang out outside our flat who love to play with caps--they don't have cap guns but they use rocks to make the loud noise--and that just reminds me of my brothers back at home who use to always have cap guns. I love just watching this all-and seeing how other people live, but also spending that time to pray. Most of these homes have little hindu temples to their many gods on their rooftops and they bring offerings to them. I love starting my morning my praying for these people, and just enjoying the beauty of Nepal. Nepal was really showing off yesterday as i was walking back from the seminar I could perfectly see the snow capped Himalayas- and it was breathtaking.

Well I have been here for just over two weeks and it has been amazing. Over and over again the Lord is just really giving me peace about it all--naturally i would be nervous before teaching, but God really has been giving me that peace and comfort in him, and He is so faithful and helps me each step of the way and it has been amazing. This past week has been really good-most mornings I have had off, so as a team we always have breakfast together and then we have the morning to prepare are teachings. There is a nice coffee shop that I have been taking advantage of :)

In the afternoon/evenings we have been running a Bible Study, we went through the book of Philemon and we starting Philippians on Friday--and that is one of my favorite books in the Bible. Today i am teaching the step of observation and going though Unity and Contrasts in the book.

This past weekend was a lot of fun. My dear friend Manu invited us to teach Bible Overview at her church to her youth. So we taught Saturday afternoon and then Sunday all day. (Saturday Mornings is church morning in Nepal). I taught the character of God, The fall and God's Promise of redemption on Saturday. The students were so nice, really smart and they were a blessing to teach. We spent the night at Manu's aunties house and it was beautiful!!!! I climbed to the top floor and it over looks all of Katmandu and it was the most breathtaking views I have ever seen--i forgot my camera, but i will never forget the pinkish sky's, the outline of the mountains, rice patty fields--its beautiful!! And that night God really gave me a vision of what he wants my life to look like, and just a bit more specific, and it brought my lots of excitement but with that comes lots of questions. I feel like God is just sharing with me his heart for me-and how i am called to missions, teachings, and hospitality and somehow I need to put those all together :)

This week we have seminar in the afternoons and then on wednesday we all pack up and head to a village for a few days which i am so excited about-to seem more of Rural nepal. While we are there we will be teaching the book of Philippians. I look forward to going more into the mountains and getting to know more of the Native Nepali's and getting away from the business of Katmandu.

If you could remember me and my team in prayer I would really appreciate that:

--In the village that we are going to, one of the young guys past away-he was a church planter and really respected in the church and we need to go there being sensitive to this.

--Health and safety as we travel to the village

--Continued revelation of God's plan--and sharing that with these people-openly and honestly with much conviction.

--THere is so much of the prosperity gospel being taught---and that we will NOT teach that-but teach sound doctrine

--Lastly that we would be so sensitive to the Spirit as we teach--that he would guide every word we say and that people would continue to respond and be Spirit lead.

Thank you so much for your prayers, love you all

--Breanne

Nepal--Week One!

Jaymashi (that is how I great believers in Nepal).

It is hard for me to believe that I have been in Nepal for one week now, it seems like so much has happened and I am starting to feel more comfortable in the culture. I arrived in Nepal last Tuesday early in the morning after travelling for over 48 hours and I was really exhausted. It was so nice to get off the plane into 25 degree weather, i raced through the airport in Katmandu which is really old, made of bricks, and it could be compared to an old high school. I raced into the Visa line and filled out all the paperwork and amazingly there was no line up and I was out of the airport within 15 minutes.

The drive to the flat brought back so many memories of India-similar smells and sights but the difference was the beautiful mountains that surround Katmandu. I was greeted by a few other ywam workers and shown to my room-a share it with the two other women on my team. The first day we (my team and I) explored Katmandu, we brought traditional Nepali clothes to teach in, we went to a famous square that has an amazing view of the downtown. We also enjoyed great traditional Nepali food.

The next day we went to Pashupatinah-which is one of the most famous Hindu sights and it is built around the Holy River. There are “holy men” everywhere who are men who live there and are fully dedicated to being Hindu-many of them have paint on their face, where the traditional orange cloth and many have long dreaded hair. I had never been to a place like this, as I was looking down into the holy river or the sides were bodies being cremated. They bodies were wrapped in orange cloth and laid beside the river. The fires are started below the body and as it burns straw is placed over the body. I have never seen anything like this and as I was watching and praying it broke my heart to see these bodies burning but also knowing that these people did not know Jesus and they are burning in hell. It breaks to see this, and over and over the Lord spoke so clear to me that these people need Jesus, and people need to be here and willingly share with them who Jesus is.

Two days ago we just finished our first seminar-it was four days long from 9am-7pm-so the days were really long and each day I talked two different topics. The first three days we taught Bible Overview (i taught-God's character, the fall, God's plan of redemptions, 400 years of silence, Messianic Hope, CHristian missions, Holy Spirit and then the Historical background of Philemon) and it was amazing to share with them God's plan of redemption. And the last day we taught the inductive method through the book of Philemon which was really powerful and the students really got it.

Yesterday was a bit more relaxed-instead of getting up at 3 am to prepare I was able to sleep till 7 which was lovely. We had some meetings in the morning and in the afternoon we started up a seminar at a local church where we are teaching the inductive method through Phillipians and PHilemon and that is a three week seminar.

I am truly loving it here in Nepal, the people are so friendly, the culture is so different then home and I love to learn more about it. The weather is nice and hot :) usually around 25-30 each day. The place we are staying has an amazing rooftop that I love to go up and do my devotions and I can see all the mountains surround Katmandu and its beautiful. I am looking forward to next week as we are going to pack up for a few days and go to a village and do bible overview there and I will get to see Mt Everest :) I cannot wait.

Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers, i appreciate them so much. I also want to hear how you are doing and if you would like to email me please do at breclaassen@gmail.com.

A few prayer requests:

-health-i am pretty congested

-clarity and wisdom and we speak

-sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, as he is our teacher we need to listen to him and do what he asks

Thanks so much, love you all :)

En route!!

Team Nepal (L-R: Matt, Jiye, Kerry, Me, Aaron)
Hello Everyone,

Well this is really happening, i am going to Nepal and its hard to believe it. The fear that i had last week and the hours leading up to going has finally gone away and now I am so much more excited and I am ready for this next adventure. God has really stripped away the fear and anxiety and I am embracing this as a gift and an amazing opportunity to share the Word of God with the people of Nepal. I still have over 30 hours of travel till i get to Nepal, but that is part of the excitement. Love you all

Jaymushi!

Hey Everyone,

Well the time is coming so soon, and i will be on a plane heading off to Nepal. I don't know if I will ever feel ready, and fully prepared to go but what I know is that the Lord wants me to go and that excites me. I have been really praying that I can fully embrace how amazing this is, and just to be so thankful for this opportunity to go to Nepal and partner with the church and Bible Schools there and share with them the word of God. To share with them the method of studying the Bible that has changed my life. I cannot wait to go into villages and teach them Bible Overview and God's amazing plan of Redemption! This is truly a gift to be able to go to these places, and i cannot wait to embrace the culture and walk side by side with Jesus and with the church of Nepal.

This past week has been really amazing. Last week i had the opportunity to meet up with my DTS small group leader from back in 2007. It was amazing to see her and to hear all that was happening in her life and what the Lord had done through her. She has an amazing testimony that effected my life as well. Then on Friday I had another teaching-and it was a sermon. It went really well, and i enjoyed it a lot. I preached on 2 Cor 12:9. But he said to me my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. This verse has been on my heart for quite some time and it felt right to preach on it-and the fact to embrace our weaknesses--because i am in that spot right now.

On Monday i taught again, and it was Bible Overview. There are many different steps of it and I got the Fall of Mankind, and God's plan of redemption. These are two key parts of the overview, and i feel like God is really giving me a heart for this, and for teaching and I continue pray that it will come out in my teaching every time that i teach. I know that the more passion i have the better, and the more people will learn, and that the Lord will work through me.

My last teaching will be on Friday and as a Nepal team we are teaching the book of Philemon and i have the historical background step, which is really interesting and it is really hands on and a lot of fun. Then Sunday morning at 3am i am leaving!!! I will arrive in Nepal Tuesday morning around 11am, so there is a lot of travel time, with a number of long flights to get there.

I am really excited, but nerves still do get the best of me, but at the same time i just have peace in knowing that I am suppose to go, and that the Lord is in control and is paving the way and all I have to do it be obedient in whatever he asks of me. I am going to try to keep this blog updates as much as i can but there will probably be limited internet access.

Prayer points:

-For unity amongst the team (there are 4 students and 1 leader)

-For clarity and wisdom and we teach

-Energy

-Safe travels and health as we travel

-A love for the Nepali people.

This is my heart "To thrive in Nepali culture by embracing it and walking side by side with Jesus and the Nepali church."