Palung Village

It is crazy to think that I have been here for three weeks, it is really starting to feel more like home. This past week I was up in the Palung village which is near Everest. We ran a three day seminar on the book of Philippians in one of the local churches. We got to stay in a village home which was quite the adventure and rustic. The family that hosted us was incredibly hospitable and even though they didn't speak english there was lots of laughing and joy. We taught for three days, and then on Saturday (which is like our Sunday) they have church and I had the opportunity to preach. To be honest I was really fearful at first-but i knew in my heart that the Lord wanted me to preach and there was a reason he had put the people on my heart so much. A few weeks ago one of the young guys from the church-who was one of the church planters had passed away due to a epileptic attack, and the village was really struggling. Knowing this, and that the people were grieving and struggling with fearing death i preached on "There is no fear in death" from Philippians 1:19-26. I was so nervous before i started but once I got up there the Lord gave me the words to say and I really feel like the congregation was moved and many of them were crying including the translator and myself. Just the fact that as believers we need to rejoice in death, i have been dwelling on heaven, and even though i cannot and will not fully grasp it till i am there, i know that we can all live in hope as believers knowing that we will be with Christ. And when we die, the only thing that we leave in the grave is our sinful nature and we get to be with Christ-in a perfect place. I was really blessed with that, and i continue to realize how the Lord uses us in our weaknesses, and he is the one that gives us the strength. I was also quite sick most of the time in the village but still the Lord gave me the strength to teach and prepare my lessons.

On a entirely different note--there are huge spiders in the village. We had one in our room that was huge and it was the size of my hand and it was to fast to kill. Also by the squatty on the wall were huge spiders that just stared at us. You know a spider is big when you take a picture of it and it gets red eye. I still haven't seen any snakes which I hope will not happen. So to get to and from the village we took public transit, and that was an experience. Imagine this--a 18 passenger van-decorated and painted with many fake flowers covering the windows. 35 people crammed in the inside, and another 12 people sitting on the top along with all the luggage, chickens and roosters that were so loud, 50KG bags of sugar, lots of fruit and vegetables. I really thought the roof was going to cave in and I got a bit nervous from time to time as they would continue to put more and more things on the roof. There were also chickens inside the van as well that were very unhappy--oh and the Nepali music blasting in the back of the van. I really enjoyed this--when i was car sick from driving on the windy road through the mountains and through many different villages.

I love how the Nepali people are so group oriented, every time we would pass through a village somebody from the bus new someone in the village and they would stop for a minutes or two and chat, and then we would keep on going. The only downfall is that a three hour ride took us 7 hours. The countryside is amazing, the mountains are breathtaking and the people are really beautiful as well. I continue to pray day after day that the Lord will continue to give me more of a love for the Nepali people. Because a lot of the time I am preparing teachings and studying it is hard to find the time to get to know the locals and the people that we are teaching. I really need to make sure that i find time to do both-because it i teach and the students learn that is good but even more i want to build relationship with the students more and more.

This is my last day in Katmandu and tomorrow morning we leave for Pokhara where we will be for a month. I will be teaching the book of Ruth from the 21-25th of November so if you think of me could you please pray for me as I study and prepare for teaching that to a Bible School that is affiliated with YWAM. When i am not teaching Ruth, i will be studying but also trekking up to different villages and teaching Bible Overview in churches and doing ministries there which I am looking forward to a lot.

Thanks so much for all your prayers, it means so much to know that so many people at home support me and I love you all so much.

Some Specific Prayer Requests:

-Safety as we travel to Pokhara

-Discernment with my time (to spend studying, and to be spending with the people I am teaching)

-Health (I have had some parasites :(

-More and more love for the Nepali people.

Love you all:)