Visits with the poor - young & old

Last Friday I (Bonnie) went with Sumi (Pastor Shyem's wife) and Urmila (leader of the women's fellowship) to visit 2 of the ladies from the church. It took 2 buses to get there (an experience in itself), over the river where you can see many roughly-built lean-to's which serve as homes to those who live along the banks. You hold back the urge to cover your nose as you pass over, as the stench of the river is quite strong. Some Nepali's actually do cover theirs. You pass many beautiful-looking large brick homes and wonder at the difference in standards of living. Finally we arrived at an industrial part of the City and headed into an alleyway off the street. You have to cross a kind of small 'bridge' (over the gutter as it turns out) and enter a courtyard surrounded by holes (but they're not really 'holes'; they're actually people's homes - more like caves) in the cement walls. You cross the same gutter that encircles the courtyard on flat stones which serve as bridges and enter the 'cave' in the wall. Each 'home' has 2 rooms - one for sleeping and one for cooking/eating. The first lady we visited was fairly old (but many have no idea of their ages as they had nobody to keep track of their birthdays). We entered her 'bedroom', which was right inside this 'cave'. The depth is just over the width of her bed with enough room for her to kneel in front of us while we sat on her bed. I couldn't understand the conversation but apparently she was sharing prayer needs as we then proceeded to all pray together for her. The 2nd lady we visited a little further down the cement wall had a slightly more spacious sleeping room as she lived with her daughter and son-in-law, who sat by the gutter washing their dishes. Again, she shared and then we prayed for her. Then we all went together to a store outside of the courtyard to purchase them some basics - like rice, dahl, vegetables, etc. This is how they do 'hampers', which was kind of fun. I guess they have no source of income and, in fact, their government 'housing' is free. Praise the Lord for that! I had met these ladies at the Saturday church services but had no idea where or how they lived. It gave me fresh perspective on the lives of many believers.

Today Vanessa & I got to have tea with a 'family' who live quite close to the church compound and who bring all their 'children' to church every week. I add quotations because it turns out that they have almost 20 'children' living with them. All are orphans (like so many in Nepal), many of whom the husband 'found' as he went trekking in the mountain villages. So for the last 15 years they have been raising them in a large apartment (actually 2 floors of a building). These children sang to us (oh, I wish I had a camera with video recording!) songs in Tibetan and English (the 'mother' is a former Buddhist from Tibet). They sing their hearts out! It was such a joy to hear. I think they are so happy to have a home and it comes out in their voices. But I noticed that they closed all the windows before singing for us. They are very well-behaved and respectful. I couldn't help but hug them all and their faces just beamed. They even took Vanessa up to the roof (where everyone hangs their clothes) and danced for her. It seems to be an honour to host Westerners and, when you return the friendship, they open up even more. As always in Nepal, the biggest challenge is to send the children to school. But even if they do attain an education, some don't even have citizenship (as they have no blood family) and so can't even get a job. I felt like my heart would burst; I don't know how much more it can hold. These people have so little but they give you so much. And all I could do was smile at them and receive their graciousness. Oh Lord, would you bless and help all these little children of the world!