We've been back home for one week now. Enjoying the luxury of water - hot water at that! Electricity, with no outages. Every kind of food you can think of. And fresh clean air- lots of it! How blessed we are! Although we're enjoying all these things and the pleasure of our brothers and sisters here, I find myself saddened at the fact of not seeing my other brothers in Kathmandu and sharing their burdens. God wrecked my heart for my Nepali brothers and, in a strange way, I feel a part of my heart will never return from there. It's all a little confusing - not being able to feel whole. I find myself asking the same question Frodo Baggins asked himself at the end of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, "How do you pick up the pieces of your past life when you've journeyed through so much hardship?" Oddly enough, I feel that our journeys in Kathmandu are not over. All the family said they weren't ready to leave, that somehow something feels not completed. So with these thoughts, we're seeking God on a return to Nepal for a much longer term. Who knows when that will be, though?
In the meantime, I have to integrate myself back into this Western society. And when I get the chance, hopefully I can share with others the lessons God has accomplished in these last four months. This may be the last entry for this blog, or in two years, or three years, more entries will be posted. God knows! (Posted by Ken.)
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
What now?
Well, our 4-month 'adventure' is over and we arrived back safe and sound, even though one of us took the opposite route home through Thailand, while the rest of us travelled through Bahrain and London transporting our Nepali 'street' dog, Maya, who has now become part of our family.
To tell you the truth, none of us really wanted to leave Nepal and return home to Canada, even with the sporadic water supply, frequent power outages, garbage-strewn streets and permeating pollution in the air. It's the people whom we grew to love that we missed already even before we left. They became part of us and we them as our lives inter-twined, suffering the lack of water with them, rejoicing when the rain came or when God filled the well, as well as seeing His regular answers to prayer - and learning from THEM how to really pray! What can we say? We left part of us back in Kathmandu.
But here we are back in Canada where it was so good to breathe fresh air, turn on the tap and get not only readily accessible water but HOT at that, enjoy the clean streets and see stop signs, street lights and lane markings! And no constant honking!
But alas, when I entered my super-clean house (thank-you, Kurt & Heather!) and went into our bedroom, the sight that greeted me actually made me somewhat angry. Even after all the yard sales we had last fall to raise money, my room is still full of stuff - stuff that requires my attention whether to clean it, dust under it, arrange it, find a place to put it. How is it that I managed to live without all this stuff over there? How come I never even missed it? And now I have to deal with it all. I felt annoyed and angry. My first thought was, "Okay, maybe we can do another yard sale and get rid of it." I mentioned it to the girls and their response was, "Yeah, I have stuff I want to get rid of, too." What, did we miss it last fall in the yard sales? Or have we learned to live with less? We are so rich here, so full, there is hardly room for God to move. In fact, my own spiritual walk took a tumble when we came back. Nobody's fault but my own. There just isn't room for God here, since our every need is taken care of by our efficient society. I need Him to help me re-focus, make time for Him in my busy-ness (you know the old adage: I owe, I owe, so off to work I go!'). We're thinking of having a Nepal night where we turn off our electricity (and maybe water?) and pray for our brothers and sisters over there. We never want to forget. May God keep changing us so that we don't regress here in our satiated country, and keep our other family close to our hearts as they live their simple lives. Who is really richer?
To tell you the truth, none of us really wanted to leave Nepal and return home to Canada, even with the sporadic water supply, frequent power outages, garbage-strewn streets and permeating pollution in the air. It's the people whom we grew to love that we missed already even before we left. They became part of us and we them as our lives inter-twined, suffering the lack of water with them, rejoicing when the rain came or when God filled the well, as well as seeing His regular answers to prayer - and learning from THEM how to really pray! What can we say? We left part of us back in Kathmandu.
But here we are back in Canada where it was so good to breathe fresh air, turn on the tap and get not only readily accessible water but HOT at that, enjoy the clean streets and see stop signs, street lights and lane markings! And no constant honking!
But alas, when I entered my super-clean house (thank-you, Kurt & Heather!) and went into our bedroom, the sight that greeted me actually made me somewhat angry. Even after all the yard sales we had last fall to raise money, my room is still full of stuff - stuff that requires my attention whether to clean it, dust under it, arrange it, find a place to put it. How is it that I managed to live without all this stuff over there? How come I never even missed it? And now I have to deal with it all. I felt annoyed and angry. My first thought was, "Okay, maybe we can do another yard sale and get rid of it." I mentioned it to the girls and their response was, "Yeah, I have stuff I want to get rid of, too." What, did we miss it last fall in the yard sales? Or have we learned to live with less? We are so rich here, so full, there is hardly room for God to move. In fact, my own spiritual walk took a tumble when we came back. Nobody's fault but my own. There just isn't room for God here, since our every need is taken care of by our efficient society. I need Him to help me re-focus, make time for Him in my busy-ness (you know the old adage: I owe, I owe, so off to work I go!'). We're thinking of having a Nepal night where we turn off our electricity (and maybe water?) and pray for our brothers and sisters over there. We never want to forget. May God keep changing us so that we don't regress here in our satiated country, and keep our other family close to our hearts as they live their simple lives. Who is really richer?
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Accident on the Mountain
Don't worry; we are all healthy and well (at least about 90%, anyway). Perhaps I should explain. Alana, Sheri and I (Bonnie) travelled to Gorkha with Pastor Raju, Karin and Matthew (from WCV) earlier this week. Actually, the bus ride there was very scenic, when you tried not to notice the vehicles passing each other on mountain curves, around the goats being herded up the mountain passes or school children walking back down to their villages. That was probably the most harrowing - when we were in the middle of passing another truck (we're not talking just little European/Asian cars but vans, smoke-billowing trucks and tour buses) on one of the curves and met (almost literally) a group of school children walking together. I was somewhat shaken when I realized they could have met with our bus and we all may have taken another track DOWN the mountain, rather than up it. However, aside from the 'exciting' ride, when we kept our eyes on the scenery, it really reminded me of Switzerland - towering mountains, houses dotting the sides all the way up, rivers, gorges and valleys winding around the bases. Truly, Nepal must be one of the more beautiful countries in the world (outside of Kathmandu, that is!) We arrived some 5 hours later at the Gorkha 'Bazaar', whence we had to walk down the mountain another 3 hours.
Then we arrived at Raju's parents' home. They are the folks who had just been baptized by Ken and Alexander Venter last month. They are in their mid-sixties and a wonderfully warm couple who put us up for 2 nights. It gets quite interesting when they have no electricity because it really gets dark without any city lights. And when you have to make your way to the squatty potty down the road, a flashlight would have helped (but fortunately we had brought candles). But their toilet is really well-engineered! (I won't go into the details). We also met Raju's grandfather while we were there, as he lives with them. He is 87 and is also coming to believe. They are thinking he may be ready for baptism as well (I'd love to be there for that!) We also met a woman and her 2 children whose husband has abandoned her since she refuses to give up her Christian faith. She now has no home but lives with whatever friend opens their house. Raju's parents are trying to have her stay in their 2nd home but, unfortunately, his grandfather isn't prepared to have a low-caste person reside with them. She works in their fields (of which they have many) in order to help pay for her children's education. Somehow she manages.
On our last evening there was when I met with an accident. It was really quite trivial, after having walked 3 hours down one mountain, 1/2 hour down another to the river to swim, and 1/2 hour back up the rocky terrain. I simply stepped in the dark down one single stone step, except off the side rather than in the middle, causing my ankle to wrench somewhat painfully. Well, Pastor Raju grabbed my ankle and I heard a tiny snapping noise. I thought he may have put something back in place. I don't know. I felt faint so I lay down, and his father massaged my ankle with some ointment. I didn't feel like putting pressure on it so, when I went to bed, I just kept it elevated. Sleep was somewhat elusive so what better thing to do than pray? Well, in the morning, I was informed that I MUST walk; there was simply no other way to get back home. So again they prayed (how glorious that Jesus' saints around the world all have the power to pray!). Then they prepared a 'home remedy' of boiling salt water and applied these HOT cloths to my ankle several times, after which I managed to walk (or rather limp). His father provided me with a walking stick and we proceeded to climb back down the mountain. Well, according to Alana, I was just too slow so she carried me down the mountain on her back. When she tired, I walked some more, then Matthew carried me down part of the way. I managed to walk down the rest and we arrived at the village by the river. There we waited 2 hours for a bus which took us across, into and through the river by turn (with the girls happily riding on top!). I should say that we almost had to walk the 3 hours UP the mountain (which we had earlier climbed down to Raju's parents' home), as the night before the river had swelled with all the rain. But fortunately the bus managed to navigate the river, driving over the stones (when I say 'stones', I don't mean gravel; I mean large stones and even rocks), only being stopped once to have its tire repaired (at least I think the noise was the tire!). At one point, it was leaning 20 degrees (on my side) and I began to think of my escape route through the window just in case! When we arrived at a big village, I prayed, "Oh, Lord, PLEASE let this be Gorkha Bazaar! But when I heard the motor starting up and saw the black smoke billowing out from beneath the bus, I knew I had to endure. Back around the mountain curves, swerving at times precariously, leaning other times, going around animals, children and other vehicles (one whole herd of goats!) until finally we arrived. There we found out the last bus had left for Kathmandu one hour earlier. Oh, Lord! Well, Pastor Raju bargained and bartered until he finally found us a more expensive ride home. This time, since I was riding in the front seat, I closed my eyes in order to be more relaxed, just in case we met another vehicle head-on (I heard that, if your body is not tense, you will be less injured in an accident!) Well, since you're reading this blog, obviously we all made it home in one piece!
The next day I went to the hospital to have my ankle x-rayed, which was another lesson in cultures. As the x-ray attendant prepared the x-ray tray and positioned my ankle, I waited for the protective cover. When he left the room and I heard the machine whirring, I wondered how they forgot that essential. So I asked him when he proceeded to take the 2nd x-ray. "Shouldn't I wear that protective covering over there (which was hanging on the wall)?" "Oh, yeah, okay," was his casual response. Only in Nepal! So I was protected on the 2nd time from the radiation. Who knows exactly what the effects are, anyway? I certainly don't. But I'm sure God covers us when we are unknowingly vulnerable! The good news is that there was no break or fracture (at least, that's what the man said who looked at my x-ray; mind you, he wasn't the orthopaedic doctor). But it's been getting better every day (even with all the walking!), which is a good thing because we've needed to walk a lot to get all the last-minute finalizations done.
I'm writing this on our last full day in Nepal, after a week of no Internet (AGAIN!). We're having a community dinner with our beloved family here, and I'm sure we'll all be crying when we leave. Please continue to pray for the people here. Our hearts are already longing to return. And thank-you SO much for holding us up all these 4 months! We love you, too. Lord willing, we'll be back home on the 17th, unless He calls us to our REAL home. But as long as He allows us, we'll just keep helping to build His Kingdom here on this side. See you soon!
Then we arrived at Raju's parents' home. They are the folks who had just been baptized by Ken and Alexander Venter last month. They are in their mid-sixties and a wonderfully warm couple who put us up for 2 nights. It gets quite interesting when they have no electricity because it really gets dark without any city lights. And when you have to make your way to the squatty potty down the road, a flashlight would have helped (but fortunately we had brought candles). But their toilet is really well-engineered! (I won't go into the details). We also met Raju's grandfather while we were there, as he lives with them. He is 87 and is also coming to believe. They are thinking he may be ready for baptism as well (I'd love to be there for that!) We also met a woman and her 2 children whose husband has abandoned her since she refuses to give up her Christian faith. She now has no home but lives with whatever friend opens their house. Raju's parents are trying to have her stay in their 2nd home but, unfortunately, his grandfather isn't prepared to have a low-caste person reside with them. She works in their fields (of which they have many) in order to help pay for her children's education. Somehow she manages.
On our last evening there was when I met with an accident. It was really quite trivial, after having walked 3 hours down one mountain, 1/2 hour down another to the river to swim, and 1/2 hour back up the rocky terrain. I simply stepped in the dark down one single stone step, except off the side rather than in the middle, causing my ankle to wrench somewhat painfully. Well, Pastor Raju grabbed my ankle and I heard a tiny snapping noise. I thought he may have put something back in place. I don't know. I felt faint so I lay down, and his father massaged my ankle with some ointment. I didn't feel like putting pressure on it so, when I went to bed, I just kept it elevated. Sleep was somewhat elusive so what better thing to do than pray? Well, in the morning, I was informed that I MUST walk; there was simply no other way to get back home. So again they prayed (how glorious that Jesus' saints around the world all have the power to pray!). Then they prepared a 'home remedy' of boiling salt water and applied these HOT cloths to my ankle several times, after which I managed to walk (or rather limp). His father provided me with a walking stick and we proceeded to climb back down the mountain. Well, according to Alana, I was just too slow so she carried me down the mountain on her back. When she tired, I walked some more, then Matthew carried me down part of the way. I managed to walk down the rest and we arrived at the village by the river. There we waited 2 hours for a bus which took us across, into and through the river by turn (with the girls happily riding on top!). I should say that we almost had to walk the 3 hours UP the mountain (which we had earlier climbed down to Raju's parents' home), as the night before the river had swelled with all the rain. But fortunately the bus managed to navigate the river, driving over the stones (when I say 'stones', I don't mean gravel; I mean large stones and even rocks), only being stopped once to have its tire repaired (at least I think the noise was the tire!). At one point, it was leaning 20 degrees (on my side) and I began to think of my escape route through the window just in case! When we arrived at a big village, I prayed, "Oh, Lord, PLEASE let this be Gorkha Bazaar! But when I heard the motor starting up and saw the black smoke billowing out from beneath the bus, I knew I had to endure. Back around the mountain curves, swerving at times precariously, leaning other times, going around animals, children and other vehicles (one whole herd of goats!) until finally we arrived. There we found out the last bus had left for Kathmandu one hour earlier. Oh, Lord! Well, Pastor Raju bargained and bartered until he finally found us a more expensive ride home. This time, since I was riding in the front seat, I closed my eyes in order to be more relaxed, just in case we met another vehicle head-on (I heard that, if your body is not tense, you will be less injured in an accident!) Well, since you're reading this blog, obviously we all made it home in one piece!
The next day I went to the hospital to have my ankle x-rayed, which was another lesson in cultures. As the x-ray attendant prepared the x-ray tray and positioned my ankle, I waited for the protective cover. When he left the room and I heard the machine whirring, I wondered how they forgot that essential. So I asked him when he proceeded to take the 2nd x-ray. "Shouldn't I wear that protective covering over there (which was hanging on the wall)?" "Oh, yeah, okay," was his casual response. Only in Nepal! So I was protected on the 2nd time from the radiation. Who knows exactly what the effects are, anyway? I certainly don't. But I'm sure God covers us when we are unknowingly vulnerable! The good news is that there was no break or fracture (at least, that's what the man said who looked at my x-ray; mind you, he wasn't the orthopaedic doctor). But it's been getting better every day (even with all the walking!), which is a good thing because we've needed to walk a lot to get all the last-minute finalizations done.
I'm writing this on our last full day in Nepal, after a week of no Internet (AGAIN!). We're having a community dinner with our beloved family here, and I'm sure we'll all be crying when we leave. Please continue to pray for the people here. Our hearts are already longing to return. And thank-you SO much for holding us up all these 4 months! We love you, too. Lord willing, we'll be back home on the 17th, unless He calls us to our REAL home. But as long as He allows us, we'll just keep helping to build His Kingdom here on this side. See you soon!
Friday, June 6, 2008
Final Struggles
Well, we are into our final two weeks here on the other side of the world. But the time is not without its challenges. Lately our family has been taking turns (2 of us at a time) getting up between 4:30 and 5 in the morning to draw water (remember the woman at the well?) Why? you ask. For some strange reason (and it's not because of the Maoists) the City of Kathmandu controls when and how much water it lets into each household. Some time ago, we were given a huge container and were advised by the other women here to fill all the basins we had available when water does come (remember the water shortages int he past?) So we started collecting water. Also we started using the rainwater collected in our big baptismal tank for washing clothes and flushing the toilet (after all, you don't need clean water to flush). Anyway, back to getting up at 4:30 a.m. You see, that's when the City is pleased to turn on our water. The only problem is, it doesn't last all day. In fact, when we got wise to the time of day when water flows, and got smart enough to start getting up early to fill all of our containers, the rationing started. First the water would last (run) for 1/2 an hour. But with 2 people running both kitchen and bathroom taps, we were able to fill 3 buckets, our huge container and several 2-litre juice jugs. Then yesterday morning we managed to only fill up 2 pails before the flow stopped. This morning we only got 1 litre before the water was down to a trickle. So guess what that meant? Fortunately, most had gotten their clothes washed, even though they had to use well water (which is slightly rust-coloured). But now, finally, in our last 2 weeks, we all get to use the squatty potty! There is, of course, no water (not even in the baptismal tank) to flush, so no point in using our toilet. But it's amazing how gravity works quite well! And, since there's no tap water to wash the dishes, it's a great time to eat out! After all, a meal of mo-mo's or fried rice is only a dollar. What better time to avail ourselves of great culinary dishes of Nepal! Of course, we still need to drink so Ken takes his regular trips to buy a jug of bottled water for us. Tomorrow morning is my turn to get up so the girls & I are going to pray that more water comes - not just for us but for everyone. Besides, I am running out of underwear!
Lastly, you can pray for me and the 3 older girls who are accompanying Pastor Raju to his home town of Gorkha (where Ken travelled last month to baptize his parents). We plan to leave on Monday and return on Wednesday. Pray for our safe return and that we can also bless his family there. Then it's the final countdown!
Lastly, you can pray for me and the 3 older girls who are accompanying Pastor Raju to his home town of Gorkha (where Ken travelled last month to baptize his parents). We plan to leave on Monday and return on Wednesday. Pray for our safe return and that we can also bless his family there. Then it's the final countdown!
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