Well, it's not that the trials are sick but that the trial is sickness. Karina & I (Bonnie) are just getting over a rather mean flu virus or something of the sort. Karina had a rather high fever and even passed some blood. Fortunately we brought some Tylenol along and we made her drink as much water as she could hold. Then she was in bed for 2 days. Today's she's bacl at work at the local college so hopefully she had energy to teach.
I had a rather unenjoyable night and day losing all of my contents in both directions, if you know what I mean. But try to imagine doing all of that in the bathroom with a cockroach scurrying around by your feet and a mosquito buzzing around your head at the same time. The one and only blessing (!) was that the power was on. I don't even want to think about heading off to the bathroom in the middle of the night, having first to find a candle and light it by the cookstove, after trying to find the lighter and knob to turn it on - all in the dark. Thank God for small miracles. I suppose it wouldn't have been impossible but it was surely better to be able to see. Then yesterday Alexander Venter - one of the original team with John Wimber - arrived here in Kathmandu and, together with several others, came and prayed for me. Oh, I am coming to appreciate the value of prayer for healing. In the past, it was I who tried to learn how to pray for the sick. Now I am on the receiving end and my faith is growing accordingly!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
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!
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!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
More Updates
Well, Ken, Karina, Alana & Sheri left this morning with the rest of the youth group and Pastor Shem for Gatlang (a mountain village north of here) where they will spend the next several days doing outreach. You could pray that the bus they took didn't go careening off the mountain cliff (we haven't heard if they've arrived). They are due to return either Thursday or Friday so pray that they return safely as well. I'm sure they will have lots to share when they get back. Maybe there will be a fight to all get on the computer. But at least Vanessa & I don't have to share our time on the Internet with 4 others this week.
Mind you, we lost electricity in one-half of the church compound and had to get the electrician in to fix it. That included the fridge in our apartment and we had quite a few eggs in there which we would hate to see go bad! But that's Nepal - you may have power scheduled to come on but that doesn't mean something else won't interrupt it (like lightening storm or fuse!)
The water truck also came today - hooray! We have continuous running water from the tap for the first time in almost 3 weeks! What a luxury! Yesterday some of the boys managed to procure some nice cold, clean water from the neighbours (not sure where they got it). I am strongly suspecting (I don't know this for sure) that, if you pay enough rupees, somehow the water truck manages to get through the fuel line and water line more quickly. I learned that some of the women in the compound get up around 4:00 some mornings to get access to water, as there seems to be some coming then. They fill up whatever jugs or pails they have for when it gets turned off (or whatever the reason is that it comes only early in the mornings). And I also learned how little water I actually need to wet down during a shower - just a trickle. Even the cold showers are quite tolerable now with the warm weather, as the middle of February when we arrived was not quite so.
We're still not sure how the Maoist win will affect our lives here. We did find out that, before the election, a group of them tried to overnight at the church compound during a rally here in the City. Most were from surrounding villages. The church finally managed to take a collection, along with all of their neighbours, to lend them tents and pay for them to stay at a nearby basketball field. Reminds me of early Mao Tse-Tung days in China. Keep praying.
Thank-you all for upholding us. And it's exciting to know that, while He's changing us here, He is also making you more acutely aware and appreciative of the blessings of being Canadian. I know we certainly will when we get back!
Mind you, we lost electricity in one-half of the church compound and had to get the electrician in to fix it. That included the fridge in our apartment and we had quite a few eggs in there which we would hate to see go bad! But that's Nepal - you may have power scheduled to come on but that doesn't mean something else won't interrupt it (like lightening storm or fuse!)
The water truck also came today - hooray! We have continuous running water from the tap for the first time in almost 3 weeks! What a luxury! Yesterday some of the boys managed to procure some nice cold, clean water from the neighbours (not sure where they got it). I am strongly suspecting (I don't know this for sure) that, if you pay enough rupees, somehow the water truck manages to get through the fuel line and water line more quickly. I learned that some of the women in the compound get up around 4:00 some mornings to get access to water, as there seems to be some coming then. They fill up whatever jugs or pails they have for when it gets turned off (or whatever the reason is that it comes only early in the mornings). And I also learned how little water I actually need to wet down during a shower - just a trickle. Even the cold showers are quite tolerable now with the warm weather, as the middle of February when we arrived was not quite so.
We're still not sure how the Maoist win will affect our lives here. We did find out that, before the election, a group of them tried to overnight at the church compound during a rally here in the City. Most were from surrounding villages. The church finally managed to take a collection, along with all of their neighbours, to lend them tents and pay for them to stay at a nearby basketball field. Reminds me of early Mao Tse-Tung days in China. Keep praying.
Thank-you all for upholding us. And it's exciting to know that, while He's changing us here, He is also making you more acutely aware and appreciative of the blessings of being Canadian. I know we certainly will when we get back!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Jesus Walks by the Riverbed
We (Shyem,Ken,Karina,Alana) visited our friends at the riverbed on Wednesday. Our friend wasn't at the footbridge to meet us so we entered the slum area on our own. That was a mistake as we quickly got lost in the maze of shoulder-width walk ways. We managed to get to the riverbank and much to our surprise ran into the lady of the other family with whom we started a friendship. She straitened us out and got us on the right path. We visited her home, and again, she served us cold cokes bought from the local store. Her generosity is incredible! (I have much to learn.) I found out that the husband works nights as a security gaurd at a bank. He makes a decent enough wage to survive foodwise but unfortunatly not enough to rent a house.
We shared that the main reason we come to the riverbed is because of our desire to share the love that Jesus has given us. She could understand that.....a little. But she was baffled at Karina and Alana coming to visit this stinking slum area. In her words, "No beautiful western girls ever come here! They go to Thamel, to beauty parlors, to restaraunts, to do shopping, but never here!" Her own thoughts were authenticating what Shyem had just told her of God's love. Hmmm.......the kingdom was drawing near. So be it!
We shared that the main reason we come to the riverbed is because of our desire to share the love that Jesus has given us. She could understand that.....a little. But she was baffled at Karina and Alana coming to visit this stinking slum area. In her words, "No beautiful western girls ever come here! They go to Thamel, to beauty parlors, to restaraunts, to do shopping, but never here!" Her own thoughts were authenticating what Shyem had just told her of God's love. Hmmm.......the kingdom was drawing near. So be it!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Quick Update
Hi Everyone;
Although it's almost 1 in the morning, I thought I had better get in a post while we have both power and Internet, both of which have been rather unpredictable in the last 3 weeks, probably due to the frequent thunder and lightening storms. We've even been challenged by the water (or lack of) situation lately. But I must say that we have mastered the art of sponge bathing! And washing/rinsing dishes with a couple of litres water. Our baptismal tank has been used lately to collect the rainwater and that is used for washing clothes or flushing the toilets. Where there's a will there's a way! But we all agree that it is much easier to work around the frequent power outages than it is to do without water. We do buy bottled water (the big blue jugs like back home) but it's hard to have a shower with it. Tonight I got desperate, since we were all seriously in need of a decent shower. I managed to wash my hair, rinse it and sponge bathe all with half a bucket of water!
As for the political situation, it seems the Maoists are winning a majority across the country. It turns out that they were electing representatives to write up a new constitution. But the Congress Party seems to have been roundly defeated and hence may end up with very few delegates to take part in the assembly. This will probably result in a new government made up of mostly Maoist and some other party reps. No-one is sure what exactly will change but most are sure things probably won't remain the same. We'll have to wait and see.
The youth are gearing up for their missions trip next week. They leave on Sunday for the village of Gatlang in the mountains just north of Kathmandu. Karina, Alana & Sheri will be travelling with them, helping out in different ways. They have been raising support for all the expenses the last few weeks and, I think, are almost there. You can pray for all the youth (there are about 20 going), their continuing health, their walks with the Lord, and that this outreach would be effective and encouraging for all. Ken will also be going, as Pastor Shyem asked him to help out (I guess partly as chaperone of the mix of teenage guys and girls; their culture is actually quite strict, as you probably gathered from the stories of arranged marriages). Vanessa & I will be holding the fort back here, doing school work and maybe some fun stuff.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) Pastor Shyem, Ken & Karina go back to the riverbed community, mostly to check on the woman who is expecting a baby. Amazingly enough, the Maoists did not win in that area, even though they had promised new housing for the people there. Our contact fellow phoned Pastor Shyem to tell him and we all rejoiced! It was an answer to prayer, as we were afraid that might have closed the open door we have right now. In the one area where they should have won, since the people had nothing to lose, the Congress Party did instead! Isn't that miraculous? But almost ironic, the area where the church is located was another Maoist victory.
We're having a birthday party for Sheri on Thursday as she'll be away in Gatlang on the 21st. It'll be a real community celebration with lots of Nepali food (courtesy of the Lewis cooks). We were even given a 'Miracle Oven' (they don't have real ovens here, just gas burners) so the girls have been baking cakes! AND we found a pizza delivery place so everyone can taste New York pizza (hopefully it's like back home). What a great excuse for a party!
As always, there's more to share but this is long enough already. We'll try to get more regular posts in now that the Internet is working again. We heard that you had 18 degree weather. But you can't beat the 30 degrees here! We've already started on our tans! (but we know you wouldn't trade the cold for water shortages). Thank-you all for your encouraging comments. Some days we live for them! They warm our hearts here when the going gets tough. Bless you all! (posted by Bonnie)
Although it's almost 1 in the morning, I thought I had better get in a post while we have both power and Internet, both of which have been rather unpredictable in the last 3 weeks, probably due to the frequent thunder and lightening storms. We've even been challenged by the water (or lack of) situation lately. But I must say that we have mastered the art of sponge bathing! And washing/rinsing dishes with a couple of litres water. Our baptismal tank has been used lately to collect the rainwater and that is used for washing clothes or flushing the toilets. Where there's a will there's a way! But we all agree that it is much easier to work around the frequent power outages than it is to do without water. We do buy bottled water (the big blue jugs like back home) but it's hard to have a shower with it. Tonight I got desperate, since we were all seriously in need of a decent shower. I managed to wash my hair, rinse it and sponge bathe all with half a bucket of water!
As for the political situation, it seems the Maoists are winning a majority across the country. It turns out that they were electing representatives to write up a new constitution. But the Congress Party seems to have been roundly defeated and hence may end up with very few delegates to take part in the assembly. This will probably result in a new government made up of mostly Maoist and some other party reps. No-one is sure what exactly will change but most are sure things probably won't remain the same. We'll have to wait and see.
The youth are gearing up for their missions trip next week. They leave on Sunday for the village of Gatlang in the mountains just north of Kathmandu. Karina, Alana & Sheri will be travelling with them, helping out in different ways. They have been raising support for all the expenses the last few weeks and, I think, are almost there. You can pray for all the youth (there are about 20 going), their continuing health, their walks with the Lord, and that this outreach would be effective and encouraging for all. Ken will also be going, as Pastor Shyem asked him to help out (I guess partly as chaperone of the mix of teenage guys and girls; their culture is actually quite strict, as you probably gathered from the stories of arranged marriages). Vanessa & I will be holding the fort back here, doing school work and maybe some fun stuff.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) Pastor Shyem, Ken & Karina go back to the riverbed community, mostly to check on the woman who is expecting a baby. Amazingly enough, the Maoists did not win in that area, even though they had promised new housing for the people there. Our contact fellow phoned Pastor Shyem to tell him and we all rejoiced! It was an answer to prayer, as we were afraid that might have closed the open door we have right now. In the one area where they should have won, since the people had nothing to lose, the Congress Party did instead! Isn't that miraculous? But almost ironic, the area where the church is located was another Maoist victory.
We're having a birthday party for Sheri on Thursday as she'll be away in Gatlang on the 21st. It'll be a real community celebration with lots of Nepali food (courtesy of the Lewis cooks). We were even given a 'Miracle Oven' (they don't have real ovens here, just gas burners) so the girls have been baking cakes! AND we found a pizza delivery place so everyone can taste New York pizza (hopefully it's like back home). What a great excuse for a party!
As always, there's more to share but this is long enough already. We'll try to get more regular posts in now that the Internet is working again. We heard that you had 18 degree weather. But you can't beat the 30 degrees here! We've already started on our tans! (but we know you wouldn't trade the cold for water shortages). Thank-you all for your encouraging comments. Some days we live for them! They warm our hearts here when the going gets tough. Bless you all! (posted by Bonnie)
Friday, April 11, 2008
Funeral in Koth Gaun
Disclaimer: My apologies to anyone offended by the following relation of my experience of a Nepali funeral service.
We were woken up one morning just after 6:30 a.m. to the sound of loud knocking at our window. I (Ken) was called outside by Pastor Shyem to accompany them to collect the body of a believer who died in the middle of the night. A previously built coffin was hastily finished in preparation for the body. We rented a bus to take the group to Koth Gaun for the funeral but, because the driver of the bus was Hindu, he wouldn't take the body, so we ended up borrowing a separate truck to carry the casket. On the way, I found out from Shyem that the Christians have to handle the entire procedure - from making the casket to picking up the body, the funeral service and the interment. The bus couldn't make it up the mountain as the roads were too narrow so we ended up hiking the rest of the way. When we arrived in the village, we noticed a group of people assembled around the house of the deceased. The covered body lay right out front of the house beside a pen of yaks. The truck arrived with the casket shortly thereafter and the service commenced right there. Crouched down in the front row, I had the privilege of getting a first-hand view of a Nepali funeral. What a mistake that was! The yak nearest me was relieving itself and, at the same time, swatting flies with its tail. The result was that the lucky recipients in the front row 'seats' were christened. I calmly rose from my squatting position and retreated to the 'safe' back row, far out of reach of any further personal violation. One of the believers from our church smiled, leaned towards me and whispered, "Welcome to Nepal."
The funeral service, which was officiated by Pastor Raju, ended after a brief sermon and some singing, and we proceeded back down the mountain to the burial place. At the first village we came to at the base of the mountain, I wondered why we suddenly stopped. Apparently we had forgotten the essential ropes with which to lower the casket. Shortly thereafter we were off again. We arrived at the Christian burial grounds some 20 minutes later. Some of the boys began carrying the casket through a gate up the hill. As we made our way through the forest over several mounds, I finally noticed a marker over one of these mounds and realized they were all grave sites. It felt rather disrespectful to be traversing over them but, again, this is a funeral Nepali-style.
As we proceeded up the hill, Hari (one of the street boys) and I met with a bull who seemed intent on charging us. He was stomping on the ground and thrashing his horns into the side of the ravine. Then the bull briefly lowered his head to chew on some vegetation so we quickly took that as our cue to make our escape. However, 2 other ladies from our group were still behind us and had to confront this animal. Hari warned them when to run but one lady missed the cue. Instead, she just lowered her head and stood very still. I thought that she knew something about bulls and that she was showing her submission in this manner. The bull did seem to slow down and calmly walked behind her. When she heard the bull's movement behind her, she quickly made her way up the hill to us. I found out that she actually knew nothing about bulls and was merely reading a headstone.
We caught up to the procession who were just attaching the ropes with which to lower the casket. But on the way down, one fellow let go of his rope, with the result that the coffin fell at an angle and got stuck head-down in the hole. The opposite fellow also dropped his ropes so now we had no ropes with which to level the casket. The other problem was that the lid had popped partly off in the process. One of the boys grabbed the shovel and began levering at the foot of the coffin to try and drop it, but with no success. Rabin, another street boy, was standing at the side of the hole with his hands on his hips, assessing the situation. The next moment, I saw him springing up and into the hole, landing with a loud thump on the head of the casket. He took another 2 good jumps and realized it was no use. He then managed to retrieve the rope from under the casket. He climbed out and began pulling at the head of the coffin while another fellow continued prying at the foot with the shovel. The casket finally fell into the hole with a thud. What a comedy of errors! The poor son & daughter of the deceased could do nothing but politely view the entire procedure.
After a short prayer and song, we all took turns covering the casket with dirt - no mortician, no funeral director - just the local believers interring one of their own. This was my initiation to a funeral ... Nepali-style.
We were woken up one morning just after 6:30 a.m. to the sound of loud knocking at our window. I (Ken) was called outside by Pastor Shyem to accompany them to collect the body of a believer who died in the middle of the night. A previously built coffin was hastily finished in preparation for the body. We rented a bus to take the group to Koth Gaun for the funeral but, because the driver of the bus was Hindu, he wouldn't take the body, so we ended up borrowing a separate truck to carry the casket. On the way, I found out from Shyem that the Christians have to handle the entire procedure - from making the casket to picking up the body, the funeral service and the interment. The bus couldn't make it up the mountain as the roads were too narrow so we ended up hiking the rest of the way. When we arrived in the village, we noticed a group of people assembled around the house of the deceased. The covered body lay right out front of the house beside a pen of yaks. The truck arrived with the casket shortly thereafter and the service commenced right there. Crouched down in the front row, I had the privilege of getting a first-hand view of a Nepali funeral. What a mistake that was! The yak nearest me was relieving itself and, at the same time, swatting flies with its tail. The result was that the lucky recipients in the front row 'seats' were christened. I calmly rose from my squatting position and retreated to the 'safe' back row, far out of reach of any further personal violation. One of the believers from our church smiled, leaned towards me and whispered, "Welcome to Nepal."
The funeral service, which was officiated by Pastor Raju, ended after a brief sermon and some singing, and we proceeded back down the mountain to the burial place. At the first village we came to at the base of the mountain, I wondered why we suddenly stopped. Apparently we had forgotten the essential ropes with which to lower the casket. Shortly thereafter we were off again. We arrived at the Christian burial grounds some 20 minutes later. Some of the boys began carrying the casket through a gate up the hill. As we made our way through the forest over several mounds, I finally noticed a marker over one of these mounds and realized they were all grave sites. It felt rather disrespectful to be traversing over them but, again, this is a funeral Nepali-style.
As we proceeded up the hill, Hari (one of the street boys) and I met with a bull who seemed intent on charging us. He was stomping on the ground and thrashing his horns into the side of the ravine. Then the bull briefly lowered his head to chew on some vegetation so we quickly took that as our cue to make our escape. However, 2 other ladies from our group were still behind us and had to confront this animal. Hari warned them when to run but one lady missed the cue. Instead, she just lowered her head and stood very still. I thought that she knew something about bulls and that she was showing her submission in this manner. The bull did seem to slow down and calmly walked behind her. When she heard the bull's movement behind her, she quickly made her way up the hill to us. I found out that she actually knew nothing about bulls and was merely reading a headstone.
We caught up to the procession who were just attaching the ropes with which to lower the casket. But on the way down, one fellow let go of his rope, with the result that the coffin fell at an angle and got stuck head-down in the hole. The opposite fellow also dropped his ropes so now we had no ropes with which to level the casket. The other problem was that the lid had popped partly off in the process. One of the boys grabbed the shovel and began levering at the foot of the coffin to try and drop it, but with no success. Rabin, another street boy, was standing at the side of the hole with his hands on his hips, assessing the situation. The next moment, I saw him springing up and into the hole, landing with a loud thump on the head of the casket. He took another 2 good jumps and realized it was no use. He then managed to retrieve the rope from under the casket. He climbed out and began pulling at the head of the coffin while another fellow continued prying at the foot with the shovel. The casket finally fell into the hole with a thud. What a comedy of errors! The poor son & daughter of the deceased could do nothing but politely view the entire procedure.
After a short prayer and song, we all took turns covering the casket with dirt - no mortician, no funeral director - just the local believers interring one of their own. This was my initiation to a funeral ... Nepali-style.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Kingdom Breakthrough
Visited the riverbed on Monday with Pastor Shem, Karina & Alana. Our friend was patiently waiting at the bridge, since our bus had run out of gas a mile away. We went to his home and found that his wife was expecting a baby in about a month. We asked what she was going to do when the baby came and if there were a medical facility nearby. They said they couldn't afford a hospital but that the local ladies would probably come and help out. Of course, Pastor Shem explained that Karina was doing some midwifery training, which is about the worst thing to say to a Nepali. He immediately took this as an offer and Karina is now expected to attend the birth, which could come at any time. During the visit, he asked us if we would be starting a service on Saturdays at the riverbed community. There seems to be a sudden growing spiritual hunger and interest in pursuing relationship with our church. Pastor Shem is asking for prayer in wisdom and discernment now as to what our next step should be and what the Lord is perhaps directing him towards.
We finished our meeting with him in prayer for his family and the new baby. He then took us to the other lady we had encountered in the slum area, who had informally invited us to her home. We were immediately invited in and seated on floor mats. Her son ran out the door and soon returned with cold bottles of pop for the 4 of us - what hospitality! At 20 rupees apiece, this almost totalled a Nepali's daily wages (150/day). We graciously accepted them but drank them knowing the cost to our hosts. Soon several children from other homes surrounding this hovel made their way in and soon we had about 20 of them crowded into this 10x10 room. Karina wanted her picture taken with the baby of one of the women present, which was a mistake as it led to the children eagerly gathering around the camera. This led to a 'photo shoot' of what seemed to be half the riverbed community coming in and out to get their pictures taken. They were overjoyed to see their instant pictures appear on the camera screen (of course it's a digital). It became so packed in the room that we had to cut the meeting short, after a short prayer again for the family. We promised to return next week, after the elections.
Praise God for His Kingdom advancing into the lowest of places (which is where Jesus seems pleased to go)! Continue to pray for hunger and an open door, perhaps even to start a weekly service here (as the Lord leads Pastor Shem). (posted by Ken)
We finished our meeting with him in prayer for his family and the new baby. He then took us to the other lady we had encountered in the slum area, who had informally invited us to her home. We were immediately invited in and seated on floor mats. Her son ran out the door and soon returned with cold bottles of pop for the 4 of us - what hospitality! At 20 rupees apiece, this almost totalled a Nepali's daily wages (150/day). We graciously accepted them but drank them knowing the cost to our hosts. Soon several children from other homes surrounding this hovel made their way in and soon we had about 20 of them crowded into this 10x10 room. Karina wanted her picture taken with the baby of one of the women present, which was a mistake as it led to the children eagerly gathering around the camera. This led to a 'photo shoot' of what seemed to be half the riverbed community coming in and out to get their pictures taken. They were overjoyed to see their instant pictures appear on the camera screen (of course it's a digital). It became so packed in the room that we had to cut the meeting short, after a short prayer again for the family. We promised to return next week, after the elections.
Praise God for His Kingdom advancing into the lowest of places (which is where Jesus seems pleased to go)! Continue to pray for hunger and an open door, perhaps even to start a weekly service here (as the Lord leads Pastor Shem). (posted by Ken)
Sunday, April 6, 2008
New Friends
Earlier this week pastor Shyem asked me to begin praying for an area of Kathmandu that he would like to start having fellowship in. He told me it was a slum located near the Kathmandu airport on the Bagmati River. This particular area is one of the poorest of the poor areas in Kathmandu and currently no Christian churches are ministering there.
On Friday morning Shyem and I left by Tuk Tuk(a very small three wheeled bus) for a prayer walk through this slum. Arriving near the end of the airport runway we walked from the main road down an alley to a gravel road that followed the river. The first sight one sees is garbage heaps spilling down the banks. Raw sewage pours from city pipes and garbage floats on the river in a metre thick layer. In places the water is open and the colour is a black flowing sludge. A boy with an open cut on his arm was reaching down into the sludge. He was searching for something of value to sell. Behind him a women threw garbage into the river. I wondered at what diseases or bacteria must be in that river. Moreover if the boy would be well the next day.
We crossed the river via a bridge into the most concentrated slum area. All the shacks are built of varying materials, plastic bags, corrugated metal, pieces of cloth, all lashed together with twine, cloth, bits of rope. Whatever could be found or salvaged from the river. All the shanty's offer little in regards to privacy. As we walked we spoke to a few people. They were friendly but no one was eager to carry on a conversation beyond formalities. I noticed a few paces behind us two men who seemed intent to hear what we were saying. Especially since a westerner is present. Westerners don't ever come to the river. They finally approached us and began a conversation with Shyem. As Shyem spoke I prayed that God would give him wisdom and grace for these men. The older man soon left leaving the younger (22-24 year old) still talking with us. We told him we were Christians and that we wanted to talk and spend time with some people here. He said that once before Christians came from a church. They took pictures, gave them some food, promised to come again and then never returned. This saddened his heart and he said he's not sure he could trust a Christian again. He then invited us to his house. We followed a side walk way that served as their alleys. It was barely wider than my shoulders, with rusted corrugated steel roofs that projected at neck level into the walk way. Very dangerous for any westerner over five foot six.
As we wandered through the maze of walk ways I was looking at some of the worst poverty I've laid eyes on. People with open sores. People with barely a complete set of clothes on, torn, filthy, or both. Few of them did have a full set of clean clothes on, yet one could tell they were quite old.
Arrivivng at his house (a six by nine foot hovel) I was stunned to see the conditions he lived in. An open toilet in the corner running its effluent under the plastic covered wall. A cooking burner and two small beds that served as sitting furniture and sleeping/eating areas. A bare ended electrical wire that had no light fixture or plug end. A small cabinet that seemed to have been salvaged from the river that he used for clothing. As I looked around he began to share some of his story. He and his two sisters lived with his parents in a remote mountain village. One day a flood came and washed the village away. He didn't tell of the fate of his parents. They had no where to go (scant possesions), so they left for a better life in Kathmandu. The only place for them was this area by the river. As he continued his story I thought to myself that this was as good as it got for him. Hmm......."as good as it got." I couldn't even call this good! My heart was breaking!
He asked if we would come again. We told him yes and gave him our phone number. We made an appointment to meet with him on Monday at noon. And that we would meet him at the well where we first saw him. His eyes shone with hope and anticipation. I was glad to meet my new friend. Hopefully I can tell him of my friend Jesus. But for now I'm content to just be his friend. More to follow after Monday! (Posted by Ken.)
On Friday morning Shyem and I left by Tuk Tuk(a very small three wheeled bus) for a prayer walk through this slum. Arriving near the end of the airport runway we walked from the main road down an alley to a gravel road that followed the river. The first sight one sees is garbage heaps spilling down the banks. Raw sewage pours from city pipes and garbage floats on the river in a metre thick layer. In places the water is open and the colour is a black flowing sludge. A boy with an open cut on his arm was reaching down into the sludge. He was searching for something of value to sell. Behind him a women threw garbage into the river. I wondered at what diseases or bacteria must be in that river. Moreover if the boy would be well the next day.
We crossed the river via a bridge into the most concentrated slum area. All the shacks are built of varying materials, plastic bags, corrugated metal, pieces of cloth, all lashed together with twine, cloth, bits of rope. Whatever could be found or salvaged from the river. All the shanty's offer little in regards to privacy. As we walked we spoke to a few people. They were friendly but no one was eager to carry on a conversation beyond formalities. I noticed a few paces behind us two men who seemed intent to hear what we were saying. Especially since a westerner is present. Westerners don't ever come to the river. They finally approached us and began a conversation with Shyem. As Shyem spoke I prayed that God would give him wisdom and grace for these men. The older man soon left leaving the younger (22-24 year old) still talking with us. We told him we were Christians and that we wanted to talk and spend time with some people here. He said that once before Christians came from a church. They took pictures, gave them some food, promised to come again and then never returned. This saddened his heart and he said he's not sure he could trust a Christian again. He then invited us to his house. We followed a side walk way that served as their alleys. It was barely wider than my shoulders, with rusted corrugated steel roofs that projected at neck level into the walk way. Very dangerous for any westerner over five foot six.
As we wandered through the maze of walk ways I was looking at some of the worst poverty I've laid eyes on. People with open sores. People with barely a complete set of clothes on, torn, filthy, or both. Few of them did have a full set of clean clothes on, yet one could tell they were quite old.
Arrivivng at his house (a six by nine foot hovel) I was stunned to see the conditions he lived in. An open toilet in the corner running its effluent under the plastic covered wall. A cooking burner and two small beds that served as sitting furniture and sleeping/eating areas. A bare ended electrical wire that had no light fixture or plug end. A small cabinet that seemed to have been salvaged from the river that he used for clothing. As I looked around he began to share some of his story. He and his two sisters lived with his parents in a remote mountain village. One day a flood came and washed the village away. He didn't tell of the fate of his parents. They had no where to go (scant possesions), so they left for a better life in Kathmandu. The only place for them was this area by the river. As he continued his story I thought to myself that this was as good as it got for him. Hmm......."as good as it got." I couldn't even call this good! My heart was breaking!
He asked if we would come again. We told him yes and gave him our phone number. We made an appointment to meet with him on Monday at noon. And that we would meet him at the well where we first saw him. His eyes shone with hope and anticipation. I was glad to meet my new friend. Hopefully I can tell him of my friend Jesus. But for now I'm content to just be his friend. More to follow after Monday! (Posted by Ken.)
Thursday, April 3, 2008
More Trials
Well, I'm here at the Internet cafe again (due to the lightening storm night before last, we lost our Internet access again). It's also our 2nd day without water (well, running water from the tap, that is). We have to use bottled water to flush the toilet, brush our teeth & wash the dishes. But there's not enough for showers or washing clothes. That will have to wait until the delivery trucks get through the fuel line-ups to deliver the much-needed water. It's God's way of levelling out the foreigners' lives with everyone else. It makes us all equals in the sense of basic needs. But I don't hear anyone complaining.
Did I give God permission to stretch us in the last post? That reminds me of many years ago on the mission field when I asked God to humble me. He took me so seriously that He actually answered and I had to beg Him to lay off! I couldn't take it!
Well, our family is also experiencing some reality. We are not your super-spiritual missionaries who are walking on a higher plane. Oh, no. Lately we've been having our share of squabbles, disagreements, 'who ate up all the bread?', 'you didn't ask permission to wear my clothes!', 'you didn't clean the floors' - 'yes, I did!', plus one night with some fairly unkind words that were supposed to be in jest. I guess God has some more cleaning up to do in our lives. The one good thing is that every week they have a prayer-and-fasting day and it's hard to hide your mood/attitude. Needless to say, not everyone showed up at the prayer meeting (I mean, living in the church compound makes it difficult to wear a mask!). So when one of the leaders asked where another member of the family was, we just told the truth. Well, he came and prayed and then shared his own family struggles. It opened up another path both ways. God always somehow brings good out of pain. And I think He's trying to make us a little more Nepali in the way they share everything. Here we are trying to keep our own things (including treats) as our own and it just leads to greed and selfishness. Well, it was one of the girls who suggested we try to share better, rather than hoarding our supplies. But that means, if you buy a little bag of chips and walk into the compound, be prepared to actually only eat a couple of them. The boys will even get a 'ring' (it's like a donut but bigger and thinner) and break it into smaller pieces and pass them around. He only eats one piece. God make us more like them! (Oh, oh! Am I praying a dangerous prayer again?)
Well, I'm sure we'll come back different but probably in more ways than we thought. It was also somehow good to share that our family has its share of problems, too, and find out that we're the same as them in that way. The term 'flatlanders' has made its way here to Nepal, too!
Did I give God permission to stretch us in the last post? That reminds me of many years ago on the mission field when I asked God to humble me. He took me so seriously that He actually answered and I had to beg Him to lay off! I couldn't take it!
Well, our family is also experiencing some reality. We are not your super-spiritual missionaries who are walking on a higher plane. Oh, no. Lately we've been having our share of squabbles, disagreements, 'who ate up all the bread?', 'you didn't ask permission to wear my clothes!', 'you didn't clean the floors' - 'yes, I did!', plus one night with some fairly unkind words that were supposed to be in jest. I guess God has some more cleaning up to do in our lives. The one good thing is that every week they have a prayer-and-fasting day and it's hard to hide your mood/attitude. Needless to say, not everyone showed up at the prayer meeting (I mean, living in the church compound makes it difficult to wear a mask!). So when one of the leaders asked where another member of the family was, we just told the truth. Well, he came and prayed and then shared his own family struggles. It opened up another path both ways. God always somehow brings good out of pain. And I think He's trying to make us a little more Nepali in the way they share everything. Here we are trying to keep our own things (including treats) as our own and it just leads to greed and selfishness. Well, it was one of the girls who suggested we try to share better, rather than hoarding our supplies. But that means, if you buy a little bag of chips and walk into the compound, be prepared to actually only eat a couple of them. The boys will even get a 'ring' (it's like a donut but bigger and thinner) and break it into smaller pieces and pass them around. He only eats one piece. God make us more like them! (Oh, oh! Am I praying a dangerous prayer again?)
Well, I'm sure we'll come back different but probably in more ways than we thought. It was also somehow good to share that our family has its share of problems, too, and find out that we're the same as them in that way. The term 'flatlanders' has made its way here to Nepal, too!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Out of the Comfort Zone
Sorry for the long delay; our computer has been down for almost a week. We went to an Internet cafe finally today but that's next thing to a lesson in futility or at least frustration. Anyway, I'll back up a few days to last Thursday/Friday. Easter was an exciting celebration with thousands of other Christians in a football stadium, all worshipping together. Following that was a kind of evangelistic crusade which had been advertised for weeks prior. The 'new boys' (ages 10-12) invited us to go with them to this crusade. They shared that people were being healed - the blind receiving sight, lame walking, etc. So we all piled into one of those 3-wheeled 'taxis' and off we went to this big stadium. The music had already started; people had filled the main grounds and the bleachers were slowly filling up. The boys led us up to the top where we had a good view. Well, it was a good old Pentecostal preacher with his good old Pentecostal style of preaching. I'm not sure exactly how Scriptural 'claiming your miracle' is but it was hard not to catch the boys' excitement. Their faith was just like Jesus praised - simple and child-like. Well, we listened to the 'sermon' and the dynamic Nepali translator. I even found it somewhat amusing but had to repent of my cynicism to God. Well, the boys wanted to go down onto the field as they were calling people to come forward for healing prayer. You wouldn't believe the hundreds of people streaming up to the front. The healing evangelist was trying to organize these people so he could pray for them all. Well, we followed the boys down and, after observing for awhile, started to make our way out. Yeah, right.
Picture 4 white foreign women walking down the field past l-o-n-g lines of Nepalis waiting to be prayed for, accompanied by a few young Nepali boys. We had made it halfway when a woman approached Sheri. "Would you pray for me?" Okay, her companion explained that she had a heart problem. What to do? So Sheri & I (Bonnie) laid our hands on her and prayed. Okay, we did our little part; now let's go home. Yeah, right. We turned around and more people were gathered. Karina had a family of 3 (father, mother, baby) who asked her to pray for them. Alana got waylaid by someone else while Sheri & I found a next person waiting their turn. I looked around and almost wanted to laugh. What were we doing? We're not the 'trained prayer team'. We don't have any badges on (like all the volunteers). I know what you're going to say, Mitch - what you tried teaching us all that first year in Ministry Training back in 95/96. John Wimber said we all got to 'do the stuff'. Yeah, but we're the foreigners here. Why are they all surrounding us expecting US to pray for them? It was quite funny, actually. I really wanted to laugh. We were seriously getting surrounded. And we were just trying to make our way out of the stadium. Finally this one dumb woman (I mean that literally) approached us for prayer. Sheri & I tried tackling it but weren't getting anywhere so I thought we should take her to the 'expert' (after all, he was the 'healing evangelist'). While we took her to the front, Alana got pulled into a group casting a demon out of a woman. I got waylaid by another woman who was suffering what sounded like depression. So we all got into our battle modes. The end finally came when a shout came from the group (Sheri even heard a scream up in the bleachers, which were by now empty). The demon had been cast out. Praise the Lord! We went home (finally; it was already dark) rejoicing but amazed at what had just transpired - except the dumb woman. Her name was Bawani and I pray the Lord gave her back her speech. Truly the Lord has a sense of humour. He took us right out of our comfort zone and into the middle of the action contrary to all our intentions.
As if that weren't enough, the next day (Friday) I opened my big mouth (which is what usually gets me into trouble) to Noel, who in turn spoke to Pastor Shem, who then asked to speak to me. I thought he wanted to discuss something serious. Instead he said, "Would you speak at church tomorrow?" Yeah, right - speak at church. Ha! Ha! Prepare a sermon in one day. I am REALLY getting pushed out of my comfort zone. Not only that but I have to get the notes ready to be translated. Prepare a 20-minute sermon? In front of a church? I know Pastor Nathan reminded us that we have far more knowledge of the Scripture than they do here, even though they have more experience in praying for people to be healed. I just never expected to preach a sermon. But I also never expected to get waylaid by so many people at a healing crusade. But the girls got in some practice. Sheri got bold! Alana saw a demon cast out! Rabin (one of the 'new boys') really preached it and prayed in fervor for this lady. It was exciting & fun! Okay, God - we're ready (I think) to get stretched and thrown into battle.
This Friday we go to the riverbed ...
Picture 4 white foreign women walking down the field past l-o-n-g lines of Nepalis waiting to be prayed for, accompanied by a few young Nepali boys. We had made it halfway when a woman approached Sheri. "Would you pray for me?" Okay, her companion explained that she had a heart problem. What to do? So Sheri & I (Bonnie) laid our hands on her and prayed. Okay, we did our little part; now let's go home. Yeah, right. We turned around and more people were gathered. Karina had a family of 3 (father, mother, baby) who asked her to pray for them. Alana got waylaid by someone else while Sheri & I found a next person waiting their turn. I looked around and almost wanted to laugh. What were we doing? We're not the 'trained prayer team'. We don't have any badges on (like all the volunteers). I know what you're going to say, Mitch - what you tried teaching us all that first year in Ministry Training back in 95/96. John Wimber said we all got to 'do the stuff'. Yeah, but we're the foreigners here. Why are they all surrounding us expecting US to pray for them? It was quite funny, actually. I really wanted to laugh. We were seriously getting surrounded. And we were just trying to make our way out of the stadium. Finally this one dumb woman (I mean that literally) approached us for prayer. Sheri & I tried tackling it but weren't getting anywhere so I thought we should take her to the 'expert' (after all, he was the 'healing evangelist'). While we took her to the front, Alana got pulled into a group casting a demon out of a woman. I got waylaid by another woman who was suffering what sounded like depression. So we all got into our battle modes. The end finally came when a shout came from the group (Sheri even heard a scream up in the bleachers, which were by now empty). The demon had been cast out. Praise the Lord! We went home (finally; it was already dark) rejoicing but amazed at what had just transpired - except the dumb woman. Her name was Bawani and I pray the Lord gave her back her speech. Truly the Lord has a sense of humour. He took us right out of our comfort zone and into the middle of the action contrary to all our intentions.
As if that weren't enough, the next day (Friday) I opened my big mouth (which is what usually gets me into trouble) to Noel, who in turn spoke to Pastor Shem, who then asked to speak to me. I thought he wanted to discuss something serious. Instead he said, "Would you speak at church tomorrow?" Yeah, right - speak at church. Ha! Ha! Prepare a sermon in one day. I am REALLY getting pushed out of my comfort zone. Not only that but I have to get the notes ready to be translated. Prepare a 20-minute sermon? In front of a church? I know Pastor Nathan reminded us that we have far more knowledge of the Scripture than they do here, even though they have more experience in praying for people to be healed. I just never expected to preach a sermon. But I also never expected to get waylaid by so many people at a healing crusade. But the girls got in some practice. Sheri got bold! Alana saw a demon cast out! Rabin (one of the 'new boys') really preached it and prayed in fervor for this lady. It was exciting & fun! Okay, God - we're ready (I think) to get stretched and thrown into battle.
This Friday we go to the riverbed ...
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