* Ridden on TOP of the bus (WAY more enjoyable then inside the bus) with a goat and about 50 other people (and got smacked in the face with a tree branch)
*Laid in a field on a straw mat star gazing while sharing stories with my new team…to the sweet sound of pigs oinking and cows mooing and ducks quacking….
*Taken a bath in a public watering hole while half the village was watching (in my bathing suit of course…”now dont get crazy”)
*Had a candlelight picnic with my new Nepali family while eating buffalo meat and sel roti (Nepali doughnuts…AMAZING! Reminded me of Grandpa’s homemade doughnuts) until I felt sick to my stomach 🙂
*Been asked how many kilos I was and that I was too big to ride on the motorbike (which holds up to 400lbs by the way….I think there was a miscommunication :-P)
*Fallen in love with a family so quickly and so easily…
While in Nepal we are having many opportunities to do many different ministries. We spent 7 days in Kali daha with Shova and Bharat and their beautiful family (pictures to come). We lived in the middle of their village (a one and a half hour walk from town with our luggage) in their home and it was an amazing experience. We got to know Mama and Baba and their daughter Manuka (Bharat’s sister) and her two children Elisa and Daniel. We shared so many memories together and truly felt like family. Our team was just remarking this morning that often times when we move into a new country it takes a few weeks for us to feel setteld and comfortable with our new hosts. Amazingly this was not the case with Nepal, we instantly felt like home and shared in the teasing and the laughter that comes from hanging out with close family.
Ministry in the village was amazing as well we had the opportunity to walk to believers’ homes and pray over them and their families. We prayed for healings and for God’s amazing hand to give them courage and strength to live out their faith amidst a very pagan society. We played daily with the amazing street kids and orphans that we encountered singing and dancnig with them. I am so proud of our team’s giving spirit us girls gave practically our entire wardrobe to the women in our home and then painted their nails before leaving this morning. We encountered church in Bharat’s home and got to pray and fast with the family for funds so that their church can be completed. Over all this last week was incredible and feels like we’ve been here a LOT longer than just 7 days. Today we had to say goodbye as we leave Kali daha…Mama who speaks NO English was in tears as we hugged her goodbye and told us that she’d see us again in heaven…whew we were all crying after that…I have not felt this loved on The Race yet! I told our family that I wanted to come back to Nepal some day and Shova said if I came back with my future husband that she’d cook us a candle light dinner 🙂 lol (Shova and Bharat are newly weds and VERY in love and we were their first team to host as a married couple)
Today we are in a small town and met back up with our contact Rueben who will be taking us to a few more of his churches on the way to Ilam (the mountains) and plenty of adventures are sure to follow. Rumor has it that tomorrow we are going fishing (with hand grenades)….more updates and hopefully pictures soon to come 🙂
