This has not been one of my better weeks on the race. Let me first apologize for lack of blogs. It is about an hour walk to internet and I have tried posting twice and had my USB key with my photos and blogs not work on both occasions. Such is life in a foreign country and where my problems started.
Last week I went to try and post a blog and my flash drive wouldn't work so I tried my external hard drive. It didn't work either so I checked my email briefly and headed home.
When I got home, I went to use my external hard drive to discover although it didn't work on the computer at hte internet cafe, the computer managed to nuke it. I lost all of my pictures for the first four months, all of my files and bible studies, electronic journals, etc. It was a tough blow to take, but i knew I had my ipod touch with my contacts and music and could recover some of my pictures from my former teammates.
A few days later, one of my new teammates Steve decided that it was the best decision for him to leave the race. We fully support his decision and feel like he is following God, but it means that team changes could be coming again as our team now only has 1 guy and the World Race does not like to only have 1 guy on a team. No other team has more than 1 guy so they would have to redo teams if they were to change. I don't really like change and would prefer not to be a on a 3rd team in 3 months. It just leaves uncertainty in the picture.
This past Sunday we hosted a youth conference at the church. I had the chance to talk about Hinduism vs Christianity and why Jesus is the only way. Toward the end of the conference, we had some prayer time and during it someone swiped my ipod touch. I have 7 months left on the race and I currently have no contact information/address book, no music, and all of my files are gone.
I have been wrestling with God a fair amount over the past 36 hours. I know it is just "stuff" and I want God's perspective, but it is definitely a wrestling match today. The World Race talks a great deal about abandonment and leaving behind the things that we find comfort in. I thought leaving my bed, food I know, a car, language that I understand, etc. would be enough. I guess God has other ideas this week.
On a side note, we will return to Kamandu this coming Sunday and hopefully then I will have access to email again where I can post more about my time in Nepal.
