Namaste (Hello) from the Himalayas! I hope everything is well in the States…I am missing Thanksgiving food, family, and football really bad, but there is a lot to be grateful for here.
Travel from Europe to Nepal was great. Upon arrival, my team and 4 other teams stayed at a ministry for abused women for several days. From there we did some ministry and spent time going into Kathmandu, visiting tourist sites, eating delicious curry, and taking a mountain flight around Everest! Then, we were sent out to different areas of the country. Our team is alone this month (just the seven of us!) in a small town called Kothe, which is situated in a canyon right by a river. We listen to the rushing waters 24/7, which is awesome. Our ministry this month involves walking/hiking to small villages and praying with people, passing out tracts, and spreading the gospel. Some days we travel up to 2 hours each way. People live way up high on these hills…I think it pretty much consumes all of their time just to meet the basic necessities of life. They carry baskets on their backs/heads to transport rice, other foods, and materials up to where they live. And through it all they are so ridiculously hospitable. It is common for us to be given some sort of snack or drink while we are there (some are better tasting than others), and they are very kind to foreigners, which is a welcome change coming from Eastern Europe.
It has been really good for our team to be alone this month. We are getting tons of time together, and I am really comfortable with them. Personally, I have just loved being in Nepal in the mountains and seeing such different culture than I have ever been around. I am getting abundant time with Jesus, which has been great. I bought a guitar at the start of the month (everything included for $87), and that has taken me to new places of intimacy with the Lord. God has been building in me more of a heart for worship. I can now play 12-15 worship songs comfortably, and often lead worship for our team in the mornings. One of my words for this month is SOAK. I have been striving to soak in His goodness and go deeper in my relationship with Him.
My favorite day of ministry so far was actually not in our scheduled ministry time. One day, we finished house visits early, so I went with two of my team mates to the main drag in town. I played worship songs on my guitar, and my team mates prayed for people, passed out tracts, and preached the gospel. Our crowd ranged anywhere from a group of 40ish school kids to 8 adults intently listening during the two hours we were out there. This was a very different type of ministry for me, but I absolutely loved it. The Spirit was there.
Thank you so much for all your support and prayers. I am grateful for each one of you and love getting emails or facebook messages from you!
Kyle
P.S. Our team went and rafted the Upper Bhote Koshi (a Class 4+ section) on our last rest day, and it was sick nasty. So fun to be back on the water and to get to share my love of rafting with the team!
