...X Y Zed!

Jaymasi!

So it's been a few weeks since I've been able to sit down at a computer. You get used to it.

The climb up "Angry Mountain" took about 8 hours to complete. I did the majority of it in true Nepali fashion, in flip-flops. Once we got to the top, Peter and I ate at the Pastor's house. We stayed the night in the church and the next morning we had fellowship. I gave a message on the body of Christ and how it's held together by love for one another. After lunch, we hiked down to the next village. It took about 2 hours, again in flip-flops. We stayed the night in the church that was there. That morning, Easter Sunday, I gave a message on the importance of the Resurrection. With out that single event, all that we do as Christians is meaningless and the Bible, just another stack of papers.

After coming down, I headed back to Kohalpur. I got there on the Nepali New Year's Eve. (Happy 2066 by the way!) We had a small "party." After saying my goodbyes I left for Pokhara. After staying a few nights in town, I moved into a village just outside of town. The name of the village is Gharmi, and it is where Mohan is currently building a training center for his Church Planting teams.

For the past week I have been volunteering at the local school teaching English of course. They gave me the title of "English Master." They are currently trying to persuade me to extend my visa for another year. While I am overjoyed that this door of opportunity has been opened, I'm trying to be wise about it. Please pray as I consider what coming back for a long term stay might look like.

I've also started writing about my trip, the things that have happened and somethings that I have learned. This is in addition to this blog and the journal I've been keeping. If I write about everything, I might have a book on my hands. hmmmmm

Greetings from Lother

Jaymasi!

So much has happened in such a short time. Where should I begin?

I managed, in my infinite genious, to erase all my pitcures from the first half of my trip. So what ever I have on facebook is all that I have. I did save a few to my mp3 player to upload later, but that still only leaves me with about half the pictures I actually took.

Chitwan Nat'l Park was pretty cool. Rode on an elephant through the jungle. Went on a jeep safari. I got close enough to a tiger to smell it's breath. It was a good time.

Now I am staying in Lother with another Tamang family. Ezekiel, the father of the famly, is a long time friend of Mohan. They use to do church planting ministries together back in the day. Peter, their eldest son, has been showing me around and taking me to villages in the area. He's one cool dude. He has become my Nepali counterpart.

Tomorrow we'll be climibing in the hillside for 7 hours to reach Sildhani, a village where Ezekiel helped start a church a few years ago. We'll be up there for two days, and then we will head down to another village Saturday evening. On Sunday, I'll be giving the Easter sermon.

Monday I will be heading back to Kohalpur to retrieve some luggage and say my good-byes to the Kamal family.

Some firsts I have experienced in the past week:
1) first time bathing in a river
2) first time washing my clothes in a river
3) first time seeing a rhino from the top of an elephant
4) first time looking down the throat of a tiger
5) first time praying over a pregnant goat

Quick Hello

Jaymasi!

First off I would like to thank my sister Kailee for helping me maintain a coherent blog. With out her you probably wouldn't be able to understand half the things I write as my English skills are slowly going the way of the water buffalo.

Second, thanks for all the comments. Time does not permit me the chance to respond to every single one of them. But thanks nonetheless.

Third, I'm heading south with the Tamang family to Chitwan on a family outing to the National Park down there. I'm looking forward to riding an elephant, that should be fun. From there I will either be heading to a nearby Church Plant team or I will just head straight to Kohalpur for another week. Either way, I'll be heading back to Kathmandu via Kohalpur in a week or two.

Fourthly, I've had some strange cravings of late. The strangest being grits. I happen to like grits, a lot, but I don't eat it often enough to have it be a craving. The other one is beef. Oh how I long for a nice juicy steak. LOL. Actually any identifiable meat would be excellent. In Nepal, when you buy meat, you don't really choose what part you get. When I was in a village outside of Kohalpur I sat down for dinner and was greeted by a chicken head. (Even though I ate fish heads, there is something about a chicken head that makes one loose their appetite.)

Fifthly, I hope all is well with you and yours. Feel free to e-mail me anything of importance (or non-importance). Family news. Job or school accomplishments. Your thoughts on the current administration. Something you read that you found really thought provoking. Whatever, I don't mind . I'm just feeling a little out of touch with (western) reality. andrewthepoet@gmail.com

grace and peace,
Andrew "Bal Bahadar"

A few pictures from February

A Himalayan sunrise. The view from the Frontier Missions Office - Kathmandu.

Pokahara.

Me on the way to a tibetan refugee camp.

Me in the Monkey Temple, Kathmandu.

There are more here:
Kathmandu
Pokhara

Weeks 6 & 7: My Adidas...

Jaymasi!

So I'm currently drawing a blank as to what week I'm on. I've gotten used to life without luxuries like calendars and computers.

Ahhhhh, where to begin? So much has happened the past few weeks it's hard to arrange my thoughts. I'll try my best.

So the banda finally ended and Uttar and I were able to catch a bus to Far West Nepal. We stayed with a CP team in Atteryia. We traveled around the area praying and meeting with local believers.

We took a day "off" to go fishing Nepal style. (I say "off" because I ended up cycling double [someone sitting on the rack] uphill for a good 30Km. needless to say I passed out as soon as I laid horizontal) Nepal style fishing uses a net to catch little three inch fish. Once these suckers our caught to a sufficient quantity, you go home and gut them. since they are small, all it takes is a good squeeze for the innards to come out. You then proceed to cook the fish, whole. After cooked to a desired golden brown, you then eat them, whole. I've never in my life ate a whole fish. I usually cut the head and toss the tail. I stand before you a new man. A changed man. One who has eaten fish heads. And liked it!

That Friday night we cycled to the village where the CP team is doing most of their work. We went to a home fellowship that night led by one of the local church leaders. If anything has changed my perspective on church and christian living, it has been my time with these fellwoships. I have never seen the amount of joy and faith exhibited by these small bands of saints anywhere in the west. The simplicity of worship and prayer puts to shame any praise and worship band (Sorry Jody). We stayed that night with one of the families there in the village. The church was constructed quite literally in their backyard.

Church Saturday was a sweet time as well. I'm starting to get used to the eyes that start to follow me as soon as I give my introduction. "Jaymasi! Mero nahm Andreas ho. Ma Amerika vata iygo." translation: Jaymasi! My name is Andrew. I'm from America. This is usually followed by many smiling faces and constant staring for most of the service.

To give you a general idea of a Nepali church service, here is a very basic schedule:
Worship (usually only accompanied by a modal [nepali drum]) - usually lasts for an hour
Testimony and introduction (jaymasi! mero nahm...) - 5 to 30 mins. depends on what's going on
Worship - another 15 to 30 mins
Announcements or a word from the church leader/pastor - 5 to 15 mins
Preaching - 30 mins to an hour. this depends on the speaker. i've kept it at just around 30mins, but some have gone well over an hour

Prayer is interjected whenever the Spirit leads and can often times last for 10 mins at a time. Here, everyone prays at once and it gets pretty intense. My church background has been quite conservative when it comes to prayer, so this has taken some getting used to.

I've learned enough of the language to pray over dinner, describe the weather, introduce myself, order food, and to get from place to place. And with each church service I'm starting to catch on to more and more of the songs. Some of them are traditional songs translated into nepali.(eg. Raja haruka raja, stuti , hallelujah, provo haruka provo, stuti, hallelujah : King of kings and Lord of lords, glory, hallelujah) Most are original Nepali choruses. I'm also starting to understand most of the preaching without an interpreter.

From Atteryia we headed north to Dadeldurha and onto Anakohli. Anakohli is a small town up in the mountains. The climate reminded me of home as it was quite chilly in comparison to the very warm Terai region. There we stayed with the CP team that is working in that area. This is about as remote as one can get in regards to safe traveling and ministry. I looked out on vast forests and jungle whose inhabitants have never even heard the name Jesus, let alone anything about Christianity. There is quite a bit of work to be done in this region. The CP team is just one married couple. They are diligently working with local church leaders and believers to expand the kingdom in to this remote area.

A side note: One of the villagers in Anakohli was excited when he heard I was from America. He kept smiling at me with this big goofy grin than was kind of creepy. I could tell he wanted something from me. The next day he saw me walking down the street and called out to me. "Oy babu, oy!" (Hey boy, hey) So Uttar went to talk to him. He had somehow received two American dollars and wanted me to give him rupees in exchange for them. "They are no good to me here" he told us, "and your the first American I've seen since I got these." Let me tell you, I have never been so happy to get $2 in my life. It's the little things that make the difference.

I have made my way back to Pokhara and will be here for a few days before I head out again. The current plan is in shambles at the moment as I'm trying to figure out how properly reach certain areas and honor the requests of new friends. Please pray for guidance as I work through this. The original plan was to head back to Koholpur on Monday and stay there for another 2 weeks, but that doesn't seem like it will work out as Mohan has other ideas in mind.

grace and peace
andreas

Week Four: Stayin' Alive

Jaymasi!

Wow, it's hard to believe I've been here from a month now. So much has happened in such a short time. I look foward to the next two and a half months.

So an update on the current threat level is order. I would not have you be ignorant, I'm not in exacatly the safest locale at the moment. I just got an e-mail from the Embassy telling all Americans to avoid this particular a region (Terai).

The night of my last entry two people were beheaded in a town further down the road. In the next district over, shooting between police and demonstrators left one officer and two civilians dead. In Koholpur, where I am currently located, a bus was stopped, vacated, and then smashed and burned.

Last night I watched as police and Terahus (the natives of the Terai region) fought in the streets. The protestors would throw stones and bricks at the police. When the barrage would cease, the police would chase down the men (and boys) and attempt to beat them down with large bamboo sticks.

Since the overthrow of the monarchy 10 years ago, rule of law has been tossed out the window. In Nepal, the masses rule and there is not much the gov't or police can do to quell rebellions or protests.

All vehicular travel in and out of the Terai region has been haulted indefintetly. In order for me to get back to Pokhara, I would need to cycle or walk 12km to Nepal Gunj, hop on a plane to Kathmandu, and the bus back to Pokhara.

Please pray for the current situation. For the safety of not just myself, but also of the people who live here. That Uttar and I would still be able to minister and reach people despite travel restrictions. And that I would be able to make it safely back to Pokhara at the end of the month.

grace and peace

Week Three: Bandha bandha bandha!

Jaymasi! (Long Live the Messiah! or Praise Jesus!)

So I'm now in West Nepal. Kohalpur to be exact. After a 13 hour bus ride I made it. 3 of those blissful hours was on top of the bus, with the luggage, in the dead of night, with no speed limits, and a narrow road, with buses going both ways, and a driver who looks no more than 15. But hey, if Paul can be shipwrecked and beaten a time or two, whats a ride on the top of a Nepali bus.

The plans for my stay have changed. Instead of a week in the west, I will be out here a month. I've spent the last week visiting various home fellowships and teaching/preaching when an interpreter is available. It has been quite the busy week. Uttar Kamal and his family have been more than loving, welcoming me into their home and tutoring me in Nepali. Next week Uttar and I will be going down to Nepal Gonj and visiting surrounding church plant teams.

I am currently 20km away from India and will be even closer next week. It is extremely hot. And there has been a "bandha", or protest, all week, so everything has been shut down. We've been getting around by rickshaw and bicycle. It has been quite the adventure.

Grace and peace

Prayer points:
1) I met a few folks at the Nehemiah Institute, a bible school here in town. I taught a night session and a morning devotion there. Please pray for the students, that they would continue to grow in God's love. For Gopal, the school director, that he would be able to go to bible college in India soon. And for Krishna, a travelling Bible survey teacher, that his new fellowship in Kathmandu would be blessed.
2) For the surrounding home fellowships, that there light would continue to shine
3) For the surrounding villages, that God would see fit to shine His light of love in their darkeness
4) For our travel to Nepal Gonj, getting to Kohalpur was killer on my body (especially the luggage rack bit), pray that next week travel would be smooth
5) For Uttar and his family, that God would continue to bless the work of their hands
6) and finally for me, my health is waning as the cold won't seem to leave and my body is starting strain under the lack of water and meager diet