The Countdown...

Jaymasi!

So here we are, the last few days before I bid farewell to this country that has been my home for the past few months. It's bittersweet. I'm not quite sure to express what's going on inside me at the moment.

Mohan asked me the other day if I was ready to go home. I told him I wasn't sure.
"How could you not be sure? I don't understand. That makes no sense."
"I know it makes no sense. I'm glad to be going home, but I don't want to leave Nepal."
"That makes no sense."
"Ta chiana" :I don't know:

I said goodbye to the school yesterday. They threw an impromptu goodbye program. It was also my first time toeing the the ling between religion and culture. I thought I handled it tactfully, and the other Christian leaders thought so as well. But i got many disapproving looks as well as a few shocked ones from some of my new found family.

I should start by saying that my home in Gharmi was recently invaded by more than half the Church Plant Teams (CPTs), about 35 people. We were able to get most of the construction done before they came. Enough to house all of these people. Most of them I had met in my travels, some I was just meeting for the first time. They all came for staff training.

The celebrations at the school included whats called a "thik." Which is the red powdery stuff you see on Hindus' faces after they've preformed some religious ritual. I knew that, but I also knew that this was no religious right. So in order to keep face with the students and staff, who are all Hindu, I elected to receive the thik. After the celebrations, I returned home, were I was met by laughter from Sangeeta, Mohan's wife. She demanded my camera and took pictures calling me the "Prime Minister of Gharmi."

Soon after, the CPTs came out of class and the tension became thick.
"Oh Andrewson, what happened to you?" asked Rajendra, who always smiled at me and had become a good friend, now wouldn't even look me in the eye. "Ramro chaina sathi" : Not good friend. One sister, who I had just met blurted out "Dai Christian hoina?" : Brother isn't Christian?

It was very tense, and it took some explaining as to what happened. I washed my face as soon as I could. With the red stuff gone, things calmed down a bit. All the leaders were just laughing at me. Most of the staff were appalled.

There's a very thin line between culture and religion in Nepal , one that can be very very very very thin. The Christians here completely separate themselves from the Hindu religion but still embrace their culture. To an outsider, it is very difficult to what degree the separation exists. I could right a book on this topic alone, it's that complicated.

Anyways, I leave in a few days. Today Pokhara was at a stand still for hours. Some taxi drivers decided to blockade all the major streets with their vehicles. And there is rumors floating that they might do it again. Which means for me, that my only way out maybe a very expensive flight from Pokhara to Kathmandu. With the government currently non existent, the possibility for worse things to happen at any moment is very high.

-Bal Bahadar

A few prayer requests:
1) Safe travels to Kathmandu
2) Safe travels home
3) An easy transition back into American life
4) That the CPT training will run well. It lasts two weeks.

Long Live the King

I flipped through my journal the other day. There's a clear line where my entries are all buisness and then become something more. The netries become a tad longer. The poetry becomes more real. It's as if God himself opened me up and said, "Behold, my creation."

There's also a a point in the trip where my soul came a live. Where I stopped being Andrew Smith from America who lives in Colorado but is a native of California come to visit and help out. Jaymasi! I just became Andrew. Andrew Paul. Bal Bahadar. Jetta. Andrew Uncle. Andrew Sir. Andrewson. Andree. There came a point where who I was and what I was doing was of no consequnce. The only thing that mattere was that I was here. I was living life in this broken country alongside family. Family I had never met, but family just the same.

I recall prayer and journal entries from past trips asking, praying, hoping that the momentim would last. That I wouldn't lose sight of all that took place. All that I did. All that was done to me.

Maybe this is that journal entry.

This is the point where I beg God to stay close. To not leave. To keep providing. To keep wotking.

I am not done yet!!!

Looking back, the seeming disappeance of God was becasue I lost sight. I found new friends. I found ways to provide for myself. I have this, this looming suspision that my old nature might resurface. That the man I have become will give way to the boy I once was.

O Lord, let it no be the case.

The fear of returning to the West is gone. Friends and family will just have to deal with my newfound peculiarities. I don't know much Nepali, but what I do know will probably come out from time to time. Thik cha. I might take all of my meals on the floor. I might request foriegn films from the library. Not because I will understand them, but because I won't.

One of the biggest lessons I have learned is that the Kingdom of Heaven supercedes all politcal, cultural, and ethic boundries. I maybe an American and you might be Chapng, but we are still family. As the kingdom has no borders, so too the King as no end to his jurisdiction.

Nepal and the U.S. are complete oppisites in all ways that countries can be. It's both beautiful and tragic all at the same time. Words fail to describe all that I have experienced. But one thing has made itself painfully clear.

That the red letters in my Bible were not meant just for those in the West. Or the wealthy in the East. That these words penetrate into all that is wrong in the world and sets them right. That they stare the institutions that hold people captive and tell them they have no power.

They are words to build a life on.
They are beautiful life giving words.
They are the words of King whose Kingdom has no end.

Jaya Mashieh!
Long Live the King!

Two more weeks to go...

Jaymasi!

So I've been trying to figure out what to blog about. I'm nearing the end of this wonderful adventure and my energy is starting to lag. For the past two and a half months I've been hittin the pavement pretty hard.

Long bus rides crammed next to strangers. Whatching said strangers drool on my shoulder as they sleep and I can't. Wondering when the next pit stop is so I can snag something other than dahl-baht to eat.

I've many many amazing people doing very difficult work in very hard places. I've been both humbled and encouraged by the amount of care and effort put into ministry in Nepal. Especially after the 8 hour hike to those two remote villages. I not only was surprised to find out that the villagers make that trek daily (and do it in 4 hours) but also that Ezekiel, who's well into his 50's if not 60's, does it at least once a week.

I just spent the last few days in Kathmandu. I needed to extend my visa. I only needed 6 days but the minimum is 30 (which cost me US$30, ouch). I ended being in town the same time as the Frontier Mission's leadership training. It was good to see all of the people I had the privilige of living and workig with. Almost like a big family reunion. It was equally awesome meeting the people I didn't get a chance to visit.

Apparently, Mohan had spread the news that I was coming. I'm also guessing that those that I had visited were telling the others about me. Just about every new person I met, who spoke English, said, "Andrew, Oh I've heard about you." This was even the case with one of the guys I carpooled back to Pokhara with. "Andrew, hmm, oh wait, Mohan told me about you."

For the next few weeks I will be up in the village (Gharmi), helping out at the school and lending my hands to the trainging center construction. As far as I know, my traveling is over for now, until it's time to go back to the States.

The States. That seems like a distant far off mythical land. I've been told the transition back to Western society is a tough one. I'm starting to believe them the closer it gets.

...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