Well I am officially back from my two weeks in the Himalayas. I don't have much time to update, but I found a few minutes to get down to the internet cafe to write something informative. In a couple of hours we head back to the Kathmandu airport to fly back to Penang where I will spend the next two weeks before I head back to the beautiful USA. I'm covering both sides of the emotional spectrum with happiness since I am going to be around my family and friends but also sadness since I will be leaving all of my friends here behind. It is a bit bittersweet to come back, but I am excited nonetheless.
I don't really have the time to give you the updates on the past two weeks now, but suffice it to say we spent a lot of time with a people group called the Tamang where they have a few church locations in the mountains. We also spent some time with some Sherpas and hiked up to 14,400 ft. altitude to pray over a Hindu pilgrimage site called Gosai Kunda lake. I have some great pictures to share very soon! Next time you read from me it will be from Malaysia.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
M.I.A. for a couple of weeks
Well, I'm blogging to you now at the risk of getting banned from the internet cafe since I had to snoop around and change some settings on this computer. For some reason blogger wouldn't let me sign in. It is obviously fixed now.
Butwal was a great trip. It was even greater when I got the medicine and my sickness began to dissipate, but even until that point it was good. We arrived at the church we were staying at and hit the sack early because we had been on a cramped Nepali bus for 8 or 9 hours. When we went to Pokhara we took a tourist bus. It was such a nice, comfortable ride. On the way to Butwal we had no such luxury. We found ourselves on a Nepali bus with minimal leg room. These buses typically stop to pick anyone up with an utter disregard as to how much room is on the bus. I found a few times some Nepali men almost sitting on my lap. It was a good experience.
The first full day we realized this place was no walk in the park. The heat was incredible and the amount of mosquitos far outweighed the heat. Malaria is not out of the question for anyone of us we are speculating. We began the first day walking around handing out tracts and speaking with Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and even some Christians out in the open with no problem from anyone, and as my dad mentioned on his blog I ended up speaking at a drug rehab facility and 8 men embraced Christ. We carried on this open air evangelism for a few days, including speaking to crowds of people on the street and visiting villages that white men have never been to. It was incredible. After the first few days we led a seminar for the church we were staying and I ended up speaking for over an hour about sin and repentance, something I know quite a bit about, making it very easy. And Saturday as typical for Nepali churches we attended service, played in the children's ministry, and then had a free day. Sunday was a free day but instead of sitting at the church all day pulling the teeth out of our heads, a few of us chartered a van and went and visited Lumbini, a town on the border of India that is also the birthplace of Buddha. Nothing really spectacular there: a tree, some old ruins, and some temples. It was an experience, though, and I am glad I can say I have been there. The bus back to Kathmandu was worse than the first as 2 different ladies were a bit sick and vomiting in the middle of the isle right next to me off and on for the whole bus ride. I'm back nevertheless.
As my dad also mentioned on his blog, tomorrow begins the most difficult segment of my trip. We leave at 5am where we have an 11 hour bus ride ahead of us that our South African guide, Wilhelmine, described only with the word "horrific." We are not exactly looking forward to it. but we will be in a national park area known as Langtang trekking around. We originally thought that it was going to be mostly prayer, but we have learned that we will be trekking through the Himalayas to different villages and staying. We were told we would be able to take only a couple of showers for the whole 2 weeks, if we are even capable of those 2 in the first place. This will be the area where we encounter the leeches, lack of water, fatigue, and physically strenuous activity. I have never been more excited. We had to rush out yesterday and by warm clothes because we will be trekking through snow for many hours at a time in a very high altitude area. Pray for our bus ride, and our physical health. Also be prayerful of the people we will be coming in contact with. We will be in the stronghold of Buddhism where there is no distinguished race, only religion. There will be absolutely no communication with the outside world, so ths will have to serve as the last information from me until I get back. Thank you for your prayer and thanks for reading.
Also, to mom, dad, zac, and jadyn: I will try to call before we leave, but if I can't then I apologize. I love you all and will be blogging again in just a couple of weeks.
Butwal was a great trip. It was even greater when I got the medicine and my sickness began to dissipate, but even until that point it was good. We arrived at the church we were staying at and hit the sack early because we had been on a cramped Nepali bus for 8 or 9 hours. When we went to Pokhara we took a tourist bus. It was such a nice, comfortable ride. On the way to Butwal we had no such luxury. We found ourselves on a Nepali bus with minimal leg room. These buses typically stop to pick anyone up with an utter disregard as to how much room is on the bus. I found a few times some Nepali men almost sitting on my lap. It was a good experience.
The first full day we realized this place was no walk in the park. The heat was incredible and the amount of mosquitos far outweighed the heat. Malaria is not out of the question for anyone of us we are speculating. We began the first day walking around handing out tracts and speaking with Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and even some Christians out in the open with no problem from anyone, and as my dad mentioned on his blog I ended up speaking at a drug rehab facility and 8 men embraced Christ. We carried on this open air evangelism for a few days, including speaking to crowds of people on the street and visiting villages that white men have never been to. It was incredible. After the first few days we led a seminar for the church we were staying and I ended up speaking for over an hour about sin and repentance, something I know quite a bit about, making it very easy. And Saturday as typical for Nepali churches we attended service, played in the children's ministry, and then had a free day. Sunday was a free day but instead of sitting at the church all day pulling the teeth out of our heads, a few of us chartered a van and went and visited Lumbini, a town on the border of India that is also the birthplace of Buddha. Nothing really spectacular there: a tree, some old ruins, and some temples. It was an experience, though, and I am glad I can say I have been there. The bus back to Kathmandu was worse than the first as 2 different ladies were a bit sick and vomiting in the middle of the isle right next to me off and on for the whole bus ride. I'm back nevertheless.
As my dad also mentioned on his blog, tomorrow begins the most difficult segment of my trip. We leave at 5am where we have an 11 hour bus ride ahead of us that our South African guide, Wilhelmine, described only with the word "horrific." We are not exactly looking forward to it. but we will be in a national park area known as Langtang trekking around. We originally thought that it was going to be mostly prayer, but we have learned that we will be trekking through the Himalayas to different villages and staying. We were told we would be able to take only a couple of showers for the whole 2 weeks, if we are even capable of those 2 in the first place. This will be the area where we encounter the leeches, lack of water, fatigue, and physically strenuous activity. I have never been more excited. We had to rush out yesterday and by warm clothes because we will be trekking through snow for many hours at a time in a very high altitude area. Pray for our bus ride, and our physical health. Also be prayerful of the people we will be coming in contact with. We will be in the stronghold of Buddhism where there is no distinguished race, only religion. There will be absolutely no communication with the outside world, so ths will have to serve as the last information from me until I get back. Thank you for your prayer and thanks for reading.
Also, to mom, dad, zac, and jadyn: I will try to call before we leave, but if I can't then I apologize. I love you all and will be blogging again in just a couple of weeks.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Pray For Seth
As you know, because of Seth's location, he doesn't have a great deal of time or the ability to get to a phone very easily. Communication, at best, has been very minimum since he headed out of Kathmandu.
...that's right, .21 cents, something tells me that the price of medications in the US is a little bit high!
He's still making numerous trips to the bathroom, losing weight, and feeling pretty wiped out, but having a great time. He's seeing Nepalis cross the line of faith and that, after all, is why he's there!
If you would, when you pray for him, pray specifically for his health. Thanks for your faithfulness in reading, commenting, and most of all for praying. This Mom is very grateful for your encouragement to both Seth and to me. Love you all!
Amy
I talked with him just before leaving and he was pretty sick. I'll spare you the details, but let's just say that his GI track in on the blink. He was running a pretty high fever and quite frankly was miserable. He was concerned about even getting to make the long bus ride, but at my urging (because he would be there alone for the next 10 days), he medicated heavily and headed out, or at least I assumed he had because I had not heard from him.
At 11:30pm on Thursday night, our phone rang, of course stopping my heart and causing me to run haphazzardly into the living to find the phone. I was happy to hear Seth on the other end. He sounded much better than the last time I had talked with him (no fever this time), but he is still pretty sickly. All of his symptoms point to Giardia, which is an intestinal parasite (oooh, I hate that word) that comes from water. He has every symptom. He called to check with Dr. Mom on what he should take to treat it. Fortunately, medicines are available and easily accessible without a prescription.
I gave him name of the medication that he needed, Flagyl, and jumped online to check the doseage before he hung up. He was going later that evening to the pharmacy and see if he could find the medication. I did give him a back up plan if he could not find the Flagyl.
He called this morning to say that he had found and purchased the medication at the local pharmacy there without a prescription from Dr. Mom. He was able to get the Flagyl and already had 2 doses in him. He purchased a 7 day course of antibiotics for a whopping...
...that's right, .21 cents, something tells me that the price of medications in the US is a little bit high!
He's still making numerous trips to the bathroom, losing weight, and feeling pretty wiped out, but having a great time. He's seeing Nepalis cross the line of faith and that, after all, is why he's there!
If you would, when you pray for him, pray specifically for his health. Thanks for your faithfulness in reading, commenting, and most of all for praying. This Mom is very grateful for your encouragement to both Seth and to me. Love you all!
Amy
Friday, May 2, 2008
Back from Pokhara, leaving for Butwal!
You will never appreciate life more than when you are on a Nepali bus on a road that winds around the sides of mountains with the most insane drivers that exist on Earth driving on the same road as you. After the first twenty or thirty near head on collisions I became accustomed to it and rather enjoyed the ride. I can't say the same for the ketchup club. The ketchup club is what we have dubbed the Canadian girls on our team. The name refers to a statement made by our friend Ken, from Minnessota, who lives in Penang. In a discussion about spicy foods he looked at the Canadians and said, "You're from Canada. Of course you don't like spicy food. The spiciest thing you guys eat is ketchup." It should also be noted that at particuar resaurants in Malaysia, Ken has a specially cooked food named after him that he invented.
Pokhara was an incredible city. The guy that was being our "guide"/translator was from Pokhara so we actually stayed for free at his church and visited with his family too. One thing that was reinforced to me while we were in Pokhara, is that Nepal is not a place to come if you are not willing to be physically challenged. We went to the top of a hill to pray over the city and the trail to get there was not easy, but I take pride in the fact that I was second to the top. Second only to our Nepali guide. I tried to hide my gasping for air, but I didn't do a great job. In spite of the clouds/dust in the air, we still couldn't see very many mountains. This seems to be clearing up a little as it is raining a little more. It was a well-spent couple of days in a beautiful city praying.
Thanks for all the prayers to this point. Be praying for team members stomachs. We are watching what we are eating and drinking pretty carefully, but some stomachs, including mine, are being effected in a not-so-nice manner. Pray for this especially because tomorrow we leave for Butwal. It is an eight hour bus ride. On top of the eight hour bus ride, the average temperature in Butwal is over 100 degrees and many places we will be do not have electricty. After the nine days there, we head up to Tatopani. Tatopani will be a welcome change because it is at around 4000 meters above sea level so it will be a bit cooler there. Pray also for the hearts of the people we talk to. Thanks for following!
Pokhara was an incredible city. The guy that was being our "guide"/translator was from Pokhara so we actually stayed for free at his church and visited with his family too. One thing that was reinforced to me while we were in Pokhara, is that Nepal is not a place to come if you are not willing to be physically challenged. We went to the top of a hill to pray over the city and the trail to get there was not easy, but I take pride in the fact that I was second to the top. Second only to our Nepali guide. I tried to hide my gasping for air, but I didn't do a great job. In spite of the clouds/dust in the air, we still couldn't see very many mountains. This seems to be clearing up a little as it is raining a little more. It was a well-spent couple of days in a beautiful city praying.
Thanks for all the prayers to this point. Be praying for team members stomachs. We are watching what we are eating and drinking pretty carefully, but some stomachs, including mine, are being effected in a not-so-nice manner. Pray for this especially because tomorrow we leave for Butwal. It is an eight hour bus ride. On top of the eight hour bus ride, the average temperature in Butwal is over 100 degrees and many places we will be do not have electricty. After the nine days there, we head up to Tatopani. Tatopani will be a welcome change because it is at around 4000 meters above sea level so it will be a bit cooler there. Pray also for the hearts of the people we talk to. Thanks for following!
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