See you state side!

This could very easily be my last blog while in Nepal. I have 2 weeks & 4 days, and I couldn't possibly be filled with more emotions! As you can imagine, I am thrilled to see my Ben, my family and the many friends who have spent numerous hours in prayer for me. But, I am also filled with pain as I look into the eyes of these beautiful children as they ask me, "Kelitaunty, when are you and Ben going to come to Nepal?" It's painful as I think about the cost of the ticket to come here, the crazy economy back home...but then I am reminded that I serve a big God who got me here once and I am not going to assume His arm is too short to let me come here again.
Easter was a wonderful and humbling experience. Easter is a really really big deal here and I love it because it really should be! On Good Friday, we had a church service/prayer meeting. Saturday is like our Sunday so we had a long church service which was ended with The Jesus Film. I cried eventho the affects were lame compared to The Passion of The Christ...It always hits me how He saved us. On Sunday, we woke up at 4 AM and had worship, prayer and chiyah(tea) for about two hours. We then headed out to meet the other 38-40 churches for as huge rally. The kids faught over the hundreds of signs which proclaimed in Nepali and English multiple phrases we all associate with Easter. We marched through the city proclaiming that our king is alive for about 3 hours. It was awesome! We marched through Hindu temples and claimed them in the name of Jesus. The marching ended at the largest Hindu temple in Bhaktapur where a few pastors shared something about Easter which I couldn't understand. I climbed up on the top level of the temple so I could observe all the people the Lord has touched. It was a rewarding experience and I look forward to hearing about more numbers next year!
The kids are on school break, which is like our summer break but it's only for 2 weeks. We got to go to the Botanical garden and share a feast together. I love going places with all the children because it doesn't happen much and they are always so fun to be with. We played cards and bad mitten all day. The weather was hot and beautiful!
April 14th was Nepali New Year (2066) and Sony (the pastors wife's) birthday. We had a fun time celebrating her but were also praying a lot for Nepal. During New Year, Hindus have quite a busy schedule with all the festivals. Their festivals claim many lives as they are very dangerous. I will show you photos and explain more when I am home.
Today we are going to the Kathmandu zoo and a new museum. I am so excited to go have another fun day with all the kids.
Yesterday was Bible study and it really hit me that I am leaving soon. I was sitting there looking at all the beautiful people God put in my life and it's painful to know I am going to be so far away from them. I am reminded of one of the many benefits of being a believer; that I will one day see all these people again!
I'm not really sure what these next 19 day will look like. Most likely same schedule of morning prayer and house fellowship. Sony and David have been wanting to take me to some last touristy places so that has been nice. I am so sorry that I can't figure out how to put pictures on here. The internet connection is really slow so each time I try, it always fails loading. I am planning on scrap booking and documenting everything so I can sit down with you and walk through this awesome adventure. I am leaving Nepal on May 12th. Please pray for me as I am a bit weary about LA's airport :-) More importantly then my fear of the airport, please pray for the process of good byes. Many times it seems like there is a bit of anger and frustration expressed from the people here at the fact that they don't have the sufficient funds to travel oversees and see me. Sometimes they seem a bit hopeless and fear that they won't see me again. I am praying that our time apart won't be long and that my teaching them about Skype will help us stay connected. I wish each one of you could meet the people here!
Well, we are about to pack up and head out. Can't believe this could be the last blog. What an incredible blessing this adventure has been for me! I pray each one of you gets to experience such a dramatic experience in your life. Most of all, I pray that we can each grow in love regardless of how "adventurous" our lives are! We serve an incredible faithful God and I am so blessed to serve Him along side each of you! Thank you again and again for all your prayers and encouragement! I love you all! See you state side!!!!

Barabbas, not Barnabas

Correction to my random, journal entry of a blog. Jesus did die for Barnabas too but Barabbas first. Thanks for excusing all my grammatical errors!

Coconut Kisses!

It's 10 minutes after six, my room is dark and I am pigging out on miniature M&M's thanks to me awesome mom! It's been 12 weeks since I have been on American soil, or heard a sermon in English. Today the Lord answered a number of my prayers. The first being to hear a sermon which I understand and get fed by. Just so happens Willy Graham is here from America. He is Billy Grahams grandson...sorry if you all already knew that...I didn't! Anyways, he is here with a few other Americans for a crusade. His speaking was good, it was milky...you know, the sermon we all have memorized in our hearts but rarely speak about...or at least not as much as we should...It's called the gospel. It was beautiful to hear the story of my Jesus...sure I know it and I have it memorized and can categorize it as "milky", not quite the meat I am desperate for. But in that windy moment, leaning against a urinated on chain link fence, I fell more in love with my precious Jesus and His awesome, simple story. There I was, in a white shirt which is no longer white thanks to the dirt, food and urine coating the fence like fresh paint...I had my "movie star" sunglasses on and began, as I commonly do, talking to my Jesus. You really died for Barnabas didn't you..Wow, and he was so bad...why? How? And for me to...and all these thousands of people I am looking at...crazy! And there in that precious moment, I am reminded of Psalms 8...." O LORD MY GOD, HOW MAJESTIC IS YOUR NAME" Awesome isn't it...and now, I am sitting here in the dark, listening to David Crowder sing, "There is no one like my God" It's moving and it's beyond explaining. Anyways, that was just one of the beautiful moments of April 2nd. Before this experience at the crusade, I attended a meeting specifically for Nepali pastors and church leaders. Again, Willy was there but his sermon was missed due to the must needed call from my Ben. Ah, it's raining outside! Tin roof right out side my window...lolling...and oh the stench, lets see, is there any words...wet dog, burning hair, vinegar mixed with something like cinnamon and some outrageous, overpowering incense. I love Nepal so much!!!! No smell would ever deter me or make me love it any less, in fact, these smells are beginning to soothe me...smells like God's grace. This is where He dwells....among the hurting the poor, the broken...but He's so here and if this is what I have to smell like to be near Him...oh drench me in it Jesus! Wow, I am getting so distracted...so at the meeting for the pastors, some American's spoke, (in English) and then this guy from India spoke. He was passionate and spoke (again, in English) about Moses and how ordinary he was but how much God accomplished through him. Awesome words which filled me up and made me want to ask God to use me in ways like He used Moses! Maybe we all need to ask that more? So, I thought this guy was great and I was so excited and thanking God and all...then he introduces his dad. This guy is 70 years old, Indian, black hair, white beared and firey...he just baptized 405 people in the last 20 days...by the way, he baptized them in a muddy pond (which I bet everyone who reads this, including my self, wouldn't get in for anything), the mud was so strong it sucked his feet in and he had to be pulled out by 4 guys...awesome! It's like there he is, in the moment, with Jesus...being like John the Baptist and I think just as he was so stuck in that mud, he was totally sucked in by the presence of God. Stop for a moment and think about this...here you are, in one of the most heavily persecuted places on the globe, you have faced numerous trails including deaths of loved ones and friends, your churches have been burnt, you live with constant threats...and here you are, anointed...stuck in the mud and drenched with slimy wet contaminated water...but you are more then anything, aware of your love for your savior...look at all the souls He just let you touch..let you bring into the Kingdom of Heaven. Oh God, don't let them pull me from this place! I want to stand here...full of pond muck and bacteria...just so I can see one more of your precious ones saved! Can you see yourself there...how about just being on the side and watching this...I am so humbled by this image...I want it! I want this for America...for each one of us! Oh God, let us be so stuck in your presence that the pull of all the men in the world could never remove us! Anyways, this 70 year old guy stood up there and belted out so much truth...about persecution, about giving Jesus everything...all the stuff we can't understand in the parables...or should I say we sometimes choose not to understand. Anyways, he couldn't stop talking so the translator just stood there and the whole crowd laughed...thankfully, most Nepali people speak English so they could pick up most of what he was saying...I don't know exactly all he said, but it's the way he said it....passion, urgency, love....Ah, it was so rich! Wish you could have been there! When I get to heaven, I am so going to look for that dark skin and white beard...I can so see it now, I am going to say, "Jesus, where is that guy, you know that one who was stuck in the mud...can I please see him?" So after the crusade, we ventured to the Nepali post office. Wow, what an event! Let me try to bring you into this moment. So we walk into this building which is bland, not painted, dirty...we go to the front desk and present my passport and a copy of my passport. Then they send us into this back room where they have me sign a form which is in all Nepali (thank you Jesus that David knows English and Nepali). They have me pay 25 rupees which I think is for the cost of all the carbon paper they just used in the form I signed...No computers! Just stacks of carbon paper, and forms, everywhere! So then they send us to another counter where we have to wait for the packages to brought out. This is crushing so prepare yourself....They bring out the package, I immediately recognized the Priority Mail box and Mom's hand writing. Then, there in front of me, they take a massive, dull knife and rip it open. I almost took the knife from him and asked if I could please open it. He opened it like it was trash and like it was such a burden for him to open it. Ah, I was so sad...almost cried! You know, there is so much joy in opening a gift you know has been sent from someone who loves you and spent a lot of money for you to have. To him, that box meant nothing. Anyways, made me think of Jesus and how much He loves to give good gifts to His children. But how often do we just tear them open and assume we deserve this...or, we miss it, don't realize what a precious gift He has given us. So after this, we had to go to another office (I had to leave my open boxes, symbols of my families love, there alone on that stingy counter) to find a grumpy lady to come and inspect the boxes. She to was not so nice but this time I took out the book entitled, IOWA and started to show the man with the mean knife...he talked to me and I gave him a package of M&M's, secretly forgiving him for not respecting my boxes. Then, there next to me was a beautiful, cheerful girl from Tennessee. She spoke perfect Nepali and I was envious of her but delighted that she was there, with a box also from her mom. She said, "This is your first time in the Nepali post office huh?" Wow,she could really see how confused I was! Then she asked me how long I have lived in Nepal. What a compliment! I look like I live here? Really? Ah, it was a beautiful moment! She was whisked away to retrieve another form but as we continued to also be asked to move from here to there, we made eye contact and smiled...it was my first positive connection with an American since I have been here! Despite the craziness of that post office, that beautiful American, Bible school teacher, filled with the obvious love of Jesus made me want to stay there. He is so good and He is everywhere...if only we would look for Him!
So, reason for the title! In my boxes from mom was my much missed, EASY MAC and coconut kisses, among other necessities! Here I am, with my bag full of melted coconut kisses and I hear my Jesus say, " Are you going to share those with all 15 kids tonight?" Oh Jesus, really? I begin to argue my case with Him! I have been here for 3 months, there aren't very many in here and giving them each one would mean I would only have like 15 left...really, do I have to? And there in that moment, my selfishness hit me like a truck! Really, am I having these thoughts right now? Am I really this selfish, honestly? There are NO coconut kisses anywhere in the whole country of Nepal, in fact I haven't even seen Oreos! These beautiful kids who I love so much have never had the opportunity to enjoy the flavor of a melted, coconut kiss. Would I really be okay with not sharing my favorite candy with them? When I stop and think about it, seeing them eating my favorite most longed for candy would bring me so much more joy then the 14 seconds of the flavor in my mouth. Oh Jesus, I want to give all my kisses away! How can it be that when we deny ourselves, we are filled up with so much more joy...That is so Jesus tho isn't it! Can you imagine the joy of the man who sold everything to buy the field which contained the treasure he had found. Do you think he ever regretted that decision? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I want this to be so real and so tangible for each of us! I want to be a people who gives what they long for, what they love the most away to those who have nothing. These kids will never know the battle that raged in my heart and how honestly, difficult it is for me to share this sweet with them...and thank God they can't see my selfishness....but instead, think about this....if all your thoughts were said out loud, what kind of friend, mom, person would you be? Would you be someone who is willing to sacrifice, to give everything away and trust that Jesus isn't a liar, that He will reward you with something that cannot fade...with an inheritance that cannot corrode or be touched by moths or time! Grasp this with me please! What is in your life that your not willing to give away...Chocolate is easy but lets look at the big picture. I obviously have a lot of selfishness because it's just chocolate and that's hard to think about parting with....but what about my time, my money, my favorite shoes, my desires, my dreams...oh is He not so worth it? And is He a liar that He would not reward more 100 fold? Oh God, may I always offer you all my coconut kisses, even my easy mac...EVERYTHING!!!
Beyond these random moments of one day here, things are going really well. I am loving being here and loving the interaction with the children and the church people. The pastor and his wife are so much like close relatives to me and we spend a lot of time together while the kids are at school. It will be so difficult telling them good bye. I have preached at church a few times and enjoy sharing my quiet time notes during house fellowship, which is like Bible study. I am learning a little more Nepali every day and trying my best to "fit in" to their culture. Jesus has totally healed my stomach which is so awesome!!! I am loving the food now that it settles well.
Only 39 more days...Please don't stop praying for me! I love you all so much and try my hardest too lift you up in prayer each day! Your prayers are felt in my spirit as I arise and awaken the dawn along side our overwhelming, magnificent God! " O LORD, OUR LORD, HOW MAJESTIC IS YOUR NAME IN ALL THE EARTH! WHEN I CONSIDER YOUR HEAVENS, THE WORK OF YOUR FINGERS, THE MOON AND THE STARS, WHICH YOU HAVE SET IN PLACE, WHAT IS MAN THAT YOU ARE MINDFUL OF HIM, O LORD, OUR LORD, HOW MAJESTIC IS YOUR NAME! Psalms 8 I pray your day begins and ends with this...you are loved!