Reaching Nepal

After 2 weeks of being sick and one trip to the hospital, I decided I better go to a private clinic where the medical standards are a bit higher. After about 5 minutes of checking me over the doctor was confident that I had typhoid. He ordered tests on my blood for malaria just in case, but most likely its typhoid. I know it sounds scary, but he assured me I will recover soon. Please continue to pray. With medicine I should recover in 10 days to 3 weeks. Its so crazy- I have typhoid .This whole ordeal makes me feel like a real missionary! He is teaching me the lesson I have continued to learn this last year: God is good…even when life isn’t. Thanks again for holding the ropes as I go down into the darkness.

Two Saturdays ago I woke up very sick. I made it to Saturday morning Bible study, but half way through my stomach said “GO HOME”. I hurried home and had a battle with “the runs” and then took a nap. After two hours I woke up and puked 4 times (sorry if this is grossing you out). I was only sick two day, but on this last Saturday I woke up sick again. This time it was a headache and tempature. It was a headache like I’ve never had before. I talked to my doctor friend and his advice was to go to the ER. They looked me over, took some blood, and then sent me home. I still have a MASSIVE headache and now the blood test say there is nothing wrong. To some that might be a comfort, but I would really like to know what’s wrong with me. I’m not in agony or anything, but the fact I have a big headache and a tempature must mean something. I have no idea what to do next. The doctor at the ER recommended a CT scan so I guess if I don’t feel better soon I will do that. Please pray hard about this matter. Its not that I’m a sissy, but this sickness has affected my language study and my teaching. I love you all and cherish you prayers.

Last Thursday our house father David drove six hours south and picked up 3 beautiful orphan children. Days earlier one of the kids was crossing the road when a large truck came barreling around the corner. Their mother saw the truck and rushed to the child. Within a moment she pushed her child out of the way and she was hit by the truck. She died.

The children were already living in complete poverty. No roof over their head and no clothes to wear. Sad story isn’t it. I wish I could say this is the only story like this but there are many more.

Praise God these children are now in a home where they will be loved and provided for. To know that there are now 3 precious children who have been saved from the horror of life is heart warming, but there is an even greater story here. These 3 children are now living in a home where they will given the gospel all throughout their life. Our greatest work with these kids is not providing them a good home, though we do, it is giving them a place to grow in grace and truth.

Our orphanage now has 19 children and all but the youngest and newest have become followers of Christ. This is rewarding news and all the glory goes to their true Father. He is the one who has never left nor forsaken them.

I will post pictures of the kids soon.

This last week one of the men I am discipling took me to his village in the Terai (southern part of Nepal). After a 12 hour bus ride from Kathmandu, we arrived at his mother?s village. This trip was full of first time adventures. The first thing that startled me was the fact that Hari’s mother was married to a man who already had a wife. I don’t mean they were separated or divorced. They all lived together in the same home: one husband, 2 wives, and 5 children. It was an experience. Some other new things included: drinking buffalo’s milk that was fresh from the utter, riding on the top of a bus for 2 hours, and making butter. The week was exciting and full of meeting new people, but the great experience of all was what God did in the villages.

My friend Hari and I went to minister in three villages. To be honest we didn’t have a detailed plan. We just wanted to go show the Jesus Film then preach the gospel. The first village we ministered in had never been reached with the gospel. First of all we went to the local school and asked if we could use their building. The principle said we could do whatever kind of program we wanted with the kids (200 of them) and then we could use the building for the adults afterward. Next Hari went to the head of the village and explained exactly what we were doing and asked for his approval. His answer was remarkable, “Nepal is a free country now, we should have the right to believe whatever we choose”. It was amazing. Keep in mind that converting people is illegal in Nepal, yet this village opened their doors to us. That day we shared the gospel with over 250 people. Almost all of them had never heard before. The greatest blessing of the day came when I got to sit down and share the gospel personally with the principle, 2 teachers, and the head of the village. The joy came when they all realized the full meaning of the gospel. They understood that Jesus was the only way!? No one made a profession, but that is not my concern. I tell the story and the Holy Spirit does the saving.

After that we ministered in 2 other villages. Over all we shared the gospel of grace with over 350 people, most whom had never heard. The amazing thing is we could have done so much more, but we were limited in personnel and equipment. The door is opening wide here. People know that what they worship is created by man and that God must be something greater. When I preached I focused on the point that there is only one God and Jesus is his name. I got nothing but positive responses.

Several men showed deep interest, but gave excuses. Most of their excuses centered around their families. Keep in mind that to follow Christ here many times means giving up you family. The cost is high, but the worth of Jesus is higher. Pray hard for these men and that they would abandon all to follow Jesus.

One of the young men I got to share with responded very well. So well in fact I felt he needed to have more exposer to the gospel, so I brought him back to Kathmandu with me. He is 19 years old and I can see God working on His heart. Pray that God draws him to Himself. Here are a few picture for you to enjoy.

The kids at the school as Hari taught them Christian songs.

One of the pastor’s daughters making butter.

The women’s side of the church. All churches in Nepal sperate the men and women.

One of the pastors we worked with closing our service in prayer.

The mountain in the center is the fabled Mt. Everest. Everest is cover by mountains from almost all sides and it’s very hard to get a good view, but this ones not bad.

The Khumbu glacier that covers most of the Everst area.

Here are some pics from base camp. The second picture is of a chopper that crashed at base camp years ago.

These are Buddhist prayers written in Tibetian on rocks.? There are thousands of these rocks all over the Khumbu region.

This is one of the hundreds of porters we met carrying giant loads up the mountains.

Not a bad view huh?

As I was hiking down, I looked over my shoulder and saw this.? Out of all my pictures, this is my favorite.

The harvest is bountiful, but the workers are so few. Pray that God will send workers to reach these people.

I had planned to post my second set of pictures from Everest today, but I found out yesterday that one of my friends here in Nepal was killed on Wednesday. He and another one of my friends were in the southern part of Nepal visiting a Nepali friend. All three of the guys were out riding their bikes when Ben was hit head on by a large truck. Ben was a amazing man and he will be missed here in Kathmandu. His love for Christ was widely known and his life touched countless people. Please pray for His family and those who loved him dearly. It’s comforting to know he’s with Jesus, but the pain of his departure is felt by many.

Here is a pictoral journal of my journey to Everest. The old saying is true, “a picture is worth a thousand words”, so here is a visual picture of my trek to the top of the world.

Here is the one runway at Luka (the begining of our trip). If it looks like the runway just ends, it does. It’s only about as long as a driveway and then drops off a cliff. It makes landing a taking of a real adventure.

This is the river we followed up to the mountains. The water is actually glacier water from the Khumbu Glacier located next? to Mt. Everest.

Here I am taking a few moments to catch my breath. Base Camp has only 1/3 the amount of oxygen that is at sea level. The white stuff you see behind me are clouds. I must admit, it’s cool to walk through the clouds.

Two of my teamates cross one of the many bridges that cover the Khumbu region.

Here you can see our lodge at Dingboche with the amazing view in the back. It was here that I was hit with altitude sickness for three days, but after a good rest I was able to press on.

I woke up one morning in Dingboche and saw this beautiful mountain looking down at me.

The Himalayas breaking through the clouds.

Mt. Ama Dablem, considered by many the most beauitiful mountain in the Himalayas. Her beauty was breath taking.

One of many yak trains we had to battle to get to Everest

Mt. Everest has two large mountains on either side of her. Some joking call these her “body guards”. The large mountain you see on the right is one of these; Nuptse (25,791ft.)

Come back tomorrow and you will see the second set of my journey; my arrival at Mt. Everest.

On May 29, in the late afternoon, I pulled my body the last few meters into Everest Base Camp. It had taken eight days and a battle with altitude sickness, but finally I had reached one of my life long dreams; climb to Mt. Everest Base Camp. At just over 17,600 feet, it was one of the hard things I have done physically, but it was all worth it. I have tons to tell you, so look back tomorrow for the whole story and lots of pictures. Thank you for all your prayers. I know now more than ever that this area of the world needs Jesus.