:: Reaching Nepal ::

From last Sunday to Wednesday was Losar- the Tibetan New Year. Last year during this time I knew very few people so I wasn’t able to celebrate Losar in any cultural way. This year I was able to see Tibetan culture first hand. On Sunday morning, I received a call from a close friend who invited me to join her and her Tibetan friends at a festival. We went to the Tibetan refugee camp and enjoyed many indigenous songs and dances. It was amazing to see so many different people groups from Tibet all with their own outfits and dances. On Monday I drove my bike to the Tibetan section of town where my friend lives. She and I spent a long time talking with Tibetan friends, eating traditional food, and playing games (although the game was very American- Phase 10!). I had planned on being there for lunch and part of the afternoon but what I discovered was that people don’t eat and run in Tibetan culture. What I though would be a few hours ended up being 11 hours but I enjoyed every minute of it.

The chaos that Nepal is so famous for has been absent for a while now but it is coming back quickly. For a month or so a group in the south has been protesting and creating havoc to have their voices heard. They have used threats, blockades, and violence to get their point across. This radical fringe group is doing this to receive seats in the parliament and to eventually have the southern part of Nepal annexed, creating a new country. This demand is obviously crazy and the government has stood strong so far. To strengthen their stand, this rebel group has blocked gasoline trucks from entering the city causing a huge fuel shortage. Most gas stations are now closed and to get gas you can expect to stand in line for the good part of a day. This has been happening for about three weeks now and to make their point even stronger they are now threatening to shut down the capitol here for an undisclosed amount of time. I have no idea what will happen in the coming days but pray that God will allow this country to experience a freedom that has for so long eluded them.

On Wednesday it snowed in the Kathmandu Valley for the first time in 62 years. Crazy huh? You would think that because we are so close to the mountians that we would get snow a lot but the tempature here hardly ever drops below zero. On Thursday we canceled classes so that our students could hike up to the top of our local mountain and make snow balls. They had a blast.

Home Sweet Home! After a month of traveling throughout South Asia I am finally home. I’ve been back now for a week and it’s so nice to get back in the swing of things. This last week we had a teacher from America come out and help us develop our college?s curriculum. It was very helpful to have someone come from the outside and show us how we can best prepare our students for ministry.

This coming week is the start of the new year for our Bible college. After looking back over this last year and reevaluating what I have been doing in ministry, I have decided to invest more time in the college. I will have an office soon where I can work from and I will spend much more quality time outside of the classroom with my students. This will both help my language and allow me to once again minister to youth. Pray for me as I will be teaching three different classes this semester; youth ministry, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, and spiritual formation.