:: Reaching Nepal ::

As you all know Sarah and I are living in Louisville, KY and are taking classes at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. We are having a great time and enjoying this season of our lives. Our desire is to head back overseas at the end of next summer and we are taking every opportunity we can now to grow and learn. Many people think we are crazy but we are taking all the same classes- Intro. to Missiology, Systematic Theology I, Spiritual Disciplines, and Hermeneutics. So far it’s been great. We have been able to study together and hold each other accountable. We have thoroughly enjoyed being challenged both in our thinking about God and how we apply that in our lives. Southern is a great conservative school that unapologetically teaches the Word of God.

Several weeks ago a pastor from Birmingham, AL came up to Southern for three days to speak in chapel. It was a life changing experience. The pastor’s name was David Platt and he spoke the Word with both power and humility- a unique combination among speakers. I encourage you to click on this link and download a few of his sermons. You will be very thankful you did. David Platt sermons

Other than these things we have been traveling some- Washington DC, Jackson, TN, and in two weeks Michigan. Also, we are praying and searching hard for a home church. Please pray that God will provide a church to be our family. You really don’t realize the importance of a church family until you don’t have one.

We are getting settled into our new home in Louisville, KY and wanted to send you some pictures. As we look around our home, we are continually reminded of God’s gracious provision. There are very few things in our house that we have actually purchased. Through wedding gifts and random acts of kindness, many of you have played a part in enabling us to have a comfortable apartment for the time that we are here. Thank you for your generosity! We are so grateful! Please know that you have a place to stay if you are ever in the Louisville area. God has blessed us with an extra bedroom and we love having visitors.

Serving Him Together,

Nathan and Sarah Sloan

Many of you did not have the chance to come to our wedding in March and I must say you missed the best wedding of the year. I will admit though I am a little biased. For those who could not come we still know you love us and wanted to make sure you got to see what the wedding was like. As you might imagne, we have hundreds of pictures so I will just share the highlights with you.

Sometimes technology fails- actually many times and that was the case during our trip back to Nepal. Several times I tried to post new updates on the site but for almost a month there were problems. No worries, everything is up and running now!

Our trip back to Nepal was a great success. God opened huge doors for new ministry and just as many opportunities to follow up on continuing work. Our team of eight college students was the best short-term team we have ever had. They were sensitive to the culture, tough as nails, and did more than we ever asked in service. We were able to spend six days in the mountains carrying in Bibles and literature, prayer walking, and taught a survey through the life of Christ for a conference containing seven different churches from this area.  After our crazy hard mountain trip we traveled back to Kathmandu and ministered among Tibetans. For many, this was a life changing experience. We spend hours upon hours in prayer, sat with Buddhist monks and talked about the deep questions of life, and drank more cups of tea than anybody ever should.

Thank you for all your prayers. And to our team- thank you for giving of yourselves, your time, and your heart. We miss you already.

Right now Sarah and I are at our company’s office doing training. Pray for us as we talk to the leadership about changing our ministry focus from the Nepali people to Tibetans. It’s a new direction but one God has been pointing us to from day one.

I just want everyone to know that we are all safe and doing well. The students love Nepal and have had a great time. We are leaving for the mountains tomorrow morning so be praying. We will be doing ministry by foot for 10 days and then will come back to the city. For all those parents out there I promise that I will make you children email you when we get back to Kathmandu.

Nathan and I are sitting in the Chicago airport waiting to fly to Nepal with a group of 8 college students. We are planning to take them backpacking in the mountains to encourage some believers there and distribute Bibles to people we come in contact with during our journey. Please pray for us as we lead and invest in these students for the next 3 weeks. God has given us a good group of students and we are excited to see them serve and grow through this trip. We are also really excited about going home. God has been so gracious in allowing Nepal to be our home the past few years and we miss it dearly. We are looking forward to seeing friends and just being in our country that we love so much. We would cherish your prayers while we are there.

On the way home, Nathan and I will be making an additional stop apart from the team and will be spending two weeks in Europe staying with some friends and sightseeing. Please ask God to use us to glorify Him wherever we are and whatever we are doing. We want to shine His light in Nepal, in Europe and wherever else we may be.

Sarah and I left on Saturday for what will turn out to be an exciting summer. We were in a supporting church in Virgina on Sunday morning. On Sunday night and Monday morning we took time to relax and tour the beautiful town of Harper’s Ferry, WV. This evening Sarah and I will be meeting a group of college student to prepare for a summer trip to Nepal. On Thursday, we will leave with 8 college students to do ministry in the mountains. It’s an exciting time for us. We have missed our home so much and look forward to being there soon.

Please pray for our trip. We have planned well and I trust it will be a wonderful time but if I have learned anything from Nepali culture it’s that everyday brings new surprises. I will try my best to put new updates on here when ever possible.

Sarah and I have now been married over one month. We are loving married life and the chance to walk through life together. As we have started this new journey, there have been many unanswered questions about what comes next: where shall we live, where will the money come from to go back to Nepal, what is our next step, and many more. For most of my life I have had the chance to walk in faith and trust Jesus for all things but now that I am married the challenge of walking by faith has gotten bigger and much more intimidating. Not only am I dependant on God for my own self but for my wife and one day a family.

Lately we have had many people question our way of life. They will say, “Why do things this way when you could go back to Nepal through a different avenue and everything would be provided.” I admit I have wondered this myself but what I have realized is that as Sarah and I have walk by faith, dependent on Him, He has always provided our needs. It’s true we don’t always know where we will stay, where provisions will come from, or what is around the next corner but it makes for a great adventure. I would not trade our life for anyone else’s.

Just in the last month God has poured out His blessings like never before. We didn’t know where we would live and then a church we had no connection with offered a free home for two months and a van to drive. We had ministry trips to make in Seattle and Montana and God provided places to stay, food to eat and even chances to see the sights. God has been burdening my heart to go to seminary and get my masters degree but with little money and a busy schedule it did not seem likely. Then my mission board said it would be okay to attend seminary for a year and still raise support. A seminary in Louisville, Kentucky offered a discount rate for Sarah and I to attend. And finally a group in Chattanooga have me a full tuition scholarship to cover the rest of my school expenses.? These are just a few of the ways God has blessed us during this season of our lives.

More than the physical blessing that He has given, I am amazed at the blessing that comes in stepping out and walking in faith. I often don’t do this well, but when I do, He never fails. He does not always provide in abundance as he has lately but He promises to never let His children go in want- “never begging for bread”.

“Thank you Lord for being You, for always providing when I trust that You will, and for allowing me to struggle and hurt so that my dependence on You can grow. ”

PS…I promise to soon post pictures from the wedding!

Sarah and I have been enjoying ourselves in Seattle for the last 5 days. On Sunday we visited Life Church and had the opportunity to share our ministry. They were so excited to hear what God was doing around the world. The last several days Sarah and I have taken some time alone to enjoy the downtown Seattle and surrounding areas.

Please pray for us as we will be sharing with seminary students tomorrow about coming to serve in our Bible college in Nepal. We have a need of solid Bible teachers and hope to find some here. On Friday we will fly back to Nashville in time to run a half-marathon on Saturday. Don’t be impressed- we are just hoping we can finish. Then on Sunday we will be sharing with a church just outside of Knoxville.

Things are busy but we have nothing but praises to give for all we have to do.

This evening Sarah and I sat down and watched the movie “Kite Runner”. It’s a movie about a young boy growing up in Afghanistan and the guilt that follows him his whole life. It is a story filled with many horrible yet actuate things. It gives people a glimpse into a world they don’t know and would never wish to know. I find myself reeling from the shock of the truth it portrays.

As I lay in bed tonight I want to put these horrible things out of my mind: the , , injustice, and great sin that cover our world. I think of it and it breaks me- turns my guts inside out. If I could just put it out of my mind and fall soundly asleep I know it would bring me comfort but comfort is not what I need. I need to be awaken to the world around me. I need to be reminded everyday that the world we live in does not look like America- it looks like Afghanistan, and Iraq, and Nepal. Our world is haunted by sin so great we dare not speak of it but we must. Open your eyes and see that our world is suffering…truly suffering. And the answer does no lie within the UN or any other institution. The hope of the world lies in Jesus.

As I laid in bed burning with these truths I was broken with the fact that I could do very little. I prayed, “God, I have given my life to Nepal- to a nation who greatly needs you, what more can I do to bring the nations to you. God I am burning to see not just my people come to you but all people. What can I do?” As I cried and prayed He softly reminded me that if I will pray, He would move. And it hit me. If I will pray in faith with great passion then God would bring revival. It is He that calls men to Himself and He that is sovereign over all things.
Going is a great thing to do but praying is greater. The greatest thing I can ever do is pray.
Watch this movie and as you watch remember that the people you see are just a glimpse of the world ravaged by sin and in need of a Savior. After you watch it don’t let these images pass away but allow them to drive you to your knees.