First Night Back in Nepal

It always seems like the never ending day. Starts out great, is miserable in the middle, and ends in euphoria. My day started at the Original Pancake House with Mike at around 6:30 am. That's the part thats great...good friends, giood food, and the anticipation of being back in Nepal. Then it is 5 hours to LA (with a little In And Out intermission thanks to the Thompsons!!) an 11 hour layover followed by a 17 hour flight to Thailand, with a 5 hour lay over (this is the miserable part), followed by 4 hours to Kathmandu. But upon landing, taking in the unique smells as you walk down the stairs of the plains roll away jet way, you forget about the fact that every muscle in your body aches from the small, confined space you have existed in for the past 42 hours. We headed out of the airport and wasted no time getting to our guest house, getting cleaned up with fresh clothed, and heading out into the streets of Thamel. Amy and i walked around Thamel as Amy was reunited with all the memories of 5 years ago when she traveled here on her first Peak Performance team. She was noticing all the things that were different, as well as many of the things that remained the same. After getting reaquainted we headed down to Visit Sanumaya, the mother of three of the girls we have been working with and a family i have been supporting for several years. Her husband died several years ago and she now works at a tea shop made of a bamboo and tarp shelter on the corner down by the river. We had tea and spent some time getting caught up with all that has been happening over the past few month. She shared some big needs that they had that we will take care of in the coming days, and i let her know that she is deeply loved.

We then headed into Thamel as evening came and were immediately acosted by many of the street kids that we work with. It was soo good to see them all and here a bit about their lives and just sit and listen to them laugh and share their hearts. Maya, Rupa, Shova, Dipa, Rita, Gita, and Sangita all were there. The ministry had begun, connections were being made, and we are excited about what God is doing and look forward to all that is in store. Pray for us as we invest deeply in these relationships. We have lots of stuff planned for this week and are excited to see what God has in store. i'll keep ya posted!

Orphans and Widows

Today was a real good day of connecting with many of our Nepali friends that we have been pouring into for the past several years. It began with pastries and orange Fanta on the patio of Hot Breads. Kamal is an 19 year old boy who has been living on his own since his mother died when he was 8. His father had already left the family with another woman and no one knew where he'd gone leaving Kamal and his twin siblings Sagar and Nisha (who many of you know) on the streets to fare for themselves. i was able to get Nisha into Shanta's house several years ago and have been supporting her ever since, but it wasn't until two years ago that we were able to find her two brothers. Now we are trying to help them with housing and steady work. Tomorrow both Kamal and his brother will loose the housing they have had due to the house boss closing down the building. They have been living there free of charge in exchange for working some hours in a restaurant and now they have no place to go. We arranged a time to go look for some possible rooms nearby their work, and we will see what we can do to get them a place to stay. After we met with Kamal we all went to visit Sanumaya. i knew from yesterday, that she was in need of some food, so on our way i bought 35 kg of premium long grain rice and a couple dozen eggs. The rice will be enough to feed her and her two daughters for a couple months. (not a bad investment for a mere $20) They saw me as we were walking towards her tea shop. Sanumaya got a big grin on her face and her daughter just laughed. i think the grin was because i was carrying a huge sack of rice on my shoulders and she assumed it wasn't because i wanted Dahl Bhat, and the laugh was because you never see white people carrying bags of rice on this side of town and i guess i stand out a little bit. :-) As we sat and talked with Sanumaya and one of her daughters, Sapana, i learned that neither Sapana or her youngest daughter Sarmila were attending school. When i asked why they had stopped, she explained that she had lost her job caring for her house bosses 5 cows due to some of her physical difficulties, and that she has not been able to make enough money selling tea to pay for the house rent, food, and the school fees. We talked for a while, and i told her that i would take care of the school fees if the girls would want to go back to school. Sapana lit up with a smile, and Sanumaya said she wanted them to be able to go back to school but had a significant concern that really sheds light on the plight of so many children in this country, especially here in the Thamel area. You see, both her daughters work doing house cleaning during the week. The youngest one brings in 1500 NRP while the middle daughter 2500 NRP (equivalent to $55) each month. Without that income, they would end up loosing their home and could not afford any other room and still have enough money for food. So she asked what she could do? Educate her daughters or not eat seems to be a pretty big dilemma right? My heart broke. This little woman works at her tea shop from 6 am until 9 pm 7 days a week and still cannot make enough to pay for food and housing. She works very hard and loves her kids so much, but has no education and after her husband died has struggled to survive. On Sunday i will take her to church with me and introduce her to Pastor Raj Kumar and make the necessary arrangements to take care of her house rent as well as her kids school fees ($20 a month). Please pray that as we seek to eliminate the pressure of meeting some of these physical needs, that God would work through this local church community to meet some of the emotional and spiritual needs of this family. Their oldest daughter, Paraboti, who many of you know, is now married and living in her husbands village with their 4 month old baby daughter. Please keep them all in your prayers as we seek to be the hands of Jesus with those who need a bed to sleep in and food to eat, as well as those who just need a mom and dad to tuck them in at night instead of having to worry if they will have a place to be tucked in at all. And most of all that they would come to know the love of Christ, the one who provides.