On our second day in Nepal, the constitutional monarchy became a dictatorship. Here are the events as I came to understand it through watching the news and talking to locals while I was there:
Continue reading "Nepal: A summary of the current political situation" »
If you had lost family members, friends, and your house, would you want scores of people coming by the temporary shelter you were living in? I wondered this as I went to the camps to distribute water tanks and dish racks. A few days ago, we had gone with a smaller group and talked to several of the people living there. I think it was good for them to be able to share the stories of what had happened.
After 24 hours of travelling, we made it home safely. Being home feels very strange to me. I feel more of a foreigner here than I did when I was in Nepal and Thailand. I think that's a testament to how wonderful the people the were that we met in welcoming us. It will take me some time to get used to the 8 to 5 schedule again. Thanks for all who prayed for us and sent us encouraging emails. Keep checking the site, I have some more entries to post that I didn't get a chance to while I was away.
I've never been bitten by a fish before today and I have to say I didn't like it. That being said, I had the most beautiful day of snorkeling that I've ever had. Fish were eating out of my hand (they love bananas).
I am pretty depressed to be flying back home in a few minutes. We met so many wonderful people in every place that we went. I am going to miss Asia. I am praying that I can go back soon.
Thanks for all who prayed for us and kept up with our trip. It means so much to us. We're looking forward to rejoining our friends and family in a few days.
"Pai Thong. Pai Thong."
"Go Straight?"
"Yees, yees, go straight. 'Pai' mean 'go', 'thong' mean 'straight' so 'pai thong' or 'thong pai'"
"Pai Thong, pai thong, pai thong..." I have to repeat phrases to myself as soon as I learn them so I remember them. The man showing me the way to the settlement camps spoke English just fine, but I like to learn as much language as I can wherever I am at. So far I had only picked up 'Sawasdee Ka'[sa-wa-dee-ka] from the stewardess as I got off the plane.
"And for 'yes', I say 'Ka'?"
"No. No. 'Ka' for girls. For men, say 'crap'."
"Crap?"
"Krap."
"So... Pai Thong Here?"
"Krap. Krap."
We noticed that Udaya's wife, Bakhti walked with a limp. Thinking she had done something recently, we asked her if her leg was alright. She lifted her skirt just enough to show a large dent through her ankle and said, "bro-ken" as she pointed to her foot. Sitting down to some tea, later, we asked her how her leg was broken. Udaya was with her and helped her through her broken English...
The boy I was talking with looked to be about 18 years old. He was standing on what was left of his porch with his cousin and his sister. The fishing village was about 1/2 mile away on the beach. In between us and the village was a swampy field of downed trees and debris. As he recounted to me the events of the tsunami, he leaned against a large fishing boat that had crashed into the house behind us. He lost his grandmother and his youngest sister. He was lucky because instead of running up to the road with all the other villagers, he ran up on the roof of the house. There was no outrunning the 3 waves that came and decimated the region. Even those that were able to get to their motorbikes got stuck in the traffic of everyone trying to leave by the road. He told me that he is glad that he works out everyday because he had to run as fast as he could in waste-deep water just to get to the roof of the house.
Many of you may have heard of the political situation that arose while we were in Kathmandu. The king of Nepal fired all of the politicians and put them under house arrest. This caused fears of protests and uprisings by the Maoist rebels in the country. Also, all phone lines were cut (mobile and copper lines) so we were unable to communicate both within the country and to the outside world. Because of added concerns with issues relating to elections in the state of Bihar, India, we decided to take a flight to Thailand. We're about to board a plane to Phuket where Joel and Elise are working in the Tsunami affected areas. We're not sure what we'll find, but we're certain that God has us here for a reason. I have so much more to write about the wonderful things we saw and experienced in Kathmandu, but I have to catch a plane. Thanks for all who are praying for us.
When Udaya was about 15, his father got very sick. He was from the Brahman cast (the highest cast in Hinduism) but the medical bills were piling up. They had to sell of their land and their house to pay for the medical treatment. Out of desperation they went to a hospital set up by German missionaries. The doctor gave him a pill and told him that if he would ask God to heal him, he would be healed. He gave him a Bible and sent him on his way. That night, he read the book of John and prayed for healing. He told God that if he was healed, he would follow Him and his household would follow him. That night he was completely healed. Even the doctor was suprised to see him walking the next day.
Continue reading "ServLife Children's Center: Day 2 in Kathmandu" »
Flying in to Kathmandu, we didn't even seem to descend. It just seemed like we flew straight and the ground came up to us. We were sitting just above the wing so I wasn't sure how much we would be able to see. You can't really miss the himalayas, though. Words can't describe the beauty that I saw as we landed. Off in the distance were the sharp, jagged peaks of the Himalayas. Even seeing the majestic, snow-covered peaks, it's hard to fathom that they rise 10,000 feet above the tallest peaks in Colorado.
When we exited the airport, we were treated to one of the most touching moments I've ever experienced.
"Is this Standing Buddha?"
"No, it's Lucky Buddha."
"Lucky Buddha? I thought that's what we saw last time?"
"No, that was Black Buddha. Remember, that was right around the corner from Old Buddha."
We saw a lot of Buddhas today. Normally, I like to do a lot of research so that I have a bit of background on things and places that I visit. Today, I didn't care because I was trying to stay awake and get used to the new time zone after flying for 15 hours.
If your plane was going to go down, would you rather be listening to 60's pop music or soothing, contemporary Chinese ballads? You have strange thoughts during a 15 hour plane flight.
"you wa twe nigh?"
"um, yes, I'll be checking in on the 29th of January"
"okay, how may checking ing?"
"well, there are 5 of us and we'd like two rooms"
"eah? hod ong"
[ring... ring... ring...]
"you wa wan tween ang wan triple"
"... ... oh yes, one twin room and one triple room, yes .. uh .. correct"
I could go on but you get the gist of the conversation I had with the hotel clerk in Thailand. Lest I give the impression that I was frustrated, let me set the record straight. That phone call I made me excited to go. I can't wait to experience another culture; to have to work creatively through every detail of the day, from getting food to arranging transportation. It's such an adventure to figure out how to function in a place that has completely different rules. Just when you think you've figured out the rules, you move on and it's time to figure it out all over again.
I spent almost an entire day looking for tickets to Kathmandu, Nepal. I'm going with 5 others from my church to visit two orphanages and several other ministries there. We'd like to see what needs they have and if we can help. It was sort of an on-again, off-again scenario which is why I've waited so long to get the tickets. My travel agent is M.I.A. so I took to the internets. Just before I booked a 35 hour flight that would have taken the absolute furthest route you could possibly imagine I decided to call Megan and Sarah to see what they'd found. Both of them had mentioned a sight that I had passed over. I saw it, but something about it just didn't seem right so I didn't pay much attention to it. When I finally called I thought of the horror that I almost booked us through Moscow to get to Nepal and still would have paid $400 more than the deal they gave me. I would have gotten to see my friend, Arseny, which would have been worth 100 hours on the plane, but it wouldn't be fair to make the rest of the team suffer through 20 hours on aeroflat.