Adventure in Southern Nepal

We jumped on a bus early Monday morning, with a niece of the couple we are staying with as our guide, and headed down to an area known as Chitwan. It's a popular tourist destination in Southern Nepal with safari type activities and warmth :-). Our hosts arranged a mini vacation for us it seemed.....surprise! So we're down here now and enjoying some time with the locals....the people and the animals. Today we got to play in the river with some elephants! I'll post some pics of that once we get back to Kathmandu. Their pretty funny...especially the ones of the elephant knocking us off it's back into the river. We are loving our time here, especially all the time we are getting to read the Good Book. And the family that is hosting us is wonderful!
Tomorrow we are going to a children's home and then on Saturday we are going to a "gathering" and to hang out with one of their leader's family afterwards. We'll try and post some pics and more about our time in the plains of Nepal when we get back into Kathmandu on Sunday. Keep us in your thoughts (especially for the bus ride back....it's a little crazy on those mountain roads :-)) and thanks for all your support!

Shoe Story #2: Johnson and his parents

So, we’re trying something a little different on the blog J. You can read the first Shoe Story for more information.

This week, try to get into Johnson’s shoes:

I (Krista) met Johnson at one of the medical clinics that we did in Kisii, Kenya on the EPI project last week. He is a 12 year old boy (sorry, I didn’t get any pictures of him) and lives in a poor, rural village. There are three children in his family and he is the second born, also the only son. He and his parents came to the clinic and his father shared with the doctor that his symptom was that “he faints when I beat him.” The common practice in many African nations is to use physical discipline as a means of teaching children right and wrong, but this one seemed a little more severe and so I got the chance to sit down and talk with Johnson for a while. After speaking with Johnson for quite some time I learned some saddening information….Johnson was not only getting beaten at his home, he was also getting beaten at school. He described how he felt by saying “I have no peace” while trying to hold back a few tears as to not be seen as a weak boy. I also learned that when he is beaten by his father, his hands and feet are tied up while he is either whipped or cained. The fainting occurs because he probably has some sort of panic attach during it (understandably so). Johnson admitted that he has been thinking about running away from home.

I then got the opportunity to talk with Johnson’s father who said that Johnson was getting into a lot of trouble by stealing money from them, disobeying, etc. His father was very open and honest with the fact that he beats his son and this was a surprise to me at first. I thought, wouldn’t you want to hide something like that, especially from foreign doctors and counselors? But this man didn’t hide it; he really wanted help in trying to raise his boy up in the right way. He was terribly naïve and did what he thought fathers do to discipline their children….which made talking with him very non-threatening.

So I was able to talk to both his parents about providing a safe and loving environment for Johnson and rewarding him when he does things right, and some more counseling stuff J….and also nicely warned them that the physical discipline was destroying him and he might run away some day. The local pastor that we were working with also met Johnson’s parents and shared with them about trying to raise children up the right way and gave them some great encouragement and his contact information should they ever need help. The parents were extremely receptive to all of this advice, just soaking it up, which was amazing. It was like they were hearing it for the first time….like there really was another way to help Johnson.

At this point, I went and got Johnson and had him come so that we could all talk about it. It was like a mini family counseling sessionJ. Johnson was reassured that his parents do really love him and that they make mistakes, but more importantly his parents agreed, in front of him, to loving him in different ways now. The pastor was supportive and also told Johnson that he could come to him if he ever needed to talk to someone. We prayed with the family and all walked away feeling pretty hopeful about the situation.

About a half hour later I saw Johnson out of the corner of my eye as I was counseling another woman. When I was done talking with her, I asked him what was up and he said that his father allowed him to come and ask me if he could go with me. So, trying to hold my tears back this timeJ, I asked him to go get his father so I could see what was going on. While he was doing that, I thought about how I was going to break it to Justin that a 12 year old boy was coming with us to NepalJ. He went and got his dad and when they came back I told his father what Johnson had requested. His father explained that he gave him permission to come up and talk to me, but didn’t know he was going to ask to go with me. But then, what happened next was unbelievable! His father looked at me and said, “You know, I think the reason he wants to go with you is because you have shown him love. “ I was speechless for a few seconds and knew that God was there with us at that moment. It was like a light went on for this man and I really sensed that he was going to try and change. Before leaving he said, “When you come back next year, I will invite you to my house and you will see how it has changed.” With Johnson standing there, I explained why he couldn’t go with me and how I would be very delighted to come to their house if I came back to Kenya.

I left feeling more hopeful, although still saddened by the fear in this boy’s heart and what he has been through. I do trust God was at work that day and I believe that He will continue to be with that family. Please join me in praying for Johnson and his parents. Pray that they would begin to change and that Jesus would work miracles. Also, praise Him for bringing Johnson and his parents to the clinic that Friday afternoon.

All of this took place on my birthday....I thank God for allowing me to be used by Him that day! It was truly an amazing experience and a great birthday present.

Thanks!

Kenya EPI Project 2010 Photo Album

Kenya EPI Project 2010

Shoe Story #1: Energy

We are going to begin a little series of sorts. It's called Shoe Stories. We realized that our blog was a lot about what we are doing and what we are learning, which is great, but we want to add another dimension to it. So every so often we are going to post a "Shoe Story." It is going to be some information about someone that we have had the priviledge to meet and love. Their story and their pictures will be a way for you all to "get into their shoes." So, here is one of our friends from Zimbabwe, whom, if you've been following our blog and picture albums, you've already seen quite a bit. We miss him terribly!

Meet Energy:

Here is Energy enjoying his first marshmallow when we made smores with all the orphans at the Borrowdale orphanage where we lived for the 11 weeks we were in Zimbabwe. Energy came to the Borrowdale orphanage about a year and a half ago.

We first met him last Christmas when we came over for one week and during are most recent stay we immediately fell back in love with him. He was fairly shy around us at first, but after a little bit, he warmed right up and was even following us around and going on runs with us. He loved Justin!
Energy, who is now almost 4 years old, does not have any parents alive anymore. Right before they brought him in a year and a half ago, he was found sitting next to his dead mother, the only person he had caring for him in his life at the time. For the first few months at the orphanage, he would stay awake and watch as his house mother went to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes he would go over to her and pry them open to make sure she was still alive. His story brings tears to our eyes for sure.

Now that he has been at the Borrowdale orphanage for a year and a half, you can see joy springing up in his soul. He has several friends and one best friend named Farai who is the same age. He is one of the youngest children they are looking after, so he gets lots of attention! How can you not give this little guy attention when you see those big eyes and cute smile? He also attends pre-school every day at the Borrowdale orphanage and enjoys coloring lots!

Now that you have a small glimpse into Energy's life, please pray for him as he grows up without his biological parents. In a couple of years, he will hopefully begin grade school. Pray for God's provision and protection on his life as he gets ready for this.

Hopefully this has helped you get into Energy's shoes, although small, and oftentimes non-existent as he runs around barefoot most of his days. Thus concludes our first "Shoe Story" with hopefully more to come. Thanks!

Photo Album - Last 2 weeks in Zim...

Last Two Weeks In Zim

Makatendeka Jesu!

In one of our favorite worship songs from Zimbabwe, they sing, “Makatendeka Jesu” which means “you are faithful, Jesus.” As we say goodbye to Zimbabwe and begin our journey to other places (Kenya for a week and then Nepal for 10 weeks), we are overwhelmed by how faithful God is. He was so faithful to us throughout our time in Zim. Every time we were told we were going to a new place in the country to minister, we were anxious and at times questioned whether it was God’s plan for us. Yet, every single time, we came back from each place extremely blessed. Blessed by His people that took us in like we were family, blessed by the joy that those who had so little exuded, and blessed by the way in which God used us to encourage and strengthen His church. It was unbelievable! And although, in a couple of the places the hotter than Hades temperatures did not seem like a blessing to my soul, in the end, God was faithful, and even in those places, we were blessed and saw His hand at work.

So, now we’ve been in South Africa for 6 days. It has been a really great time of processing our time in Zim, as well as resting and recuperating. If you consider the last 11 weeks a marathon, then the last week of our time in Zim was the sprint to the finish line, which left us pretty exhausted. The “sprint” at the end was the Eternal Word December Conference (Eternal Word is the group of churches we’ve been helping with). The December Conference is their largest, most important event of the year as it is when people from all of the 295 churches that they have planted all over Zimbabwe come together for a 3 day time of preaching, prayer, and worship. It’s held right over the Christmas holiday so more people can come (Dec 23 to Dec 26,) and they pack it in! The day begins at 4:00am with morning prayers and then preaching starts right after breakfast at 8:00am and goes until 10:00pm with small breaks for lunch and dinner. Pastors from all over Harare, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and the United States J come to preach at this event. This is also the time when Tatenda casts the vision for the next year, deals with any church issues, and ordains elders and pastors. This year 1,000 people made the sometimes difficult journey into Harare from rural areas and villages all over the country to spend Christmas in a much different way than most people around the world.

This year we were much more involved in the conference than we were last year when we came over for one week. We got to see and help with a lot of the behind the scenes work including transporting 45 orphans to the conference from Borrowdale (where we lived). In addition, we also made an intro video that was played on a big screen at the conference for the first time ever. Here, we quickly become experts in filming, editing, and video production. Justin did a ton on this video and that wasn’t even his main role at the conference. He was given three, two hour preaching spots in the program! So, each of the three days, Justin got to bring the word to 1,000 Zimbabweans – both extremely terrifying and extremely rewarding for him at the same time. For the most part I got to sit and enjoy the preaching and the praise and worship, except for a few hours on two of the days when I did a counseling training for some pastors and orphan caregivers from the rural areas whom I hadn’t trained before.

God demonstrated His faithfulness to us in the mere scheduling of our time in Zimbabwe, because although this event is crazy busy and exhausting, it was the perfect way to end our 11 weeks of ministry there. We were able to reconnect with many people whom we had had the opportunity to encourage and teach throughout our time in Zim. The highlight of the conference for us was the last night of the event when Tatenda ordained 25 pastors and over 200 elders. As new churches are being planted and people are rising up to lead them, this is the way in which Tatenda sets up leadership within the churches. Last year we almost fell asleep during this partJ, but this year, we knew many of the ordained elders and pastors, and we were able to share in their excitement. It was awesome and we had to hold back tears for some of our new, dear friends. In addition, with some of our support money, we were able to purchase 85 Bibles in Shona (the native language) that were distributed at the conference. Now 85 rural churches have a Bible in their language that the congregation can share! We also were able to give one Shona Bible to our friend Noel from Mbare, whom I wrote about in another blog (coolest Christmas present we’ve ever given)! This was awesome to be a part of as well.

After the conference we only had one full day to finish packing and say our final goodbyes before flying out early on the 29^th. We spent our last afternoon spending time with Tatenda and Lucia’s family and playing with the Borrowdale orphans that we had gotten to know and love, and now miss terriblyJ.

We have four more days in South Africa before we begin the second phase of our journey – Nepal. Before going to Nepal, however, we are meeting up with a short-term EPI team in Kenya for a week, and although we are nervous and anxious about what these next adventures are going to bring, Zimbabwe has helped to remind us that God is faithful in everything and everywhere!!

Makatendeka Jesu!