October is here!

Pictures below are from Pastor Ramod's wife Yashoda's baby shower we had this month. Cassidy did such a great job hosting and putting it together! Everyone had a wonderful time!

Cassidy, Yashoda, Sheryl, and me

We played "be the fastest one to down a bottle of milk"

...and a rousing game of "pin the baby on the mother."

What cute baby stockings!

October 10, 2010
The other day, the facts hit me. It is October already... October 10th, actually! And, I have been living here in Nepal for over a year! I came here last year on October 1st. Wow. In some ways, it is obvious-- people have changed, kids have grown, weddings happened--a year of life just went by. And then on the other hand, it seems like the year went so fast… how could it have possibly been one year already?!?

A few things that happened this month:
Moving! Last week, Dan and Sheryl and their family (and me :-) moved to a new house. Throuhout the whole situation, we saw God’s provision… when the landlord at the other house told us we had to move, we were searching the market, and no good options for housing were showing up. But because of prayer, and God’s faithfulness, this new house came just in time! The new house is in a good location, close to the church, and it is well-suited to meet all of our needs. I was also impressed to see how everyone in our church community came together to help with the move. Everything happened in God’s way, in God’s time, and now, one week later, we are moved, and we are ready for another exciting chapter!

I have been teaching school, as usual, but we have been having some fun special events, too, such as the Living Stone Academy choir concert, childrens’ Day, Fathers’ Day football match, and lots of sports events for students throughout the month. All the events have given me opportunties to spend more time getting to know the other teachers and build good relationships with them. I teach a class for teachers once a week, which has proved to be a blessed time. Recently we have been learning English worship songs, which the teachers can use in their classes, Sunday schools, etc. I have been really impressed with the comittment, servants’ hearts, and love that many of the teachers at LSA have for their students, and for this country of Nepal. It is a blessing for me to know them, and be ableto serve and be an encouragement to them.

Left: Susmita, Ruthie, and Sumi

In tutoring, I always love it when I get to pick up new students, and see them get excited about learning! Two new ones to pray for: Susmita has recently started homeschooling with Yashoda, and has joined my afternoon class with Ajay and Sathia. They are all eager students. Pray for their progress in education, growing faith in Jesus, and that they would each eagerly take hold of the freedom Christ has promised! They are dear kids, with tons of potential. Pray that I will take my work with them seriously, and teach them well.

Sabita has been begging me for the past month to teach her to read. I was reluctant to start, because she was so new to school; she couldn’t even form letters properly. So, she has been practicing and memorizing her alphabet. Last week, I started the first (kindergarten level) Hooked on Phonics book with her. The look on her face was priceless! She was so excited to start reading!

Coming up…
October is holiday month in Nepal. Festivities start with Dashain (this year, Oct. 15-17), and continuing through Tihar (early November). Dashain is a Hindu festival here in Nepal, when families get together and do a lot of religious rituals and sacrifices to pagan gods. Be in prayer for the Christians in Nepal, who feel a lot of pressure to join with their families during this time. Our church here puts together a family camp program every year, for the families and church members. It is a good excuse for them not to go home for the few intensely religious days of the Dashain holiday.

As we are getting ready for camp (starting up here in a few days), we are all really excited, as it is going to be tons of fun, and tons of good spiritual imput into everyone’s lives, too. Carla (from USA) and I are going to be running the children’s program… so we are planning lots of games, crafts, and fun Bible lessons. I am anticipating that God is going to do some awesome work in people’s lives at camp this year! We have a great team of friends from our sister New Song church in Tenessee, who have already proved to be a great encouragement to all of us here. We’re looking forward to an exciting month! Thanks for your prayers for us.

“The Spirit of the Sovreign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has annointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair…
“…For as the soil makes the sprout come up, and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovreign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.”

~Isaiah 61:1-3,11

A month in pictures…

Above: Yashoda and I are standing in the new plot of land purchased by the community center. We are all praying in faith for the good work that God is going to do in this place!

Left: Sumi and I are wearing sari to celebrate Tij (also known as women’s day).
Below: The little girls (Rupa, Sara, Sabita) also wanted to wear sari. They wrapped themselvs up in scarves.

(Rupa, Sara, Sabita, and me)

Below: Youth group laser tag event! This laser tag facility is run by a Christian ministry here in Kathmandu. It has been such a blessing to our community.