Miscellaneous Photos

Here's some I couldn't decide where to put! There's the team (along with Steve and Becky Thorson), views from the plane ride between Kathmandu and Biratnagar, etc. If you click on the photo itself it will take you to the photo-sharing website where you can read the captions better.
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Nagarkot

There are some photos of the view on the ride to Nagarkot, the area there and the sunrise. It was still much too hazy to see the mountains although we kept thinking we were seeing some! (I think it was just clouds giving the illusion of the mountains!). If you click on the photo itself it will take you to the photo-sharing website where you can read the captions better.
We stayed at the Country Villa Inn. One building housed the lobby and dining room and the other had the rooms. Some had private balconies and some shared one for the whole floor. The rooms were nice but the beds were HARD! Food was good - it was a buffet for both dinner and breakfast the next day. Coming here was a nice break and gave us an opportunity to relax between the two events and tours.
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Kathmandu Temple Tour

Steve took us on a walking tour of temples in Kathmandu. This is a collection of photos from that tour. If you click on the photo itself it will take you to the photo-sharing website where you can read the captions better.
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Dakshinkali

The temple of Dakshinkali is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali and is one of the most popular places of worship in Kathmandu. Located 22 km from the city center on the southern rim of the valley past Pharping village, the shrine is especially crowded on Tuesdays and Saturdays when animal sacrifices are offered to the deity. According to a mythology the Goddess Durga has killed the demon and drank the blood of animals. This is the reason blood is scarified to her. The temple was built by Pratap Malla during 17th century. Hindus bring (or buy) their scacrifices here. They kill and let out the blood at the site then many take the animal to the picnic site and have a family picnic. I prefer our potlucks! We visited on a Tuesday so saw sacrifices although I didn't seem to capture them well with my camera. I may've been too busy watching others and trying to figure out the best angle since it was very crowded. There was a goat sacrifice and I caught a part of a chicken sacrifice. It was not a pleasant place (smelled horrible too) and just emphasized the darkness surrounding this religion. It also made me think of Old Testament sacrifices and wondered if the Temple then would've looked similar?? Praise God we're covered by the final sacrifice of the blood of Jesus, the Lamb who was slain!
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Hindu Temple Tour - Pashupatinath

This is a sacred Hindu temple site that is closed to ALL non-Hindus. The Bhagmati River runs through the site and is the location of many cremations. There was one just beginning when we arrived. There are also "holy men" all around the site. They do not work, do not cut their hair and live on the streets existing on hand-outs from others. If you click on the photo itself it will take you to the photo-sharing website where you can read the captions better.
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Boudhanath Temple Tour

This is the second large Buddhist temple we visited while in Kathmandu. There was a funeral procession while we were on the terrace of a restaurant that I was able to get some photos of. The stupa was surrounded by stores selling all kinds of items - souvenirs, cloths, food, etc. If you click on the photo itself it will take you to the photo-sharing website where you can read the captions better.
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Swayambhunath Temple Tour

The following are pictures from the tour of the Buddhist temple, Swayambhunath. There are 365 steps up to the site where the temple is located. We drove to another entrance point and then walked DOWN the steps. There are also Hindu shrines located on this site. Buddhists climb the steps, feeling they earn merit for doing so. If you click on the photo itself it will take you to the photo-sharing website where you can read the captions better.
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Biratnagar Scenes

We flew on Buddha Air to Biratnagar for the Lord, Teach Us to Pray seminar. There are some scenes from Biratnagar. The more rural photos are from Sunsari, where the event was actually held. Some were taken as our van quickly navigated the rough road to Sunsari. If you click on the photo itself it will take you to the photo-sharing website where you can read the captions better.
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Kathmandu Scenes

Here are photos of assorted scenes in and around Kathmandu. There are some of the people, bazaars, scenery, etc here. If you click on the photo itself it will take you to the photo-sharing website where you can read the captions better.
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Faces from LTUTP

Here are the faces of those attending the LTUTP. These are the Nepalis you were lifting in prayer! Praise God!! If you click on the photo itself it will take you to the photo-sharing website where you can read the captions better.
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Faces of Kathmandu LISS

Here are some shots of the people at the LISS in Kathmandu - there are children and adults. I thought you'd like to see who you were praying for! If you click on the photo itself it will take you to the photo-sharing website where you can read the captions better.
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Worship & Children's Class at LTUTP Saturday, March 21st (If you click on the photo itself it will take you to the photo-sharing website where you can read the captions better):
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LTUTP Photos

Here are some photos from the Lord, Teach Us To Pray at the Tanmuna UMC, Sunsari, Nepal: (If you click on the photo itself it will take you to the photo-sharing website where you can read the captions better.)
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Saturday Worship in Kathmandu

Below are some photos of the Nepali worship service on Saturday, March 14th. If you click on the photo itself it will take you to the photo-sharing website where you can read the captions better.
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LISS Photos

Here's a slide show of photos from the Life in the Spirit Seminar in Kathmandu, Nepal. If you click on the photo itself it will take you to the photo-sharing website where you can read the captions better.
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On our Way HOME!

We're at Singapore Airport now. Since Singapore changed our return flight they put us up in a hotel for the night here. So we checked into our rooms and went to find supper. We ate at SUBWAY!! Woo Hoo!! LOL!!

In the morning we may go to Starbucks for muffins and drinks OR there is a Burger King somewhere here too.

Since I had so much trouble trying to upload photos in Nepal, I will be uploading a LOT of them once I'm back in the States so check back for a photo journal of the trip!

We can't wait to see our family and friends and sleep in our own beds BUT God was so good on this trip. The testimonies of the Nepalis were truly a blessing and inspiration to us all!

Continue to pray for Pam as it seems she is not feeling well again. Thank you for all your prayers for the whole team!

Back From LTUTP

I'm leaving out a lot of details due to time constraints but wanted you to know we are all safe and healthy today!
Sorry we were out of communication but we had no Internet connection during the LTUTP. Wednesday we flew to Biratnagar and expected to drive 2 1/2 hours to East Nepal but drove only about 20 minutes to the "Hotel Eastern Star". Pastor Devi informed us that the road strike was on again and that two had been killed during them. So he arranged (at the last minute) for us to do the LTUTP in the Tanmunna UMC in Sunsari, the First UMC in Nepal. This was about 30-40 minutes outside Biratnagar (the second largest city in Nepal). We passed through a few smaller towns then turned on a dirt road - then another dirt road and another and maybe another (I don't recall!). This church was really rural! The homes were thatch roofed with bamboo siding mostly.

We began the LTUTP at 1pm with worship led by the local guitarist, 3 connected drums (link congas?) and a traditional Nepali drum along with numerous tambourine-type instruments. In the middle of worship Pam and Peggi passed out the streamers for them to use and they used them enthusiastically - from the little children to an elderly woman. A highlight of the first day was when Frank gave the talk "Christian Prayer Is . . ." and asked someone who was formerly Hindu to share what prayer was in that religion. A man stood and shared his testimony of how praying in the Hindu religion was one-sided - no one heard him and when he came to the Lord he was heard and healed. He was full of joy. So Frank asked if any former Buddhists were there and could share. A beautiful young woman shared her experience of coming to the Lord and being filled with joy.

I'd say there were about 70-80 here the first day. Some rode cycles for 6-7 hours to get there. Our translator rode on a bus for 13 hours to come and translate for us again. He felt it was that important and missed his daughter's birthday to come.

The second day of the event I (Peggi) was not feeling well all day but by the grace of God I was able to function through the day and had a terrific team to carry on with all their talks! We covered "When Did Jesus Pray" and the tools. The Nepalis really got into any small group activities and just circled up in the church and out on the veranda or "yard". Pastor Devi asked that a pastor be in each group. We think that was for their own experience and as accountability. The young woman who was Buddhist stood as a pastor or church leader when he asked for them to stand. The only woman who responded to that question. The day proceeded well with enthusiastic participation. The seminar was interspersed with worship times by the local Nepalis. We had breakfast and lunch with them that day and headed back to the hotel for dinner there.

The following day (their Sabbath which is Saturday) we began with their worship service and Peg brought the message on "Persevering in Prayer". We also had communion with the Nepalis with Frank and Pastor Devi serving. Following a lunch which was more locally traditional (with steamed rice balls) grilled zucchini and other vegetables.

The afternoon progressed with sharing on Growing in Intimacy with God. We had numerous special music numbers. Today the attendance increased to over 100 as those from the original area traveled all night, arriving at 3 am. They even re-did the sign they had prepared for that church to read the current church. We ended the day with a commissioning service for all who attended. Instead of having them come up as there was no room we went to the center aisle and had them just walk out to us there. We had ministry time that was powerful - I asked for some Nepali teams to also pray with people.

My time is up for now on the computer but I will try to post more detail later. Pastor Devi did say that both seminars exceeded his expectations! For that we are extremely grateful to the Lord and His provision!!!

Prayer Needs

I thought I'd be posting a prayer need for Kim who was not well yesterday but she is better and thinks it may've been food poisoning. Today Pam is not feeling well. She says she can walk in a straight line now. Steve feels she shouldn't go to East Nepal. She's still waiting to hear from Father. We leave in just under two hours! We pray she can go. Her main concern was dizzyness but that seems to have subsided.

Pray for health protection for the rest of the team and for energy to present the LTUTP with flexibility! I'm uncertain what the situation we'll go into - how much space for any breakouts, etc. But I have a peace knowing the Lord is the One in control - NOT ME!!

Blessings, dear friends! We covet your prayer covering for our trip and want you to know that as we hear of your needs, we are praying here!

Videos

Here are some links to videos I posted on YouTube of worship in Nepal.

Nepalis singing at the LISS in Kathmandu:


Saturday Worship in Kathmandu (their worship service):


Worship at the LTUTP at the Tanmunna UMC in Sunsari, Nepal:


More Worship at the LTUTP:

Tours - Sunday through Tuesday

By the way, air quality is very poor. Kathmandu is located in a valley that's like a big bowl. There's very little air movement and they're in a time of drought - even more so than normal dry season. So everything is very dusty - dust in the air combined with exhaust fumes. And there are several MAJOR forest fires that are spreading smoke over the country and by 3pm there's 15% less sun due to the haze. We wear breathing masks most of the time we go out but the air burns our eyes.

Just a brief synopsis of what we've done since time is limited: On Sunday we toured 2 Buddhist temples and one Hindu temple. The first temple had 365 steps leading up to it. The followers walk up to earn merit for their travel up to the temple. At the top was a large Buddhist temple and some smaller Hindu temples on the same site. We did not walk up the steps but we walked down (easier). Pam slipped down a few - very gracefully and without injury to herself, praise God! We then visited a larger Buddhist temple. There was a funeral procession carrying what looked like a small child on a platform (funeral pyre) going around the stupa (Buddhist temple Bouddhanath Stupa). The third temple was Pashupatinath and is located on the Bagmati River where one cremation was beginning and two others were in process. Numerous "holy men" were at this location and would let you take their photo for a price. Holy men don't work, don't bathe, don't cut their hair and do smoke hash hish or marijuana.

Later that day we loaded up the van and went to Nagarkot to hopefully see the mountains! It was a WILD ride over crazy switchbacks and turns up the mountain. It dook 2 hours to get to the Hotel Country Villa. Our driver stopped several times for directions and we passed the Hotel End of the Universe and Hotel Space Mountain (among others!) before arriving at ours. They immediately served us tea or coffee in the lobby area then led us to the rooms which were very nice (minimal but nice). Although the beds felt like you were sleeping on the floor - HARD. We (Frank & Peggi) had a balcony outside our door to stand and look over the valley and wait for the mountains in the morning! Dinner was a smorgasbord with fried fish, chicken curry, rice, garlic noodles. Dessert was battered papaya dipped in honey and pudding with fruit. Excellent tea!

We woke up at 5:30 to prepare for the sunrise. Waiting expectantly to see the mountains we saw a beautiful sunrise but mountains? I don't think so - only clouds! It was even too hazy out in Nagarkot! We then had a breakfast buffet on the veranda where we could choose our omelet ingredients and have it made. There were also pancakes (no syrup, but honey), sausage - tasted like kielbasa, fried potatoes, mango juice and toast. Very good!

Now, the 2 hour ride back down the mountain to Kathmandu!! We had lunch with Steve at Higher Grounds, a Christian run coffee shop with sandwiches and dessert (and wireless!!) After lunch we had another temple tour in Kathmandu with Steve - VERY crowded especially as we walked through the bazaar in town - and cars, motorcycles and people everywhere!! We stopped for mo mos near the ex-King's palace (now a museum) and then went to Thorsons for dessert and to hear more about their work here in Nepal.

Tuesday morning we drove up into the hills to visit a very dark temple where animal sacrifices still occur. It reminded me of what the temple may've been like with people selling all kinds of things (including chickens for sacrifice) along the path to the temple. That's where the similarities end. These people come and sacrifice so that Kali won't get them - not to a God of love. There was no love for Kali or sense of being loved by Kali. There's no repentance for sin or sense of forgiveness from sin - it's strictly self-protection. People were in a long line to sacrifice to Kali. They would burn incense and would cut the chicken (and there had just been a goat) and pour the blood on the altar area. Then many would take the animal and cook it. They even made a picnic of it!! A Hindu pot luck??? The whole scene made me so grateful for my own salvation - once and for all!! And, gave me more of a desire for people here to understand God's love for them!!

Following that we went to view a gorge from a high swinging bridge (Tyborg Gorge, I think??) We thought there was a body laying on a rock far below but when zoomed in with a camera you could see it was an effigy someone had made and put there.

Eating lunch at Higher Grounds again (they have wireless!) so hoping to post some photos in a moment! Later today we go to a Christian bead shop and pack for our flight to East Nepal tomorrow. Our flight leaves kathmandu at 12:30 and is only 1/2 hour - maybe we'll see mountains?? Then we drive 2 1/2 hours to the area of the seminar. We start Thursday at 1pm and conclude Saturday at 5pm (more or less),flying back to Kathmandu on Sunday at 4:30. Pray for our time there! We will not have the Thorsons with us so we won't have English speaking help. Pastor Devi does speak Engligh but not as fluent much as Steve, of course!

Saturday March 14th

Before I post what happened on Saturday there are a few things I forgot to mention! When they welcomed us on Thursday they presented us with fresh marigold necklaces (kind of like Hawaiian leis). They were a vibrant orange, smelled good and some came with free worms! I think I forgot to mention that you take your shoes off before entering the sanctuary and they sit on the floor. They had chairs for us but the women sat on the left facing front and the men on the right.

There are 40 UM churches in Nepal now and the church is very evangelistic. Many come to Christ due to a healing. Also, most UM churches are in East Nepal with the largest of them being 400 members. We cannot fly into the closest airport to the location due to runway repairs going on so we will fly into another and drive 2 ½ hours to the hotel then another 12 or so kilometers to the church.

When we visited the shopping area of Thamel Frank was offered marijuana twice – and turned it down both times! You could definitely smell it in the air!!

Saturday is their worship day. At 7am there were 5 baptisms of new believers. Worship began at 10am and Frank began preaching at 11:45. We worshiped for an hour, there was offering, prayer and several young men shared testimonies (not related to the LISS). Pastor Devi shared testimony regarding a prophetic word Kim had for him the day before and was very enthusiastic about it being not just for him but for all the pastors.

There were about 25 children in Sunday School with Pam and Sue (Becky translated) and they were very well behaved. They listened to stories, made paper chains to show we’re all different (different colors) and were given ARM t-shirts. Sue was impressed with how well they worked together in small groups without any pushing or complaining!

Frank’s sermon was on the Life of a Lump of Clay. At the end of his sermon he asked them to offer up their lives as bowls, forming a bowl shape with their hands as they held them out. He then prayed over them that God would fill their bowls with gifts of the Spirit.

The service ended at 1:00 pm and we broke for lunch. Each day they fed us dahl (lentil sauce) bat (rice), fried potatoes and maybe green beans along with bottled water. Following lunch on Friday and Saturday we walked down the street for some soda (warm!) and snacks.

We continued the LISS in the afternoon with Frank sharing on Kingdom Encounters. He asked people who were sick or in pain to stand then asked those who were around them to lay hands on them (and for team members to circulate among also laying hands on people) commanding sickness and pain to leave. After a time of loud prayer he asked people to try doing something that they couldn’t do before because of pain and then asked how many were pain free. Several raised their hands. So then we prayed some more for people who weren’t all the way there yet. Kim had another word about repenting and turning away from old ways and old beliefs. Many came forward to the altar and knelt weeping so we extended hands, laid hands on and prayed more. Then we had prayer team ministry with two teams of women and two of men asking people to come up for any need. Most came up for physical healing – many headache and stomach problems. We had to add another team so Frank and Peggi formed a team. Each team had a translator. There were also some deliverances.

We then had a “blessing tunnel” with team members forming a tunnel and participants going through while we spoke words of blessing over them. The participants came through with their hands out in a receiving manner. Men on the team were careful to touch only men and women only women to respect local cultural practices. We also had a gift for each person there and presented those to them at the end of the tunnel. We gave each one a remembrance band from ARM that had one of the words of our purpose on them – filled, gifted, empowered or led.

We thought the seminar was over but Pastor Devi had some of the women present us with beautiful Nepali scarves. Frank then asked us to kneel while the Nepalis prayed for us. It took us another 15-20 minutes to leave as everyone wanted to say “Ji mace” (spelling??) pronounced “Jime-a-see” which means literally “King Messiah” or “Jesus is Victory”!!

When Frank asked Pastor Devi (the district superintendent over all UM churches in Nepal) how he felt it went, he responded “excellent”! He invited us back to teach more on the Holy Spirit!

We went back to the guest house and then walked over ½ mile to the “La Soon” restaurant for dinner. There was no electricity so we ate by candlelight. Food was cooked on a gas stove and was wonderful – most of us had beef stroganoff with mashed potatoes. We walked back to the guest house in the dark - another experience!

NEWS!

We're going to East Nepal!! Praise God! Steve just called (8:30am Sunday here) to say the strikes have been called off. Pray that no new strikes begin while we are there and that God continues to open the way!!

Friday, March 13th

Blog for Friday, March 13^th

I forgot to mention that there are only 50 participants in the LISS. The other 50 were coming from the Terai where the road blocks are so they never made it to the seminar. Pastor Devi and Steve Thorson are waiting until Tuesday to make a decision about East Nepal as there are differing stories in the news regarding the strike settlement. With a road strike here you CANNOT get through the roads. There is talk it may settle soon but then there is also talk of a Central Nepal road strike which would mean we couldn’t make it BACK to Kathmandu for our flight home.

The alternative to East Nepal is doing the Lord Teach Us to Pray in Bhaktapur, just east of Kathmandu. It is an ancient city with ancient temples (I’ll try to find a photo) but there is a United Methodist church there, too. Apparently, people here will come even if it’s scheduled at the last minute! It makes me cry for hunger like that at home – for us in the US to be DESPARATE for more of him and not just comfortable with where we are – not just content to “schedule it in” when it’s convenient to us but so DESPARATE we would drop EVERYTHING to sit and learn more, be touched by Him more and just to worship Him together. Oh, Lord – give us that deep a hunger for you!

Also, to clarify the church set-up; we take off our shoes upon entering the building and women sit on one side while men are on the other. Our lunch was served on the fourth floor (no elevator) which is where the Western toilets were, too (so it was worth the walk for some of us!) The bathroom was labeled “For Guest Use Only”

We continued the seminar today with two additional translators. Pastor Devi translated some, our guitarist translated and a young man we had yesterday. He had studied at seminary in India and was an excellent translator!! He even gave extra “teaching” where needed for the Nepalis to understand what we were trying to communicate.

Peg started off with Spirit of Adoption (yes, she got her talks printed!). It was to be followed with a playing of The Father’s Love Letter in Hindi but no battery operated CD player and no electricity. Fortunately, before we left the US, the Lord told me (Peg) to take some printed copies in Hindi and the translator read it to them. Becky said that was probably better because he was able to read the Hindi with a Nepali accent and emphasis.

Sue followed with Spirit of Love and had Pam hand out stones following her talk to remind them they are living stones for the Lord. Then Sue had the translator translate “Oh How He Loves You and Me” and she and Pam sang while Pam signed it for them.

Parker led them in a prayer of deliverance following his talk on the Spirit of Power and all participated in that. There was a powerful time of praying for the pastors and anointing them with oil. Our men went up and Pam led them in anointing the pastors heads, ears, eyes, mouth and hands. The Nepali men stood behind with their hands extended. They didn’t touch the pastors but we’re not sure if they didn’t understand the direction or if that’s not acceptable in church.

Kim followed on Spirit of Prayer. She had a meaningful time when trying to explain her prayer language to them (which of course can’t be translated!). She asked a young woman to come up and she prayed for her in her prayer language. The young woman was very touched and drawn to tears from the experience.

Rich gave the Spirit of Unity, emphasizing how important that is in the church and emphasized the importance of reconciliation.

Pam followed with Spirit of Guidance using a compass and walking stick as object lessons – it was very effective for them. She even demonstrated how she would fall if she didn’t have a walking stick or staff to guide her.

Frank followed with Spirit of Authority. He included an illustration from a former trip to Nepal involving a water buffalo and the authority a little old lady took in moving it out of our way! Following his presentation we prayed for God to come and take control of out of control situations in their lives.

Following Parker’s talk on The Promise of the Father an opportunity was offered for those who wanted to receive the Holy Spirit to stand. Immediately 3 women stood in the back and within a few seconds all were standing. A powerful time of prayer followed with much weeping, shaking and touches from the Lord. It is hard to describe in words the power felt in those moments.

Pastor Devi missed that opportunity but later in the day, Kim had some words of prophecy for him. We arranged a time during worship for her to give them to him personally. He appeared to receive them very well and that was confirmed today in worship (Saturday) when he shared them with the congregation and thanked her publically for sharing that with him.

Photos 1

I will try to post photos to this blog post when time allows without any journal entries (to save time).

Where we ate dinner Wednesday night.

Those sitting behind Frank were Tibetan monks.

Assorted Kathmandu photos:

Bagmati (sp??) River Electrical System

Video - From Rich

Here's some video from the tour Steve gave of the hospital where he worked.

Thursday, March 12th

This is the Goshen Guest House where we are staying

First day of LISS completed! All went well except I (Peggi) forgot (or can't find) my talks so my Spirit of Adoption sharing was put off until tomorrow. Electricity will go off in 28 minutes so must rush!! The participants in the seminar are great worshipers with hands raised, amens, hallelujahs, clapping, etc! Very responsive. They fed us a typical Nepali dinner with potatoes and cabbage, eggplant and something else (a little spicey), rice and lentil sauce and one red very spicy dish!!

Pam Lipka handmade worship streamers to give away so following Ted's sharing of the seven Hebrew praise words she gave several to 7 of the pastors attending. They ENTHUSIASTICALLY waved them following her brief instruction. It was marvelous!

I forgot to mention yesterday that Frank opened a bag of animal crackers, ate a few and took a nap. When he woke up he decided to finish the bag, took some bites then dumped out the crumbs to eat and saw ants!! So, a little protein with his cookies!!

It is taking extremely long to upload photos or videos here so we will hopefully post more of that following the seminars when we have time to go to a coffee shop with wireless!!!

WEDNESDAY March 11th - FIRST FULL DAY!

We've had difficulty uploading photos so hopefully we can post LOTS (and video) tomorrow!

Wednesday we began with breakfast, worship, prayer and devotions - fed physically and spiritually! We only have 8 hours of electricity with 4 hours from 4am to 8 am and 4pm to 8pm. At least that's the schedule today!

Then we sent the men to the bank to exchange money while the women went to shop! We, of course, had to wait for the men to bring us money! Well, the bank took MUCH longer than expected so the women got to shop longer for Nepali clothing.

Steve and Becky took us to Patan Hospital for a tour of the facility including a wonderful new wing for maternity and nursery areas.

(PLEASE NOTE: If any of this is not making sense it's because I am VERY TIRED at the time of typing but you take the electricity when you get it!!)

Following the hospital tour we met up with Pastor Devi Bhujel (the equivalent to a District Superintendent) for lunch at a Christian run restaurant named Sing Ma. Most of us ordered several dishes to share and had a wonderful time of fellowship and sharing over table.

Then - more shopping! We took taxis (an adventure since most of us had no idea where we were going!!) to Thamel, a popular tourist shopping district. Thamel makes you feel like you've gone back to the 1960's or early 70's with many Hippy-types and certain smells wafting in the air! We shopped for souvenirs, were followed by various vendors to whom we said "Chyne Dye Nah" (not sure of spelling) which means "I don't want it!". We visited a new coffee shop - very yuppy like with good coffee then headed off to do more shopping! We ended the day in Thamel at "Fire and Ice", a pizzeria and ice cream shop that we (Frank & Peggi) visited in 1996 and 1999.

Following dinner we loaded up in 4 taxis for the ride back to the guest house. Rich & Sue Fetzer (and myself) were in one taxi together. Our driver was very pleasant and pointed out various sites on the way. When he pointed out a Hindu temple I asked him what religion he was. He said "You guess - Hindu, Buddhist or Christian". To which I replied I believe you are Christian. He said "Yes, how you know?" My reply "It's obvious - I see Jesus on your face". He had gone to Malaysia for four years and just one year ago became a Christian there. He said "I'm young and need to learn a lot" He had been Buddhist and changed his name from a Buddhist (Dephendra, I think??) to Jack. Pray for Jack - he definitely has the joy of the Lord. He said "Christians are joyful, never angry!" I pray so!!

Our Life in the Spirit begins tomorrow. Please pray for this event. We begin at 1pm and go to 5pm. Then Friday 9-5 and Saturday 9-5. Pray for flexibility on our part and that we would all die to ourselves (and our agenda) and how only His love, grace and mercy to these brothers and sisters in the Lord. May our words be His, our arms His, our words His - ALL for Him!

We've arrived!! TUESDAY MARCH 10th

Photos (& hopefully video will follow later this week-having technical difficulty today!!)

We had a jaunt (11 hours) from LA to Tokyo in a 747 with 10 seats across (3 - 4 - 3). In Tokyo we saw only the airport (and bathrooms!!) as we had to disembark from the plane while they cleaned and moved it to another gate. We re-boarded and flew from Tokyo to Singapore (7 hours). We arrived in Singapore at approximately 1:30 am and got "day use" rooms where we were able to sleep for a few hours and shower. Then we walked through the Singapore airport which is really a HUGE shopping mall and boarded our plane (Airbus 330) with the typical 4 seats across (2 - 2) to Kathmandu (4 1/2 hours).

Sailed through customs (actually didn't even go through it and no one told us to!!). Outside there were numerous people covered with red dye (and other assorted colors) but no one was throwing it there, praise God! At first we didn't see Steve and Becky as we had landed early but they found us and we loaded 10 people (in addition to the two of them and a driver) AND our luggage (LOTS of luggage) onto a 12 passenger van. It was a site!!

Arrived (with ALL luggage) at the Goshen House where there are 14 guests with two bathrooms - should be fun! We relaxed, got settled and then went out to dinner with Steve and Becky Thorson (missionaries to Nepal) and all ate mo mos. We have steamed buff mo mos and fried chicken mo mos between all of us and then ice cream!!

Back to the guest house to crash!