"I love rice!"

   As we sat by the fire passing out rice and chili, Toya exclaimed, "I love rice!"  We all enjoyed our Nepali rice together and thanked God for our food together in Nepali and English at the same time!  This was the scene on Mount Yonah in Helen, GA last weekend. We took 4 of our Nepali friends on a hiking/camping trip planned by another group.  We just tagged along hoping to spend some more time with our Nepali friends. As we sat by the fire another Nepali friend asked how to "overcome" the obstacles he and others face as newcomers to the US. This was a great chance for me to mention a few things about American culture and share that in any culture looking to God and reading the Bible will help anyone find a "good way" in life.  We hope for more conversations and meals together with friends such as these.  Below are a few pics from our trip!

Rice is a staple food for Nepali and other Asian peoples.  Nepalis eat rice and other foods with their hands.  I have heard they eat rice 3 times a day!  They cooked a full pot on the campfire this night for us to share.

Our Nepali friends seemed to have no cares about the fact that nothing was under them!  Nepal, their home country is situated in the Himalayan Mountains in Asia.  Nepal has 8 of the 10 highest peaks in the world!

Troopers

     I have had a busy couple of weeks recently.  Each time I sit down and try to describe quickly what is happening in Clarkston, I have a hard time getting my point across.  Not sure what to say sometimes, so I think a few stories/blurbs will be good this time.  As I said before your generosity and prayers are enabling me to be here and experience these things.  I thank God when I think of your care and giving hearts toward me!

THANK YOU!!!

•    The Lord has really met me in my times with Him since I've been here.  Spiritual battles and discouragement can be hard to fight and I'm so grateful for God's faithfulness to provide friendships and accountability here among other believers.  Thought I'd share a quote from my journal on 8/25/11:

 "Job 23:8-10- I very much felt like v. 8-9 for a while about 4 years ago, yet now [I am] confident that the Lord knows the way I take [v. 10].  I am able to see Him and rejoice in His work.  I see more clearly what He's doing in and around me.  I am coming forth and will come out as gold.  I am being refined in faith, patience, and trust in Him.  But I know He sees my way and knows me." 

• I wear contacts in my eyes so I can see, but they get clouded with film and debris after a couple of weeks.  They begin to irritate my eyes and I have to either change to a new pair or use my glasses for a little while.  Paul writes of another set of eyes to the Ephesian church, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened" (Eph 1:18).  This weekend we had a two-day long prayer focus with our MTW team and a few other Christian neighbors.  For all involved it was so refreshing!  We spent hours in prayer together and alone.  The best way I know how to describe the time for me is in terms of my spiritual eyes, as Paul talks of in his letter. It's like my real vision, which gets blurred, and my contacts with junk on them.  In life, I get scattered-brained, things become blurry, and my heart feels irritated.  I doubt I'm the only one who's had this experience.  After our times in prayer each day, my spiritual eyes saw more clearly, just like I was changing my contacts or resting my eyes of irritation. During seasons like this the spiritual "junk" over my spiritual senses is cleaned off.  It was so peaceful and comforting to pour out thoughts, desires, cares, and anxieties to Him, trusting He cares for me.  I welcome more chances to pray as we did this weekend.

• We have started tutoring high school students every Monday and Wednesday since school started.  This has been a great opportunity for my friend Michael to spend time with a ethnic group from Burma (Myanmar) called the Karenni. Several Karenni students and others have come for tutoring.  Several Americans have pitched in to give individual help for the students.  We hope to be able to visit the families of our students soon to get to know them better.  Please pray for chances to share with these families and our Nepali friends.

• My birthday was a few weeks ago and some friends threw a fun party for me. Some neighborhood kids and a couple of refugee friends stopped by to say hello.  Not a big b-day guy, but definitely felt the love that night for sure!

Crazy people!

The Grind

     Have noticed lately that God is really teaching me to trust Him (lesson we seem to all need over and over).  The last few weeks have been really challenging.  I came here two months ago hoping to proclaim the Gospel, that my feet would be beautiful, as Paul points out in Romans 10.  In a few moments I have shared Scripture, parts of my personal salvation, or explained what baptism is, but there is no glamour and "missionary" exhilaration in every moment (the kind many have experienced on a 7-10 day "mission trip").  I knew in my mind that would be true.  I have read enough stories and heard enough Christian workers speak to know that life is still hard and laborious sometimes when you are seeking to share the Gospel full-time.  But until you get there you don't really know what everyone means.  And each situation is different too.  Here, my schedule is changing 4 of the 7 days in a week.  A few things are stable in their neat little American time slots, but I'm adjusting to an almost "freestyle" ministry here. That has been different for me.  I feel it fits my personality at times, but is not what I've been used to for much of my life in America's suburbs.
     This is not necessarily bad always, just different. I do miss the predictability of a school schedule and look forward to the teens and children here settling into a routine as well.  Have been able to meet and play basketball with several teenage boys and hope to start tutoring them soon.  That should add a little more regularity to my schedule.  I'm reminded often here that God is not always predictable, so schedules don't always dictate the need of the moment with Him.  Boasting about what I'm going to accomplish tomorrow is not wise as Prov 27:1 reminds us.  I'm learning the wisdom of that firsthand now.  Living by faith involves trusting Him in the routine activities of life and the spontaneous moments.  Both are needed and present in seasons of life.
     Internal spiritual battles can be so much more weighty and draining when you are not busy all day, but spend more time in prayer and Scripture study as I have at times.  The evil one tries to tell me that I'm being unproductive by reading a book about Clarkston's refugee resettlement history, by spending a few more minutes chatting with a friend, or by insisting on a longer time for Bible study some days.  But God has sustained me and sheltered me.  He has been my refuge as He says so often through David's psalms.  My glory and honor depend on Him.