Dear family and friends,
Here are some experiences I had this past week. We started this week
to teach English to the students, we all start together and learn an
English song, then go into five groups and teach. It is so much fun
trying to teach English with them, I find it easier just to ask
questions and they answer me and the students can ask me questions
too. It is so much fun serving people by carrying water for them, from
the tap-local place where people have to walk to and get water to use.
It is good exercise and fun to do.
One morning I got up and watched a local lady make our homemade
bags-it is amazing how she does it, all the tools made from bamboo and
then she allowed me to try it, it was too hard for me. I have enjoyed
just walking around during the day and see who I can help. It is also
fun learning how to cook food, crushing garlic, ginger by hand,
peeling potatoes, mixing rice and curry in big tubs.
One morning after breakfast I tried to find this lady's house that I
met sometime, I found her house and helped her work in the field. She
was hoeing the field, with a hand tool, this was so much fun working.
Then I carried water for her and then she invited me to go back to her
house for lunch. She has around 6 fields of rice down by the river and
some fields by her house, it is amazing to see how hard they work in
their fields.
It was so much fun teaching the students how to play a game. The game
is played, you have everyone sit in a circle close to each other and
someone in the middle who says something that is true for them, and if
it is true for people sitting, they have to move to another spot in
the circle. It was fun playing and then watching them play in their
own language. Then after the game we went outside and had a good game
of soccer going. It was so much fun to exercise and play soccer with
the students.
Another time we listened to a leader who shared with us his experience
with evil spirits, the stories he told us were amazing, and explained
why the local people are scared to go down to the river at night. Then
as a team we went down two nights to watch the evil spirits appear,
you have to go after 9pm at night. They usually appear in the form of
fire, flashlight, group of people around a fire, these things appear
and disappear as you watch. Very interesting to watch this and see why
the local people are scared
Then one day us two guys went into town with two local friends,
visited a museum on the history of the country, then had lunch, ice
cream, and walked around. It was so much fun to be in the palace of a
past king and learn a little history of the area. Then came back to
the village we are staying in on a crowded bus. Then went down to the
river to swim, it feels good to swim in the river and play with the
local children.
For fellowship together with believers, one of us went with someone to
another village about 2-3hr motorbike ride, I went with another person
on a 1-2hr motorbike ride, and the other three went with some students
across the river to be with believers. They had to cross the river,
then make their way through rice fields, its like a maze. We all had
fun in the different places we were in fellowshipping with other
believers. These are some of the many adventures we had this past
week.
Thank you for all your pr_yers for us. Here are some things to keep in
mind as you pr_y.
Team unity.
Father will lead us individually and as a team, and draw us closer to Him.
For travel safety.
We will know what to share when we have opportunities.
From, Kush
Monday, April 27, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! Tuesday we rang in the year 2066. We are in a different year here than the rest of the world.
This past week was also Easter. Easter is not celebrated here in this country, but we could still celebrate it. He is alive! It was different, not celebrating at home or in the usual way, but it was a nice day. Our Father taught me some new things this Easter. One thing that stuck out to me this year was how His Son gave the great commission after He appeared to His disciples, it is part of the Easter story. It is because of the cross and the empty tomb that we are here. We decided to make a speical treat for Easter. We got huge bananas from a family in this village, and we bought chocolate bars and cashews. We attempted to melt chocolate over a fire, but it didn't work out so well. Then we put the chocolate on the bananas and then the cashews. The chocolate is not the same as the chocolate in America, and it didn't quite melt the same way it is supposed to, but it was still chocolate so I was excited! Our treats did not end up looking very pretty, but they still tasted good!
For our first several days back in this village we cooked for ourselves. We cooked over a fire. It was a lot of fun, and fried rice sure beats daal bhaat every meal! We do not need to cook for ourselves anymore during our time in the village, but we enjoyed it and are planning to still cook a few meals ourselves.
Tuesday evening some people brought a man to the ch_rch who has a demon. The demon killed his mother and three animals. Now it is in him. Sometimes the man is normal, and then other times it is the demon speaking and doing things. One man told us that once he went into the same room as the man and whenever he came into the room the demon called out his name and he had never met the man before. The team decided to go into the room where they were laying hands on the man and sing worship songs. Even when we were in the room we were seeing changes in the man. One minute he was normal and then all of the sudden he would make a loud noise and be saying things and either be curled up into a ball rolling on the floor or flailing around and acting like he was trying to grab something in the air. When we left the man was fine, but unfortunatley, it was only for the moment. The demon was not casted out. It is really sad. With J_sus there is freedom, but some people like that man are opening themselves up to evil and then become controlled by it. There is so much more to life than that. Please keep this man in your thoughts.
Wednesday evening BREY started. There are 31 students in BREY. The students are really nice. We eat meals with them. Every evening, for 45 minutes we will be teaching English. We have split them up into five groups, and we will each have a group. Next week we will be teaching a session about the fruit of the spirit. I am looking forward to spending more time with the students and getting to know them better.
Requests:
For the man with the demon, for the demon to leave
That our English classes would go well
For our messages
Praises:
The opportunites we have had and will have to interact with the students
The fun we had cooking over a fire
-Natasha
This past week was also Easter. Easter is not celebrated here in this country, but we could still celebrate it. He is alive! It was different, not celebrating at home or in the usual way, but it was a nice day. Our Father taught me some new things this Easter. One thing that stuck out to me this year was how His Son gave the great commission after He appeared to His disciples, it is part of the Easter story. It is because of the cross and the empty tomb that we are here. We decided to make a speical treat for Easter. We got huge bananas from a family in this village, and we bought chocolate bars and cashews. We attempted to melt chocolate over a fire, but it didn't work out so well. Then we put the chocolate on the bananas and then the cashews. The chocolate is not the same as the chocolate in America, and it didn't quite melt the same way it is supposed to, but it was still chocolate so I was excited! Our treats did not end up looking very pretty, but they still tasted good!
For our first several days back in this village we cooked for ourselves. We cooked over a fire. It was a lot of fun, and fried rice sure beats daal bhaat every meal! We do not need to cook for ourselves anymore during our time in the village, but we enjoyed it and are planning to still cook a few meals ourselves.
Tuesday evening some people brought a man to the ch_rch who has a demon. The demon killed his mother and three animals. Now it is in him. Sometimes the man is normal, and then other times it is the demon speaking and doing things. One man told us that once he went into the same room as the man and whenever he came into the room the demon called out his name and he had never met the man before. The team decided to go into the room where they were laying hands on the man and sing worship songs. Even when we were in the room we were seeing changes in the man. One minute he was normal and then all of the sudden he would make a loud noise and be saying things and either be curled up into a ball rolling on the floor or flailing around and acting like he was trying to grab something in the air. When we left the man was fine, but unfortunatley, it was only for the moment. The demon was not casted out. It is really sad. With J_sus there is freedom, but some people like that man are opening themselves up to evil and then become controlled by it. There is so much more to life than that. Please keep this man in your thoughts.
Wednesday evening BREY started. There are 31 students in BREY. The students are really nice. We eat meals with them. Every evening, for 45 minutes we will be teaching English. We have split them up into five groups, and we will each have a group. Next week we will be teaching a session about the fruit of the spirit. I am looking forward to spending more time with the students and getting to know them better.
Requests:
For the man with the demon, for the demon to leave
That our English classes would go well
For our messages
Praises:
The opportunites we have had and will have to interact with the students
The fun we had cooking over a fire
-Natasha
Friday, April 10, 2009
A Week in the Sticks
Greetings!
What a wonderful week, we have been in the sticks of Npl. No electricity at all, dal bhat every meal each day, sleeping on the front porch, walking 5 hours to get there... just some of the things that we experienced.
I thought I had experienced the rugged life of Npl but I realized this week that it had been almost luxury. You know that you are out in the middle of nowhere when a bus will only take you within 5 hours of walking to your village. The hike reminded me of Trekking and we had to scale some mountain sides along the way. We carried our luggage for the most part but they made us put some of our stuff in a basket for a porter to carry. The method they use to carry anything is to strap it to their head. It looks painful and it is for me. I tried it for a few minutes and after a while my neck started to kill me. I guess they just have really strong necks.
One thing we had to get used to was personal space, or the lack there of. Even the flies didn't give me any space. The first night we were there we stayed at the one pastors house. They don't have many rooms in their house so the three of us guys slept on the front porch. That doesn't sound too bad does it?? Well it just so happened that watching us prepare and go to bed was a whole village event. When I rolled out my sleeping mat they all came over and touched it. When I was just right about to fall asleep one of the guys brought a light over for us. He hung it from the rafters and it shone right in my eyes. He asked, is this ok? I told him no, I was trying to go to sleep. This became a regular occurrence. Just as we were ready to go to sleep they would come in and offer us something. Candles, blankets, and one time he even brought us a board for us to lay our heads on and use for a pillow!! Many great experiences.
Another thing I noticed on our trip is how spontaneous they are. Yesterday we were hiking and we passed a parrot farm and one of the women with us just decided on the spot to buy one.
Also yesterday we got up at 6am in order to hike to the bus station and catch a bus at 12. Well we passed a stream and they (our Nepali friends whom we were following) decided to take a break and look for crabs. We spent about an hour there. Then we waited around for two hours in the next village while they made us some food. And as easy as that our plans changed. We would spend the night in the bus station town and catch the bus first thing in the morning. When we were almost at the town we passed some trucks and for some reason they had the idea to ask if any of them would take us that afternoon to our destination, G*. After this and that and plans changing every five minutes we ended up in the back of a work truck on our way to G. Now these are not the ordinary (what I think of in the states as a road) paved road. Or even the "ordinary" dirt road. They are mountain roads that have massive potholes and run along the side of the mountain. Some people sat down in the truck but I found it most comfortable to stand the whole 5 hrs holding onto the side railing of the bed. Any ride you take on these types of road will be quite the experience. Some times we had to stop because some other drivers had parked their truck in the middle of the road and gotten out to play cards, or get something to eat.
These are just some glimps of what we experienced.
Requests: Guidence as we share with a D-sciplesh-p School
Praises: Safety in travels
Guidence as we shared in the village
Blessings,
Austin
What a wonderful week, we have been in the sticks of Npl. No electricity at all, dal bhat every meal each day, sleeping on the front porch, walking 5 hours to get there... just some of the things that we experienced.
I thought I had experienced the rugged life of Npl but I realized this week that it had been almost luxury. You know that you are out in the middle of nowhere when a bus will only take you within 5 hours of walking to your village. The hike reminded me of Trekking and we had to scale some mountain sides along the way. We carried our luggage for the most part but they made us put some of our stuff in a basket for a porter to carry. The method they use to carry anything is to strap it to their head. It looks painful and it is for me. I tried it for a few minutes and after a while my neck started to kill me. I guess they just have really strong necks.
One thing we had to get used to was personal space, or the lack there of. Even the flies didn't give me any space. The first night we were there we stayed at the one pastors house. They don't have many rooms in their house so the three of us guys slept on the front porch. That doesn't sound too bad does it?? Well it just so happened that watching us prepare and go to bed was a whole village event. When I rolled out my sleeping mat they all came over and touched it. When I was just right about to fall asleep one of the guys brought a light over for us. He hung it from the rafters and it shone right in my eyes. He asked, is this ok? I told him no, I was trying to go to sleep. This became a regular occurrence. Just as we were ready to go to sleep they would come in and offer us something. Candles, blankets, and one time he even brought us a board for us to lay our heads on and use for a pillow!! Many great experiences.
Another thing I noticed on our trip is how spontaneous they are. Yesterday we were hiking and we passed a parrot farm and one of the women with us just decided on the spot to buy one.
Also yesterday we got up at 6am in order to hike to the bus station and catch a bus at 12. Well we passed a stream and they (our Nepali friends whom we were following) decided to take a break and look for crabs. We spent about an hour there. Then we waited around for two hours in the next village while they made us some food. And as easy as that our plans changed. We would spend the night in the bus station town and catch the bus first thing in the morning. When we were almost at the town we passed some trucks and for some reason they had the idea to ask if any of them would take us that afternoon to our destination, G*. After this and that and plans changing every five minutes we ended up in the back of a work truck on our way to G. Now these are not the ordinary (what I think of in the states as a road) paved road. Or even the "ordinary" dirt road. They are mountain roads that have massive potholes and run along the side of the mountain. Some people sat down in the truck but I found it most comfortable to stand the whole 5 hrs holding onto the side railing of the bed. Any ride you take on these types of road will be quite the experience. Some times we had to stop because some other drivers had parked their truck in the middle of the road and gotten out to play cards, or get something to eat.
These are just some glimps of what we experienced.
Requests: Guidence as we share with a D-sciplesh-p School
Praises: Safety in travels
Guidence as we shared in the village
Blessings,
Austin
Friday, April 3, 2009
April Adventures
Indipali Y_S team update #17
Shane Martin
April 2, 2009
Nothing like knowing that we have to get up at 5am, so that we can be ready by 6:30am to catch a taxi to take us to the bus station. Then having (uncle) coming to our rooms and telling us “are you ready the taxi is here.” So we all had to get up real fast and get ready without breakfast. (Well I had some box cereal so Austin and I had breakfast) Some of us had to pack some things in the morning so we became late to the bus station. The nice thing about the buses in Npl is that they wait if you have more than 5 people wanting to catch it. The bus was full and we had to listen to and watch corny Npl music videos. Austin and I wanted to have an experience so we rode on the top of the bus. It was great lying down and listening to music, as well as Austin playing the guitar. (Don’t worry mom’s we were being careful) We arrived to our destinations safely.
We are in G* (name of village omitted), working with a “D-ship” school. We ate all 3 meals a day at the ch-rch. Dal Bhat is the main meal. We eat in for lunch and supper, and for breakfast it is very similar to Dal Bhat. We are getting a bit tired of Dal Bhat, when we get home we kindly ask no Dal Bhat, please. This week the Father has blessed us with the opportunity to speak to the students. We taught from 9am-12pm. In the afternoon we taught from 2pm-5pm. All of us have been stretched as beyond what we thought. The Sp-r-t is moving here among the students. We all shared once and I shared twice. They asked if anyone can give another message. So I stepped up and trusted the Father.
Praises:
The ability to share the Fathers messages
For having rain here (it is in a major drought)
Bathing in the river is so much fun!!
Requests:
Travels to other villages
Speaking at a Woman’s Retreat (even the guys)
Preparing messages for another “D-ship” school.
Blessing from Npl in the Powerful Name of the Son!
Shane Martin
Shane Martin
April 2, 2009
Nothing like knowing that we have to get up at 5am, so that we can be ready by 6:30am to catch a taxi to take us to the bus station. Then having (uncle) coming to our rooms and telling us “are you ready the taxi is here.” So we all had to get up real fast and get ready without breakfast. (Well I had some box cereal so Austin and I had breakfast) Some of us had to pack some things in the morning so we became late to the bus station. The nice thing about the buses in Npl is that they wait if you have more than 5 people wanting to catch it. The bus was full and we had to listen to and watch corny Npl music videos. Austin and I wanted to have an experience so we rode on the top of the bus. It was great lying down and listening to music, as well as Austin playing the guitar. (Don’t worry mom’s we were being careful) We arrived to our destinations safely.
We are in G* (name of village omitted), working with a “D-ship” school. We ate all 3 meals a day at the ch-rch. Dal Bhat is the main meal. We eat in for lunch and supper, and for breakfast it is very similar to Dal Bhat. We are getting a bit tired of Dal Bhat, when we get home we kindly ask no Dal Bhat, please. This week the Father has blessed us with the opportunity to speak to the students. We taught from 9am-12pm. In the afternoon we taught from 2pm-5pm. All of us have been stretched as beyond what we thought. The Sp-r-t is moving here among the students. We all shared once and I shared twice. They asked if anyone can give another message. So I stepped up and trusted the Father.
“I can do everything through him who gives me strength”
Phil. 4:13
“Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial”
1 Cor. 6:12
Praises:
The ability to share the Fathers messages
For having rain here (it is in a major drought)
Bathing in the river is so much fun!!
Requests:
Travels to other villages
Speaking at a Woman’s Retreat (even the guys)
Preparing messages for another “D-ship” school.
Blessing from Npl in the Powerful Name of the Son!
Shane Martin
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