Latest Adventure...

Here are the basic details of my latest adventure: traveling to two different villages with two very good friends of mine, Holly and Ben. They were going to do some language research of the minority language spoken in a particular region of Nepal, and I was allowed to go with to observe and help in any way I could.   We were gone for almost two weeks, traveling in the South of Nepal, along with our language helper Ravi*.  To switch things up a bit, I have included snippets of my journal entries during those two weeks.  Overall it was an amazing trip that included wonderful times of solitude between me and the LORD, read some great books on my kindle (Les Mis!), experimented with my new camera, and observed Holly, Ben, and Ravi doing what they do best J

First morning: wanted to keep sleeping! The bed is better than we had hoped for- Holly and I got foam padding! The house belonged to the Jameson* family, who first settled here in the 60s and started Kingdom work and translation. So. Much. History.  Dust and cobwebs everywhere, like a haunted house in some aspects, But its ours for the week! We don’t have to infringe on someone else’s charity. And we are all so happy with that.  Ravi looks fresh as ever – a very kind and studious man, but also quite humorous!

…Oh the memories that this village and house hold!  The kitchen – where Anna* prepared rice and daal and who knows what else for her family…the loft, now overcome with rats, but once upon a time a haven for children.  It never ceases to surprise me how the Jameson family carved a “home” our of the side of the mountain here. And they are remembered so fondly by all the villagers! God has given them a strong legacy here.

…The sun has been out every day!  It is so beautiful! And quiet – what a timeless place. No traffic, noise, pollution, NOISE, dust, trash, NOISE…almost as though this place has remained untouched by time and globalization.  I think this village is almost the same as when Anna and John* first arrived.

Church today in the village. Beautiful music and dance in their mother tongue.  About one hundred people attend on a regular basis. Mostly women, but there was a fairly strong presence of men as well, which is always encouraging to see.  I couldn’t help but think about the sacrifices that had to be made for this Church to exist, on the side of mountain in the seemingly middle of nowhere. Amazing how God moves for the sake of His people.  Whoa.

New village…first rough day. We were out for five hours straight doing research. The goats were bleating, making recordings a challenge. The villagers were not cooperative or kind. At times as many as 35 children were crowding in, loud, inquisitive, blissfully unaware of the attempts of the adults to shoo them away.  Bugging, poking, watching. Absolutely no personal space! Definitely feeling tired and grouchy after this experience. I suppose that’s not too bad considering we are 12 days in to our trip. But still. I am a bit discouraged with my lack of graciousness in my reactions to this particular village.

The daal bhat is soooo good here! I am going to miss it when we return tomorrow to KTM.

Traveling home to KTM – so excited to see friends and be home again. Saw an old rusted ski left on the side of the mountain as we crawled along the twisting roads in the jeep.  Who would ever think to ride in that? I felt sick just looking at it! If you fell out….it would be a long, horrible drop to imminent death.

HOME. Dust, noise, and pollution. But home. Friends, familiarity. Life is good.

Called

Five miles southeast of Nazareth
A young man drew his final breath,
And perished in his mother's arms.
She stared across the olive farms
South to the Plain of Esdraelon;
And back and forth she rocked her son,
Her only son, and held his head
Against the breast where she had fed
Him with her bitter milk and tears.

For dark and bitter were the years
When he was born. His father died
Before the child could walk. His bride
Of twenty months had buried him,
With help from friends, out on the rim
That falls steep toward Samaria.
And spices from Arabia
Were given by the neighborhood,
As everyone agreed they should,
Because she had no other family.
But yet there was the son, and he
The widow's only hope.

Twelve years
They lived together, and her fears
Grew less as he became a man.
And then the dread disease began:
At first the intermittent cough;
And then the puzzling fever off
And on; and then the constant wheeze;
And then the nights upon her knees:

"Almighty God of Abraham,
Take pity on me, Lord, I am
A widow; he's my only son.
If he should die I am undone!"

And then the purple spit appeared,
And all the worst that she had feared.
To fight his final fears she tried
To hold him tight until he died.
And back and forth she rocked her son
Above the Plain of Esdraelon.

Her friends made fit the burial place
Out on the rim, and made a space
Beside his father, and prepared
The body while his mother stared
Across the Plain, too stunned and weak
To work or cry or even speak.
But then, come burial day, at length
She summoned up her little strength,
And with the child and crowd and pain
She led them out the gates of Nain.

And now, behold, the Word of God!
The rock- and ocean-splitting rod!

Along that very road there came
A band of men, and One whose name
Is Jesus Christ the Lord. They bowed
Politely to the grieving crowd,
But one: the Lord had fixed his eyes,
As though he heard a thousand cries,
On her. And when she saw his face
She stopped, and silence filled the place.
A strange and awesome feeling fell
Upon that crowd, and they could tell
That this exchange was very deep.
And then he spoke and said, "Don't weep."
And something happened in her heart
That made the heaviness depart.
And then he motioned to the men
Who held the box, and when
They looked at her and saw her hope,
They set it down and loosed the rope.
As gentle as a hand could be,
He made the coffin cover free,
And then with father-fingers lay
The strips of facial shroud away,
And spoke with passion in his eyes:
"Young man, I say to you, arise."
And he arose. And Jesus placed
Him in his mother's arms, and faced
Her one last time. Perhaps the two
Of them alone were all who knew:
Two short commands were all he said—
Two people quickened from the dead.

Who can withstand the word of Christ!
It has for ages now sufficed
To bear the universe it made!
Come let the glory be displayed
Of Jesus Christ's triumphant voice!
The dead rise not by their own choice,
And none of us would live at all
But by the Lord's triumphant call!
This is the truth of candle two:
The call of God makes all things new.

By John Piper. ©2012 Desiring God Foundation. Website: desiringGod.org