Water Buffalo Burgers and Hindu Holidays

   

  It has been a very busy week so far, and I am not sure what I have accomplished!  Oh yeah!  I figured out how to make a tasty burger from water buffalo!  Not an easy task I assure you.  Water buffalo tends to be a bit chewy.

     Seriously though, it has been very good to be here in Nepal so far.  We have had a wonderful time of fellowship with great friends.  This is my fourth trip to Nepal and it feels much like home.  Daniel is having a good time, but he gets quite frustrated with the heavy traffic in the afternoon.  Today he got to sit up front with me on the way to Logenkhel (I'm sure I slaughtered the spelling)  It is always an exciting place to be when driving in Kathmandu. 
     We start school on September 5th, next Monday.  My brain has finally cleared from the trip and I have been able today to start preparing for my classes.  I am very excited to get started and meet my students for the next four months.  I met one yesterday.  Her name was Pramilla (I hope I spelled that right).  She is from Gorkha from the village of Tati Pokari (spelling?). 

     Tonight on the way back from the market we came through a vegetable market and I found some wonderful looking mushrooms.  They looked like Shitake mushrooms but they called them something else.  I bought a huge bag of them for about $2 and Pramita fried them and we ate them with our Water Buffalo Cheeseburgers and Nepali style mustard greens and lentils and rice.  It was a very delicious and diverse meal.

     Tomorrow they have a big ladies meeting planned that goes from 8:30 in the morning until 4:00 in the evening.  I have been invited to attend, but I have been assured that I will not be the only man there at the event.  Tomorrow is a very big Hindu holiday (don't ask me what it is called) and this is an alternative for the ladies in the church to be able to come and worship and invite their friends.  From what I understand there will be lots of food and music (and probably dancing if I know my Nepali friends, and I think I do) and games.  Evidently, I might be called upon to bark like a dog, or so I have been told.  I am sure it will be a lot of fun and I will get a chance to see a lot of my friends that I have not had the opportunity to get with up until now.  I will try to get some pictures tomorrow and put them up soon.
     Daniel is still getting settled in and he really likes his room, maybe a little too much.  His blog is unpluggedinnepal.blogspot.com but he really hasn't been as unplugged as I had hoped.  There is much electricity here and he has found a few Indian cartoons that he really likes.  He can't understand what they are saying, but he finds them hilarious nevertheless.  I am about to pull the plug on him though and put a fire under him to get on his blog.  He starts school next week and that will keep him pretty busy.  He has really taken up with Pramita and Prajowl and Momita, as well as they with him.  I will let you know when he finally posts anything.  His summer vacation is just about over!

     Keep praying for our health and for my ability to give all I can to the students over the next few months.  I am super excited about the work and looking forward to the challenge.  Also, please remember my dear wife and daughter who are left behind in Arkansas.  Stormie just got her driver's license, and I could not be more proud!  I am also a little scared :)  That is not a commentary on her abilities, but my own lack of faith in God, at times, to care for my family while I am seeking His kingdom.  Pray for them and if you are near, check in on them from time to time.

     I will try to blog again sooner than last time (and with more pictures), but the internet has been down here for the last day or so, and I haven't been able to get online.  I look forward to sharing with you in the future all that the Lord is doing in this beautiful country!

Jaimashi!
Steve

So Far

As I sit here, tired and sore, in the New Delhi Airport; it all seems like one long excruciating day blurred together with vignettes of long lines, uncomfortable seats, miserable sleep and more long lines. Ahh.. the romance of international travel!

Daniel has done great! It has been hard on him at times, but he has taken it all in stride and has even offered to carry my bags to help out at times. (He has always been a good traveler) He was upset that the airplane had a sorry movie selection. He watched Kung Fu Panda 2 and the new Pirates of the Caribbean and then just watched the flight path channel for the next 14 hours.

For all who prayed for our safety and convenience on this trip, I thank you and tell you the Lord has answered your prayers. It really has been pretty uneventful, and though we were assured that we would have to claim and check our bags in Delhi by two different AA representatives, Jet Airways took care of everything and got us our tickets for Kathmandu and got us on in to the main airport in less than three hours. (A very good time considering we just sit there and others have had to wait much longer on past trips)

So we are lounging here in the airport about 11 pm on Saturday night (Delhi time) and waiting for our plane to board at 5:30 am. Fun stuff!

Daniel had Domino's pepperoni pizza for dinner, and I had a veg curry combo platter from the Curry Kitchen. Good stuff!

Thanks for all of your prayers and support so far. Please continue to remember us and pray for Stormie and Autumn back home. By the time you read this we will be safe and sound in Kathmandu.

Jaimashi!

Steve and Daniel

The Lord is at Hand

 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Phillipians 4:6

   At group the other night someone quoted this verse in relation to a situation they were going through.  Their use of the verse was appropriate and in context with what they were going through.  (I'm a stickler for context)  But as they were quoting this verse I happened to look it up and noticed something that I had never seen before.  The sentence doesn't begin in verse 6.  Actually, the first part of this sentence (thought) begins at the end of the previous verse.  There is a reason given why we are not to be anxious.  Look at it:

"The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. " Phillipians 4:5b-6

     We are not to be anxious because, "The Lord is at hand;"  Wow!  Now there's a reason not to be anxious!  Now, while I do believe this speaks to the Lord's proximity to us, it really is speaking more to His soon return. (I see no reason why both can't be taken as true from this verse) 

     Not only are we not to be anxious because He is near to us and watching out for us, but we are to consider our ultimate end.  True, things may look shaky now and everything is going wrong and you might even be scared for your very life, but "The Lord is at hand!"  Don't worry!  Jesus is coming back and we will reign victorious with Him FOREVER!  It will ultimately end for His glory and our good!  (Romans 8:28, Ephesians 1:11)

     David when pondering why the righteous suffered and the wicked prospered said, "until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end." Psalm 73:17 

     If David can take heart considering the destruction of the ungodly, surely we must take great hope realizing our ultimate glorious salvation; in our departure from the presence of sin and it's cruel effects and our eternity glorifying the One who has rescued us from it. 

     This, I believe, is a wonderful reason not to be anxious!