Saturday we went to Dulakil to the NewSong group meeting there. It was a wonderful little gathering in a small little town, but it's very under the thumb of the enemy. So many temples and gods and such a bad spiritual environment. Youth group Saturday night was good, and Sunday was great! We woke up and got out with the youth group before the sun was up, and went on a hike up a big hill! So much fun hanging out with them. We made it to the top and cooked noodles, and played games, and had such a good time. When we went down, we flagged down a bus and the 30 of us rode on the top of the bus back close to home! What a good workout, and fun time with friends. John has left us, but our schedule will start soon.

So I have lots of pictures this time!! We got together with tons of people at the community center and made thousands of momos, like potstickers or dumplings, it took all day, but was so worth it! Tons of tears, because I was on onion duty! I got to talk to and meet many more people.

We took a trip into the city of Thamel, and did some shopping. We got to see many temples and gods all around the area, and really saw how some of these people live. Found some italian, Nepal Italian, and ate some pasta! 

the temple pigeons 

temple 

nail a rupee to this god to pay for your sin, one per sin

Shopping down the alleys

temple carvings

the crazy wires hanging all over

Then we went to Junu's school for sports day. They work really hard on this fun day of sports and games to present to the parents. Of course I got to volunteer for a few games, one of which, the relay, I wiped out, it was the best. A few bruises and scrapes to show my competitive side. O dear. We have been enjoying this first week here, but once our missions pastor John leaves on Sunday we will begin our structured schedule. Less free time, and less touristy stuff, but we will begin classes and tutoring. Who really knows, I can let you know as soon as I know myself :) All our health is getting much better, praise the Lord. Your prayers over this transition again with our pastor leaving would be so wonderful, thanks yous!

 drill marching

sack race

building Nepal 

Human pyramid 

Today's view in front of the house.

First Service

Church services here in Nepal are on Saturday mornings because the work week and school week are 6 days. So our first experience at the New Song church in Nepal was pretty cool. Everyone sits on the ground, men to one side, women to the other. The first part of worship are traditional type Napalii hymns and you sing those while remaining seated. The second half of worship is standing up. All songs of course in Nepalli. Lots of prayer throughout which is beautiful hearing all these voices being raised at the same time. What a time of exalting our Lord. Then the message, which John Hall, our missions pastor, taught and was translated. After service, a meal was provided for the congregation. Saturday nights are when the youth group meets, so we got to go back and the GBCers were on game duty.. its always us. We played this energetic/violent/fun/questionable game called eye of the tiger. the boys really got into it! And for this youth group time we did worship the same format as church, and can i just say these people of all ages are musically and rhythmically talented! Youth this week was about them getting to know us, and us getting to know them. So we kicked it off by sharing our testimonies. Then other students volunteered to share theirs as well and it was just a really encouraging, get to know you time.
     Sunday was the dental camp. We provided the community with free medical examinations and dental examinations. Us girls were on tray duty, placing the sterilized instruments on trays for the dentists. There were only two extractions the whole day, luckily! It was just tons of fun getting to meet people, learn names, and hang out with the Nepaliis. We went out to a yummy dinner that night.
     Then monday we relaxed, went into town to the store to get some groceries and things we needed, and also had lunch while we were there. We came back to the house and spent some time getting our wifi set up, and then jumped into worship and prayer together, and just spent time with the Lord. It was wonderful. We are excited to be here. The food hasn't gotten old yet, and the people are so sweet. I got to skype with some of my family, and everything is just still so exciting! Can't wait to see what the Lord has for me today.

NEPAL

The Travel Endeavors:

Well, we made it to Nepal safe and sound… sorta. Well, we for sure made it, but it was an interesting journey. Like I was last able to send we made it to New York, then boarded our 13.5 hour international flight to Mumbai. I was really siked to board this wonderful aircraft, have my own little tv monitor, and remote… everything was so fancy. A little ways through the flight we were served dinner, a chicken and rice dish, with salad, and yogurt, and some little Indian flared extras. Some of it was pretty good ;) I found some movies to watch and was enjoying the flight, until it became UNenjoyable. I just had a very upset stomach and some fevery symptoms, and felt awful! I got sick three times and felt nauseous until we landed. We then had to fix a minor bag situation where the tag to my bag got lost, but all was settled and we received our next boarding passes to Kathmandu. Found a little coffee shop and then looked for a place to rest for our 12 hour layover. I found a cozy little spot on the floor to sleep off and on for a few hours, and the whole gang tried to get some sleep. When time neared to board, we found a deserted little restaurant where we sat and tried some fresh lime soda, and ginger tea, pretty good. We boarded the next plane with only a minor problem of fingernail clippers in a carry on, but once all sorted out, we found our seats. Lauren felt pretty bad for that whole next flight, but remained strong enough to make it through without getting sick, praise the Lord! 2.5 hours later we landed in Kathmandu after getting the beautiful sky high view of many mountains, including Everest! Breezed through immigration and customs and found all our bags to be in tact. Finally we were about to see the real Nepal! We walked outside and there she was, Kristi, waiting for us with a smile and a hug! So good to see her. We loaded everything into the family Jeep and headed to drop John off at his house. The family treated us to a yummy Chinese lunch, I got some real good chow main, and we then drove to their cute house. I must say the sights driving around the busy city were shocking; unlike anything I have ever seen. Trash everywhere, crazy scary driving, pedestrians being brave, advertisements covering buildings, and animals just roaming everywhere. There was just so much new stuff to take in. The family had the cutest little room set up for us, a bunk bed with another twin, and three closets, and just really cute. We unpacked and rock paper scissored for beds, so I got top bunk! ;) We got the house tour, and the views from everywhere, especially the roof, are incredible. The family has two dogs and a puppy that live at the house and a guinea pig, a puppy at there student center, and a dog with two brand new puppies at the community center! Cuteness overload. The family all sat down to have dinner made by Junu and Shushila, a yummy meal of rice, buffalo stew, and carrots. But very soon we realized the jet lag had caught up with us. We hadn’t really slept in 50 hours, our faces were very pale, and the room was spinning a lot. So, they kindly let us retire early. Now the house was really cold, because there is no heat, but the beds and warm clothes did there job well and we all slept very well. I woke up fairly early the next morning at around 4 and just rested until the other girls started waking up, mainly because I’m on the top bunk, and its not too easy to get down without disturbing others. We retreated down for breakfast, which was oatmeal with fruit, coffee, tea, and later eggs, and fried rice. I got the pleasure of helping Asha with breakfast. Asha was abandoned at a temple as a baby and has some problems because of that. Her vision has some issues, she is autistic, and has a history of getting seizures daily. She has in the past week learned to walk though, and through much prayer many of her problems are leaving due to spiritual ties that are being broken. I just love this family, and how God constantly adds new people to it. After breakfast I took my first bucket bath, which is how I will be staying clean for the next three months, what an adventure.

            Our first real outing that first day Kristi took us on a decent walk to the community center. Schooling for some of the children behind was happening and we got a tour, and got to meet some young girls.We had planned to help organized some stuff, but plans got a little changed, so we took the walk back up the hill to grab lunch. Yummy yet again! Let’s just say, I’m eating well here.. We took one more walk to the center to help organize and sterilize dental equipment for a free dental camp coming up this Sunday. During my time there I had a little girl teach me a little Nepal dance, and I realized dance doesn’t look good on everybody, but we had lots of laughs and fun trying. Once the organizing was done we trekked back to the house one last time to go back home. Church services here are on Saturdays, so I’m very excited to go check out the Nepalii church tomorrow. But until then, I need a bit more rest and food to be rid of this jet lag! Can’t wait to see all that happens tomorrow! Until next time, please be praying for complete restored health, and receptiveness of foreigners to the people. Thank You!

First stop

Made it safely to Newark airport. And will be grazing and sleeping here for 5 hours. Our first flight went smoothly and well, but saying goodbye sure was hard. I didn't have any trouble sleeping or anxiousness, but it kinda hit me when I was actually boarding. The act of really leaving is just so real. So made the first stop safe, now onto the big leagues, with big planes. ;)

Depart

Wow! Time flies when your in the will of the Lord! Tomorrow is departure day. The travel schedule looks a little something like this...
11:45 flight from Nashville to Newark
2 hour layover in Newark to Mumbai
12 hour flight with 12 hour layover in Mumbai
2 hour flight to Khatmandu, Nepal
We will be staying with the Ingles, a missionary family in Khatmandu. They have prepared for our stay, and I'm sure by April we will not want to leave our new family there :( sad day.
Not really sure on all the wonderful things we will be doing and experiences we will get to have, but I will try my best to keep updated pictures and stories of "EVERYTHING" that happens....
Keep the GBC girls in your prayers! We look forward to the next update from the other side of God's beautiful earth.