Nepal- A new Adventure

I cannot believe how quickly my time in England passed. I left England on Monday, January 8. After a 45 minute delay at the airport, we lifted off about 10:30 pm. We flew across Europe, and hit several areas of severe turbulence. It was the second time I felt fear while flying. I slept very little, as my seat mate had the window. In the morning, we chatted with each other about the turbulence. I asked him where he was from, and he told me he had been born in Kuwait, but lived in the UK and had family in Dubai, Untied Arab Emirates. I asked him about the area we were flying over, and he told me it was Iraq and Iran. Some of the mountains had snow on them which surprised me. I thought of those areas as dry desert. The mountains were tan as were the valleys. We arrived in Dubai which was covered by clouds, so I was not able to get clear pictures of the city. I had a short layover during which time, I bought a Krispy Kreme donut.

I left Dubai on a three hour or so flight, and I was able to sleep a little since the plane was mostly empty. I was on the wrong side of the plane to see the Himalayas, so I plan to make a trip to see Everest at some point. It is an hour or two to any area where the mountain might be visible in the distance. The Nepal border is one of the calmest to go through. I obtained my visa with no trouble. I then proceeded outside, where I was eventually found by the Tamangs.

We arrived at their home about 8pm. I was taken to my room and given a meal after which, I went to bed. I am still trying to adjust my sleeping pattern. I will be teaching English classes for 4th-7th grade. Please pray that I can get adjusted to the schedule and that I can get into a good sleep schedule.

We had our first fellowship Wednesday night. All the songs were sung in Nepali. Most were choruses I did not know, but they did sing Draw Me Nearer, so I sang along in English. The teaching was translated for me.

Today was the first school chapel service I have been in. Thankfully it was in English. Please be careful regarding comments and questions about what I do since this is not a completely open country.

So far I have enjoyed the foods. They eat rice with different curry flavors and chow mein with a spicy salsa. I learned how to eat flat rice which is rice beaten out flat and looks similar to oatmeal. I thought it would be served like oatmeal, but they eat it drowned in homemade yogurt. I am not a yogurt fan, so mine was rather dry. They did offer me an egg which helped to fill me up. It will probably take me awhile to get used to this particular meal.

The language is tonal, so I am not sure how much I will pick up in three months.  I know I will not be able to write the language because it is all squiggles and lines. Each line looks exactly the same to me.

You can view pictures on my Facebook page M2M-Now.

A New Year

It is hard to believe a new year has come. This past year has been a busy one for me. I am just a few days away from leaving England and flying to Nepal. I am looking forward to the adventures ahead, but I will miss all the people here in England. I will especially miss the time spent with Aunt Debbie.

Christmas was fun this year. I enjoyed celebrating with a Christmas morning service of carols and the Christmas story. We had a delicious meal, and I was able to celebrate with two of my aunt's children, her aunt, and her son's in-laws from Canada. It took all day, but My family finally got connected long enough to quote Luke 2:1-7. I'm thankful for technology.

The week between Christmas and New Year I helped Aunt Debbie finish moving in and unpacking. I have put together several flat-pack furniture pieces. I think I could make a living at putting furniture together.

Please pray as I fly out next week for Nepal. The world is changing in its attitude toward Americans.

Twas the week before Christmas

And it was a busy one. Last Friday, after an already long week of frustrations, Auntil Debbie and I prepared to move into her new home. We loaded her car and a truck. A few minutes after Aunt Debbie left, she called to tell me that the carpets, which should have gone in the day before, we're not laid. In order to not pay the truck driver a ridiculous amount to stand around and wait, he furniture was unloaded into the carpet less house. Aunt Debbie and I spent the day waiting for the carpet to be finished, and finally at 6pm, we were able to unload the car, get beds set up... Saturday was spent unpacking, buying storage furniture and putting it together.

Sunday, was our Christmas Program and Carol concert. We had 50 people in attendance, most of them were visitors from Aunt Debbits knit group and Ukelele club. Pray that their hears were touched with the message, and that they will come to know Christ. The children did a beautiful job with the play and puppet show.

Monday and Tuesday were spent putting more furniture together and watching kids. Tuesday night, we had the knit club Christmas party. It was so much fun and filled with laughter. I made a new friend from Poland.

Today, Aunt Debbie and had a somewhat relaxed day waiting for workmen to fix problems with the house, put in wardrobes, hang blinds... She also taught me to knit. I am very slow.

All my Christmas presents are wrapped, and I can't wait to watch everyone open them. I already made wassail, and I plan to make cookies.

Special prayer requests
My sister Janna
Nephew Emmett
Newborn cousin Jocelyn
Parents

Busy Week Ahead!

As time moves closer to Christmas, my life is getting busier here in England. Friday, I went to another church to hear Baptist College International sing. This college is in Romania, but they allow students from all over the world. I ran into a fellow HAC student, and a girl from Alabama. The world is definitely small in this age of technological advance.

Saturday, Aunt Debbie and I began laying carpet squares in the church. What we thought would be a simple job is much more complicated. Although I am sore from using muscles I haven't used in awhile, I have enjoyed the experience. Hopefully we will have it all finished tomorrow.

Friday, we will be moving to Aunt Debbie's new house. Pray that there are no more glitches. It has been a blessing to help her and spend time with her.

Most of my Christmas shopping is done. I always enjoy trying to choose the right gift for people. This year, even though I am in England, I was even able to get some simple gifts for my family. I still have a couple gifts to finish.

Please continue to pray for my parents. Pray as it is now less than a month before I leave for Nepal. Pray for our Carol Concert next Sunday. There will be several visitors who are unsaved. Please pray God will open their hearts.

Blessings and News

God is good! Last Sunday, I was able to share M2M-Now  with a sister ministry here in the England. They took up a love offering, and are considering taking me on in the future.

Some supporting churches have sent out their support for this month. What a blessing to see God already providing for the future.

I was not sure if I would have a way to get Christmas gifts for my family. God provided me with a $20 coupon for a website, and I was able to get a gift for all my family.

I have spent the last week participating in some of Aunt Debbie's outreach groups. We had a Ukelele sing, and I was able to talk about what I do. I was able to share again at a sewing group. Pray for the people in these groups to see their need for Jesus and to see Jesus in us.

There are two people who need special prayer for salvation. Please pray that they will open their hearts to Christ.

Please continue to pray for my parents, especially my dad's health. Pray as I now have a little more than a month before I leave England. Time has flown. I will be sad to leave, but I look forward to a new adventure.

England Update

Wow! A month has almost passed since I arrived in England. The last 21 day have been busy and fun. My parents left today to return to the US. While they were here, we were able to sing together and dad spoke in every service. The people fell in love with him and mom. We were able to see London, Lancaster Castle, A little of Scotland, Gretna Green, Holy Island and Lindisfarne. We saw Roman artifacts almost 2000 years old, Norman sites, Viking areas and many other ancient historical sites.  It was a blessing to help them do something they always  dreamed about. They were a blessing to my Aunt Debra, and she is definitely missing them.

This week, I received word that a fourth church is now supporting me. What a blessing! God continues to provide for my trips.
Please continue to pray for me. Pray for the ministry here as there are many events coming up which will allow the community to hear the Gospel. Pray for my parents and their health. Even with the rest dad had while he was here, he is still struggling.

England Continued

My parents arrived safely last week, and we spent one day in London. We took a boat ride down the Thames, seeing many famous landmarks  and ancient sites. I never realized the influence the Romans had on this country. The first London Bridge was built by the Romans. We arrived at Greenwich, and Dad and I stood on the Prime Meridian with one foot in the Eastern Hemisphere and he other in the Western. Everywhere we went, the British people were helpful and kind.

We arrived at my Auntil Debbie's last Saturday after a long bus trip. Dad spoke on Sunday, and all the people really enjoyed hearing. It makes me feel good to know my dad can make an impact with hisome teaching even halfway across the world.

We took my cousin Adam back to Morecambe  (morkam) on Monday.  On the way, we stopped at Lancaster Castle. It was amazing to touch stones hundreds of years old. There was a stone altar from Roman times which was almost 1000 years of old. I touched that too.  We also saw Hornby Castle. My dad's  home town is named for the family Hornby qho 0rWe stopped in a couple other little towns to look for souveniers, then returned home.

Tuesday, we rested then mom, Aunt Debbie and I went to the knitting circle. This is one of the ways to introduce people, who would probably not attend on Sunday, to our Greatest Friend, Christ. Mom got to invite one of the ladies to join us on Sunday.

Wednesday is a busy day for Aunt Debbie, but we went for a walk around town and saw the market square. In the square,  is a medieval market cross. In ancient times, you could not have a market without a market cross. There is also a fish table, whipping post, and stocks. We wet early to services and practiced the Christmas play. We had a short lesson from The Good Book, (the Bible) and enjoyed fellowship.

Thursday, we left to spend a day in Scotland. We drove up the west coast of England and stopped in Gretna Green, infamous for many runaway couples who wanted to be married. We then took the scenic route toward Edinburgh, (edinbru) and saw some beautiful country.  We passed many sheep farms along the way. Each farm was divided by ancient rock walls to mark off the property. An ancient Roman wall also ran throughout the area. We ended our northwards journey in Glasgow at my friends house. I tried to order pizza, but I couldn't understand the thick brogue. My aunt did get the order placed.

Friday we cut across the country towards Edinburgh,  but bypassed the city to follow the coastal route along the Eastern side of Scotland and England. We did see Edinburg Castle from quite a distance. We stopped in several towns, and saw two old castle ruins. Our ,aim destination was Holy Island. Here, we had checked the tide times since during high tide, the causeway is flooded. The online times were wrong.  Once on the islamd, we checked the tidal times, and realized that high tide was coming in. We thought we had time to get back off, but after taking a few quick snapshots, we raced back to the causeway. We were too late. The bridges had already flooded. We then began racing back to beat the tide that would soon cover the rest of the road. We spent 4 hours on the island, and in the end drove thru several inches of water when the tide was finally out enough to cross the bridge. While on the island, we took pictures of the ruins. This land is also known as Lindisfre which is where Vikings first landed in Britain. Some of the ruins are almost 1000 years old. There are Roman influences as well as the Viking and British influences.There is a small castle on the island, and across the bay, there is a larger castle, Bamburgh. We arrived home much later than planned, but had many good memories from, the day.

Today we rested other thand a little shopping for tomorrow. Tomorow the last of my Uncle Bill's ashes will be interred in a memory garden. He started the ministry here almost 40 years ago. Dad will conduct the sevidence for the internment. Please pray that people who have not come in a while will, and that anyone who does not know the Greatest Friend will meet Him, tomorrow.