The Final Weekend

My Dear friends, I apologize for the late blog, we ran out of internet right before the final weekend, then there was none on the airplane and I have been apart of Orientation this week so I have not had time to keep you updated. But there is grace.

For the Final week of Nepal there was a tense of a strike being very close. The entire last week we were unsure If the students would be in class. And of course we waited till the last minute to tell our cooperating schools that it was our final day, so we taught again on Monday before we left. The final week was particularly special, while we never had a chance to invite the children over to church, we played with them everyday after school, in the field near the house. I remember being able to see mountains on more than one occasion the last week.

Church on Saturday was probably not going to happen because of the strike but last minute, like morning of, Bishwa and Romila (host parents) decided to try it. Turns out the strike was for public vehicles and for private vehicles the strike started at 3. I don't know how word gets around but I am delighted that We got to go to church and and pray out loud as a body of Christ one last time.

We, the team, mentioned to Bishwa that we were interested in doing a Bible study on Monday night but it seems that he never set it up which turned out to be better even though our scheduled Friday night Bible study with a local church was stopped by a strike. So Friday night the Bible study turned into a team discussion and Monday night there was another team discussion but Bishwa and Romila joined us and it was delightful hearing their wisdom and sharing ours. I only wish we had more of those Bible studies.

Two more blogs, jouney home and the aftermath. Till next time.

Chitwan National Park

Wowwy! So there is a picture of me on an elephant when I'm about two but I have no recollection of this whatsoever! Fortunately I no longer have to feel like a liar when I tell people that I have been on an elephant!! I was also bathed by one (with dirty water but that's besides the point)! This past weekend I got to play with baby elephant, see rhino and live like a king because I had my own room in the hotel we were staying at (Idk if you remember but I'm the only guy in this group). On the last morning we saw two mountains (part of the Himalayas) during sunrise, wowwy! We don't know what they were but I like to think it was Everest because I haven't seen it yet so I am going to pretend it was. Although the ride there and back was 7 hours, it was well worth it to have a memory like that with my teammates.

My team is closer than ever, today (Monday, our first day back from our mini Chitwan vacation) we were all in the same room and doing nothing but still together with a peace that I have never felt with all 7 of us. Another way we are seeing God's love is in playing with the kids after school, the first week and a half we  did not invite them over but this last week we are trying to get them to come over every day so we get to know them better outside of a classroom setting. This is helpful for us because before we simply felt that our teaching wasn't doing much now that we get to talk to them and play with them hopefully more can happen. This is also helpful for our bonding as a team, we get to share with each other the highlights of our day and the highlights of our playing with them.

Going into the last week of this once in a lifetime experience I feel homesick and slightly tired. I understand I have to be present but I would like simply to be with my family. When I get home from this wonderful experience I have to immediately start my final year at Westmont so I do not feel that I will get time to rest. However, God will provide and I trust that he will give me rest and help me to be present both here and when I get back to be fully part of Orientation Team (my leadership position this coming year). I ask for your prayers in this.