From Kalimpong to Kathmandu

Greetings from Kathmandu, Nepal— one of the raddest backpacker cultures in the world! We arrived safe yet unsound on Friday morning after a pretty trippy journey on a 17+ hour night bus. Let’s just say that I have a new fondness for blaring native music at 1 AM under a hazy red glow. Also, I developed an extreme appreciation for Imodium. Diarrhea + “Squatty Potty” = EPIC FAIL! :(

Last Saturday and Sunday we were in Kalimpong—the town where Dr. and Mrs. Rai grew up. On our way there, we experienced our first significant Indian traffic jam which led to several dance parties outside our taxis on the side of the road. On Saturday night Dr. and Mrs. Rai showed us all of their favorite city spots [bookstores, silversmiths, restaurants and even a bakery!]. Then on Sunday we worshipped at two different churches. The first was the village church where Kingchur—one of the professors of the Bible school—grew up. They rarely have foreign guests come to visit and were very excited to share with us a special rendition of “Be Thou My Vision” they arranged in English followed by a potluck lunch. The second service we attended was at the church where Mrs. Rai grew up. It is very historical—set upon the highest hill of the city. The 6-story bell tower right outside the sanctuary provides a BEAUTIFUL view of the city. Five of us made it to the top—ankle-length skirts and all!

The rest of our time spent at the Bible school was split between finishing A Pilgrim’s Progress with the more advanced students and teaching at Mt. Zion—the elementary school connected to the Bible school for the children of the local Mirik mountain community. The first morning we walked in to classrooms to “help,” all the teachers immediately handed over their chalk and told us they’d be back for the afternoon session. We all had pretty interesting mornings especially when it came time to teach Nepali…

Our partnership with the Bible school ended with a mid-week Mexican fiesta. Half the team made beef fajitas and Mexican rice—complete with homemade tortillas—to thank the Rais, Kingchur and his family and all the other wonderful people who had been hosting us the past 2 weeks. After dinner we had a special candlelight worship service in the Bible school’s chapel where we exchanged teaching one another English and Nepali worship songs. We soon learned that several of the seemingly shy Bible school students were actually rock stars who enjoy jammin’ on electric guitar and a full drum kit.

Tomorrow we leave for a local village where we will be doing some ESL [English as a Second Language] training as well as leading VBS at a secular “Montessori” school. Praise God for hookin’ us up with the missionaries, Michael and Lupe, who we met at church yesterday. They have planted churches all over the Kathmandu area but had been praying for a way to get in contact with the Hindu community we’ll be serving. Apparently, our supposed scheduling faux pa turned out to be the answer to their prayers.

Expect a village recap in about a week and a half!

Prayer Requests
-Funding for the Darjeeling Hills Bible School
-Dr. & Mrs. Rai as they begin to share ministry responsibilities
-Kingchur’s ordination and provision for his family
-Arjun’s graduation and pursuit of full-time ministry in Nepal this fall
-Opportunities to boldly and effectively share the Gospel to the villagers
-Individual & collective growth according to God’s will
-Group unity
-Health
-Safety

This morning we flew over Mt. Everest. It was AWESOME! :)

P.S. I’ve single-handedly convinced a group of 10 other college girls that our evenings are best spent watching the World Cup in different culturally themed pubs. We collectively decided that the one ref who quite possibly made the worst call in the history of “football” in one of the most recent U.S. games is currently the most hated man in America. Not that we hate...