Portion for Orphans Newsletter

January 10, 2006

Update from Kathmandu, Nepal

"And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my Name, I will do it."
John 14:14

" My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness... when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Cor. 12:9-10 (Jesus and Paul)

It is difficult to know where to begin. For me, this has been the best week yet of our journey for many different reasons. Each prayer request from last week has been more than answered. Below is a picture of some of the girls who gather together each day to "learn Bible" as that is what they themselves requested above all.

Our new little friends at Parijat Nestling Home, Kathmandu, Nepal

So... they are learning Bible, and I am so excited to be a part of it. 0.02% of people in Nepal are Christian. It is difficult to know where and how to begin teaching Bible to a group of girls who've grown up in a country where it seems most everyone believes in Hinduism and Buddhism all mixed together. I just started with John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." Don't get me wrong, my goal here is not to convert orphans, or anyone for that matter, to my religion, but to give each and every one who is interested, the opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ, and to decide for themselves whether they believe. I've encouraged them to pray for themselves concerning truth. Their response was translated to me, "How will God hear and understand my prayer if I pray in Nepali."

Above is Ishwori (pronounced Ee-sworry). She is not up for adoption, as none of these girls are. This orphanage is run by a family and each girl is considered like another daughter. It works beautifully, everyone helping and taking care of the chores and even cooking for themselves, making tea for each and every visitor. Ishwori is about 12 years old and she is incredibly intelligent, winning every game that she plays from Nepali board games to Trivial Pursuit. She, and many others, memorized John 3:16 and John 6:47 the very first time that I read them. And she is the one who, after seeing John 3:16 drawn out one time, has stepped up each of the following days to draw it out for the rest of the group. She can almost playback every word I say. I am walking them slowly thru the life of Christ, so each day we sing a few songs, they tell me the story up to where we left off and then we begin from there. I cannot express what a priviledge this is for me, and a challenge too, I'm teary-eyed telling you about it.

I was wondering for how long the director here would allow his girls to sing praise songs to Jesus on the patio/roof each day so when he asked to talk with me about something I began praying immediately. Our conversation, among other things, included how we'll stay in touch after we leave and about how we should bring along more volunteers next time. We also spoke about how your donations can best be used and he said that they are looking to set up a hair salon in the home for the surrounding neighborhood. The girls have received some training already. This is a great way for the money to be used, especially since it will help the girls to have some training for when they move out of the home. Some of what you've set aside for these children will be used in that way... but there is more than enough for that so I'll keep you posted on the rest.

Prayer Requests: Please be praying over the girls at Parijat Nestling Home, that God would use us to meet their every need. Please also be praying for all of our new friends (some of whom are reading this) with whom we have had opportunities to share the gospel. Just pray that we would be able to help them in their search for truth.

Other interesting tidbits:

• We live with a Hindu family and eat dal (bean soup), rice, veggies, and some good tomato 'stuff' twice a day with our hands. :)
• There is a son and a daughter our age.
• They drink Chai tea here at least twice a day and it's the exact same taste as Chai tea in Kenya :)
• During the day it is beautiful and very warm here... at night I sleep with my hat, jacket and gloves on.
• We went to a Hindu Temple the other day and witnessed what they do instead of burying people when they die. As people of all ages look on, the body is prepared for cremation by the family who then places them on an altar and sets it on fire. WHOA. Can't believe I saw something like that. Talk about a reminder that life is temporary.

Josh and some new friends :)