2010 Nepal Mission Trip Report

From November 17th to December 4th I was given the privilege of going to Nepal in the work of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Conway Celebration Church worked all year to raise money for this trip and send our team (one of 4 international mission trips this year). This time I took my wife Kim and my 3 year old son, Evan! Steve Wingo was also on our team, and Jacksonville Christian Fellowship (Jacksonville, AR) worked in partnership with us, sending a team that met us in Nepal (Pastor Kirk and his wife Liz and son Will, and Cathy Spitler). In Kathmandu, Nepal, we met with Pastor Terry Simpson and Don Spitler, who had been teaching at the Bible college founded this year. This rounded out our team.
We were working with Pastor Ram Nepal, who oversees this multi-faceted ministry, Christian Witness For Nepal, Inc (www.cwfn.org). This Nepali brother was used by God to plant 300 churches throughout the nation of Nepal in the 1980’s. He has suffered beatings and imprisonment for the cause of Christ, and was forced to flee the country years ago. Now Nepal has a new president (its first president) and there is an open door for the spreading of the gospel throughout Nepal!

Here is a brief snapshot of the ministry brother Ram oversees. His home church is Covenant Christian Fellowship in Kathmandu, which he founded. Pastor Tikka is in charge while Ram is away. The church has a children’s home, which cares for some of the most precious little children in the world! A dear sister named Pramita is in charge of the children, and also runs a school for the ministry, which educates the orphans as well as other local children. Grace Bible College is also on site, founded this year by Terry Simpson. All of these ministries share the same compound, which brings them together as a family.

This ministry had great financial support years ago (when the building was constructed), and was thriving…until the support was lost. The church and the children struggled greatly for a long time, even for daily food. As pastor Ram met us, we have begun to stand with him and support this work, offering encouragement, fellowship, and financial help as the Lord supplies.

Pastor’s Conference
During this trip pastors gathered from all over Nepal for the 3rd annual pastor’s conference in Kathmandu. This was my second conference to attend, and it was a great blessing! Over two hundred pastors, college students, and local believers came together for the conference, where the first 8 chapters of Romans was taught. We covered the subjects of justification, sanctification and glorification in these Scriptures. Simple gospel truths seemed to explode in the hearts and lives of the people in attendance. There were shouts of praise as we studied what Christ has done for the believer, is doing, and will do upon his return.

VBS
The children were also taught. Steve Wingo put together a program for the children in the home, which explained the gospel. He was helped by Kim, Liz and Cathy. They did some hands-on crafts (such as making tie-dyed shirts!) and just loved on the children.

The Church
We worshiped with the church and had a little taste of heaven, as believers from opposite sides of the world glorified Jesus together. A problem with some division in the church was dealt with, and the church was encouraged to pull together in unity and build each other up. It was a sweet time!

Grace Bible College
Pastor Terry has done an excellent job teaching these students during the first year of this school. These students are passionate for Jesus! Pastor Kirk from Jacksonville will be traveling back in January to teach at the college during the next semester. There is great opportunity here to pour into young believers who will shake their nation for Christ!

Music
The church there has a wonderful music leader named Amit. He leads a very talented band that loves to magnify Jesus. I had the opportunity to sing and play guitar with them in a worship gathering! I also was able to sit down with Amit and just answer questions he had, encourage him, teach him some new songs, and pray together. Additionally, I lead the children in song on a few occasions, which was a delight. A local ministry also allowed me on two different days to come and lead them in praise and song; I joined with some amazing musicians and we made music to the Lord!

The Unity of the Churches
Pastor Ram met with several pastors from all over Nepal to discuss the establishment of a convention of churches which will work together in the gospel of Christ. A spirit of competition hinders the work and unity between the churches, and this problem was addressed. Please pray for this meeting to bear fruit for the future of the church in Nepal!

The Gospel Deed
We were able to deliver money for specific ministry needs, as well as donations to show the love of Jesus in a tangible way. Each child in the home received a backpack (Pramita told us this was just what was needed!), an outfit of clothes, and a care pack with socks and underwear, warm hat, toothbrush and tooth paste, comb or brush, etc. Toys and candy were also distributed. JCF also purchased Bibles for the children. The children’s kitchen was re-stocked, and one evening Steve Wingo cooked curry, flatbread and rice for the entire ministry! How blessed we felt to be able to extend God’s love in deed to these brothers and sisters!

The People
One of the biggest parts of this trip was simply the fellowship with the Nepali believers. These are some wonderful people who are kind and compassionate, giving and caring, gracious and hospitable; who love Jesus. They need encouragement! We were able to just spend time with them; to eat with them; to laugh and play and worship with them. This was a huge blessing! We had an instant connection with these brothers and sisters through our mutual faith in Jesus. The Spirit of God unified us and gave us deep love and joy in our times together.

Some Memories and Stories

• One brother told me that he remembered, when he was around 8 years old, when the believers in Nepal had to hide their Bibles. When they gathered for worship they would have to shut the doors and windows and be very quiet in their singing and preaching. How foreign to American believers! What a privilege it is to have no threat in our gatherings!
• One thing we've noticed about life in nepal is that the simple things in life are a great challenge, take a lot of time, and are expensive. Things we don't even think about are hard here. Along those lines, Kim got to wash a few loads of clothes by hand in the bathtub and hang them out to dry!
• Pastor Terry and Pastor Tikka baptized eleven believers while we were in Nepal. The church was gathered around the tank and singing while the people were immersed one by one. It was a great time of celebration. One young man named Samson was baptized, and his mother began loudly praising and thanking God!
• One day my family and I got to go on a small trek up a mountain in the country, through local villages. In several places we had to carry our son, Evan.  We were getting pretty tired when, after a while, we came to a few hundred concrete steps going very steeply up the mountain. At the top was a huge statue of Buddha. This was a place of idol worship!  Appropriately, our family had read Psalm 97 that morning, which gave us a fresh reminder of how idols are 'worthless.' All gods will worship the Living God (read Psalm 96 and 97)! It is so strange as an American to see a culture that is so given to worshiping images and statues. Shrines are everywhere on the street, temples abound; in the department store one day I saw idols for sale for home use - one was a swastika with the elephant god in the middle!!! Walking on the street one day we saw a dog with a red tika (candle wax dot on his forehead). We asked our host why and he said people had been worshiping that dog! Amazing. Romans 1 - they worshiped the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever blessed, so God gave them up to sins... Most of the people of Nepal are in bondage to idolatry. But Jesus can set them free!

A local pastor was quizzing my son Evan on his theology during our trip, and I was struck with an amazing thought. The pastor asked Evan how many gods there are. Evan said 'One.' The pastor asked, 'How many persons in God?' Evan said 'Three - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.' I thought, "By God's grace my 3 year old son has more Truth revealed to him than 99% of this idol worshipping nation! ! !" What a privilege to have the truth of Jesus Christ! And what a bondage idolatry is! Let us praise and thank the God of heaven and earth who has revealed himself to us in the gospel of Jesus, and let us cry out to God for the salvation of the lost who are scattered throughout the world! 'Let the nations be glad and sing for joy to God. Let the peoples praise him (Psalm 67).

Home at Last

After much travel, we are finally home safe and sound. Praise the Lord!

I am working on editing the video and we will be presenting a missions report to our home church, CCC, very soon. If you are interested in having a presentation on this mission trip in your church, home group, or ministry let us know!

Thank you all for your prayers and support. Glory to God!!!

Coming Home...

Greetings from Kathmandu, everyone, for the final time of this trip (Lord willing). We are scheduled to fly out around 10 pm tonight and begin the long journey home. 4 flights, layovers, scores of hours to think and pray and sort out what God has shown us; we truly need your continued prayers in this last leg of the mission.

I want to personally thank all of you who have prayed for us. God has kept us and sustained us and empowered us through the means of your prayers. Thank you also to those who have followed our mission on this blog, and who have left encouraging comments along the way. We all miss our families very much, and we're ready to be home. Yet we will miss our precious brothers and sisters in Nepal.

I also miss my church family immensely! I have been praying for you all, that God will pour out his Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened. I've prayed for your spiritual strength, and that you would increase in your faith in Christ and your love for the saints. I've prayed that God would continue to unify us and revive our hearts! I am excited and eager to see what God has in store for us in 2009. Glory to his name! I am encouraged and humbled, full and empty; challenged to lead CCC faithfully with increasing fire, truth, love, obedience and holiness.

Is the church in Nepal perfect? By no means. Like us they have their weaknesses, temptations, and shortcomings. But I have seen with my own eyes a mighty work of God in this nation. I have seen God overcoming the spirit of competition between pastors and ministries and churches. I have seen joy in the midst of persecution and poverty. I have seen a zeal for the spreading of the gospel, and vision to take it all over Nepal and outward to the ends of the earth. I have seen what I believe to be a biblical expression of apostolic ministry as Ram leads these pastors in the work of the Lord. AndI have seen practical expressions of the love of Christ, as the churches reach out in compassion and take in the orphans in their midst.

If God is pleased to let this work continue, and increasingly opens the doors of opportunity; and as we join this work in prayer, teaching, and financial giving, here is what we can expect to see in Ram Nepal's ministry in the future:
1. A giganctic network of pastors and churches working together to reach Nepal with Christ's message.
2. Orphans being loved and cared for, and possibly adopted internationally.
3. Biblical training for pastors.
And much more.

Please pray for this ministry, and God's glory in the face of Christ in Nepal.
I am touched and humbled and ecstatic. By his grace I will never be the same.
Glory to Jesus!

The Weak and the Strong

Yesterday we spent the day with the orphans. What beautiful children!! I am so eager to show you the pictures and video when we return. You will absolutely fall in love with these kids. We played lots of games with them, and bought a ton of pizza to provide a pizza party for about 150 children and the workers! With the pizza they served sodas, french fries and prawn crisps. The kids were delighted.

I was able to finally play some music with the young men (in their twenties) who lead worship here. They are called "His Almighty Band," and they are orphans who were taken in by Ram and Meena and have grown up in the orphanage. Now they are leaders. One of them works in the only Christian radio station in Kathmandu, called the Voice of the Lord. Currently His Almighty Band has the number one song on that station; it is called Psalm 23. I taught them my song, The One, and they really liked it. We played it together over and over as they were learning, and they plan to translate it into Nepali. I played electric guitar, and I was accompanied with a bassist, drummer, and a tambourine. Amit sang with me. What a joy!

In the evening we visited another children's home nearby, run by Ram's nephew. It was out in the sticks! We drove until the van could not climb the hill, and then we walked in the dark the rest of the way, looking out for jackals. We found a really beautiful complex with about 40 kids singing their hearts out with smiles on their faces. Then they took us up to the roof, where they had a fire. Using some chicken wire over the fire they grilled chunks of wild pig. We stuck them with a toothpick, dipped them in Thai chili sauce and ate them. So good! On the table there was about 10 dishes of food and we ate and talked. Then they said we were going downstairs for the meal. We thought we had already eaten, and we were stuffed from the pizza earlier and the food we had been eating. But they took us to a long table with candlelight (the power was out) and started bringing out dish after dish of food...another 10 dishes or more! There was mutton, pork, mushroom curry, pumpkin curry, soup, chutney, greens (saag) and a plate of raw vegetables. Then they served us coffee. Wow, what an honor!

Ram's nephew and wife are taking good care of these adorable children. I spoke with one young man who said his aim is to be a pastor, and I encouraged him. These are the weak; the lowly and despised in the eyes of man. But blessed and loved by Christ!

We went back to the hotel and rested. This morning we had no power, so we did our best to dress up nicely in the dark (also no hot water for showering). They took us to the President of Nepal's house, where we went through security and waited to meet him outside. This is the first president of Nepal, now that the civil war has ended last year and the King has been removed. It is similar to their George Washington. They also have a Prime Minister, who is a Maoist and responsible for the death of many Nepalis. But we were told that the president is the only politician in Nepal who is not corrupt; a good man who grew up poor, became a medical doctor, and now has a heart to bring democracy to Nepal. President Doctor Ram Baran Yadav. He has veto power over the Prime Minister and is the Commander in Chief of the army. So we were very excited and honored for this opportunity to meet him.

We were brought inside (leaving our shoes outside) to a room with a large couch. We were seated and served tea. Soon, the curtain was pulled back and the president entered the room dressed in traditional Nepali attire, consisting of a white tunic and pants, a shawl of some sort around his back, and the traditional men's hat of Nepal, the Topi. We all shook his hand and greeted him with, "It's an honor to meet you, your excellency." He sat on the couch in the middle of us and Ram introduced us. He told him about his work for the people of Nepal: helping the children and working in the medical field, as well as ministering to the spiritual needs. We all got to address him, and told him we wanted to help the people of Nepal, and that we were praying for him. He was very grateful and kind. We then had pictures with him, and then laid hands on him and prayed for him. What a unique and special opportunity!! Praise the Lord!

After leaving, we went to the house of the daughter of the former Prime Minister and met her. She is a member of parliament and part of the most influential political family in Nepal (similar to the Kennedy's in America). She played a large part in the current president's rise to office. She too was very down-to-earth and kind. We told her we are praying for Nepal.

So this morning we were given opportunity by God to meet and speak with the most powerful people in Nepal. Why us? Who are we? We feel unworthy to be on this trip, but we know God has opened this door. He is moving in a very timely and powerful way here, church! Please commit this country to prayer! We will be doing all we can in the future to help and support God's people and his work in Nepal.

Tomorrow night we will begin our return trip to the USA. Please pray for us!! We miss our families and churches so much, but God has shown us many great things. Ram is overjoyed and said this has been a completely successful trip. They are still getting good reports from the pastors at the conference. We look forward to sharing these experiences with you when we return, and joining hands to serve Jesus by ministering to the saints who need us in Nepal. Glory to God through Jesus Christ!! Jesus is the King of the Earth!

Beautiful

Today was taken up with 2 beautiful experiences here in Kathmandu, Nepal.

We met with around 30 pastors this morning in Ram's church building. These were mostly local pastors who minister in the Kathmandu valley. This meeting was similar to the pastor's meeting we had in Chitwan. Ram is assembling the churches for unified action, and the miracle is that they are following!! He really seems to have a biblical and apostolic ministry. Pastors from different denominations are coming together under Ram with a strong vision to reach all of Nepal with the gospel, and then go out to key cities all over Asia and the Middle East. This morning Ram shared this vision with the pastors. He told them that he had been gone (to the USA) for the past few years, but that he is still involved in this ministry, and is back to continue the work. He urged these brothers to continue meeting monthly for prayer and fellowship. Many of these pastors are Ram's personal converts.

After the meeting we pulled aside one pastor who had suffered persecution and I recorded a video of his testimony, given through a translator. He was kidnapped by Maoists and tortured for a month. He showed me a broken tooth that came through the beatings, and a scar on his neck from where the Maoists pushed a rod into his neck. They hung him upside down for long periods of time and threatened to kill him if he did not give them money. He called his son, who surrendered the deed to their land to the Maoists. Even after his release he is still under the investigation of the Maoists, and had to leave his remote ministry and flee to Kathmandu where it is safer. He is now trying to restart his ministry, while family members continue his former one. I felt so unworthy to stand in this man's presence. He is rich in heaven. He has not stopped serving Jesus faithfully. He knows it is worth the price. We prayed for this brother, and then I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a big, long hug. This was the first beautiful experience of the day.

In the afternoon we traveled up a LONG, winding road that brought us to the top of one of the Himalyan foothills. There was a nice resort there, and we enjoyed a cup of real coffee (the norm is Nescafe instant). On the roof of the resort was a lookout deck where we saw magnificent views of the foothills, villages, and then...BAMMO! The snow-covered peak of Everest rising above the clouds, 150 miles away. Beautiful.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to work with the orphans and they are planning to BBQ a wild pig. Then, we have been granted an audience with the President of Nepal for Thursday morning! We plan to give him a Bible. He is a Hindu.

God is humbling me and moving on me in a powerful way on this trip. I don't know what the results will be in my life, but I am being challenged and broken. Please pray for me, and for the team. And most of all, please pray for this awesome move of God in Nepal. It looks like God's time has come in this nation! There is a new government and freedom; There is a hunger and passion in the churches; and the pastors are coming together in unity under Ram's leadership and vision. They only need our prayers and support. Hallelujah! Jesus reigns over the darkness and idolatry of Nepal! He is gathering to himself a people in this nation, for his glory!!!

Trip to Chitwan: 1001 Traffic Jams

We finished the conference on Friday. The pastors seemed so blessed by it, and were praising the Lord. Our team loaded up in a van with Pastor Ram and the 3 young ladies who have been such a HUGE help to us: Pramita, Bimalay, and Samata. These ladies basically run the school and orphanage while Ram is away. They have waited on us hand and foot, helped us with the culture, taken us around the city and have blessed us beyond measure. Ram will be taking them to the States in the future as a gift to them for working so hard. You will all fall in love with them! They will come to our churches, Lord willing.

We started the drive out of Kathmandu valley. We were staring out the windows looking at all the sights. It was a 5 hour drive through the Himalayan foothills on windy roads. The van in many places was right next to huge dropoffs. After dark, the traffic stopped (the first of MANY traffic jams this weekend). There was an accident up ahead. Me, Wingo, Luke and Joseph got out and walked around. You could hear the river about 100 feet below the road. In the moonlight you could see the outline of the huge Himalayan peaks on both sides of us. Beautiful!

We got to Chitwan and spent the night. Saturday morning we split up and went to 3 churches to minister. Steve and I went with Ruth and Cathy to Pastor Harri's church (Ram's brother who has planted 64 churches in that area). The people sat on the floor, ladies on one side and men on the other. In front of them were the approximately 50 orphans who live in the first floor of the church building. They had a drum set, percussion, 2 acoustic guitars and a choir of young people. We worshiped for about an hour. It was amazing! EVERYONE sang with such passion, even the orphans. At times everyone would pray out loud. The kids had such looks of zeal as they prayed to God. Steve got up and shared from Psalm 4, and then I preached. The Lord put on my heart the message from our marriage conference, The Glory of Christ in Marriage from Ephesians 5. I spoke of marriage being a picture of Christ and the church. It was very well received. Afterwards I was asked to participate in a baby dedication. What an honor!

After a wonderful lunch we gathered at the church building again with about 30 pastors from that area, most of whom had not been able to come to the conference. There was an old baptist preacher present who was the very first Christian in the city. He has labored faithfully for many years, and has planted many churches. What an honor just to meet him! I felt like washing his feet. Ram introduced them to us and us to them, and then he shared his vision for spreading the gospel in Nepal and outwards. It is amazing how all these churches are coming together under Ram's leadership to work together. A couple of the pastor's had shared with us earlier (when Ram was not around) an amazing story. They estimate that there are now about a million Christians in Nepal, and that 75% of them came to Christ as a direct result of Ram's ministry!!! God is doing such an amazing work here. Ram has such a HUGE vision, and he needs a lot of help. We told him and the pastors that we are praying for them. So PRAY!!

After the meeting we loaded up and began the trip home. The 5 hour trip ended up taking about 8 1/2 hours!! There was a bad accident and a long taffic jam. We took an alternate route on one of the worst dirt roads alive. On the way we stopped to go on a cable car. I thought it was just over the river, but it ended up taking us almost a mile in the air over the Himalayas! We were packed in little cars, 6 to car, and it was very unnerving, but beautiful. About one in the morning we made it home exhausted. So today we slept in.

The clothes were distributed to the orphans today. We will distribute the rest of the candy and gifts tomorrow. They also took us to the famous Thamel tourist area, full of rickshaws, traffic, and persistent salesmen!

One thing that is blowing our minds is the number of shrines and temples. They are EVERYWHERE. It reminds us of Paul walking through Athens and seeing all the idols. This people needs Jesus Christ!

We are all doing well and we miss our family and friends. Please continue to pray for us, and PRAY for Ram and his ministry. God is building a glorious church in Nepal, and it is so amazing that we get to join him in this work! Glory to God!

Oh yeah, we ate a water buffalo pizza. It was so good!!

You can read Pastor Luke's thoughts on this trip at his blog, http://thinktheology.org/ .

New Year, Kathmandu Style

It's been a long and GOOD day. I taught my two sessions and Kirk saw people crying as I discussed the sinful condition of man and our utter helplessness and need for God. In later sessions there were people jumping and dancing, and a time on our knees praying and crying out to God. Wow!

It's almost 10 pm now and I'm back at the church building. We are getting ready for a New Year's Meeting to ring in the new year. They are doing a bonfire and Asian BBQ chicken. Smells good... I've been asked to preach at the meeting, and the Lord has given me a word of encouragement for these pastors. A holy, God-glorifying church is worth any price. No sacrifice is too much; no price is too high. It was worth it to God, who gave his Son. It was worth it to Christ, who gave himself at the cross. It was worth it to Paul, who endured all things for the sake of the elect. Is it worth it to us? Do we see the value in God's eternal purpose (Eph 3) of showing his glory in Christ through the church he is gathering? This is his work. I pray the pastors here will see the value of this work and continue to pour out their lives in it, for Christ's glory. It's worth it!!!

Even as I say that, I know that it is worth it for us to miss our family and travel around the world to build a holy church in Nepal. What a small sacrifice...

It's crazy that we'll be celebrating the new year while you guys are eating lunch. And as the clock strikes midnight, Kim and I will have been married 5 years. Happy anniversary, Kim!!!!

Much love and thanks to all of you who are praying. It's worth it!
Happy new year from the ends of the earth!!
I'm praying for you, CCC! Finish strong!

Mission Update

Hello everyone. I am typing this during lunch, so it will be fast (don't want to miss the niceness). I just finished teaching 2 sessions (my first time to teach since arriving) and it was very well received. I poured out my heart to these pastors as I taught on the sinful condition of man apart from Christ and our reliance on the Holy Spirit when evangelizing.

Let me comment on the Nepalese people. WOW. They are so beautiful, inside and out. What a tremendous culture! They are such servants, too, especially the women. They are waiting on us hand and foot. During meals they continually bring more and more until we have to say no more.

Kathmandu is crazy, beautiful and chaotic. Much poverty and so many people everywhere! The city schedules power shut-offs every day and night for different parts of the city because it can't run the whole city at once. Power is off for 82 hours per week! Last night it was off from 8:30 pm till about 2 a.m. Which means our heater did not work in the hotel room, and it was around 30 degrees! But a generator keeps the ceiling light and toilet working.

Kirk, Wingo and myself went to the airport last night to see if our luggage made it in on the 10 pm flight from Hong Kong. It did not. Please keep praying!

Kim mentioned that the orphans are living in the basement of the church building. They are precious, and well taken care of. But this ministry, like so many others, has MUCH need. There is so much we can do here to help. Let's pray about this!

Today is new year's eve and we will have a watch party service in church to bring in the new year. I think they may have me preach. I'm also very excited that on New Year's Day Kim and I will have been married for 5 years! I love you and miss you Kim!!!

Nepal Mission Update: The Conference Begins!

Praise God!!! I'm so happy to finally get an opportunity to sit down at a computer and give an update. Thanks Kim for passing on my quick update from my phone call (that 7 minutes was $20).
I think our bags went west to Hong Kong while we went East to London. But keep praying...hopefully they'll arrive soon.

I don't even know where to begin. I'm happy to report that there is a vibrant, beautiful, glorious church of the Lord Jesus here in Kathmandu, Nepal!!! This place is FULL of pastors and their wives and the orphans praising Jesus and receiving teaching in the word of God. They love to sing and worship the Lord, lifting hands and praying with passion. Almost is everyone is taking notes and turning with us in their Bibles.

The conference officially began today (Tuesday). The place is packed. They honored us this morning by introducing us to much applause and putting leighs around our necks made from fresh orange carnations (that smell wonderful) and pinning ribbons to us that say "guest." It was very humbling.

Steve Wingo taught his first lesson today and he did a GREAT job. He's bursting with joy and life over here... and it's contagious. I think God is doing a good work in him on his first mission trip!
I'll start my first teaching tomorrow.

It's surprisingly COLD here!! Yikes!

The food is wonderful and they are taking such good care of us.

Please continue to PRAY for us as we minister to the church here in Nepal. God is doing an awesome work in this part of the world. Praise his glorious name!

Nepal Mission Update: Bahrain

We are still alive. We made it to Bahrain, and we are very tired. Waited in Dallas airport all day, flew overnight to London (some of us didn't sleep at ALL), RAN through Heathrow to our connection, flew 6 1/2 hours to Bahrain (got a couple hours sleep on that one). So in the last 24 hours or so we've slept about 3?

Now we are waiting all night at the Bahrain airport (which is very cool...and expensive). We fly out at 4 am.

Luke and Joseph should be arriving about now in Kathmandu if all went as planned (the second plan... ). Pray for these guys.

Conway Celebration Church should be starting as I type this. We pray that God would bless your meeting and pour out his Spirit.

We love you all! Thanks for your prayers. Keep praying for our continued protection, rest, and the ministry in Kathmandu.

Kim and Stormie, we will email you more in Kathmandu, Lord willing. This internet is like $3 for a half hour. We love you guys...

Nepal Mission: Unexpected Start!

We are off to a very eventful start to this mission. At the airport in Little Rock I realized that I had forgotten my passport! At the Wingo's house I was making a copy of my passport for my carry-on, and I left it in the copier. Fortunately Kenneth and Melinda Halstead grabbed it and raced to Little Rock to save the day. How embarrassing! The veteran traveler making a loser mistake!

Then the delays... Chicago weather pushed our flight to Dallas back. And back. The 5:10 flight finally left at 8 pm. Unfortunately we missed our connecting flights. ALL of them! As we were landing in Dallas we were told that a new flight to Los Angeles was boarding, so we got off the plane and ran across the airport toward the new flight. We stopped to make sure this was right, and a friendly American Airlines employee dashed our hopes to pieces. "There are no seats on the flight. You are looking at a minimum of a day and a half..." Wow. The Nepali pastors are traveling from all over the country to be in Kathmandu on Monday for our conference. And they have to go home when the week is over. So we circled up and began to pray, as Kirk (our fearless leader) dealt with the airline guy.

This man was very nice and helpful. But he couldn't find a flight ANYWHERE. Finally he got us a new route. We would stay the night in Dallas and leave the next evening en route to London, then Bahrain, then Kathmandu - arriving on Monday at midday. So I'm writing this from the hotel in Dallas, waiting to fly to London this evening around 5 pm.

PRAISE GOD: They put us up at Embassy suites (4 rooms, $389 per room per night...for free). Also, Luke and Joseph (pastors who we were to meet in Los Angeles) both made it to LA and caught the flight to Hong Kong. So they will start the conference on Monday in our place. They were supposed to teach on Tuesday but they will teach on Monday as we are arriving. Also praise God that all our team members are keeping godly attitudes and remembering that God is sovereign and "works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Eph 1:11). We are on HIS timetable, praise God!

This new flight route for the 6 of us will have us completely circling the earth in 2 weeks! Instead of flying west from LA to Hong Kong, then east for the return, we are now crossing the Atlantic to London, through the Middle East (Bahrain), to Kathmandu; for the return home we should cross the Pacific from Hong Kong to LA as planned. Both oceans!

Please Pray:
1. For our continued protection and God's blessing as we travel to Kathmandu.
2. For Luke and Joseph as they travel ahead of us and begin the conference.
3. For our luggage to make it to Kathmandu (we don't know if it went ahead of us or not).
4. For flexible attitudes and the fruit of the Spirit to continue in us.
5. That God would be glorified and pleased!!

We love you all and we are praying for you. Thank you SO MUCH for standing with us in prayer. In Psalm 2, God tells Jesus to ask, and he will give him the nations. Together, we are joining Jesus in receiving for himself a people in Nepal for his glory forever. What a mission!!