"jaymasee" (i don't know if that's how you spell it in nepali), it's the "hello" greeting amongst christians here. otherwise, "namaste". i hope you all are well.
just wanted to send a quick email about our first week in nepal. we're currently chilling at our lovely hosts' home, helping out with last minute logistics before the US team arrives late tonight. and in between i get a few min to write you.
20 members from alabama, will be arriving to join our trekking team. we're dividing up into four groups, going through different routes. john and i will be taking a group up the most remote places of the four, and we have been informed that it will be a "rough it" 10 days. we're so terribly excited about it. i know john the mountain man who's been growing the beard i requested, is especially thrilled to be in his element. i too, although a little bit nervous about the physical aspect of the trip, especially since i haven't gone running all week and feel a bit weak today, am still very eager and excited to see life in the mountain villages. we'll have four people from the us join our team, along with our nepali trekking guide, and of course, two boys from the children's home. obviously, we won't have internet there, but we'll be sure to update you upon return, with stories and photos.
the third intern, who is going through this experience with us, is going to stay here in the city with the korea team, to faciliate a program with the children. she has been having eye problems, please pray for her.
i wanted to update you on the past week. due to security issues, i'll leave out names of people and places (i know i've mentioned them before but if you could, please leave those out when responding to us via email). the hosts got us our own house to rent during our two months here, which is a far better deal than staying in hotels or motels. they have so generously provided some furnishings and it's a cozy space. and the best thing about it is that we live literally six steps across from the children's home. we have been able to eat breakfasts and dinners there with the kids. we join them in their morning prayer time and witness God's power in that little prayer room. one morning one of the girls, probably in grade 6, told us that as she was praying God gave her a picture of all these rivers flowing down from the mountains. She kept seeing more and more separate rivers and they all eventually met into a big ocean. She went on with such insight that God was showing her that these individual rivers were leading into God's ocean of unity. The host who was leading the prayer time went on to talk about how all the Koreans, Nepalis, Americans, Canadians, British, Australians, Tibetans, people from all the tribes would be flowing into that ocean, where though we are so different, we would all join in to praise God. It was such a beautiful vision and the way the girl told it with authority left an imprint on my heart.
another 13 year-old girl came up to john, the other intern, and i individually and told us that as she was praying, God had given her a verse from Eph 6:19-20 specifically for the trekking team. And she's not even going on the trek, the selfless obedience and encouragement that a girl that age would give. I was moved. the passage says, "Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." These words really reflect our hearts. Please pray for us in this way.
during our time here we were also able to offer some music and art classes to the kids. the third intern is a pianist and piano teacher. she has prepared a music camp for the kids that she will be doing while john and i go on our second trek in a couple of weeks. the chidlren sing with such life and heart. she is introducing some harmonizing, and basic music theory. i'm sure the kids love it. i taught some art classes, and felt completely in my element. the classes were divided up into three groups, two days. so the first day i taught basic color theory and had them mixing colors. mix mix mix, i kept telling them. with a flashlight against the wall, they traced silhouettes of their faces and then i had them apply the color mixing into the their profiles. i think they loved it. i kept encouraging them not to copy each other (as i've been told that they do often here, as they do in korea:)) but to come up with a unique piece. they are such creative children. i kept thinking of my "art grandma" from korea, as i call her now, who tells me everytime i telephone her that she prays for john and i everyday, that we'd go out to the mission field, and that i'd be able to teach art (when i first moved back to korea, she spent several months teaching me an elementary art curriculum that she had developed and used for years, so that i could use it on the mission field, this was before i ever wanted to be a missionary, but she kept praying and here i am now:)). the next day we had more classes, and i had each kid draw/paint/collage/create their own rivers that would all meet into one big ocean (using the vision that the girl had shared the previous morning). i loved seeing what they came up with. i brought back a lot of the craft materials that i had from korea, and was glad for it, as they have very limited art supplies here. during the classes i kept thinking how much i loved the informal class setting, not being part of a formal educational institution, but free to be organic in the learning process. and the kids here absorb everything!
while the art and music was going on, john was helping out with the logistics of the teams that are coming, and also helping with standardizing some of the prep work that goes into hosting short term teams. his organized, engineering mind went into play:).
we also spent one night playing a whole bunch of team games, as part of their family night event. they wanted us to facilitate some team building games. john led that and the kids had a blast. and so did we.
there are five new little boys, that are to DIE for, they are so so so adorable. they are starting to learn english so we can communicate with them. all the other children, we remember from our last visit and they love on us and we love on them and it's a place that john and i both feel so alive. it has been wonderful to see how some of these chidlren have matured since our last visit.
if you haven't figured out yet, we love being here. john says that the thing that sealed the deal for him in knowing that i was to be his wife, was when i said that i felt most alive in the third world. well, here we are, back in our element, and still waiting eagerly for the Holy Spirit's leading for our future. We still have 7 weeks or so left of our field internship, so there's a whole realm we have not explored yet. But we pray that God will reveal what he wants from us and for us. we would really appreciate your prayers too. that we would be so soft hearted to know what God's will is, if this is the place we belong, if the ethnic tibetans are the people that he wants us to be with.
this morning, i was flooded with tears and emotions of awe and wonder at how big our God is. i thought of all the dots that he connects to make his perfect plan align. and those dots, we don't always see, but there are certain times in our lives where we get a glimpse of that wide picture, and wow it's so big and glorious. That he sent his son Jesus Christ to die and bear our punishment, show his power in his redemption, and then to give us the freedom that he so freely gives when we believe in him. That no matter how big our problems seem, how many our issues may be, he still holds us and wants us to know how much he loves us, and then he gives us wings to soar, to give to others, what he has given us. And all this, to bring glory to God. God is so good and glorious. i hope you all are experiencing that wherever you are.
thanks for reading all of this, i didn't expect it to be this long!!!!!
love you all, soyon and john.
but then again we've had awesome times too...
with grandma and grandpa jones...in wichita, kansas
in caves...in birmingham, alabama
and shooting guns...in the south
sliding down poles like a firefighter...at the dream center in alabama
or going to a show...in west hollywood, california
enjoying yummy food...at in-n-out burger
2 free tickets to Disneyland
and oh that southern california weather...
in churches...
in homes...
in grade 2 classes?!...
and family...
and meeting new friends...
