moments in time...

As God is continually at work here and all over the world, we are constantly amazed and in awe of how He uses the Body of Christ to love others as He loves us. This first photo was taken just before many of the long-term families left Tansen for their furloughs. It's pretty mind-boggling to think that God has brought all of these people from all corners of the world to this place at this time to carry out the mission of the Gospel. We are from all different countries, cultures, and ethnicities, but we are all here for the same purpose. In this moment in time, it's encouraging to know that God is using each of us in a unique way to work together as just a small part of the Body of Christ. This photo represents a sampling of how He binds us together as one family in one faith. The rest of the photos in this post aim to reveal His presence in each and every moment in time. Enjoy!

countries represented in this photo: Australia, Britain, Korea, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United States

Next week we are headed to Pokhara in order to renew our visas. It's hard to believe that we are almost half way through our time here, but we are definitely looking forward to this vacation for some rest and refreshment. Please pray for safe travels as the roads are winding and the rains are coming. And pray that Kim continues to grow in her tolerance of creepy crawling things as there are many leeches to deal with during the monsoon. Thank you all for your prayer and support, and for your interest in this amazing country of Nepal! We hope to blog in two weeks once we return from Pokhara!

aath paath ("ahht pahht")

This blog title means, "lesson 8."  To be more accurate, we should have titled this post, "aath haptaa," which means "week 8."  But we enjoy so many of the melodic alliterations in the Nepali language, we couldn't resist this one.  It's official though, we've been in Tansen for two months now!  We were thinking it would be nice to try and summarize how the experience has been thus far, but with EVERYTHING being new and different, putting into words the last 8 weeks seems an insurmountable task.  So instead, we thought we'd give you a few examples of how God faithfully carries out His sanctifying work in our lives in the more "unexpected ways."  We know He brought us out here for many reasons, and even though we may not see the fruit of His works at this moment, we trust that all of those reasons are for His glory and for our good.  

the novelties of being in Nepal...

- Calmly removing large spiders, beetles, or other stinging insects from the home is now a daily routine

- Cooking rice without a rice cooker is actually easier than we thought

- Teaching Sunday School is now something we know how to do together

- Walking a mile to buy groceries or have a meal at a restaurant helps to decrease the guilt of having eaten too much

- Listening to the high-pitched "munchkin-land" voices of the kids out here has become our daily dose of laughter 

- Talking about the functions of your GI system with others in the mission community no longer seems embarrassing, rather, quite entertaining

- Although we come from many different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, as part of one Body of Christ, it's fascinating to see how the many differences come together in seemingly perfect unity for His glory! 

Feeling loved and seeing how God answers your prayers is perhaps the most encouraging experience of all. Thank you and we praise God for you all!

a quiet afternoon

the field just outside of the hospital compound where we go to listen to the children play in the evenings

this is why Kim sees so many people with neck and back pain in Physio

chores before school

chores after school

rangi-changi!

Kim's personal favorite of Tom's photos thus far

several weeks ago, we posted a photo of these boys looking at themselves in Tom's camera... this is what they saw!

our apologies: we know these types of photos are not very pleasing for some of you to see, but we just can't get over how crazy amazing the critters out here in Nepal actually are (fortunately we met this character out on the trail and not in our bathroom!)

    

  

a Baptism in Tansen, Nepal!

[4] We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

[5] For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. [6] We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. [7] For one who has died has been set free from sin. [8] Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. [9] We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. [10] For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. [11] So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

~ Romans 6:4-11 ESV ~

On April 30, 2011 twenty-four Nepali people were baptized into a new life in Christ Jesus.  It was only the second time we had attended Tansen Church for worship when they announced the reminder of the baptism service to follow that day.  Not sure if the opportunity would present itself again in our time here, we quickly grabbed our cameras and made our way to meet the bus that would take the lot of us down to the river for this blessed event.  

God's presence was palpable that day.  He was in the bus as joyful and fervent praise songs drowned out the loud diesel engine for the 45 minute drive.  He was in the refreshing waters of the river as people cooled off with splashing and laughing.  And He was in each of us, His children, as our hearts overflowed with joy in celebrating the new lives these 24 Nepalis were born into that day.  God blessed us all as we prayed and sang Him praise for the work He has done in all of our lives.  We pray He will continue to work through the Body of Christ here in Nepal, and all over the world, to call more people to His kingdom.  We also pray you may be moved by some of these photos of the day in the same indescribable way we were.  Praise Him for His grace and mercy in our lives!     

the Hulandi Khola in which the baptisms occurred

creating the pool for the baptism

Rina (on the left) was baptized last year. She was there that day to celebrate the baptism of her father, stepmother, and younger sister, Bipinaa.

Bipinaa's baptism

there were 24 Nepali men and women baptized that day

Praise God for His work here in Nepal!

Rebecca (on the left) is the Christian Occupational Therapist Kim works with at the hospital and has become good friends with; Elaine (middle) is a missionary from Australia with several years of experience here in Nepal. Her husband, Graham, is a general surgeon at the hospital, and the two of them have been a huge blessing to us as they have taken us under their wing during our time here. 

[4] There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— [5] one Lord, one faith, one baptism, [6] one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. [7] But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.

 ~ Ephesians 4:4-7 ESV ~