Arduous Encouragement

Last week took me on a trip to Makwanpur district in central Nepal. Makwanpur is adjacent to the district that I live in, but the differences are profound.

I went for ServLife's Hope Fund. In the small village of Thingan, there is a church planted by a church planter from our training center. He's led his fellowship there for about two and a half years. Visiting these church planters is almost always adventurous and always encouraging.

Upper Thingan

This particular church planter is the only Christian in his family. His dad is a witch doctor, no joking. I didn't see him in practice, but he does make a good buffalo milk and honey mixture for breakfast.

Fellowship Hall

The fellowship is held in his home, a humble but adequate building made for people shorter than me. The room where the church meets is big enough to comfortably hold 10 Americans. They regularly host around 40 people, but if they had twice that in these quarters, there would still be no complaints!

The adventurous part was reaching the village. The road was unpaved almost all the way from Kathmandu, but was a very peaceful ride on my motorbike. When we got to a river, the situation shifted a bit.

Still smiling, not done pushing yet (bridge in background)

To get across the river, a couple hundred feet below, we had to drive across a suspension footbridge. That was the easy part. After the footbridge, the road narrowed to about 16 inches wide. After about 100 yards, it widened out to 12 feet or so, but it wasn't a road any longer. It was a very, very steep (55 degrees or so) scree slope. Utterly unrideable. We (I was with a Nepali friend) had to push our bikes up this slope for about a half mile. That was exhausting, but not the end of it. At the top of this horrible road, there was a boulder abotu 4 feet tall that we had to lift the bikes over in order to continue.
Pointing to the boulder
After the boulder, we could ride again, but I had a flat on my front tire. The only option was to ride on it anyway. We made it to the village at dusk. When we went to leave, we took another route. It was about 3 times as long, but there was a tire repair place on the way and no boulders. I rode for about 35 miles of very rough road on the flat tire. When I got to the repair shop, they couldn't find the hole, so I just replaced the tube. The good news was...absolutely no damage to the tire or the rim.

Chick Mobile (delivering baby chickens)

Busy & Bandha

Busy
For the last week or so I have been hosting some people from the States here in Nepal. There were 3 of them. Though things were very rushed and busy, having them here was extremely refreshing.

With the visitors, I traveled both to far west Nepal and Raxaul, India. In the west, we looked around at some of the ServLife projects that are going on and that might be happening in the future. We also met up with a few contacts in the area. Traveling out there is not typical for visitors here for a week or so. It really isn't that scenic or touristy. At all. However, things went well. We were there for two nights, though one of the visitors left his passport there for a third night. Leaving your passport in the rural areas of Nepal isn't reccommended.

Digital Studs of Far West Nepal

One night in Kathmandu and we headed off to Raxaul. Most of us did, anyway. The guy without the passport waited another day while his traveling papers caught up with him. He joined us in Raxaul for the second night.

Bandha
Today the family and I were driving through Kathmandu to meet someone for breakfast. Bad Idea. There were several protest marches across the city that all met in one place (near where we were headed). We got caught behind a couple of them and in one instance the group of agitators started kicking the car and opened a door! Then they saw that we were foreigners and cleared a way for us. I locked the door and stepped on the gas. It was exciting, but I do not like situations like that. Let's hope Nepal can move on from these petty political games.

Magazine Article

There is a magazine that focuses on the SF Bay Area called Eucalyptus. Or maybe it's Eucalyptus Magazine. I'm not really sure. Anyway, in the November issue, there's a story about volunteering during vacations and it has a little bit in it about us! We thought that was pretty cool. If you want to read the article, click on the title of this blog post. The article is on page 33.

Someone commented that I should just write about life here and not be too concerned about whether or not it was interesting. I'm sure that much of the mundane in Nepal is quite the opposite for those used to a more orderly world. Here's some of the mundane.

We're getting a KFC and Pizza Hut. This is monumental news. These will be authentic, western fast food chains right here in Nepal. I know many people will be disappointed and worried that Nepali culture is on its way down the toilet, but I'm not. If these restaurants are run as well as they should be, the inefficiency and lack of customer-focus that is rampant in Nepali businesses will be exposed. The culture could actually benefit! People say I'm a dreamer. At the very least, we'll have good chicken and pizza.

I'm expecting a few visitors from California and Indiana over the next few weeks. While I'm excited about them coming, I am a bit worried that they will experience a bit too much of the culture here (this is not related to the above paragraph). The Maoists are on their cultural revolution/power grab warpath again. They've gone as far as saying they will prevent all domestic and international flights from operating in their country on Nov. 10. This is unprecedented and an extremely unfortuneate scheduling problem. I am supposed to fly domestically on that day and I know of 3 people flying in or out on international flights that day. I find comfort in knowing that the Maoists have lived up to very few of their promises in the past.

Duck and Cover

It's Friday night and it sounds like a war zone outside! No, it's not election time in Nepal again, it's Tihar (known as Dipwali in India).

This holiday brings lots and lots of fireworks. Most of them are just loud, but there are a few pretty ones too. Almost every house and place of business has painted a target on their doorstep for the goddess Laxmi to land on and bring wealth. I really, don't know much more about this holiday than that. Yes I do. Yesterday, the crows were worshipped. Today, the dogs were worshipped. Tomorrow the ox is worshipped by some and others worship piles of cow dung. The day after that, younger brothers are worshipped. Pretty interesting.

Tonight, I won't sleep well. Lights are on everywhere, 'Christmas' style lights are hanging from most houses and businesses, candles are lit in windows and doorways (not at my house), and fireworks are going off well into the night.

How Catching

Catching up and catching colds. That's what we've been doing lately. This past month (yeah, it's been a while) was pretty full. I took a road trip with a friend to help him move from Kathmandu, Nepal to Siliguri, West Bengal, India. Road trips by American standards just don't happen here in Nepal, but we tried our hardest. We brought a dog. Our MP3 players were bringing the tunes, we brought cookies and a coffee thermos with us too. One big difference was our top speed was somewhere around 52 mph. That turns 360 miles into a very long trip.

On my way back to Kathmandu, I stopped by Sanne to check on the micro finance program. All was running well. People are still taking care of their micro businesses and making their micro repayments. We wanted to start another loan or two, but it's festival season here, so almost nothing is allowed to happen. There are two festivals, Dashain and Tihar, that happen in the span of five weeks. During those five weeks, no body can be bothered to make any changes to the status quo. Even political protests are put on hold. We'll do some more loaning after the festivals (November).

Now that I'm back, we're all sick. We've all been through the standard colds. Some of us have lost our voices. Two of us have had some stomach discomfort. We're slowly healing.

Our monthly updates that we send via email have been going out in PDF format lately. We've heard from most that they prefer to receive them like this, but others still are finding it a hassle. Be patient, we're working on a solution. :)

Far West Diaries #5

8/26/09

Fresh Air

One piece of knowledge that I've gained while walking around Lamki Bazaar... When there are half a dozen or more people huddled under umbrellas in the sun, using hammers to make gravel from rocks the size of their heads, it sounds a lot like the popping and crackling of a fire. I'm sure that to them, it also feels like they are in amidst the popping a crackling of a fire. That is a very, very hard life. I certainly do not envy them.

This morning on my run, I noticed a couple of other things...even though the majority of Nepalis may never drive on the roads here, they should be taught basic road safety. Though they won't get behind the wheel, they might find themselves under one if they continue to ignore buses, trucks, motorcycles and their horns. It is not uncommon to hear of pedestrians killed as they walk along the highway. Kids should be taught and parents should take responsibility.

The other thing is that basic sanitation techniques should be taught. I have seen many children openly defecating on the highway pavement, while their adult counterparts hid in the grass on the side of the roads. Often this is done just above a river that quite possibly provides drinking water to families downstream. I saw even more evidence on the pavement, though I was lucky enough not to have stepped in it. Sure, it could be dogs, but I haven't seen that many dogs around. Instead of spreading it around, they should come up with one area for a latrine, away from water sources.

For those familiar with John Deere products, this is not an original.

Far West Diaries #4

8/25/09

Written

I've spent the last several days helping children write letters and documenting the process. It's been really fun. Every school I go to, I'm the novelty. I'm the show-and-tell. Yes, it gets old, but there are worse things in life.

One of the highlights, though, has been the teachers. Usually there is one teacher who is the most confident in English and strikes up a conversation. In a school nearby, I met Rajendra (not his real name). Actually, I met him about 6 or 7 months ago when I was here last time, but I forgot all about it.

He reminded me that I gave him my phone number and email address when I was here before. Usually, I don't do that. That's a death wish. He told me that he lost my contact information and I couldn't be happier. Later in the day, I met him at a tea shop.

As we chatted over our cups of tea, I remembered why I gave him my info in the first place, then I gave it to him again. He's really amazing for a 21 year old. His parents both work in India. He takes care of his younger sister and brother. He is trying to finish his bachelor level degree in English. He has been teaching English for three years now. And he wants to get married. He's very hard working, easy going, and responsible.

He complained about how hard it was for him to bet by. When school is in session, he studies and works from 6 am to 4 pm. When it is not in session, he works in his fields to raise rice and wheat for he and his siblings to live off of. He's remarkably ambitions, especially for a Nepali. He told me that if he works really hard, he will save enough money to get to America. He knows that if he gets there, he'll have to work even harder just to break even. He wants to get there and save money.

When you meet someone like him, regardless of age or ethnicity, they immediately earn your respect.

Because I knew some of the teachers at his school are Christian, I asked if he was. He said no, but he's heard about it and wants to go to church if he can find the time. Then he said he had a Bible at one point, but a friend took it along with his mobile phone out to the hills somewhere and he hasn't seen it for 6 months or so. I told him I could get him another Bible at some point and he was greatly appreciative.

**The next day I delivered a Nepali New Testament, the only spare Bible I could find in the area.

Far West Diaries #3

8/23/09

Blazing Terai

I went running yesterday. When people saw me exercising, it was like they were watching an alien break-dancing (fascinating, you know). I must have been the most interesting thing in town since the 'tractor burning program' two days earlier. It's a bummer I missed that.

I'm training for the Kathmandu ½ Marathon. Yesterday was Saturday and therefore my long run day. I went 10 miles, most of it actually running. It turns out, the humidity here in the southern plains of Nepal is quite oppressive. I'd say I actually ran about 94% of the distance and walked the rest. I was parched when I came back to Lamki Bazaar and had a tough time finding drinkable water.

Church on Saturday went well. I prepared a few days in advance and found that to be adequate. I know some people like to prepare a month in advance and some people like to wing it, expecting God to provide the words. I think he provided the words a few days in advance. I talked about being lost, in many senses, as related to Luke chapter 15. Including translation, the sermon went on for 45 minutes. By western standards, that is almost too long. By Nepali standards, it was almost long enough.

Today is Teej festival. It is a day that women all over Nepal (and India too, I suspect) deprive themselves of food so that their husbands may be blessed. They don't deprive themselves of fun, however. There was lots of music and dancing today on the streets. It's quite a spectacle, all those hungry ladies dancing.

Pictures are scenes around the bazaar town of Lamki during the Teej festival.

Far West Diaries #2

8/21/09

Today, after finally reaching Lamki Bazaar, Udaya urged me to join him on a side trip to his home village where one of his nephews was celebrating his 9^th birthday.

We went. It was fine. As expected, Dhal Bhaat was enjoyed by all. Quite unexpected was the English conversation I encountered by people in that village. I was impressed.

On the way home, in the dark, on the back of a motorcycle, I looked up to see the stars. It's always nice to see stars. What really caught my eye were the trees. They are tall and thick, but they twinkled! It was as if they were adorned

with Christmas lights. Lightning bugs were hugging the edges of the trees, maybe 100 ft in the air, as if they were waist-level bushes. It was a nice surprise.

The picture on top is of a Terai tribal village; on bottom is a cowshed.

Far West Diaries #1

8/21/09
In western Nepal

I'm writing this as I take rest at a place called Traveler's Village in Nepalgunj. A friend of mine was out this way a few weeks ago and stumbled on this place. He recommended it to me saying that they've got good burgers. I took the bait and sought it out.

Most people I know have little knowledge of Nepalgunj. Even those who have lived in Nepal for a long time don't make it out here often, if at all. In light of that, here's a description.

Have you seen pictures of the plains in India, where there is little shade lots of dust, domesticated beasts and plenty of sweating humanity? Well, the southern geographic region of Nepal, known as the Terai, is exactly like that. This is the Gangetic plain, where India's holy river collects momentum from it's tributaries and eventually flushes it into the Andaman Sea. Thankfully, it is monsoon. Dust is down and the area has mostly received it's annual flushing.

I only relay this description so that you can know the potential of Nepal's Terai. This area also has the potential for calm and relaxation. That is what the Traveler's Village has succeeded in. I'm sitting in the garden of the lodge preparing for a hard week. Now is the calm, who knows what the rest of the week will bring.


Though I took a micro-bus and a motorcycle, the pictures are of more popular transport.

Not a Preacher

I'm leaving for Far-Western Nepal (the official name of that region; there are also a Western and Mid-Western Regions) on Friday. I'm excited about the chance to meet all the new kids that are sponsored through ServLife's scholarship program. Another facet that I'm not all that excited about is on Saturday.

Nepali church happens on Saturday and they've asked me to preach. This won't be the first time, and it's probably not the last. It's just that I'm never that comfortable with it. I feel unqualified. I'm sure that's true. I just hope that there is less of me and more of Him revealed that day.

I'll bring back some more pictures and stories next week.

Rooftop monsoon view of Kathmandu.


As a way to motivate myself to stay in shape, I'm telling everyone that I will run the Kathmandu (half) Marathon. I haven't signed up yet, but I have begun training. The race is in 5 weeks or so. That's not a lot of time when it comes to training for distance running. I would prefer 10 or 12 weeks, but it is what it is. Trying to do this during monsoon and when I've got a lot of work-trips coming up isn't easy. But it's necessary.

I'm going for it anyway.



Solomon playing in the rain.

Kathmandu

We're all back in Kathmandu again. It is nice to be home. We're in a place now that feels more like home than any place we've lived in the last 3 years. Of course we're still renting; foreign ownership of land is prohibited in Nepal. But we feel somehow more commited now.

I was sitting down to prepare a group bible study that I'm leading tonight and I realized that it's past time for a new blog post. Waaay past time.

We've been back for just over a week and we've been able to introduce Sophia to nearly everyone here. We've also started to plan some of our outreach. There is a trip to western Nepal in the works now. It is time to see some of the scholarship-receiving kids again, visit the school that is recovering from a bit of kidnap drama, and move the Hope Fund into new villages. It has the potential to be a very fruitful trip.

Right now, as in today and tomorrow, we're waiting on visas. Our passports are in the hands of those who place the stamp and sign their approval. Let's pray that the way is provided.

Also, this morning, we picked up a grandmother at the airport. She wanted to meet her granddaughter and she wasted little time doing so. Her journey took her over the Atlantic, through the Middle East and India, then into Kathmandu. Welcome!

Addition to the Fam

The posts to this site have been few and far between. I've been in a holding pattern of sorts, waiting for our new baby to arrive. The wait is over; she is here. Here's our baby, Sophia Reena Storm. She's a whopper at 9.5 lb. and 22 in. long. And she's healthy.

As we were waiting on Sophia, we took trip to the Phuket Zoo. Solomon was the dragon's snack. I wouldn't let him get this close to the tigers, though.

Trouble in Nepal

Jenn and I are in Thailand awaiting our new baby. She's due in two weeks, but the doc seems to think she'll come any minute now. We're here in Thailand, safe and sound.

But our friends in Nepal are experiencing some shock. A Catholic church in Lalitpur, the town we live in, was bombed during a service on Saturday. Two people died an another dozen are injured. This is the first attack on a church in Nepal. The authorities are still in the process of figuring out which end is up, though they did get around to warning some other churches that were in session on Saturday. See the article on the BBC.

Please keep Nepal in your prayers.