Spoon fed
One thing that has struck me here in the last few days is how eager people are to learn. Whether it is English, or something in church, people pay close attention, and try to learn new words, and concepts instead of simply getting enough of an idea of what’s being communicated and moving on.
I noticed that in church here, at least in the English service, and some youth groups, about half the people take notes. Maybe so that they can digest the English teaching at their own pace, or maybe because they understand and are willing to work for what they learn? I’m not sure that’s the case in back in Canada. In fact, I rarely see people value what they learn at church/youth/small group studies. Maybe we’re spoon fed too much, or maybe we take the access to teaching for granted?
Kee Garn Nay, Katum Chha
Or “What to do? it sucks…”
So i’ve been feeling a bit sick yesterday and still not quite right today… In general, I’ve been feeling a bit run down the last few days…. i think it’s because i’m spending so much energy just trying to stay warm… looks like i need another trip to thamel to buy some warmer gear…
On another note, these guys:
want to kill the guy who lives 2 doors away from us. So now there’s a police checkpoint coming into our neighborhood. I gotta admit, i get a bit jumpy every time there’s a loud noise or someone bangs on a gate.
Kee Garn Nay, Katum Chha…
Comparing Churches
Different:
- Men, women, and children all sit separately. I’ve been thinking of the merits of this… it seems to work really well…
- When it’s prayer time, everyone prays all at once… out loud
Same:
- I still get up late for church
- Cell phones still go off in the middle of service
Sunday
Sunday was a pretty cool day. We went to one of the slum areas by the river to give some food and found there was a church setup there already. We didn’t feel like going… The morning hadn’t gone well while we were trying to buy supplies, and I was pretty tired having stayed up the night before to prep for speaking at the english service. Mark, Joshua, Bishwas, and I spent some time praying and then decided to go anyway.
They were appreciative of the food we brought for the children. Parents would come running with their kids to get whatever they could. They were all really friendly and surprisingly organized. Each family had their own little plot of land marked out with some makeshift fences and they took pride in keeping the area clean. In fact the street looked cleaner and in much better shape than the streets around the church that is in one of the nicer parts of town.
I can’t say anything spectacular happened, other than me feeling better about going. I felt that we should go, even though I was tired and wanted to prepare for speaking. Then it occurred to me that perhaps going was God’s way of preparing me to speak…. and it definitely was. I was speaking on obedience, and I realized that I could not have spoken with a clear conscious if I hadn’t gone.
Speaking at a church where you’ve never been is a bit intimidating. It didn’t help that there were about 25 bible school students there…. and 2 pastors, one of which had been working in the country for 34 years… though I felt completely calm and at peace as I started speaking and it went well… or so people told me. I’m feeling much more relaxed now… It was one of the bigger areas of stress coming here. Mark told me a few days before I left Calgary that I would be speaking, and between then and saturday night, I had no idea what I should be speaking on. It all came together nicely….
We went for mexican food afterwards. My first trip here, we ate mostly Nepali food. This time around, there’s been a good mix. I’m starting to get a feel of what it would be like here long term. I’m getting used to the traffic, the confusing streets, the money that’s all different sizes and smells like poo… the only thing that gets to me is the pollution… and the cold…. buildings aren’t heated and i didn’t bring much in terms of warmer clothing, hoping to buy more in Thamel, but I haven’t had a chance to go there yet.
Being on a trip like this with not much on the schedule is a bit more relaxed, but the schedule still seems busy and I found myself pretty tired last night, so today I didn’t do much. After tech training this morning, i just hung out, with Bishwas and then went up to a viewpoint overlooking kathmandu. The same hill was used for the Asian Mountain Bike Championships that I just missed by a day. Riding on the back of Bishwas’ motorcycle on rocky paths was pretty interesting… at one point he bent some part of his bike, and he got off to fix it … by bashing it with a rock… oh, and riding a motorcycle across a pedestrian suspension bridge over a gorge gets your blood pumping…
I’ve been sleeping well though. Nights are quite cold, and I seem to be awake at 7am… when I spend some time praying and reflecting. Then try to get another hour of sleep or so before starting the day. I’m thinking about taking some basic Nepali lessons in the time that I have left here. I’m finding it difficult to fully engage with people when I constantly need a translator.
Nepali church
So after some web difficulties, my blog is alive again….
I got to go to Nepali service Saturday morning. And there, I had my second “wow, that’s really beautiful” moment. It was during worship, when I looked around at all the people crammed into a small room worshiping God in Nepali. Their singing seemed to come from something a little deeper than that in the west. It was a subtle yet strong and heart felt cry… maybe out of the realization of their real need for God… I’m not sure… but the authenticity was amazing.
I also got to share a bit. I’m learning quickly that the verse: 1 Peter 3:15 plays quite prominently here: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” It seems that every time we go somewhere, I’m asked to share something with the group/congregation. Often, very last minute.
Last night at youth, I shared my testimony. This morning was more of an encouragement/exhortation from Philippians 1, and Acts 1:8. Tomorrow, I’ll be teaching at English service. When I stop to think about it, it should be quite easy and second nature to simply share what God has been teaching me, but in reality it is hard when I’ve been going through a rougher patch in my life.
Saturday afternoon, the youth group spent some time cleaning up the neighbourhood around the church. Mark and I envisioned picking up lots of garbage and having the guys who come around for garbage once a week to haul it off. The youth had other ideas. They came with shovels, sickles, and meat cleavers to clear the brush that had overgrown the streets. Think weeds… 6 feet high…. and garbage everywhere. It can be demoralizing to pick up bags and bags of garbage, only to look up and realize the garbage goes back 10 feet from the street. It made a big difference though. After all was cleaned up, we put everything in a big pile and burned it… seems to be the way to clear garbage here. There’s always a fire or two burning somewhere and the smoke and smell gets everywhere. So much for the environment….
I love hanging out with the youth though, which ranges from 13-30 … so it’s more of a youth/c&c mix. It’s a fairly regular group of guys and I’m getting to know them a bit so it’s pretty fun. They’re all quite eager to learn and are fascinated by the fact that I look Nepali…. Limbu/Rai tribes to be exact… so now i introduce myself as Jacob Limbu… makes me feel more hard core mountainy…<—yes, that is a word.