| Dear All, Sunday’s Bottom Line: Scott’s Thursday-Friday seminar in Surkhet ended well, he preached to a large and receptive crowd at church on Saturday morning, and he and Mohan dropped in on a Hindu wedding before heading back down to Nepalgunj Saturday evening. On Sunday he led an abbreviated RDM seminar in Dang, and now he’s about to head home! Sunday’s Prayer Requests: 1. God to make a way for the pastors who are eager to become disciple-makers to get the experience and training they need. 2. Safety and good connections for Scott as he travels home (four flights over the next two days); he and all his stuff to be protected and arrive intact and on time. 3. Good health for Scott; grace for both of us as we transition back into “normal” (what’s THAT?!?) life at home in Christmas prep mode. = ) Sunday’s Details: Much has happened in the past couple of days, and Scott has sent us a lot of pictures and information. Pastor Mohan recorded a 45-second audio update for us about the 2-day Surkhet seminar that concluded on Friday. You can listen to it here. (You may have to click “Download” and then press “Play.”)  Pastors and church leaders crying out for one disciple The Saturday morning church service – at the same church where the RDM seminar was held – was packed, with nearly 500 people present, almost all seated on the floor. Here’s a short video clip Scott captioned “Passionate Worship.” It was after noon by the time Scott started preaching. He taught on forgiveness, what it means, the Ten Most Powerful Words, and the freedom it brings. He also acted out an example of what happens to a monkey when he won’t let go of a desired object and related that to what happens to us when we won’t let go of an offense. The people really grasped that concept, and afterward, many stood to say they would forgive the person who had hurt them. Scott hopes they will follow through on those decisions.  Preaching on forgiveness Before leaving Surkhet on Saturday afternoon, Mohan and Scott dropped in on the wedding of a distant relative of Mohan’s father-in-law. Scott said, “It was a Hindu wedding, and the Hindu priest was officiating. They had to circle the banana shrine seven times.” He sent us a couple of pictures.  The bride and groom.  Possibly the banana shrine? Scott said, “They had to circle a thing, and then they were dropping burning things and putting stuff on their heads… all kinds of stuff, [to me] really crazy.” They didn’t stay long at the wedding. I wondered how long Hindu weddings are, compared to Christian weddings, so I asked Google. Here’s a comment about Nepali weddings, copied from <thebigfatindianwedding.com>. “The pre-wedding part of Nepali weddings is the calm before the storm. Vedic Hindu Nepali wedding rites are extended sometimes over four days, not including the events that come before the wedding day. During the ceremony, multiple gifts are exchanged and blessings are invoked, each in their own ritual.” That’s… well… different. Scott’s and Mohan’s trip back down the mountain that afternoon was “uneventful,” which I assume means there were no untoward encounters with tigers. However, there was at least one traffic jam.  Traffic jam! |
Saturday evening Scott was able to give some toys to the kids at the orphanage, and the super bubble wands were a big hit. Here are a few seconds of video of two attempts. It was getting dark, so the video’s not real clear, but I think the kids were having fun, as was Scott. = )Then on Sunday, Scott led a one-day DM seminar in a place called Dang. He said, “We had about 90 at today’s meeting and most of them were pastors.” Mohan interpreting as Scott teaches  Many pastors at the Dang RDM seminar As you know, Scott will teach anybody who’s breathing about raising disciple-makers, but because pastors can often have the most significant impact, they are his primary target audience, so a group that’s mostly pastors always invigorates him.  Lunch is served  Taking pictures of the “Believer vs. Disciple” slide on the screen While I was typing this, he just messaged me that, “18 signed up for a DM group yesterday.” Pretty exciting! And at the end of that Dang seminar, Scott was officially FINISHED with all his teaching sessions for this trip! At 6:15 PM Monday in Nepal (6:30 AM Monday MO time) he will begin his long journey home, flying from Nepalgunj, Nepal to Kathmandu, Nepal to Doha, Qatar to Chicago, USA(!) to Springfield, Missouri, where he will land at 9:30 PM Tuesday. That’s a total of 39 hours, plus about an hour’s drive time on each end, so… it takes about 41 hours to travel from Mohan’s home to ours. As always, your prayers are deeply appreciated! Blessings, Patty |
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