Dear All,

Friday’s Bottom Line:

Our team of six is all together in D and ready to roll with several significant ministry events packed into the next few days: church services in various churches on Saturday morning; a DM summit Saturday afternoon/evening and most of Sunday; and the much-anticipated youth camp Sunday evening through Tuesday!

Friday’s Prayer Requests:

1. The Saturday-Sunday DM summit to be a powerful encourager to all the Nepalis and Americans who are there; meaningful relationships to be established, and God to be glorified in everything that’s said and done.
2. God’s great grace for our team as they head into the Sunday-Tuesday youth camp; safety for all, good times, lives changed.
3. Continued good health, peaceful minds, and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit for all our team members!

Friday’s Details (with pictures and videos!):

Here’s proof that our Faithful Five have arrived in Nepal and are all doing well!

L to R: Mohan, Daphne, Linda, Tara, Zach, and David

They flew together from Kathmandu to D, where they all fought jet lag, which is toughest in the afternoon, by playing games for a while before finally letting themselves sleep

Everybody’s staying awake, and Tara’s cards look pretty good

The next day, our team was treated to some views they’ve surely never had in southwest Missouri, including bananas on the stalk. Scott said, “One banana plant produces one bundle of bananas each 3 months. After harvest, you cut down the stalk and it grows another.”

I wonder how old this stalk is?

And then Mohan gave this 25-second demonstration of the work he did from ages 14 to 22. That must’ve been grueling, but maybe it’s like riding a bike; once you’ve done it, you can always do it again?

Switching gears now to the upcoming youth camp…

When I think of a camp, I envision sleeping in tents or cabins out in the woods, but this is a different kind of camp. It’s held at a church in town, and the young people come, attend sessions, are ministered to, eat, have fun, and go back home each night. This “camp” is also unique in that the campers are aged 15 to 30!!! That’s a really wide age range for our team to manage, not to mention all the cultural and language differences, but they have worked hard to prepare and will surely do well.

Each team member will teach a session, and they have all kinds of games and other activities for the campers to enjoy. Most importantly, we believe the Holy Spirit will touch their hearts and transform their lives this coming Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

Here’s the place they will meet. Scott said, “This is the space for our camp with 150 youth. Can you imagine?!?”

It’s going to be a VERY full house!

Given that, it’s easy to see why a lot of the camp activities will need to happen outside, and the church folks there have been doing some MAJOR work to get the area ready. Here, ladies are carrying large bowls of mud to prepare a concrete-like surface outdoors.

Why mud, you ask? Scott said, “The ladies are preparing the ground with mud, straw, and cow dung. It becomes a hard, clean surface for the festival [DM summit and youth camp].” This short video demonstrates the process. Amazing!

Our whole team got to have dinner in the home of the family of that Hindu lady and daughter Scott met on his flights to Nepal. I don’t know their names or their openness to the gospel, but God does, and he is surely working in their hearts. Most of the family are on the floor and most of our team are behind them (Mohan short in the middle, Samuel far right).

“Dinner with our new friends”

Disciple-makers from the western region of Nepal are now gathering there in D for Saturday’s DM summit, where they will enjoy fellowship, food, and time with friends, both old (national) and new (international). Our team ladies got to spend time with some local ladies, and yes, bananas were involved.

Ladies ministering to ladies

As we wrap up today, have I mentioned that your prayers are a firm foundation under all that our team is able to do in Nepal? Would you please continue to pray each day for them and those they are with there in D? Thank you SO much!

Blessings,

Patty