Happy Halloween :)

Well it is Halloween in Nepal, me and Janna are eating soup and watching movies. This is the life. It's getting colder in over here and I'm welcoming it with open arms! It is a nice change from the humidity of Delhi. During the week we are still going to the center and spending time with the girls, which is a blessing. I'm still working on my Nepali and hoping to better communicate with them.

Well, that's all that I can think of for now...Sorry it's so short. I'll have more next time because some time during the week we are going to go visit one of the kids programs, which I'm really excited to go do and I'll have lots more to share.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. Talk to soon!!

I'm lovin it...

Hello from across the world ;)

First off, thank you for all of your prayers; Janna and I greatly appreciate them.

Now, time for all of the "juicy details" as Sam likes to call it... We are still in Nepal and everything is continuing to go good. Just a couple of nights ago we had over three girls from the center for pizza. They only stayed for a little while, but we are thankful that they came at all. I'm learning more and more Nepali as the days go by and still getting mistaken for being a local, which is fine by me. I now know how to say "Hello, how are you" along with a few other key phrases and words. Now more about the girls center...

Just this last Friday a "street walker" came in to the center with her two children. She is twenty-three, has a two year old son and a four month old baby girl. There is a husband, but he is hardly a husband. Her and her children are hardly at home and forced to live on the street because of his drinking problem and abuse towards them. It was heartbreaking to see this mother of two struggling to make it day by day on the streets because she was afraid to go home and face her husband in fear of his abuse. All I wanted to do is take them far away from this life-style, but all I can do is continue to show God's love through a smile or hug and include them in my prayers.

I am grateful for the opportunity to be here and just love on these precious people. It is difficult though because I wish I could just get everyone their own personal Wal-Mart so they would never have to hunger, be cold, or live on the streets ever again.

Just the other day Siam (the other girl we live with) and I were talking about how difficult it is to share the Gospel with any of these girls without them feeling like we are only here to convert them. At that time we were brought back to John 13:35 when Jesus said, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." It was then that we realized that by simply showing God's love to them, we are sharing the Gospel. Siam also told me of a quote that she heard from church one Sunday that says, "Preach. If necessary, use words." How powerful those five words are. We are sharing the Gospel with people just by our daily lives. You don't have to share a scripture with someone before you show God's love. God has commanded us to love as He has loved us; with no questions or reservations. Love is an amazing gift and ability that God has lavished on us and we have every reason to share it with every person we come in contact with. Love knows no language.

In Nepal...

Well, we are no longer in India folks. We are in Nepal, and it's beautiful! No more humidity or heat; it's all cool weather and beautiful mountains surrounding us. Don't get me wrong, there is still pollution and you can't drive with the windows down unless you have something covering your nose to breath in. Other than that, everything is great! Janna and I have moved in with one of her friends, now my friend, Siam. Siam is twenty-two years old and has been in Nepal for about four months now. She is originally from Northern India and speaks a bit of Nepali, Hindi, and English. Three girls living on their own is quite an adventure. We cook dinner every night and eat around the table like a family. We had a Mexican night in which we all cooked a little something and I must say, my momma would be proud. We had beans, rice which I cooked, Janna made the chicken, and Siam made tortillas. When we don't have a whole lot of ingredients to choose from, that's where it really gets fun. Not too long ago, Janna made a soup that consisted of Ramen and spaghetti noodles, tomatoes, onion, and beef broth. Seriously though, that had to have been the best soup I have ever tasted. Oh and I can't forget about Chai tea! It is my favorite tea on earth and I am officially addicted. If any of you know Nessa at youth, you know how much she loves Starbucks. Chai tea is to me what Starbucks is to her. That should tell you how much I love it. Okay okay, enough about food..

We have been going to the girl's center three days a week and to the office two days a week. At the center, we work with girls who work at the "massage parlors" and some other girls who are on the street. At first, I was mostly coloring during the day because I didn't know how to communicate with them seeing as how I only speak English and a bit of Spanish and I haven't found very many people who speak either one. Go figure. That reminds me, when Joe came to India, he said, " Mo, think about it, you are probably the only Mexican in India!" And how true that seems to be for Nepal as well.

Back to the girls center..There is one girl by the name of Sunita who I have become very close with. She saw me coloring pictures of flowers, the sun, and butterflies with crayons (forgive me, I'm no Picasso) and asked if I could draw her a picture that she could keep. I was honored that she actually wanted me to color something for her to take home and hang in her bedroom. Sunita was brought in from her village when she was fourteen years old and is now eighteen, and has sadly gotten use to being a "massage girl". The girls who work in the parlors make good money, which makes it even harder when trying to convince them to leave. The street girls though are no easier because that is how they get by each day. Some with as many as three children trying to support and no husband.

Right now, all we can do is try and build relationships with these girls to earn their trust and hopefully get them to stop what they are doing. The building relationships has been going great; Sunita has been trying to teach me Nepali and I'm trying to teach her English. One funny thing that I must say, just about every person who I get introduced to thinks that I'm Nepali (they all look like me) which is good because I blend in a lot easier than in India.

During the day, it's not promised that any girls are going to show up at all, but we go anyways and pray that God would draw them to the center. When they are there, we try to make them have as much as possible. We dance(yes, dance), sing, play games, watch Nepali movies, or just sit with them to let them know that we care. It is very hard to share the Gospel with them because of the language barrier and because most of them come from a Hindu background. Siam has been doing an amazing job in talking with them as much as her Nepali allows her, and sharing God's love through the Nepali worship songs that we have been singing to them. Sunita especially loves it and is always eager to learn a new song. What's great is the songs are about God, yet they still seem to be receptive to them. Praise God! We are praying for a Nepali staff member to join us because these girls really need to hear the Word. We believe that the only way they will leave this industry is if they have a spiritual transformation because they may not like the work that they do, but their family is depending on them to get by. It also doesn't hep that most of them have never finished school, so this seems to be the only way to make money to support their families. Some send money back to their parents in the village, some are single mothers, and some are trying to juggle doing both.

Janna and will be in Nepal until next month, and then we return to Delhi. We hope to come back to Nepal in January. For the time being, we will continue to go to the center and work with these girls, which we enjoy doing. They have been a blessing to me in many different ways and I'm grateful for being in Nepal and having the opportunity to work with them. I look forward to becoming closer to them as time goes on. Thank you for all of your prayers. Blog you later!

Good ol' India

So far, India has been amazing! So sorry it has taken me forever to post a blog, we have just been crazy busy! A medical team came last week and everyday we were up at six getting ready to leave and not getting back home until late. Helping the team was one of the best experiences yet; even though all I did was write down the weight and temperature of the incoming patients. Just being able to get a smile and laugh from someone was a big deal to me.

The kids have especially touched my heart. I remember one day at one of the medical camp I waved to a boy who looked about seven standing in line and he smiled and ran over to me. He showed me his arm, which was full of scars and it looked like his arm had been broken a while back because a bone on his arm was bulging from his skin. He then started to tell me (in Hindi) what had happened. I pretended to understand every word of it, but when he stopped talking he looked up at me for some sort of response. My response was to call Janna over and see if she could make out what he was saying. So he told his story for a second time. Since he was talking so fast, she only got a few details. So then we called over a translator, and the boy told his story for a third time. I think by this time he regretted coming up to me at all. We ended up finding out that he did in fact break his arm while he was playing, but never went to the doctor to get it fixed, which is why his bone was sticking out. Unfortunately, there was nothing the doctors at the clinic could do for him because in order to have it fixed, he had to go to the hospital.

This story may not seem like anything special, but to me it is. I will never forget this boy. All i did was wave hello to him, and he ran over to me and started talking to me like we knew each other. Most of the kids here are shy when a stranger waves hello and they timidly turn the other way. But this little boy ran towards me. Even though I could not understand one word that he was saying, I still felt a connection with him. I think about him quite often throughout the day and wonder what he's doing. He was in dirty clothes, but had on the biggest smile. These kids break my heart; they are living in poverty day in and day out, but they still manage to smile. I feel like I have been the one getting blessed instead of me doing the blessing. They give me encouragement to smile when everything else tells me not to and to have a hope when the odds are against me.

I have absolutely LOVED my time in India and I'm excited to see what I can do to better serve. I'll admit, it does get a little lonely at times, but I just remind myself that this is where God wants me right now and by knowing this, I can't imagine being anywhere else than here. Thank you to everyone for all of your prayers and support, I appreciate it very much.