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!