A full circle..

"You know the hopes of the helpless, surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed so mere humans can no longer terrify them." Psalm 10:17

It is crazy to think that this is probably going to be my last blog and that this journey is coming to an end.

We have been exposed to a lot of injustices over the last few days. More so than what we have experienced the last 5 weeks. Last Wednesday morning we met Roshan at 7am to help him and Agape Ministry play futbol with some street kids. We went and picked up the kids and rode back on the bus with them. I was able to sit with a little boy who couldn’t have been older than 10. Many of them just wanted to hold our hands and be close to us. It shows you that they have had a lack of that attention in their childhood. Once all the kids arrived we went to the field to play futbol. There were about 20 kids that played with us. Three of those 20 kids seemed no older than 5 years old. As I looked at their torn up clothes, scars and bruises on their bodies, and their sweet and innocent smiles, the only thing I knew in that moment is I had to trust that God was going to bring justice to these boys lives. A lot of the boys were about 10-12 year olds and there were about 3 boys who were about 16 years old. The older boys are known as the “bosses.” They will be the ones to decide how to spend the money they get from begging and what to buy. No 16 year old should have to face the terrors that come with being a street child. Every night there are usually “territory fights” among the different groups of street children. There is a group of boys that we worked with that are all pretty young that stick together as a group. They told us that they wouldn’t sleep in the same place every night because the older boys could easily come and beat them up and rob them. Very rarely will you see a street child that is a girl. Most girls that are on the streets will dress like boys and keep their hair short because that is the only way they will survive on the streets. No child should have to sniff glue to escape the hurts of their lives. To look back at all these things and trust that God is going to bring justice to these lives is something that is hard for me to process. The only thing I had to hold onto in those moments was the justice of God and the promises He makes to the poor and oppressed.

Thursday night the girls met Brian from Agape Ministry to go to the dance bars in Thamel to minister to some girls. I have been battling a head cold this last week and I wasn’t going to go last night. I ended up fighting through it and went with them to the bars. I am so thankful I did. We met Brian at around 8:30pm and from there we did a prayer walk. We walked around Thamel praying for about 7 or 8 minutes and we passed about 10 dance bars. We finally went to one and walked in. When we sat down we had to call the girls over to us. We had 2 girls come sit down and we bought them a Coke and just talked and invested in them. Kyra and I sat down with Basnu. She is 17 years old and she dances because she has a brother in grade 2 she has to take care of since her parents died. She just found out that she is about 2 months pregnant. Basnu told us that her boyfriend left her because he wanted to see other girls. A 17 year old is taking care of herself, little brother and baby- I cant put words to what that does to my heart. As I sat there with her she was eager to hold our hands and just talk. Once again I was reminded of God’s justice and had to continue to preach the gospel to myself. He is faithful and his justice will come through for her.  It is so very overwhelming to think about a young girl trying to survive on her own in a culture that doesn’t care to pay attention to her.

As I go home, I have so much I want to take with me and not allow myself to forget. I don’t want to go home and feel like I am living a mundane life. I want to take hold of every moment and every opportunity like I did in Nepal. That is my biggest prayer request right now. I have a lot of opportunities and decisions to make as I go home as well. Pray that I seek out the choices that will most glorify God and how He can use me most.

This team. Oh this team. Please keep them in your prayers as we are all going to have a hard time adjusting and processing things. Its going to be so much harder because we will all be processing alone for the most part. I cant imagine this trip without any one of them. I ask too that you would pray for our leader, Sarah. She lives in Nepal and will head home for in about 3 weeks to see some family. Please pray that Jesus would continue to provide for her and show her exactly where He wants her. We will all leave eachother once we get to D.C. Please pray for our goodbyes- a lot of tears have already been shed.

And to you. I cant explain enough how simply incredible it has been to receive all the encouragements and prayers you have sent. I have been blown away by the body of Christ and how they respnd when they send their own into the world. Nothing can unite people the way Jesus does. He is so good.

I love you all and I am so eager to come home and share with you face to face all that God has done. This trip is now full circle and this season is at the end. Praise Jesus for all He has done. Praise Him for all He is going to do. 

Pokhara Pictures..

Blessed. So very blessed..

Friday morning Me, Anna, Tanner and Barret loaded on our bus at 6am for Pokhara. About an hour and a half into our trip we were stopped in traffic for about 1.5 hours because there was a landslide that needed to be cleared. Never thought I would say that. We arrived here around 4pm and got checked into our hotel. Before we headed to our first homes we rented motorcycles for the weekend to get around everywhere for a little cheaper and with a little more fun! Friday night Tanner and Anna went to Holy home while Barret and I headed to Paradise home. We did this trip to serve the parents and watch the kids while they went out for a date night. I never thought I would have been so blessed by a group of kids. We took lots of pictures (that will be posted when I get back to Thamel), laughed a lot, and I was taught a few new words in Nepali! Around 7:30pm we all gathered inside for fellowship. We sang worship songs together, mostly in Nepali so Barret and I just got to soak it in. As I looked around the room with about 12 kids singing at the top of their lungs and some closing their eyes in worship it was hard to keep it together. Jesus has revealed himself SO clearly to these kids. No matter what situation they have come from, they know Him & trust him. After worship, Barret talked about Matthew 5 and being a light to the world. The kids talked about how a lot of their friends at school are Hindu and Buddist and they can be a light to them.

There is one little girl that has totally stolen my heart. Her name is Alpha and she is 12 years old. She has been at the home for 5 years now. I don’t know her story but I don’t need to know it because Jesus does. She is INSANELY smart! She was teaching me Nepali and “quizzing” me on it as well. Her laugh when I pronounced something wrong was so sweet.

Habil, the oldest son in the house, brought Barret and I into the kitchen after fellowship to serve us a traditional Nepali dish, Dhal Bhat. It was the first homemade meal we have had since we have been here. It was delicious to say the least. Along with our dhal bhat we had FRESH mangos that we just ate with a spoon out of the skin. It was SO good!

When the parents came back, Barret and I got to sit and talk with the dad for a little while. It was a sweet time that I was richly blessed by. At around 8:30pm it was time for goodbyes. All the kids came running to us an giving us hugs. I don’t know if I have ever felt that much love in my life. We got on Barret’s bike to head back to the hotel. We may have gotten a little lost at first and it may have been pouring rain, but it was definitely a ride I will never forget. We walked into mine and anna’s room and the four of us just started laughing because Barret and I were soaked. Moments like these I will miss dearly.

In the afternoon we all then headed to Paradise home. Barret and Tanner played futbol with the boys and Anna & I did crafts with the girls. The craft we did was about dreaming and commiting your dreams to the Lord. We had some girls say they wanted to be nurses and teachers. Alpha (12) said she wanted to be a pastor and open a home like Paradise home one day. This melted my heart to say the least. We then had them write down a prayer for their dreams. Most of them included “Jesus, please listen to my dream.” These kids are yearning after Jesus more than I have seen some teenagers do so.

After saying goodbye to Paradise home we went to babysit at Bethany home. Bethany home has only been opened for 3 months. The parents were telling us that it has been very difficult to find time to be alone because they already have 12 kids. The kids of Bethany home are really little. Most of them are under the age of 5. There was a little boy, Samuel, who must have been 3 years old who stole my heart. Surprise, surprise. My favorite was when we were outside playing and he would run around then run straight for me and put his hands up for me to catch him. He melted my heart.

This afternoon we are headed to our last home, Beloved home, to spend time with the kids so the parents can go out. We are all having a blast with these kids and Jesus just continues to reveal to me how he wants me to be. Act with child like faith and enjoy Him in every moment. Who knew he would teach me so much through these children.

We are down to our final week here in Nepal. Satuday and Sunday we will be in debrief and Monday we will fly out. Just typing this makes me tear up. I have fallen in love with this country and with our team. I don’t know what I will do when I am home and don’t wake up to them every morning. Jesus has taught me so much through these people. Please pray that we will pour out all that we are during our final week and we will finish strong. Pray that Jesus will prepare our hearts to head home and try to get back into the swing of life.

Ma timilai maya gar chu. (I love you in Nepali)

-Emilee

The begining of the end..

We are down to our final 10 days in Nepal. I can't believe we are at this point so soon! These last 6 weeks have flown by for all of us. This time we have had in Nepal has been so sweet together. Jesus has and continues to teach us so much about the body of Christ and Himself.

Tomorrow Anna, Tanner, Barret and I will head back to Pokhara until Monday morning. We will leave tomorrow morning at 6:30am. When we get there we will checked in to a hotel and get settled in. From there, Barret and I will head to Holy home while Tanner and Anna head to Paradise home. We are giving the house parents a few hours to themselves to go eat dinner together and spend some time one on one. While we are at the houses with the kids we will play games, sing songs and just invest in them. I am so excited for this time with the kids.

Saturday morning we will head to Mike's (restraunt on the lake) to meet with Cassidy and Josh. I know Cassidy's mom, Barb, from back home. Her and her husband are missionaries here in Nepal with their 3 kids. I am excited to sit down with them and talk to them and how they process certain things that we too have been facing. Saturday afternoon Barret and Tanner will take the boys from 3 of the chidlrens  homes and put on a soccer camp with them. While they are with the boys, Anna and I are going to take time and do some crafts with the girls. We will then go to Holy home and have a bible study with the older girls. We are both so excited about our time with them and all Jesus has in store. Saturday night all four of us will head to Bethani Home. Bethani Home has only been running for 3 months. The kids there are all from outside villages and some don't know Nepali or English so it can be pretty difficult to communicate, even for the house parents. While we are at Bethani home, the house parents will go out for a date while we watch the kids. We are putting together and English Alphabet book to help teach them their letters.

Sunday night we will be at Beloved home to invest time in those kids while the parents get to have a night to themselves.

Monday morning we will head back here to Thamel. We will then go through our week and finish up some projects. On Saturday, we will go outside of Thamel for debrief time. On Sunday, we will come back and then Monday night we take our journey home.

If you would all just pray for our travels to Pokhara and our last days here in Nepal. Pray that Jesus would start showing us how we can use what we have learned here and home. I will try to update more once we get to Pokhara!

Love you all!  

Birthdays, The Future, & The face of a street child..

Yesterday(July 19th) was Barret’s birthday. We got to celebrate Nepali style and we had a blast doing it! As a team we went and got an awesome breakfast at Soma Café in Jamsekiel chowk (pronounced choke). A chowk is an intersection. In the afternoon we surprised him by going rock climbing! It was so sketchy and I am pretty sure the ropes were 100 climbs over safety requirment. We all were safe though and had a blast! After, we got to get a little dressed up and went to dinner at Summit Hotel- they have ice cubes and we were all SO excited about cold water! To end the night, we went back to Sarah’s flat, sang happy birthday, ate cheesecake, opened presents and played “Murder in the dark.” I love this team so very much. I can’t imagine my life without them in it.

Yesterday afternoon we were able to talk to John a little bit about what our last 3 weeks were going to look like and where we wanted to serve. I can hardly believe we are already at this point in the trip. Part of my time I will be going to Pokhara (July 27th-30th) with Anna, Tanner and Barret. While we are there we will be babysitting the kids of each children’s home there for one night to give the parents a night to themselves. The 4 of us will be planning the parents night. While they are out we will be at the homes with the kids and the parents helper. Anna and I are going to take some time each night we are there to sit down with the older girls of each home and talk to them about things they are struggling with and how to find Jesus through it. My heart is for young girls and I am so very excited to have this time with them. Over the Saturday that we are there we will also being doing a futbol camp with the boys from ALL 4 homes in Pokhara. Tanner and Barret will take the older boys while Anna and I have the sweet little ones. During the days we will be going to the Dream Center land and help mow and do some yard work there. We are so excited about going back to Pokhara and all Jesus is going to show us!

I will also be helping paint a mural in two of the children’s homes in Kathmandu. There is a small team of us that will be going house hunting for the teachers that just recently moved to Nepal as well. I am so excited to be at the point to dive in and serve with Tiny Hands. It will give me a taste of what could be my future….

Today was SO very exciting and possibly life changing. We each got to sit down with John and Mike (Mike is the chairman of THI) and talk about a future with Tiny Hands. They asked me if I would be interested in working with Tiny Hands here in Nepal full time. Of course my answer was absolutely! I talked about how I have just fallen in love with the people of Nepal, the culture, and the awkward charm the miss-matched buildings have. Nothing matches here and I absolutely love it. John proceeded to ask me if I could build the best life I could think of for myself what it would consist of. I want to use my life to set captives free whether they are bound by the hopeless religion of Hinduism, addicted to the streets and drugs as children, or enslaved in trafficking. I want to take all that I am and use it to further the Kingdom. So, as of right now the plan is to come home, finish school and become and advocate for Tiny Hands. Being an advocate would consist of throwing product parties, speaking at different places and events and really just getting the word out of the work Tiny Hands is doing. When I finish school there is a very big possibility that I would move to Nepal and work for Tiny Hands full time. Wait… is this real life?!!? YES YES YES! Jesus is continuing to BLOW ME AWAY!!

Over the last four weeks we have walked a lot and to different places. Each time we walk somewhere we either see someone on the side of the road begging, or confronted by a street child who needs food. Even after four weeks, every time I see one of these two people my heart breaks like it did the first time. I feel so helpless and that I can do nothing for them right now. The face of a street child is something I will never get used to. I will never be able to build an immunity to that. In those moments it is so hard to not ask God “why?” It has been possibly the hardest thing for me to process over this trip. I feel like there is never closure over these issues. Those sweet boys on the street are sniffing glue to get high to escape this world and their pain for just a little while. If only they knew that Jesus is real, and that there is a bigger plan for their lives. The fact that they could give the streets up and find true freedom in Jesus. I want to come back to Nepal and go across the world and bring the hope of Jesus to kids like these; to adults bound by a religion, to girls enslaved by men. Can you imagine how those lives would change? To take a broken life and restore it with the hope of Jesus would be something beautiful to watch.

Jesus is teaching me so much about my personal freedom and all He is setting me free of. I am excited to take this season and be able to pour into other people who are yearning for the same freedom I am experiencing.

Prayer Requests:

-Talks that Anna & I are preparing for the girls in the homes in Pokhara

-School plans for when I come home: what school and choosing a major

-My future with THI and that doors would open

-These sweet boys we keep running into on the streets: that we would be given a chance to tell them about Jesus

One Thousands Gifts..

1. I am thankful for misquito nets to sleep with.
2. I am thankful that Jesus commands me to not worry about tomorrow.
3. I am thankful for unity among believers.

4. I am thankful for God's faithfulness.
5. I am thankful for new friends.
6. I am thankful for malaria medicince.
7. I am thankful that when I don't understand things, I know that Jesus does.
8. I am thankful for showers.
9. I am thankful for elephant rides.
10. I am thankful for laughter.
11. I am thankful for motorcycle rides around Pokhara and the amazing views Jesus gives us.

12. I am thankful for new friendships that Jesus is the center of.
13. I am thankful that when Jesus calls us to do hard things, he shows up.
14. I am thankful for the unending encouragment I am recieving from home.
15. I am thankful for my family who keeps believing in all my crazy dreams.
16. I am thankful that we didn't lose our luggage yesterday when our trunk opened.
17. I am thankful for this group of girls Jesus placed me with.

18. I am thankful that 3 years ago my trip to Nepal fell through.
19. I am thankful for banana porridge.
20. I am thankful for this country and these amazing people I get to experience every day.
21. I am thankful for all of you who have sent me here.

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His faithful love endures forever!" Psalm 107:1

Cheers to Laughs and Monsoons..

Jamashi! 

We have finally arrived in Pokhara! We got here on Tuesday afternoon and what a trip it was. It started with our bus arrived an hour and a half late, and finally getting on the road 3 hours late. Ke Garne? (What to do?) The trip here was gorgeous. I didn't want to sleep because the view was constantly changing as we drove through the mountains of Nepal. I was listening to worship music for a little while on our drive just watch out the window, Jesus was so there with us. I have these moments when His creation just completely takes me aback and I get overwhelmed with what He has given us. Once we got here on Tuesday we visited the Bethany Home. Bethany home started about 3 months ago and they now have 10 kids! Most of them are from outside villages where Nepali wasn't spoken so some of the kids can't communicate. These children were precious, just like every other house. It was exciting to see how much Tiny Hands in making a difference in Nepal for the least of these.

Yesterday (Wednesday), we woke up around 4:30am and went on a hike. We hiked to the top of Sarangkot and the view was breathtaking- even when it was cloudy. Hopefully we will be able to hike it again before we leave Pokhara and get a view with no clouds since the Himalaya's are in view on a clear day. Later in the day we visisted Paradise Childrens Home. We started playing outside with the kids as a monsoon downpour started. Most of the girls ran inside to stay dry but all the boys stayed outside to play soccer. Every once in a while I would go outside and watch the boys play, it was pure joy on each one of their faces- even the guys on the team! The down pour didn't effect them at all, if anything it probably made it more fun. As we were getting ready to leave, the kids got buckets of water and started to help our guys clean off the mud on their arms and legs. Watching these young boys learn how to serve was something incredible to experience.

After many laughs and hugs we left Paradise home and headed for Holy Home. As we were walking another monsoon down pour hit so all the girls rushed into the guys backpacks to steal their rainjackets so we wouldn't get too soaked. When we arrived at Holy home the guys stayed outside and played in the rain with those boys too. All the girls went inside, drank tea, and played "Calling all Vegetables" with the sweet Nepali girls. We laughed so hard and our lips became sore very quickly. In the game each person is a vegetable and when you call to eachother you cant show your teeth. The girls loved it and it was so sweet to hear the boys laughing outside as well when we were inside.

Today, we are hopefully going to get to go para-gliding. I am quite nervous since I don't do heights very well and I am not necessarily the most adventurous spirit. Someone very dear to me though told me to not say no to anything on this trip, so I am partially doing it for them as well. We will also be headed to the Dream Center land, I really encourage y'all to go to TinyHandsInternational.org and check out what they are doing here in Pokhara with the land- its some VERY exciting stuff!

I wish I could describe to you what I am experiencing with this team. I would have never guessed that these people would become my family so quickly. We are down to three and a half weeks till we come back home. Every time I say or think that I just can't believe we are this far into the trip. God has been so very good to us through all of the things we have experienced. Thank you for all your encouragments and messages I have recieved.

Please continue to pray for the team as we try to figure out where Jesus would have us serve for our last three weeks here. Pray that we would recieve it with open hands. Also, pray for our hearts as we are processing alot and seeing alot of things happen here.

View from our hike- not even from the top!

"Chains be broken, lives be healed." -Hillsong United