Finally a team..

Yesterday was the first day we all became super comfortable around each other. It was an awesome day with everyone! I absolutely love it here and so thankful that God chose this team for me to be with on this journey. We are constantly checking on each other to make sure we are feeling okay, and making sure everyone is staying hydrated. The guys on the team, Tanner, Barrett, Austin and Matthew, have been so good about watching over the girls- especially when we are walking at night. Though the city is chaotic and a lot is going on around you- I love this atmosphere.

We got to experience our first visit outside of Thamel yesterday. Dhubar square is an area that is built up by temples where people still worship. In the Hindu culture there is also a “living goddess.” She is chosen from a certain family and put through tests to see if she is qualified for the role. Once she is chosen she is brought to Dhubar square where she will live. Her feet may never touch the ground so she has to be carried everywhere. After she hits puberty she will be released of her duties as goddess and expected to go back and live as a normal person. After you are a goddess, being accepted back into society is a very hard road.

Nepali language lessons are very interesting. Yesterday we learned more sentence structures and future tense. It was super intense and by the end of the hour we were all extremely lost. Our favorite sentence translates to.. “I ate water and sat on it.” That was Austin’s attempt to say “I will drink water.”

It is now 6:20am here in Thamel (at the time my internet isn’t working so this will be posted at a later hour). Today we will be attending our first church service and also be spending some time at our first children’s home. I am excited to see how this culture encounters God.

This trip is turning out to be so much more than I expected. I adore this country and my team. Sarah, our leader, is so incredible and such a great example. Though she is the leader she is encouraging and never looking down on us when we are trying to figure out how things work here. We all decided that she is one of the most hardcore people we ever met.. You kind of have to be when you live in Nepal.

Here are some prayer requests for these next few days:

-      -----We met a team from Azusa Pacific University.  They will be heading home in about a week. Pray for their debriefing time and their travels back home.

-       -----Pray for our interactions with the kids today on our first trip to the children’s home.

-       -----Ask that Jesus would continue to open our eyes to this culture and allow our hearts to be broken for these people.

-       -----As a team, we would grow closer together and continue to encourage each other. 

A taste of Kathmandu..

The view from our hotel roof.. Crazy mountains here- even on cloudy days! 

Me and Anna- the Nepali tea is AMAZING! They will teach us how to make it before we leave so I will glady make you some when I come home :)

WE FOUND A WALMART! We laughed so hard. Then, Nepali people laughed at us laughing. 

My room mate Taylor- The things we do for internet when we are desperate!

Our toilet has decided to stop working. We keep trying to fix it. Pray that it starts flushing!! 

Taste and see that the LORD is good..

"As you get out of bed in the morning, be aware of my presence with you. You may not be thinking clearly yet, but I am. Your early morning thoughts tend to be anxioous ones until you get connected with me. The true question is not whether you can cope with whatever happens, but whether you and I together can handle anything that occurs. It is this you-and-I factor that gives you confident to face the day cheerfully." -Jesus Calling 

This morning, I woke up super excited to blog about all we did yesterday! I woke up and looked outside, it was raining so we got to open up the windows and its so cool outside. Such a relief from the hot sun we have been facing since we have been here. I turned on some worship music and just have had some time with Jesus. As I read my Jesus Calling this morning the very first line said 'be aware of my presence with you.' We always know that Jesus is with us, not necessarily feeling it though. In a place like Thamel (pronounce Tom-El --part of kathmandu we are staying in) sometimes you forget that even though this place is dark and in need of Jesus, He is here. And these are His people. And His city. In His presence there is a peace that we find. In this midst of this chaotic city, Jesus is peace.

 Last night, we were all feeling the chaos getting to us. We just needed time to worship and re-focus though it has only been a few days since we left home. We all met on the roof and put on some worship music last night and just laid there in silence, listening, singing, and worshiping. We were up there for about 40 minutes and it was so refreshing. I laid in bed last night with a peace about being here and how Jesus is going to use me. He gave me a peace about being away from home, and though I miss my family more than ever, I am okay. Going into this trip, my prayer was to take everyday and live here in Nepal in that moment. Jesus is teaching me how to do this.. and I have a feeling its because you all have been praying for me. So thank you for that.. Jesus is using you and your faithfulness greatly.

When we got here we were talked to about the people we will encounter on the streets- especially the children. What we dont think about most of the time is that sometimes our helping hurts the poor. Most tourist that come to Nepal will see a street child and give him food or money. Thinking they did something good, it ended up hurting the child. The child will usually turn around a sell the food or take the money and go buy glue. As children, they will start sniffing glue and by the time they are an adult they are addicted to hard core drugs like heroine.These children become addicted to the streets. Though its not a good life, they are given more food (usually more than what we eat in one day) and things are handed to them. There have been children that have been taken off the streets and end up going back to it because its an addictive thing here-- alot like gambling. Here, drugs are very easy to get to, multiple people on our team have already been asked multiple times if they would like to but marijuina or other drugs. Its very in your face here. That being said, though we have encountered street children we are encouraged to not give them food or money unless we feel strongly encouraged to by the Lord.

Yesterday we started our language classes.. Nepali is not the easiest language to learn, but SO fun when you have a passion behind it. We also did a scavenger hunt around the city, and got lost and found our way back again! Last night we then went to Jon, THI president's, house and met another group here and played some games. Today, we will start learning some songs for the Children's homes that we start visiting on Saturday.

Its about 7am here so it is time to start the day! Going to go get breakfast and some INCREDIBLE Nepali tea. Goodnight to all of you back home :)

Its 4am and I am wide awake..

Here are some pictures of the places we have seen so far and our very humble hotel. :) 

Officially Begun..

Today we finally arrive in Kathmandu. What a journey- 20+ hours of travel, then arriving in the morning and having to stay awake all day to try to beat jet lag. When we first arrived we came to the hotel and got all checked in. Then Sarah took us around Kathmandu and we got to experience some pretty crazy things right away. Walking on the road while motorcylces and cars are driving everywhere honking and barely missing your feet as you walk, that is something I have never experienced in the U.S. We then walked to a Buddist temple and it is nicknames "monkey temple" because there are monkeys everywhere. We really were just exposed to the poverty of Nepal and we started to talk about some issues this country faces. We also got to go to Tiny Hands offices. There we met the president, Jon and some of the Nepali staff. We came back to the hotel and were told that we were supposed to split up into small groups and go explore Kathmandu on our own. I went out with anna and austin.. we got lost. We thought we knew where we were going but evedently not. Finally, we gave up and turned around and tried to find our way back home-- and we made it! During that time I was a little anxious being in a new place and purposly not knowing where I was going but it was so good and so fun.

Our team is really starting to grow close together and it is exciting to watch. I cant wait to see what happens with us at the end of this time.

We were told today that we will leave for Pokrah on July 9th and be there for four days. While we are there we will explore the land that will be the dream center and some of the childrens homes there. I have been told its the most beautiful place on earth!

While we are in Pokrah we will also have oppurtunities to go para-sailing, on a safari, ride elephants, and rent motorcycles to drive around. Though I refuse to drive in this country, I will ride and try not to freak out.

Tomorrow we will be meeting Jon for breakfast, starting our Nepali language class, our study we are doing together and a scavanger hunt in Kathmandu. How exciting this journey is!

Please pray for my heart.. there have been a few times I have caught myself getting homesick and I dont want to allow Satan to use that as an attack. I want to use all that I am while I am here and not worry aobut what is to come and people back home. Pray for our team and that we will start bonding and growing closer together and to Jesus. Pray that we will rely on Him daily to be our strength and respond to what He is trying to teach us.

Love you all & Goodnight from KTM :)

Here I am Jesus, Send me.

14.5 hours in a plane, we are in Doha, Qatar! Praise the LORD.

The flight wasnt half as bad as I was expecting and I am so very thankful for that. I had alot of time to pray for loved ones back home that I started to miss. I also got to read a letter from my sweet sister that helped bring a touch of home to me. It's a little after 9pm here and we get on our next flight to get to Kathmandu at 1am and will arrive around 8:30am. The flight will only be able 5 hours-- that sounds like nothing after being on a plane for 14.5 hours.

The team is incredible. So much more than I could have ever expected. I adore each one of them and I am so excited to watch our friendships grow and see what Jesus does with them. Some of us were talking and there is no way that anything but JESUS could unite a group of people like this.

We recieved a packet upon arrival in Houston yesterday... or this morning??..or whenever it was. I am totally thrown off by times I am trying not to figure it out. I read through that packet on the plane and I found out for for 7 days, we as a team will be with a language tutor for one hour each day. I am SO very excited about this. The Nepali language is so interesting and I am excited to dive into it! We will also be traveling around the country alot and learning much about all the issues that face Nepal. Alot of these will be about children, women, and the heartbreaking issue of sex trafficking.

Every so often I feel a little overwhelmed and feel like maybe I went too deep into something I cant handle by coming here. But, Jesus is good, and keeps reaffirming me on why I am here and how good its going to be. I am praying that this trip will expose me to enough that I will come home and not be able to help but to do something about this issue. Atlanta is number one in the nation for trafficking and top 3 in the entire WORLD. Something has to be done, and I feel as though if I dont step up, then who will?

It is so encouraging to be here with 9 students all my age, all of us sharing the same passion and all fueled by the same thing. Jesus is good. I always struggled with trying to figure out why Jesus chose me to be born in the U.S. Why am I not a child in Nepal desperate for food, or a mother in Haiti who survived a terrifying earthquake that took my husband? I may never know this answer. But, I do know that Jesus is calling me to use the blessings He is giving me and the resources that are at my exposure to fight for these children and women. I want to spend my life doing this. And I am praying that at the end of this journey in Nepal, Jesus will have shown me exactly how He wants me to do pursue this.

Love you all so very much. Your prayers have reached me & have been with me.

All to You, I surrender.

There is no place that I would rather be… than here At your feet laying down everything// All to you, I Surrender…. Everything, Every part of me. All to you, I Surrender…. All of my dreams, All of me.// If worship's like perfume, I'll pour Mine out on you. For there is none deserving of my Love like you. So take my hand and draw me into you. I want to be swept away, lost in love for you.// No turning back, I've made up my mind. I'm giving all of my life this time// You're love makes it worth it. You're love makes it worth it all.// -Kim Walker, I Surrender


That song is my prayer for this trip. That Jesus would draw me into his loving arms, and I would truly surrender all of me and pour everything I have out in these 6 weeks. I am heading to the airport around 12:30 this afternoon. There, I will meet with Anna and Austin. Then we are off! First stop will be Houston, TX where we will meet up with the rest of the team, then from there going to Qatar, and finally, Nepal! I am so very excited to see all Jesus has in store for this trip. Please pray for our hearts. Leaving our families and close friends isn't the easiest thing in the world and Satan uses it as an easy attack. 


His love makes it worth it all. Praise Jesus we have something to live for. 


See you in 6 weeks!
~Emilee 

Be still, there is a Healer.

We are now down to just 7 days before I leave and I can hardly believe it. This is a place where I have longed to be for the last 3 years, and as always, God is faithful, and He brought me here. Since the time has gotten closer to leave, there has been a little more nervousness. Through every small detail I worry about Jesus always shows up- either in a song, His word, or through another believer. A few nights ago Satan was really attacking me and I got to extremely fearful. In that same moment Anna (a fellow visionteamer) texted me and crazy things were going on in her life and feeling the same way. In that we were just able to pray over eachother and reconfirm for eachother that this is where Jesus wants us and He is going to do mighty things in and through us. He has provided so much for us and he has remained faithful through this entire process, and I have no doubt He is going to show up in even bigger ways when we arrive in Nepal. These lyrics by Chris Tomlin just resonate in my head for the majority of the day..

"Be still, there is a healer. His love is deeper than the sea.  His mercy is unfailing. His arms a fortress for the weak. I lift my hands to believe again. You are my refuge you and my strength. As I pour out my heart these things I remember ..You are faithful God forever."

One specific prayer request would be the traveling side of this journey:
I get really nervous traveling and being in airports- I dont mind flying at all but I hate going through securtity and making sure I am at the right place at the right time. Sounds silly, I know ;)

So excited about this next season in my life, and I am so excited to make you all part of it.