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

Here am I Jesus..

Today I got to experience first hand the bondage of the Hindu religion and culture. Over the last week we have been taking Nepali language lessons. They have been hard, but we have laughed a lot at each other and ourselves through these lessons. Our Nepali teacher, Deepa, is a hindu. Today as we were learning the different words and names for mom (aamaa) and dad (baa) and everyone else is our families, she started talking to us about her family and story. Her Nepali accent is so sweet to listen to. She has two kids, a son who is 18 and a daughter who is 20. She teaches Nepali lessons to pay to put them through college since she doesn’t have a husband. Back in 2001 a major conflict arose in Nepal between the government and Maoist group (Maoists are basically the bad guys). In 2001 the Queen and King were killed and the entire country went into an up roar over who was going to take over. During this time, the Maoists attacked several times in several cities. In an explosion triggered by the Maoists, Deepa lost her husband. In the Hindu culture, a widow is considered bad luck. After she lost her husband her friends stopped talking to her. She is not allowed to wear red, and if she does people will start accusing her and thinking bad things of her. She is not allowed to wear necklaces or big bangle bracelets. After her husband died, her kids also had to eat separately from the other kids at school. A lot of times her children were also made fun of by students and teachers as well.

Hearing all of this I wanted to cry. There was no hope in her eyes. She just kept repeating “but I don’t care. I don’t listen to them.” The lies that this country believes, is hopeless. The way this culture allows people to be treated is unthinkable.

This city needs Jesus. This country needs Jesus. This world needs Jesus.

I am excited to see that Jesus is sending me to tell this world of his love and hope that we find in Him. I am in awe that Jesus is allowing me to be part of his plan to further the kingdom. He is including all of us in His plan.

Beloved, be strong and courageous. GO into all the world and preach the goods news to all creation. In your school. In your job. In Nepal. In Atlanta. In Peachtree city & Tyrone.  

I want to live my life courageously. To not think about what I will miss out on when I am sent to another place. I don’t want to live my life for myself anymore.

Here am I Jesus, all of me. 

Pictures :)

First monsoon downpour. SO FUN!

The team :) (L-R) Austin, Anna, Me, Barret, Matthew, Taylor, Kyra, Hannah, & Tanner

Crosspointers will appriciate that we are a chaco group :)

This is Tanner. He reminds me SO much of my big brother, Kyle! 

The team with Sarah on our hike yesterday!

Either way, God is still GOOD..

Good morning from Nepal! It is about 7:10am here and we are getting ready to head to breakfast then to an international church.

Friday night the group split up and all the girls had a sleepover at Sarah's house while all the guys stayed back for a "guys night." We had so much fun together. We went for dinner at a nicer hotel where the water was actually cold, didn't have an after taste AND we had ice cubes. Being here makes you realize all the small things you take for granted back at home, like Chick Fil A ice cubes. These girls are absolutely amazing. There is alot going on around me and in my life and I could not have asked to be placed with a better group of girls. They are constantly encouraging me and praying for me. After dinner, we went back to Sarah's and had some girl talk. We then made s'mores over candles. TNI- This is Nepal. We shared stories and laughed alot. I can't imagine my life without these people in it anymore- its crazy how Jesus can do that.

Saturday morning we went and got some breakfast at this awesome place by Sarah's house. Their french toast actually tasted like french toast!! Another thing I have taken for granted at home- mama's french toast! MMM!!! After breakfast, we met back up with the guys at our hotel and went to the American club to celebrate 4th of July- a bit late, but it was celebrated! We met a few new people and played some pretty intense games of "Mafia"- which I am now addicted to. To end our time at the club, we played some frisbee. Around 5 o'clock we headed back to the hotel and hung out. We went to an awesome italian place for dinner and then just hung out and talked as a team. I know I keep saying this, but I am so blessed to be here with this team. They are all so very encouraging and couldn't have been placed in my life at a better time. Here are some things you could be praying for us about:

-- On tuesday morning (your monday night) we will be traveling to Phokara which is about a 7 hour bus ride. Pray for safety and easy travels and no one gets sick!
-- Next week we will be in Phokara and Chitwan for the week- pray for our interactions with the children there and that we will be used through language barriers. Also, this is when we go to the border, pray that Jesus moves our hearts and trafficking becomes even more real to us.
-- Personally, I have some stuff going on and that I will continue to learn and believe that either way things play out, God is good. Pray that these things wouldnt become a distraction on this trip.
-- Pray that I continue to pour out all of me every day and that I take in every moment I have.
-- When we come home from Phokara is when we decided how we want to serve in Nepal for our last  3 weeks. Pray that Jesus will start revealing to us where He wants us and how He wants to use us for this last leg of the trip.

Love you all so very much!

"Only God can move mountains, but faith and prayer move the heart of God." 

Be Thou My Vision..

Every day I am falling more and more in love with the people and children of Nepal. I wish I could bring each of you to Nepal with me so you could experience the culture and chaos. There is no one reason why I love it so much. I just do.

Yesterday we had a discussion with Jon (THI President) about sex trafficking and the sex industry in Nepal. As most of you know, this is where my heart is and what I want to do with the rest of my life. Every year 10,000 girls will cross over the border of Nepal into India to be sold into sex trafficking. She will be promised a marriage or a job, but she is decieved and usually beaten, raped, and then sold. The average age of these girls are 14-15 years old.

Tiny Hands has a border monitoring ministry. They have 13 stations arcoss the border of Nepal. They have trained Nepali women and men running to stations to look for girls who may be trafficked. Though there are police on each border crossing, they are not looking for signs of trafficking taking place. Even if they were, they are easily bribed to ignore it by the traffickers. The Tiny Hands workers are allowed to stop men and women to ask them questions and look for "red flags" in their answers. If they find that a girl is being trafficked into India they will hand the man over to the police (which sometimes take care of it, and other times the trafficker escapes) and then Tiny Hands will take the girl to one of their safe homes to interview her on exactly how she got to the border with this man, educate her about trafficking and what happens, and she also hears the gospel.

These stations are so critical because the girls that Tiny Hands have intercepted, the majority of them have not been raped or put in a brothel yet. If you can get the girls before they cross the border, you can usually prevent the process from happening all together. And that is a HUGE praise! Nepal is a trafficking source. There are not brothels in Nepal where girls are held against their own will there. You will usually find massage parlors or dance clubs that are linked to the sex industry here in Nepal- very rarely a brothel. Most of the time how trafficking works, girls are brought from a poor country and brought to a rich country to make the most money off of her. That is why girls are taken from Nepal (poor country) and brought to India( rich country).

Part of the culture here is to blame the victim. Though we all know that none of the events of being trafficked are a girls fault, she would be blamed for what happened. All of this is linked to deep spiritual roots in Hinduism.

These people of Nepal are in such need of Jesus. We have been learning alot about the Hindu religion with is the main religion in Nepal. When I walk around and see people wearing the "third eye" on their forehead, it breaks my heart. There is no hope in this religion. These people need Jesus so badly, pray that as our team walks around we won't just stick out because we are Americans, but that the people of Nepal will see something different in us, and we will show them Jesus.

The work that Tiny Hands is doing for the kingdom is incredible. I am so thankful to be part of and so thankful y'all enabled me to do this work. I wouldn't be here with out you and I am so grateful. This trip is changing my life.

Our wonderful and protective guys! (Austin, Barret, Matthew,  Tanner)

Sweet Nepali boy in a childrens home- rescued off the street. 

God's Goodness..

It has been a few days since my last update. Sunday night I started fevering pretty badly. All day yesterday I was in bed. It was super discouraging because I couldn't be with the team or do anything. When I tried to get up I felt extremely dizzy, weak and naucious. I litterally couldn't go anywhere. I was a bit overwhelmed. I really started missing home because I hate being sick without my mom being there. But when I tell you this team is amazing, they are AMAZING! I was prayed over twice, some of the guys took our broken fan and gave me their's to keep me cool. They went to the market and got me some cold water. The girls came and checked on me and soaked a shirt to cool down my back. Sarah trekked through Thamel to find me anti-nausea medicine. 

We are reading a book about some of the attributes of God. The first one is about His goodness. It was in such perfect timing that we read this. One of my favorite quotes was this, " Ultimately, God isn't good because he does good things for us. And God isn't good because of something in us. God is good because of something in him. He can be nothing else. Both God and his choices remain good, even when they may not feel or look particularaly good to you." God isn't good or not good based on our circumstances. Even yesterday when I was sick, He was still good. Our circumstances don't determine the goodness of God. Just like we are sin, God is good. ALL THE TIME. I am so blown away by that. 

Last night I didn't fever. Last night was also the first night I slept all the way through the night without waking up. I woke up this morning feeling 10x better. I am not naucious at all, not so weak, and can actually walk around without feeling like I'm going to hurl or fall over. God is so good. 

I know alot of you were praying for me through that yesterday and I want you to know that Jesus heard you. I am so blown away by his goodness right now I could dance. Maybe I should? ;) I love each one of you very much & I am so very thankful for you! 

And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is make perfect is weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will boast about my weakness, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content wtih my weaknesses, with insults, with distress, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weakm the I am strong." -2 Cor. 12:9-10