Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
My dear family and friends let me start by telling you this, nothing compares to the love of Jesus. We have just finished an awesome time of worship here in the YWAM Darjeeling base. We spent the time of worship giving thanks to Father G for all he has done over the last few days. We arrived back in Darjeeling this avo after an incredible five days of ministry in a village in the hills called Baleson around an hour south of here. We ran a kids camp which was pretty unorganized throughout with poor communication not helping at times either. But it taught our team to be adaptable, to expect the unexpected and more than ever to have a child like faith in God that he was in control throughout. It was a very poor village with a high rate of suicide, a lot of alcoholism and many other problems. We brought the kids the love of Christ and I shared with them about the Father heart of God on one of the days which was much needed as many of the kids came from broken homes and many others had lost parents. We all got the opportunity to teach the kids and preach in the church. We played many games with the kids also and taught them many songs. Yesterday which was our last day with the kids we took them down to the local river. A few of us brave ones joined the kids for a swim in the freezing river which was incredibly refreshing. I never thought I would be swimming in a river flowing from the the Himalayas in the winter. Last night one of the girls shared a powerful gospel message after which a large number of the kids received Jesus to be their best friend and savior. Jesus is the light of the world and he shined his light brightly in Baleson over the last few days leading to many captives being set free. Hallelujah. I better pick up on where I left off my last blog now.
After the two weeks of hiking through the Chitwan hills in Nepal we were treated to a night in a hotel and a visit to Chitwan national park. Although the hotel was nothing special I felt very spoilt by the food, a proper bed, a shower and a toilet seat. The hike really taught me to appreciate the little things. After spending the night in the hotel and watching a traditional Nepalese dance show we got ready to do some work in a small slum. But before we left we got a tour of Chitwan national park on the back of elephants which was very cool. We saw many rhinos and few other animals that are not all that worth mentioning. After the trip in the national park we were taken to the river edge where I experienced the ride of my life. This involved three of us jumping onto a large elephant bare back which then strode waist deep into the river and started tossing back, forth and to the side in an attempt to throw us off. Of course It succeeded but I managed to hold on the longest during the wild and weird rodeo ride. After this great time of rest and fun we left in a bus to the slum.
The so called slum that we ended up in was not quite the kind of slum I was expecting. Many of the houses were made of bamboo and mud but it was a small town slum so nothing compared to cramped slums that you get in large cities. Thankfully we were blessed with a nice little three bedroom house in our five days in this slum. During our time here we helped build a church out of bamboo which was almost finished by the time we had left. We got to know many people in the slum over the four days we were their and on on last day there we shared the Gospel which saw many people in the village receive the good news of Jesus. During our time in the slum a powerful lightning storm passed through on one of the nights. It was the most incredible fork lightning I have ever witnessed and within a few kms of where we watching from at times also. It was the intense and raw beauty of Gods creation at its best. Once we had finished in the slum we made our way back to Kathmandu after saying goodbye to our two awesome Nepalese leaders.
After a wild ride through rough and busy mountain roads we finally arrived in Kathmandu. The journey was a little nerve shattering for many on the team as we almost slammed straight into trucks and other jeeps going around corners on numerous occasions. I was calm throughout the journey knowing the that gods hand of protection was upon us which always brings amazing peace. In Kathmandu we stayed in a guest house in Thamel. Thamel is the tourist district of Kathmandu and is full of hippy shops and hiking gear. I could hardly walk twenty meters in this place without getting offered some form of drugs by street dealers. Thankfully Father G has set me free from that lifestyle and as a result I was able to share the love of Jesus with many of these drug dealers and testify to the freedom, joy and peace I have received in my salvation. Over the course of the five days that we had in Thamel we had a day off, just about managed to sort out our Inidian visas which we got just before we left and had many awesome opportunities to share the love of Jesus with street kids, drug dealers, shop keepers and many more. It was a nice alternative to the village ministry that we had mostly been doing up until then. One cool testimony was that on one of the days my friend Stephanie and I were sharing the gospel with a few street merchants when I noticed a few tourists standing close by us. After we had shared the gospel we got invited back to one of the sellers houses to share with him and his family. But before we left one of the tourists got my attention and to my delight told me that her and her friends were also Christian and had been praying for us e whole time. It's amazing how God covers us in prayer.
We eventually left Kathmandu on the Monday evening after saying goodbye to our fearless leader Sven who was returning to his wife in Oz after a month apart. Our two staff members have since stepped up as our new leaders and they have both been doing an amazing job. The journey from Kathmandu to Darjeeling took 12 hours and it involved the most hectic overnight bus journey I have ever been on and doubt will ever be topped. The bus driver was a lunatic taking scary risks around corners and driving very fast through fog in the middle of the night at one stage also. A few of the team got sick and we all were happy once we got off of the bus the following morning at the Indian border. We spent our first few days praying and doing intercession and worship in Darjeeling as it is a little less open to do evangelism. We visited the local Hindu and Buddhist temples and prayer walked through them. The main Hindu temple at the top of the city was a very freaky place and its English name translates to temple of death.
We are now half way through our mission trip and it has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life so far. We have shared the gospel with well over a thousand people, have seen over a hundred Salvations and around twenty instant healings. I have personally grown in faith and my love for Jesus continues to grow more with every challenge I'm faced with. We are now leaving for Sikkim which is a relatively closed state in the most northern tip of India bordering Tibet. We will be there for a week helping a YWAM team who are pioneering a base up there. I can't wait as its sure to be another exciting and challenging time. Please keep my team and I in your prayers. You are all continually in my prayers also. Blessings of peace and love.
- comments