Day 2 (3/27)

Well, no jet lag so-far . . . but I am still tired . . . this could be a LONG trip!! :)

We started the day with breakfast at the Higher Grounds Cafe. (That is also the name of the cafe at our church . . . I know - Cool!!) If the electricity hadn't been out (they have rolling blackouts - 4-hours in the morning and 4-hours in the evening) we could have had cappucinos, but alas, we had to settle for tea or coffee. :) Now, if Neil is reading this, we had Dal Bhaat for breakfast . . . for the rest of you, we actually enjoyed a wonderful breakfast of coffee, tea and cinnamon rolls - YUMMY!! :)

Then, we climbed into a van with our tour guide, Raju, and headed off to the Hindu temple. I wish I could tell you the name of the temple, but alas, names are not my strong-suit! :) Neil, we hiked long and hard to get into the temple!! Everyone else, we paid $8 and went in the front way, like all the other tourists. We walked past many, many a Nepali hocking their goods. There were monkeys GALORE (all of which freaked out Katrina), all scratching, and picking, and being monkeyish in all they did. We came upon the area in which the poorer can burn their dead, and there was a cremation going on. There was also a man preparing to cremate a parent - we could tell because he was wearing all white with a shaved head. He was going through some ritual with a priest. We moved up the river (their "holy river") and looked at many of the idols. Raju Dai took some time to explain to us how the sacrifices they made corelated with the sin - peacock for lust, water buffalo for pride, etc. We thought this was very interesting and even, somewhat, Old Testament like. We also loved how the animal "fit" the "crime."

We moved up the river a little further to the area into which only Hindus go. We crossed over the bridge and saw that there was another funeral. We could hear the mother wailing for her son (Ellen told us that was the relationship). The man was laying under a sheet, with his feet in the river. Todd told us that they put their feet in the holy river to wash away their sins to prepare them for their next life. When we got to the other side, Raju Dai told us that they put their feet in the water in hopes that it will bring them back to life . . . these two thoughts, combined, hit me very hard, and I began to cry. It just occured to me that God is preparing them, even within their own religion, to know the Living Water - the One who really can wash away their sins and bring them new life!! I was humbled, and amazed to see that God is preparing the Hindu people, and laying the foundation for them to come to know Him!! What an amazing God!! I was also very saddened to think they understood the concept, they just missed the means by which it happened . . . so close, yet so far . . .

We spent some time praying for the country of Nepal - praying from the high places. Praying that they would come to new life, to know the Living Water . . . praying for the people to have the peace that Christ alone can bring. Then, we were on our way to our next stop. On our way out, the man that had been preparing on our way in was in the process of cremating his mom (??) on our way out . . . one thing that I think the Nepali people really do right is mourning. They take a full year to mourn the loss of a parent . . . I think that we just rush it too much. 2 weeks and we're supposed to "get on with life" and it's just not that easy. It takes time, and I think that we should allow ourselves that time to grieve and heal and miss our loved ones. I think that's healthy and good, and something we should really consider.

Next we were on to the Tibetan Bhuddist temple. It was so beautiful, with so many colors. The temple in the center of the area was surrounded by prayer wheels - each engraved with the 6 stages of life leading to Nirvana (I think . . . Raju was talking so fast, I kind of missed part of the explanation - feel free to comment on this and let me know what they really are!). The people walk around the entire thing, turning each wheel, and with each rotation, it sends up a prayer. There were also prayer flags everywhere which sent up a prayer with each gust of wind. We weren't able to spend as much time in this place, but we did walk once around and pray. I think the thing that struck me most in this place was the unpersonal feel of it - that everyone was sending up the same, exact prayer . . . when God really delights in our personal relationship with us. He wants to know us, and He wants us to know Him. He wants us to talk to him - tell Him our hopes and fears, what makes us happy and angry, what we love, what we hate, what we doubt, and everything else . . . He longs for personal conversation . . .

From there we went to lunch (Neil, it was Dal Bhaat), and then we went to the baby orphange. Oh, those sweet, sweet children! I started my time in the orphanage with some of the older kids who were very sick with high fevers and runny noses and all that other fun stuff. Ellen told the head woman to call the Dr. and she would pay for it, to have all the sick babies looked at. Some of the kids were eager to come and sit with me (most were not in the mood to play), and some just wanted to be snuggled by the women who worked and lived in the orphanage (most of them are orphans themselves). I spent a while in that room, just loving on the kids, and holding them. Then, I moved up into the infant room. It was there I met my sweet Anu. We were able to change their clothes and diapers (those of you who donated clothes and diapers -THANK YOU! The ladies in the orphanage were so happy and blessed to get them!) One baby, who was about 1-1/2 months old and had Downsyndrome, had such a bad diaper rash that we had them leave the diaper off of her to air her out a little, and she made the funniest face - it was like she just couldn't believe how great it felt! :) HAHA!! I was able to change and hold Anu, snuggle her, and feed her a bottle (at this point I was completely in love!). The babies were just precious!! I had a difficult time, though, because the sanitation isn't the same - everyone just held the sick babies and the healthy ones without washing hands or anything . . . and they bundled the babies in layer after layer, for fear that if the slightest breeze got on them, they would get sick.

Though the orphanage was Hindu run, we asked if we could pray for the children before we left, and the head woman said we could. We prayed for their health and safety and for the women who were working there. When we were done, we were all crying, and the woman who ran the place was also crying. Ellen gave her a hug, and we were on our way. The lady called the next day and told Ellen that by the time we walked out the gate, all of the babies were healed and completely well - when the Dr. came he found nothing wrong with any of the children! A miracle . . .Isn't God amazing?! The woman then asked Ellen to come and tell her about this God we pray to. Please, pray that this woman and each of the ladies there would be discover and be transformed by the passionate love of God, transforming the entire house into a place where children who have literally been thrown away or just abandoned, can grow up in the knowledge and love of God.

We then headed back to the guest house to freshen up for dinner at Todd and Ellen's friend's house - Ruth and Dinesh. It was quite a long walk to their house, and (as you can tell from the length of this post) it was a very long day, so by the time we got there we were all very tired. The electricity went out almost immediately, so we dined by candlelight. They served us a wonderful meal of Dal Bhaat (yes, it really was Dal Bhaat), and then Ruth shared her story of having been persecuted - thrown in prison for 14 months at the age of 16, for sharing the love of Christ. She was beaten and abused so badly that she cannot even have children. Though, she and her husband were blessed to have adopted a beautiful baby girl named Amanda. :) We were all SO TIRED that we were having a very difficult time staying awake - with full tummies, and a dimly lit room, it was actually quite humorous to see how we each tried our very hardest to stay awake and listen intently. I found myself moving constantly in order to stay awake. There were others who were doing the nod, and those who literally were almost falling over!! We so desperately didn't want to seem rude, but we were just exhausted!!

When we were done, we fought over who got to pay for the taxi rides back to the guest house!! :) We got back, had our devotional time, and we each fell into bed, ready to get some much needed sleep . . . zzzzzzzzzz . . . .