How many Nepalis can you fit in a micro-bus?

Well, there is a lot to write; we have been very busy. On Saturday, which is supposed to be the day off in Nepal (although most shops are open, Sunday is a regular working day), we went to church. The whole service was in Nepali. We got there a bit early so Ben could tune the guitar that is used for worship, and Manos, the worship leader, declared him guitarist of the day, so Ben played guitar while Manos sang (in Nepali). Many times throughout the service, they pray. This sounds like a normal church happening, but not in Nepal (although it is normal for them). When Nepali's pray, everyone rises from his or her seat on the ground, the ladies cover their heads with their shawls, and everyone shouts prayers to God in Nepali, "shouts" and "Nepali" being the keywords. Anne Lise was right when she said it sounds like tongues. But I did get something out of the service, and that is that Nepali people love God. There are not too many American services that I have the same reaction about. To Nepalis, Christ and Christianity are real, and neither has anything to do with denominations, dogmatic theological issues, a building fund, or a nominating comittee. They merely exist in Christ.

After church, the guest (Nepali) speaker and his wife joined Sudip, Anne Lise, Ben, and I for lunch. Anne Lise had been up since 6:00 am prepring a traditional Nepali meal for them. The different foods were served in tiny individual dishes for the guests of honor, and Ben and I were served in very large sectional plates. As always, food was delicious. Then, the guests stayed for five (count them: 5) hours after lunch and talked with Sudip in Nepali. Ben and I were so bored, but it would have been rude to leave the room. After they finally left, Anne Lise took us to the Buddhist temple across the street from her apartment.

Then there was Sunday. Since Sudip and Anne Lise had a meeting that would last all day, we went with the youth from the church to a picnic on the mountain. From the church, we walked to the main road where Santose (Sudip's brother, the leader of the trip, an administrator at the Bible school, and our appointed baby-sitter) commandeered a microbus (picture a 15-passenger van shrunken to minivan size) and packed all 23 of us (add to that the driver and the boy that rides along as traffic director and do-boy) into the van. The entire trip through the city and up the mountain was probably two and a half hours, and half way into it (on our way out of the city) we stopped to let half of the crowd climb up to ride on the roof. The bus was not allowed to take us to our destination. We were let off at the mountain village of Nagarkot and had to ascend the rest by foot. The climb up the mountain was probably the most physical activity I've had in my whole life. It was probably 4 km up to the tower, and most of it was very steep inclines. At one point near the end, one Nepali girl grabbed my hand and started to "help" (drag) her sister (me) up the mountain. When I finally got to the top, I blacked out. But I was fine for the rest of the trip. We were fed a plate full of unrecognizabe things, which I could only eat half of. We caught glimpses of the Himalayas, which was news to me. I thought we were surrounded by them in the city, but those must only be the foothills. Santose also cornered an old Buddhist man and preached to him and recieved a positive response. Later, the same old man kept speaking Nepali to me and Ben after we insisted we did not speak Nepali. We also met a girl who lives on the mountain, and we had a short service much like the one described above. Ben spoke a short devotional. Then we came down the mountain which was much easier. On the way down, we saw the national flower and lots of goats. One boy caught a goat so Ben could hold it and I could pet it. Then we waited for an hour and a half for our microbus to return. Ben played some songs on the guitar and attracted alot of children who were returning from school. He also tried desparately to learn Nepali, but most sessions end in laughter because his pronunciation and memory is so bad. I helped him communicate by whispering Nepali phrases in his ear. The bus ride home was much the same, and we returned safely. I think the trip was very good for us; we got to know many Nepalis and gain some understanding of their culure, and we had tons of fun. Please continue to pray for our health, especially after today's endeavor. Please also pray for wisdom and guidance as we have to decide soon on when we need to leave so that our next hosts will be prepared for us.