Recent Stuff

We've been in a holding pattern with ministry recently, which has been nice. After our meeting with the ones we will be training for CP work here, we have been able to relax and spend time as a family. I had planned to do some follow-up CP training with some brothers, but train tickets were difficult to secure, and my interpreter's father had an accident and he was not available to travel with me. It is not wise for Americans to travel the trains alone here, and my wife was not keen on me going on the train by myself. The next day there was a report of 5 people who had some tea laced with a drug. After they passed out, they were robbed by the people who drugged their drinks, and are in the hospital recovering, one of them died. So, I am rescheduling my training for a time when I have someone to travel with me. I know that God protects me as I travel, but I also know that I must be smart about my decisions. Anyways, it was good to be home for an extended period.

Though there is not much going on as far as official ministry, we did attend our first Hindu wedding. Our neighbors, who we have built a good relationship with, invited us to their son's wedding. My wife was excited, as many women get about weddings, to dress up fancy and see all the other fancy outfits. The event was a 3 day process. The first part was an evening get together in our apartment complex where the two families come together and give their official blessing to the marriage. The attendees sat around a circle, where in the middle there were many gifts set on a blanket. The groom and the bride's older brother sat in the middle of the crowd while the 4 Hindu priests told them what to do for the ceremony. This basically gave full agreement from the entire crowd that the wedding could take place. Then we ate a huge meal. The next event was the wedding, and it actually took place 2 nights later, and we got dressed up again and went to a reception hall. The bride and groom came in, all the while people are snapping pictures and walking around, yelling. Very chaotic! They each put a garland around each other's neck to symbolize the beginning of the ceremony. More pictures, more chaos, and then everyone went out to the terrace for dinner, a huge buffet of food that was incredible. Many people asked us how we like being here, is this your first Hindu wedding, how do you find the heat, etc. As we thought this was pretty much all that the ceremony was, one of the family came to us and said-"You are staying for the ceremony, right?" We thought it was over, but we were informed that when the priest was ready, he would begin it, which could be hours from then. We noticed some of our neighbors heading out after eating, which we thought was rude not to stay, but my wife began feeling ill, so we saw our escape. We were told that mostly only family stayed for the entire ceremony, but we were allowed to witness also. We graciously bowed out and came home (fortunately because my wife had a fever of 102.9). The next day, I saw the father of the groom and I asked him when the wedding ended. He said they came home about 5AM! I felt bad for my wife being sick, but thank the Lord that we had an excuse to leave and did not have to stay the entire time. The third event was the reception, two days later, where again, we ate a lot of food while people greeted the new couple, brought gifts, gave blessings and took pictures. It was a very interesting event to be part of, and we are blessed that our neighbors thought to include us in this special time. The groom is from here, but he has been living in America for his job the past 10 months, and he will move back there with his new bride (who has never been out of the country) on July 2. Pray for this couple as they not only are going to experience life together, but they will do it in a totally different culture than they are used to, more so for the bride. Marriage is tough enough, but they are really going to have it tough from the start. We watched a movie called "The Namesake."
It is a great movie about a man from South Asia who works in America, gets married back home and takes his new bride to America to start life. This made us think of this new couple and the challenges they will face in America. We will continue our relationship with our neighbors while we are here. Pray for us as we seek a good time to share more of the Gospel with them.

There are also many other political things happening here in the region. Nepal's political environment has changed from a Monarchy to a Republic. Pray for peace in the region and also for the units that are there for their continued safety during this time. Some of this political unrest from Maoists is spilling into neighboring countries. Also, there is much unrest in parts of India, as the Gujars are planning road closures around the capital. Sometimes this can become violent. There was also a recent terrorist bombing in Jaipur, India that killed 60+ and injured many more. Another terrorist bombing happened in Sri Lanka, killng some and injuring others. Pray for peace for the many people of the South Asia region, that they will hear the truth of the Gospel and come to know the peace that lies in Jesus. People cry out every day for God to save them, heal them, give them peace. However, they do not cry out to the One True God who can do all these things. Pray for the name of Jesus to be proclaimed among this nation and region.