Ok here we go.

Listing things always work so well when someone is trying to describe a new place and a new experience. So here, I'll list a few things in hopes that you might be able to get a feel for what the heck is going on in our lives.

1. Street kids who beg you for money. we're staying in a real touristy area, called Thimal, and street kids love to come up to us begging for money. they claim it's because they're hungry and they want food, but the sad reality is, they want money for drugs and glue. mothers with babies do the same thing, holding bottles with water, asking money for milk. they usually just trade the milk right back in the store for money to buy drugs. this really bothered us as a team and for the last week we've really struggled with what to do. Saxony made a break through this evening as she struck up a conversation with some kids. Tomorrow we'll be going to the park to play with street kids and to cook and eat with them. It'll be an all-day event and we are all pumped.

2. the streets were obviously not made for cars, motorcyles, bikes, tuk tuks AND pedestrians, but they all seem to find their way through to their destinations. I get nervous about having a foot run over. i would hate to see what a car accident looked like here.

3. HELLO we're in a valley, at the base of the Himilayas and Everest and how could you not be blown away by the fact that we're in freaking KATMANDU. Every now and then someone will look around and remind the group that we're in nepal. WE'RE IN NEPAL!

4. I think it finally hit me that we were in another country when a person riding an elephant cruised down the street through traffic. Right after this, we witnessed a monkey trapeesing some cable wires.

5. The boys have this really beautiful opportunity to connect with the kids here as they play soccer and it's so sweet to watch the relationships form. It's even neater to watch Saxony play with the boys because it helps break stereotypes of women. Women here are so oppressed and, as a woman, it's easy to feel. The way they interact in public, the way they dress, the way they are treated by their husbands, families, etc. It can be a bit overwhelming. You wonder how humans could treat other humans that way...

6. The beginning of our trip was a bit ambiguous as we tried to get a feel for what we wanted to do and see. It's funny how God works through all situations, even the ones where we feel disconnected and divided. One morning a few days ago, our team couldn't decide if we wanted to stay in Katmandu or go out to visit some towns in rural nepal. By that afternoon, we had visited the Princess Home and felt GOD move. It was crazy. We all had an unspoken agreement form and fell into a unity that was indescribable. People were praying, feeling hopeful and overwhelmed with God and I think that is a powerful affermation to the trip and why we are here.

And why are we here? People have supported us with their hard earned cash and we get to experience and see and grow and at the end of the day, share with the world.

I think we are here to

1. Grow
2. SEEK
3. Find God
4. struggle
5. learn to love better
6. learn to love ourselves better
7. watch soccer
8. play soccer
9. listen to the stories of those who are suffering
10. be humbled
11. allow God to move us, break us, destroy our worldviews, and build us back up again.

We had some sweet women fellowship time today and heard the stories of a few girls who had been in oppresive marriages that ultimately led them to being incarcerated in brothels against their wills. We (the girls on our team) got to hear these stories as we washed their feet and gave them manicures and pedicures (don't ask me how we knew what we were doing, we just did it)

Seriously, there's so much more to say and describe: we visited another children's home which was started by a man named Vishnu. This man just blew my mind. He was one of those people who was obviously in LA-LA land with Jesus and I really just wanted to follow him around wherever he went. The children who lived with him (there were 48 at the time) all called him dad and the little ones especially had stolen his heart. We painted their walls and played with the kids.

Come to think of it, we've done quite a bit.

Here's what I think: this life we lead transcends economics, poverty and wealth, even maybe religion. Being Christ followers, we are called to love God and love others with everything we have in our being. I think we are trying to figure out what that looks like here and how does this then transform us for the rest of our lives.

Its a shift. Something weird is going on and I think it's the Holy Spirit and there's a healing shift that I love.

We'll talk more later.

Tekwaba.