And the celebrations continue

I got a fair bit of lesson planning done today. I went to my first Nepalise party. Here they celebrate Christmas on the 25 followed by New Year on th 26 Dec. They laughed when I kept yelling out 'not yet' each time they said Happy Christmas and Happy New year.

I was picked up by one of the church men, whom I do know reasonably well. We rode via motor bike. We got to the party and I was given a quick intro to all the people as they came in. I already knew a number of people so it made it easier for me to feel part of everything.

What was wonderful we saw the New Year in through some great Nepalise worship music, and plenty of dancing. And yes I did get up and dance too. It kept me warm. At the end of the worship we all shared a meal together as one family. The music was really loud and the whole neighborhood could here it and no one cared. The Nepalise are very social in your face people. They do not understand the need to be alone and down time just does not really happen. So they don't get it when I tell them I am staying at Educate Nepal guest house on my own until the team arrive later in the week. I tell them I have plenty to get done before training commences on Sunday. Also I have some great music so it is not an issue for me to be by myself for a wee while.

At 9 pm it was time for me to say my goodnights and return to the guest house...again via a motor bike. We arrived at the guest house to find that I had been locked out. We had to wake someone up to let me in to the compound. I have to be honest the compound is very safe.

Please pray for wisdom and guidance as I continue with the preparations for teacher training.

Now it is time for me to turn off my iPad and go to bed. Until next time God bless you all.

Christmas Day Nepal style

Experience Christmas with a difference where there is no day off and life goes on as usual. The streets are full of people, it is connected with traffic jams, yet I spent the day with my church friends celebrating with a packed auditorium, singing and worshipping our King. It was loud and you could feel the presence of God in this place. This was followed by lunch where every one was feed a typical Nepalise dish. There was plenty for everyone.

I was rushed off to join the music team on their bus and we headed in to the city of Kathmandu to attend an event where the music team were to sing. Head of all Religious Groups, heads of Govt were in attendance and the Christmas message was televised through 68 channels live through Nepal, India, etc. Of course it would not be right if the Politicans didn't get a chance to speak now would it. I understood a few words here and there like; Christmas, Nepal, let's say a smattering of words here and there. I guess the Norwegian Ambassidor probably felt the same way as he spoke in English. Any way the whole affair went on forever. Well it seemed that way. I guess being cold didn't help. There is no such thing as heating. You just wear more clothes.

All in all it was a memorable day fuLl of real meaning as to what Christmas is really about.

It is 2am. I have to make use of the Internet when we have electricity and using a tablet in bed makes it somewhat easier. First it is warm in bed. Electricity on means access to wifi.

God bless you all and I hope all of your Christmas were special.

I can't believe that I hadn't updated my blog in over a year. Well actually a lot has happened in that time and it would rake me forever to write about it. So let's move on to where I am now. You guessed it.

I am in Nepal again. There were many obstacles in me getting back here. Some good and some not so good. The main one being that I had intend to be at home for Christmas and I couldn't get a ticket in my price range but could before Christmas so I took the 22Dec. So here I am having my first Christmas in Nepal. I have forgotten how cold it can get.

Please pray for my family and friends in Christchurch New Zealand as they come to terms again with more earthquakes rattling the city. I think if I had heard before leaving for Nepal I would have cancelled my trip here and gone home to family. Perhaps finding out mid flight was just the way it was meant to be. It does answer the question of, am I meant to be here. The answer is a definite yes.

It feels good to be here. Nepal has become my third home.

And yes today is Christmas day. If church was anything to go by yesterday I can well imagine what Pastor Raju has in store for all of us today. I am being picked up at 9 am to head of to a church Christmas party which goes all day. Over 2000 people. We are lucky if we get a hand full of people. Ps Raju rans 2 services each Sunday, and has a number of smaller churches out stationed throughout Nepal with much smaller congregations.

We talked about humility. We don't see a lot of this today. Certainly not in the west. Humbling ourselves for others not just God. Getting rid of that pride that has become so in intrenched in all of us. We need to check and ask how do we serve sacrificially? Check out Philipeanz, 1 Peter. Lots of goodvstuff around humility.

Now it is time for me to get some sleep. Blessings too you all and let's think of what Christmas really means to each and everyone of us. How do we serve others sacrificially? How do we give?
Have a wonderful day with family and friends, if your driving stay safe and may God bless each and everyone one of you.

Despite not understanding Nepalise I did manage to take home the message.