Mark and Julie - Adventures in Nepal

Jaimasee, and welcome to our first days in Nepal!
Before going through an explanation of the last four days, it should be emphasized that today is a very special day for a number of reasons. First off, today marks our first blog post in the wonderful land of Nepal. Second, we are going to our first international church service today (having gone to a Nepali church service with the Vanlals yesterday), and are very excited about that. Perhaps the most interesting reason of all, however, is the Nepali national Holiday called Holi day, oddly enough.

Although Julie and I are still trying to understand the occasion, I'll tell you what I know about it. Theologically speaking, the day is celebrating the day that a particularly important devout Hindu man vanquished an evil spirit, named Holika. What it boils down to practically speaking, however, is that today is a day to grab water balloons, squirt guns filled with dyed water, and fistfuls of powdered dye and hurl them at whoever you see! Sounds more like a good excuse to have a nation-wide water fight, but that shows what little I know. Either way, it should make for some very interesting pictures later - wish us luck with that, by the way. Julie seems to think we can make it out without too much harm to our clothing, but I have my doubts.

Well, I promised pictures when we got here, and pictures you shall have! We'll start with a send-off with Julie and my parents.

Having sent our parents off after a wonderful visit, we made the way ourselves to the airport.

A few family shots before we took off:

Good times at the Singapore Airport! Julie is enjoying a free foot massage after many hours of planes!

And then, after an airport shower and about 7 more hours of travel time, we made it to our wonderful apartment!
Julie 'Vanna White'-ing our bed, mirror, and some of the desk.
Showing off the mondo storage set-up we have!
Relaxing around our sitting area.
Me being happy to have a good ol' fashioned American toilet!

Our fickle shower.
And a lovely view from our window to top it all off.

Thank you so much for your prayers! We will make sure to write again soon. We love you so much, and are blessed by your support, even in just reading and following this blog! More for later!

In about nine hours, that is! Our first stop is Los Angeles, followed by Tokyo, Singapore, then finally Nepal. We will end up in Nepal at about noon on Friday having lost a day during travel. Nothing says fun like a little time travel, right?

Be praying for us when you get the chance during this flight time. We're praying for a safe, restful and pretty well uneventful trip, so pray along with us as the Spirit leads.

Once we arrive in Nepal, we are headed pretty much straight for our apartment so we can rest and unpack. That said, with any luck, we might get a chance to post our first blog in Nepal! How crazy is that?

Thanks for reading, praying for us, and all that other good stuff!
-Mark

Dear interested, praying, and otherwise well-wishing people we know,

Welcome to our blog! This blog will detail all the crazy stuff that God is going to do with us while we're in Nepal for the next five months. We hope to post lots of pictures and stories, and hope it's a joy to our readers. Check here often for updates so that you can stay up to date on how best to pray for us and share in our adventure!

Let me take the chance now to let everyone know about our trip in detail. For the next five months, from February to July, we are going to Nepal to work with Evangelical Friends Mission, or EFM. There, we will be working with three different local missionary couples, assisting them in any way we can. This work will most likely include teaching, preaching, leadership development, and helping with medical clinics. The purpose of this trip is twofold. First off, going on this trip will fulfill a requirement at Barclay College for the Missions' degree. Second, and more importantly, we are prayerfully considering how we might fit in with the current ministry in Nepal - how we can be of use, and what the perceived needs are.

So where are we now? And what happens next? We are currently staying with Julie's parents in Wichita, taking care of any logistical issues that are left to be done, such as visa pictures, medicines, e-mail lists, and whatever else needs to get done. We are leaving from Denver on February the 24th at 9:30, and should be in Kathmandu by the 26th at noon. Then the real adventures begin!

So how can you be praying for us? There are a number of ways. The most immediate need we are experiencing is the need for physical health! The winter cold season has had both Julie and myself in a chokehold off and on for the last few weeks, and we are really fighting to get over that. Also, be praying for all of those pesky details that always need addressing right before a trip, that they would be solved as quickly and painlessly as possible. Most of all, though, pray that God will be continually preparing us, both as individuals and as a married couple, for the challenges (and joys) ahead, that we could always put God first in our efforts and in our relationship. Our dream has always been to be partners in ministry as well as a married couple, and that requires God shaping our attitudes and strengthening us.

Well that's that I have for now - I hope you all can be as excited about this trip as we are! God bless you, whoever you are!