Dearest Friends,
ROOSTER PASTOR
Our friend Tik loves to eat village roosters. He trains many pastors in remote areas, so he has lots of opportunities to visit villages. He always looks for the biggest rooster in the village because he says they are tasty. I do not share his love for rooster meat, but I love the way he finds joy and wonder in the villages. He loves to eat rooster so much that some of the villagers have started to call him rooster pastor.
When you work in villages, you need to appreciate the good things about village life. I was speaking to a group of several hundred children today in a very remote village. I wanted to encourage them that living in a village can be a wonderful thing. Too many people think that life is better in he cities. I do not think it is better, just different. These children live at the base of high mountains. In the distance, you can see the Himalayans. A donkey interrupted one program. Heads of goats and even Buffaloes blocked the road. People were drying corn in the rafters of their houses. The rice fields were bright green. It is a beautiful and peaceful place to grow up. More importantly, it is where the living God chose for them to live.
Please pray for the children in the villages where we are visiting. They are so excited when we come, because no one comes. It is a great honor to get to tell these children about Jesus. He roads are pretty rough and it is warm, but the work is sweet. Heather has already fallen in love with this as I knew she would. The people of Nepal are precious and need your prayers.
TWO TEMPLES
Twice today we set up beside a temple or in front of a temple at schools. It is the strangest feeling to stand in these kinds of places and talk about Jesus. What we are sharing is the polar opposite of what these temples represent. These temples are all about man trying to get himself to god, but following Jesus is all about the living God reaching down to man to rescue him. I wish you could see the children’s faces. I wish you could see the wonder in their eyes when they hear that the living God thinks that they are a treasure. Please ask the Lord to give the children ears to hear the truth. We are not allowed to pray with them, but we can tell them how to pray. What’s the difference? I trust that the Father is calling many of them to Himself.
OPPOSITION
I have learned that nothing wonderful never happens without some opposition. Today, a group of teachers decided that they really did not want us to come, but they did want the break our show would provide. None of them came to the program and so the children were a little unruly. Actually, it was a very hard show. We had a thousand children in front of us and no leadership. I began to pray, asking God to help the children to listen and God did! Hey got quiet and really paid attention even though they were beside us, behind us, in front of us, on the roof, and on the balcony. They should not have listened, but they did. This is the power of God’s message of rescue.
After the show, I went and visited with the teachers, thanking them for allowing us to come. I wanted to be kind to them even though they had not be particularly kind to us. I wanted to show them the gradutite that I had talked about in the program. They really wanted us to fail, but God will always do what God wants done. No one can stop His plans! Today He wanted a thousand children in a far away place to hear how much He loves them.
Please pray for us as we are traveling to more villages tomorrow. The gas situation is critical here. We need your continue prayers that wil be able to find the needed fuel to reach the children. It is expensive and hard to find. Today we passed two men pushing a huge cart of bananas miles to the market. Normally, they would use a truck but there is no gas. They have to take care of their families. Please ask the Father to provide what we need. Please ask Him to give us joy no matter what happens.
In Jesus,
Linda for Heathe and Tik