Good morning from Pokhara-the most beautiful place here in Nepal (in our opinion.) As we sit in this amazing Nepal hotel, we are overlooking the most incredible scenary. We were finally able to get wifi. For the past 2 days, it has not been working due to the lack of electricity. Well, we arrived here in Pokhara about 30 hours ago. The trip here was...hmmm...lets say....undescribable. It felt like we were on a rollarcoaster ride for 11 hours straight. We had a stop about 4 times (not counting potty breaks and lunch) to just get out and get some fresh air. The roads were unlike we've ever seen or experienced, but like the rest of the time here, we put our faith in our Lord. So let's back up a little to our time in Nepalgunj. We have to share some things that cannot go unnoticed. We had the privilage to sit down with people from INF in Kathmandu. After serving us Nepali Tea (it is out of this world), we sat around a big table and heard the mission and vision of this ministry. We met people from around the world that left there jobs to come serve full time with INF. The joy was all over their faces...we tear up just thinking about that joy we see in those who know Jesus. So after hearing more about INF, we were able to prepare ourselves more on what we were going to experience and how we were to pray for these people. From Kathmandu, we flew on another airplane (Yeti Airlines) -have to giggle at that- to Nepalgunj. The Lord's work is powerful here. Tears never stopped flowing from our team as we experienced incredible things. We rode on Rickshaws through the streets. The people here are gentle, very curious of who we are. We all get a lot of stares, smiles, and waves. We arrived at INF and we walked through the place where they minister to people who have come with no hope, a disablility that has caused them to be unaccepted, a body and mind that has been battered and abused by drugs, etc. It is incredible to watch these nurses, doctors, and volunteers be the hands and feet of Jesus. Unlike in America, these patients were so excited to see us come through and say hi. Unashamed, they held there hands together and greeted us with the words "Namaste." Their eyes were so excited even though their bodies were sick. Glancing back at the team, you could see the tears welling up in their eyes. The INF staff continued to show us around as we prayed for these people to have the hope of Jesus, as some, were on their last days. We visited TB patients and those who have had Leporasy and continue to come back for medication. We couldn't believe...well, a lot if things. It will take a lot of time to process that day in our minds. We continue to praise the Lord for this trip as we continue to have faith in the One who is the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life. We can't believe we know this awesome God. Finally, we left on that crazy bus ride to this amazing city of Pokhara. Yesterday, we were blessed to worship with the people here. Our friend N- has been the most amazing host and has worked hard to make this trip happen for us. He is here from Pokhara and his grandparents have started the first church in Nepal. As we walked up to service, we were greeted by music that would make you cry. With the joyful sound of voices and instruments, God was worshipped and we were excited to be apart of that. The men and women sit on opposite sides of the church...on the floor. The girls took off our shoes and a sweet woman showed us where to sit. With all eyes on us, we stood up and introduced ourselves. Then, we joined them in this time of worship. The first song we sang was "This is the day." We were excited to sing this in English while the women around us sang in Nepali. Suddenly, a picture of our eternal time with God, (singing as one tribe, tongue and nation) overwhelmed us. We couldn't help but cry and praise Him. He is so worthy of our praises. We couldn't see the guys on the other side of the room, but we knew they were experiencing the same thing we were. The Holy Spirit was present. It didn't matter that the sound system went out, it didn't matter how many musicians they didn't have or have, it didn't matter that the strings were out of tune. Hands were lifted high and voices of prayer and song filled the room. He. was. pleased. Sigh....so we left the church conversing with other Nepali believers, and then headed to an amazing lunch. Afterwards, we joined the youth service where we WORSHIPPED!! We joined their team and we sang songs in Nepali and in English. We pulled out songs they knew...Shout to the Lord, Open the eyes. Old songs that we may have never chosen at home because they were "out of date." But here, it reminded us that it didn't matter what was "in"- it was a worship song. They danced, we danced. A and L were able to play with the Nepali boys on the drum set- it was amazing. It was truly a time of encouragement for both nations. After a few hours of awesomeness, we headed to another restaurant, and then to bed. We won't forget to mention one final thing. In Luke 11-Jesus says this to His disciples....when you pray, say: "Father, hallowed be your Name, your Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation..." Without having our bags, this team has experienced trusting in Him and thanking God for what we need. Our bags are supposed to be arriving, but again, we are not sure. It's amazing the attitudes that have been shown due to this mess. But really, is it a mess? Is it a blessing that we are being shown what we really need? We are still able to go buy necessities from the stores, but not having what we thought we needed has been challenging. All of us have seen the blessing in this. If you are a parent of one of these students, you should be proud. Each of these students are absolutely amazing and this team was put together for a reason. Not many students could do this....the team leaders feel blessed by them. So, here we are in Pokhara. As we complete this, we can see a Budda temple on the mountaintop and praise God we have the Truth in our hearts. We pray He continues to become more real and alive in our hearts daily. We pray for the Nepali people to see this Truth. We love you all. We have the morning to relax so we are all going shopping. Until next time...