Halfway through our third month on the ground and we feel like we know our way around town, have built some strong relationships with locals, and have our frame of mind about us. As mentioned in the last update we have been traveling two out of the past four weeks, which has kept us busy but also been a blessing in many ways.
First, we spent a week in a neighboring country north of us for some team meetings to reflect on the last year of work here and plan, pray, and strategize about the upcoming year. To put some figures on it, our focus area is made up of over one hundred thirty-five million people. There are fourteen thousand births a day and five thousand deaths, which means we add nine thousand people to our focus a day. The reality of those numbers means that we need to be sharing the gospel at least nine thousand times a day just to keep up with the population growth. That also means that there are five thousand people a day that die to spend eternity separated from God. This is a sad reality in this part of the world, which means we need lots of prayer and a move of the Holy Spirit.
Second, we spent a week in the capital of our country as Matthew attended a modular course that will help finish up his Masters Degree. Andrea and Elliot were able to travel also as childcare was provided and it was nice for Andrea to dialogue and connect with other wives that are serving internationally.
We are currently spending our weekend with a couple in their early sixties that we went through training with that we admire. They are at the age where most in the US start wasting the rest of their lives by spending their days on the golf course or walking the beach, but instead have chosen to spend their time amongst the lost in S. Asia. They are the closest things to parents that we have in this country and like grandparents for Elliot.
We travel back home tomorrow and will lay low in our city for sometime as we need to heavily focus on language for the next few months. It is a praise from the last update that we both have found language helpers and start with them in two days. In many ways we will be setting up our own schedules and telling the teacher what we need to learn so that is an area of continued intercession.
Intercession Needs:
- Language these next few months.
- Deeper friendships with nationals.
- Opportunities to share during the Easter season.
Here are a few pictures of our last month:
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| Himalaya Mountains |
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| Patan Durbar Square |
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| Patan Durbar Square |
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| Elliot's 1st Birthday! |
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| Proud mother and son |
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| Results of playing "Holi" |
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| How Elliot wanted us to end this post! |
