From Katmandu to Pokhara via way of Chitwan

The last week has been one of the busiest we have ever experienced as well as one of the bestest that ever what was!
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We wrapped things up in Kathmandu (part1) and headed to Pokhara but took a short detour to the low lying village of Chitwan on the Indian border. If you have a setting for Hades on your thermostat that’s how hot it is there. However it is worth it. The story “The Jungle Book” was inspired by this place. It has the Napti and Narayani rivers flowing through it and they run right behind the Rhino Lodge which, praise God, has air-conditioned rooms. We were able to take a quiet early morning canoe ride through the jungle that emptied right into an elephant breeding center which Cassie and Lexi fell in love with. Later on we also did an elephant ride through the jungle in-which we saw rhino’s as well as several other free roaming animals. All of this is always a blast but their enjoyment hit another level when we did the elephant baths, where they got to get in the water with them, ride on them bareback and get hosed down by them as seen in the photo of Molly, Mia, and Kiera.
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After a great couple of days there we headed on to Pokhara and have been up to our eyeballs in ministry! We have shared the gospel at a special needs school (best day ever!), spoke at schools and performed our skills (dance, drama, and puppets) to roaring crowds (no joke). It is such an encouragement to see what these students are capable of! On Friday evening we slipped in an extra church service for Saturday morning, as a Catholic priest heard a message I did at the special needs school and asked if I would do it in mass the next morning. This made for a really busy day as we already had a church service planned the next morning as well as a youth group program to run later that day. The students were eager and excited so we went for it. After I spoke at the two services, I turned it completely into the hands of the students to run the youth group. I had been convinced that God is going to use this group to do some great things for Him moving forward and they only backed it up. Maddi more or less ran everybody through the games, dramas, and dances. Then she turned the microphone over to Melanie, who did a crisp job delivering her testimony and then Eli delivered a message about loving our enemies. It was impactful to both the Nepalese and our American students as well.
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I am convinced that the Lord is working in this generation to be the future of the church and He has been doing some great things in the last five years to prepare them to be the mouthpieces to the nations. The senior staff women (Lauren, Hannah, and Jackie) have been doing a great job investing in the girls of the team. But I selfishly want to say I have enjoyed these guys on this trip and am excited (and sad) to watch them go. Eli, Chase, Issac, and Andrew have been a joy to get to know and David I previously knew but continue to be impressed with the gifts I see in him. We have enjoyed getting men’s haircuts together, teaching them boy-band and above all biblical discussions. I admit I have a heart for young men. Especially as I see many fall away from the church. It only fires up my desire to invest in them through discipleship and I
am the one blessed to be able to be a part of serving with these great future leaders. Keep prayin' em up!