I'm sad that I only get to teach my lesson one more time. The best part of this trip is teaching the children the Bible stories. They are all so excited to see us! At every church they sing us songs while dancing and clapping. They love it when we join them! Sometimes they even sing us songs in English. When we teach them, they all listen attentively and eagerly answer the questions we ask them. When we finish our lessons, we play games with the children and teach them some of our songs, like "Jesus loves me." Everyone we meet is always so happy and welcoming. I am so blessed to be here and to have met them.
Last week, Naomi, Becky, Melanie, Pastor Ohlmann, and I hiked 2 hours up a hill to a small village. A 2 hour hike up a Nepali hill doesn't sound bad, does it? EXCEPT a Nepali hill is more like a small mountain. So, a far more accurate description would be a 2 hour climb up a small mountain. Before I came here, I thought I was in good athletic shape. I lift weights and jog every other day. But even if I had run on a stair stepper for 4 hours every day in extreme heat for three months before coming here, I would not have been in good enough shape for that hike. After only 15 minutes up the steep rocky slope under the sweltering sun, all of us girls were completely soaked in sweat and needed a break. All the sweating made us feel almost nauseous, so that we needed breaks nearly every 15 minutes.
But our Nepali guides barely sweat at all! And they didn't need any of the countless breaks we American girls couldn't do without. They kept us going by telling us we had only 10 minutes left...but it was another hour before we reached the village, our clothes completely DRENCHED with sweat! And if Pastor Ohlmann hadn't been right behind me and Mel giving us pep talks and drill sergeant calls the entire way up, I'm not sure we would have made it!
But the painful hike was completely worth it! Many of the children we spoke to that day barely knew anything about Jesus, so I'm very glad we made it that day. That same day, the boys and Natalie did have much longer 7 hour hike! I can't believe they were all able to make it! God was definitely there helping all of us that day.
The views here are the most spectacular that I have ever seen! Nothing is so beautiful as the green Nepali hills. And climbing the hills may be tough, but the view from the top makes it all worth it! I will miss looking out at the hills every day.
Even more so I will miss all the amazing and inspiring people I have met here. Three weeks was not enough time to spend here with these people, talking with them and teaching them. The only comfort I have when leaving them will be that even though I may not see them again on Earth, one day we will be reunited in heaven.
We have all been so blessed on this trip! Most of us have stayed healthy and those of us who have been sick are only sick for one or two days. I know many of you have been praying for us back home and those prayers are so helpful to us here. Thank you for thinking of us and please keep us in your prayers for this upcoming week--our last week here.
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