Natalie Schreyer - Home Sweet Home...Heaven!

Well here I am, sitting in this comfy La-Z-Boy chair, holding my laptop, in an air-conditioned house, eating my first Oreo in a month, and sipping an ice-cold glass of tap water – (yes, safe TAP water! woohoo!) – and I can’t help but notice how much more I am…noticing things!  Little things that I took for granted before my trip to Nepal…like safe tap water, electricity that runs all day, quiet and orderly streets, “bug-lessness…” J  And most of all, my family.  It sure is good to be home!  J

But although I knew all these comforts of home were awaiting me as I stepped in the plane to take me back to America, leaving Nepal was so hard.  Only after a tearful goodbye to our unforgettable new friends, Raju and Rajan and their family and friends, whom we all grew so close to over the past month, were we able to reluctantly board our plane.  I know I can speak for all the mission helpers when I say that Nepal, and the people in it, will always be in our hearts. 

Our return flights from Nepal, to India, to London, to Chicago, were all safe and smooth.  We’ve all returned to our homes safely as of yesterday.  I’m not sure about the other mission helpers, but I for one have been chatterboxing away to my poor family and friends about anything and everything Nepal, haha! :p  I really appreciate their willingness to listen to me!  ~ what troopers! J 

But of all my thoughts and feelings I express through my Nepal stories and photos, I hope that what really comes across is that this country needs our prayers.  Though poverty and political corruption are significant problems in Nepal and are certainly things we can pray for, what’s worse is their need for the Word.  The people there are really just like you and me;  they just haven’t had the privilege, as we have, to grow up in a country as financially able to take care of them.  It makes their faith all the more important.  They need something to rely on, and it needs to be the fact that this difficult life on Earth will quickly pass away, and that there is a much, much greater Life to look forward to!  Just like the hymn “I’m But a Stranger Here” says:

What though the tempest rage, Heav’n is my home;
Short is my pilgrimage, Heav’n is my home;
Time’s cold, wild wintry blast soon shall be over past;
I shall reach home at last, Heav’n is my home.

There at my Savior’s side Heav’n is my home;
I shall be glorified, Heav’n is my home.
There are the good and blest, those I loved most and best;
There, too, I soon shall rest, Heav’n is my home.

Therefore I murmur not, Heav’n is my home;
Whate’er my earthly lot, Heav’n is my home;
And I shall surely stand there at my Lord’s right hand.
Heav’n is my fatherland, Heav’n is my home.

To wrap up my thoughts on the 2011 Mission Helper Trip to Nepal, it is such a blessing to be home in America.  And even though I miss the people in Nepal, I know that I will see them again in our heavenly Home someday! J

Please keep Nepal in your prayers!  Thank you for reading! J

Natalie