PLEASE PRAY FOR NEPAL! Things are a bit confusing here today: arsonists burned down a school overnight so the government closed all schools because of possible further attacks. But there is no fuel to run the buses to get the children to school anyways because Hindu extremists (there are no Muslim extremists here as yet), pressuring for a Hindu state, have blockaded the border with India for the last 3 months + prevented fuel + medicine from coming into Nepal. Then the Maoist party declared a general strike today to pressure the Communist government to put pressure against the Indian government which is supporting the Hindu extremists. So Nepal is locked in a power struggle + that means… no fuel or buses for Prem + I to travel to Pokhara in the Himalayas today, but tomorrow??? Hopefully!

We had our final class here in Kathmandu yesterday, then I gave them a test - they did best on their memorizing Scripture; the eagles definitely got their wings! Last night stray dogs howled all night outside our windows - definitely a sign, but don't know what exactly! Today church - they meet on Saturday mornings here, I preached on .... Jesus! + then communion together + now the students are beginning to leave for their homes after having been here for 4 months. Tomorrow Prem + I will go to Pokhara in the mountains for about 5 days

Some of the sights walking around Kathmandu today: harvest + blossoms at same time (?), resting, schoolgirls, loaded bus (do you think we could convince Skytrain to try this for rush-hour?) even a wedding!

Church here in Nepal this morning: after the April earthquake killed 10,000 people:
'But you have come to Mt. Zion...
 Yet once more I will shake not only earth, but also heaven…
 since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace... (Heb 12:22-28)
 Earthquakes are terrible natural disasters, but also signify changes from old status quo to new order.
Jesus foretold earthquakes (Matt 24:7) ‘in the last days’ = the last days of the Old Covenant Temple
+ when He 'yielded up His spirit, earth quaked + temple veil torn from top to bottom + rocks split’ (Matt 27:50-51)
+ when He rose from the dead 'behold there was a great earthquake’ (Matt 28:2), Earth has never been the same!
All creation + humanity groan amid earth’s turmoils, but through faith in Christ, death throes become birth pangs!
The devil means evil, but God turns even these for good + His Church rises - more than conquerors (Rom 8 22-37)
Acts 16:16-34: Paul + Silas in prison… dungeon… chained… at midnight – couldn’t get any darker!
But they were singing praises + the other prisoners heard them;
Suddenly there was a great earthquake! foundations shaken, doors opened, chains loosed!
The jailer asked, ‘What shall I do to be saved?’
How did he know he needed to ask that question???
*** Paul + Silas had been singing about their Saviour beforehand, now he believed + a new church was birthed! ***
April’s earthquake hit right at the end of Saturday morning services, and a number of believers died also: but the Nepalese Church looked beyond their own suffering and reached flattened villages in decimated mountain areas. They fed people, helped others rebuild + shared the gospel in word + deed.
Whole new churches have sprung up! That’s what Jesus meant,
 ‘I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.’ (Matt 16:18)
There: that’s the sermon in action from Nepal today!

Friends + family of God on this trip + ice cream too, in the middle of the jungle! ... now how'd those 3 monkeys get in there? ( Grandpa misses you Anya, Zander + Judah!)

PRAYER NEEDED FOR NEPAL! Nepal is undergoing a revolution in the last 20 years + its government has just passed a new constitution allowing freedom of religion for all its citizens. But there is much opposition: Hindu nationalists with the support of the Indian government, are trying to overturn this constitution, advocating that Nepal revert to being a Hindu state, where changing religion would not be allowed. For over 3 months now, they have pressured for their views’ acceptance by forcing an embargo on goods coming into landlocked Nepal from India -Nepal’s only real outlet to the rest of the world. Fuel for transportation and cooking, medicine, and food have run out in many areas of the country - even salt was unavailable today! I have seen long lineups of people in Kathmandu waiting all day for essential supplies that never come. The gas trucks stand empty. Hospitals are forced to close because there are no available medicines. Basic food prices have doubled, causing shortages that make life even more difficult for one of our world’s already poorest nations, especially while trying to recover from April’s devastating earthquakes. China has offered some aid, but roads through the Himalayas are becoming unsafe, even impassable with winter snow.
I know this doesn’t get the media-time such as the Paris attacks or Trudeau’s selfies, but people here are suffering needlessly and no one is paying attention. Western media is distracted.
Please pray for Nepal: its leaders to stand strong and not yield to the Hindu extremists and complicit Indian government’s bullying tactics; the poor of this largely agricultural society who are struggling greatly; + the Christian church, a growing, vibrant community here, who continue to boldly witness Jesus through it all.
Will you please TURN OFF your TV for a few minutes, PRAY for those who are suffering + REPOST this so others will hear the need + pray + we will see answers for justice here in Nepal???

Heading back to Kathmandu, the word 'flying' came to mind - duh!
So thankful my plane had both wings, eh?!
As the plane banked, suddenly a grand panorama of the Himalayas opened before us: the highest mountains in the world at our feet!

Kind of like God's kids: spiritual eagles with both wings - Word + Spirit mounting up above life's obstacles: set free, overcoming... soaring even!
+ like this new believer from the Father's Heart Conference + these new young group of hungry + thirsty students I started teaching today!

We've been 5 days in eastern Nepal leading a Father's Heart Conference! Haven't heard all the world's bad news but sounds like it could use more of the Gospel Good News. This is the only message that can actually change this world and heal all its victims' broken hearts.  I know...I was one of them. Jesus broke through the pain + turned it for life! And many here in Nepal have received this powerful news too! All ages, races, religions, nations: hear + receive the Good News: 'in  Christ' we are children of God + have a Heavenly Father who loves us + leads us to truly love one another! That's a lot better than bombs + killing one another!