Observations on the Christian church in Nepal
The Sabbath is on Saturday for all religions here. Since I've been here, I have been attending a nondenominational church with my host family. Church services last for two hours. Before you enter, shoes are left scattered outside. Women sit on the left, men on the right. We sit cross legged elbow to elbow in a large empty room with six noisy ceiling fans which circulate air from the open, unscreened windows. The praise band consists of a guitar player, a drummer, a violinist, 4 backup singers, and on occasion, a keyboardist. We stand for the first half hour to sing songs praising God. This is nothing like church services back home. These people sing from a deep inside of them. I get caught up listening to them sing in heavily accented English. About half of the songs are sung in English and I recognize all of them, most of the songs are by Christian praise artists such as Chris Tomlin.
The next part of the service consists of personal testimonies. During these tear filled testimonies, it is eye opening for me to see how much these people have given up for their choice of faith and how overjoyed they are now with their choice. When a person leaves another religion (Hindu, Muslim) they face shunning from their community and even their families. They are kicked out of their homes, and in the villages, they are banned from the villages. It is truly a sacrifice to become a Christian here. They face social and economic hardships from this decision to become a Christian. The need for fellowship-to connect with other believers-is essential here. I never understood the importance of fellowship until I came here. It is an essential lifeline providing connections and support for the believers here. The church is truly a family. They support each other and take care of each others needs.
After testimonies, the sermon is preached. People follow along in their very worn, well read bibles. I was impacted by the condition of their worn bibles...the handprints worn into the leather, the tattered pages. It speaks volumes. Prayer follows the sermon. Nepali style prayer means everybody prays out loud at the same time. This was quite unnerving to me at first, but I have grown accustomed to it and now it seems comforting. After the two hour service, people leave for each others homes to share a meal.
Communion services are essentially the same as those in the States. The main difference is that the bread they use here is roti-which is a cross between flatbread and a tortilla. I haven't participated yet because I still haven't mastered the art of tearing off a small piece of roti while using only my right hand. In this culture, the left hand is considered unclean. It cannot be used for eating, greeting, or giving presents. I am still practising this skill. The next time you eat a quesadilla, try tearing off a 1/4 x1/4 inch square piece using only your right hand and you'll see my dilemma. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
The church in Asia is vibrant and emotional, unlike anything I have ever experienced. With their lives drastically changed, these people are living their faith outwardly in all aspects and enduring the trials which result from their choice of faith. My experience here with the church has changed my perspective of worship. I have seen a church truly alive and I have been changed after meeting these Christians.
On another note, the Nepali government is in the process of writing a new constitution. The Christians here are concerned that the new constitution would prohibit their religion. This is a very real possibility if the Hindu extremists can get enough support. If this happens, the Christians in Nepal would be forced to go underground, meeting secretly in homes. Please pray about this.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Daily life
Everyone has been asking about the daily life here. NepalI's sleep with the sun. They awake at daybreak and go to bed when the sun goes down. I have had no problem adjusting to this schedule. Breakfast consists of anything from rice to toast and tea.
The people of Nepal are actually very conservation oriented. They use everything and throw very little away. Every bit of food is used. Rotten fruit is used in baked goods...and I can assure you that it is good. Any food scraps that absolutely cannot be eaten are thrown out in the fields for the water buffalo to eat. The milk here comes from water buffalo and it is not processed/ homogenized/or pasteurized. It is kept in a milk pot and heated gently when ready to be used. I like the taste of it in my tea. Utensils in the kitchen are very simple. A large rock is used as a garlic press. Handmade wooden rolling pins and rolling boards are used to make roti, a nepali bread. Gas is used to fuel the hot plates that are used for cooking. It is rare to consume meat. Everyone has vegetables growing in pots on their roofs or anywhere in the ground that is available. Dishes are washed, then rerinsed in purified water. This is because the water here carries horrible diseases such as Guardia, hepatitis, and dysentery. They collect rainwater during monsoon season from their roofs and store it in huge cistern. They use this water for drinking purposes only after it goes through a filter system. Toilets are generally a hole in the floor, unless you're rich and can afford to install a Western toilet. Most of Nepal is not rich. Because of the lack of continuous electricity, there is no hot water unless it is heated up on the gas hot plates. Any trash is burned, although it is rare to have any trash at all. Every house has a solar panel on top. The panels power a solar battery which operates lights in the house. the catch...only one light may be used at a time. There isn't a lot of sunlight during monsoon season for the panels to collect.
Electricity is a challenge here. Nepal relies on hydroelectric dams for their source of electricity. This works well during monsoon season but not so much the rest of the year. This year, two dams were damaged by mudslides, so electricity has been scarce. To conserve what electricity there is, Nepal uses load-shedding. This means they cut off electricity to different parts of the cities at different times of the day. Last week, we were scheduled for 60 hours of load shedding, 2 five hour segments at a time every day. This did not go as planned. We were without electricity for 30 hours straight. Luckily, the only thing we use electricity for is to charge our tablets and to run the washing machine.
Washing clothes during monsoon season requires a conscientious plan of attack. You must make sure that load shed isn't scheduled for the time of your wash cycle. Ask any nepali and they can tell you to the minute how long it takes to wash a load of clothes. Next, you must know that there will be at least 30 minutes of sun to start the drying process. Finally, you must watch for rains after you hang up the wash. If you miscalculate any of the above steps, you will end up with smelly, musty, wet clothes that never fully dry. I hate wearing damp clothes, always have. I wear everything as long as I can to make it through to a sunny day, when hopefully there will be electricity.
The main meal here in dhal bhat, which is rice and lentils with vegetables. Most nepalis eat it twice a day for lunch and dinner. Like the nepalis, I could live off this dish without complaints.
We live two houses from a Hindu temple. Hindus ring tinny bells at odd hours of the night. They also play instrumental flute music at 530 am every morning. Yesterday, the morning flute music was actually a Christian song. We just sang along and laughed. At night, there are frequent "parades" as the Hindus march to their temple either playing drums or ringing the soft, tinny bells. The music is beautiful and I don't mind it at all.
Generally, the people here are very happy. They sing all the time. They also break out into dance quite randomly. When the baggage carousel at the airport was slow and finally stopped altogether, instead of getting upset, some men broke out into a dance until the belt restarted. The same thing happened on the airplane while we were waiting to disembark. they are always smiling and they dot seem to know what stress is. It's a great ay to live and I have adjusted completely.
Everyone has been asking about the daily life here. NepalI's sleep with the sun. They awake at daybreak and go to bed when the sun goes down. I have had no problem adjusting to this schedule. Breakfast consists of anything from rice to toast and tea.
The people of Nepal are actually very conservation oriented. They use everything and throw very little away. Every bit of food is used. Rotten fruit is used in baked goods...and I can assure you that it is good. Any food scraps that absolutely cannot be eaten are thrown out in the fields for the water buffalo to eat. The milk here comes from water buffalo and it is not processed/ homogenized/or pasteurized. It is kept in a milk pot and heated gently when ready to be used. I like the taste of it in my tea. Utensils in the kitchen are very simple. A large rock is used as a garlic press. Handmade wooden rolling pins and rolling boards are used to make roti, a nepali bread. Gas is used to fuel the hot plates that are used for cooking. It is rare to consume meat. Everyone has vegetables growing in pots on their roofs or anywhere in the ground that is available. Dishes are washed, then rerinsed in purified water. This is because the water here carries horrible diseases such as Guardia, hepatitis, and dysentery. They collect rainwater during monsoon season from their roofs and store it in huge cistern. They use this water for drinking purposes only after it goes through a filter system. Toilets are generally a hole in the floor, unless you're rich and can afford to install a Western toilet. Most of Nepal is not rich. Because of the lack of continuous electricity, there is no hot water unless it is heated up on the gas hot plates. Any trash is burned, although it is rare to have any trash at all. Every house has a solar panel on top. The panels power a solar battery which operates lights in the house. the catch...only one light may be used at a time. There isn't a lot of sunlight during monsoon season for the panels to collect.
Electricity is a challenge here. Nepal relies on hydroelectric dams for their source of electricity. This works well during monsoon season but not so much the rest of the year. This year, two dams were damaged by mudslides, so electricity has been scarce. To conserve what electricity there is, Nepal uses load-shedding. This means they cut off electricity to different parts of the cities at different times of the day. Last week, we were scheduled for 60 hours of load shedding, 2 five hour segments at a time every day. This did not go as planned. We were without electricity for 30 hours straight. Luckily, the only thing we use electricity for is to charge our tablets and to run the washing machine.
Washing clothes during monsoon season requires a conscientious plan of attack. You must make sure that load shed isn't scheduled for the time of your wash cycle. Ask any nepali and they can tell you to the minute how long it takes to wash a load of clothes. Next, you must know that there will be at least 30 minutes of sun to start the drying process. Finally, you must watch for rains after you hang up the wash. If you miscalculate any of the above steps, you will end up with smelly, musty, wet clothes that never fully dry. I hate wearing damp clothes, always have. I wear everything as long as I can to make it through to a sunny day, when hopefully there will be electricity.
The main meal here in dhal bhat, which is rice and lentils with vegetables. Most nepalis eat it twice a day for lunch and dinner. Like the nepalis, I could live off this dish without complaints.
We live two houses from a Hindu temple. Hindus ring tinny bells at odd hours of the night. They also play instrumental flute music at 530 am every morning. Yesterday, the morning flute music was actually a Christian song. We just sang along and laughed. At night, there are frequent "parades" as the Hindus march to their temple either playing drums or ringing the soft, tinny bells. The music is beautiful and I don't mind it at all.
Generally, the people here are very happy. They sing all the time. They also break out into dance quite randomly. When the baggage carousel at the airport was slow and finally stopped altogether, instead of getting upset, some men broke out into a dance until the belt restarted. The same thing happened on the airplane while we were waiting to disembark. they are always smiling and they dot seem to know what stress is. It's a great ay to live and I have adjusted completely.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Kathmandu
I only got to spend about 16 hours in Kathmandu but the experience will be a part of me forever. Personally, I think everyone's bucket list should include a trip to Kathmandu complete with a taxi ride through downtown. The traffic is terrifying yet exhilarating at the same time. You can LITERALLY reach out and touch the others drivers regardless of which direction they are traveling. Lane designations seem to be merely suggestions. There are no single file lanes. If there is an unoccupied space, it is fair game to wedge your vehicle into it. It seems as though there is an unwritten rule to challenge drivers to see how many trucks/cars/motorbikes can fit side by side within the white lines. Horns are honked constantly and mere inches separate vehicles whether they are moving or stopped. It is one big game of "chicken". Animals add to the traffic challenges. Cows meander through the city streets uconcerned with the traffic. Even funnier was the pack of stray dogs chasing a monkey through the traffic, completely indifferent to the traffic speeding by them. Smog is very thick in the city and many people wear masks in an attempt to protect themselves. The city smells of diesel fumes intermixed with woodsmoke and spices. Strangely enough, the smell is surprisingly pleasant.
The buildings in Kathmandu are simple, yet most have colorful, intricate details that you would not expect. Most have rooftops gardens, solar collection systems, and rain collection systems. Hopefully my internet connection will stay strong so I can upload some pictures.
I only got to spend about 16 hours in Kathmandu but the experience will be a part of me forever. Personally, I think everyone's bucket list should include a trip to Kathmandu complete with a taxi ride through downtown. The traffic is terrifying yet exhilarating at the same time. You can LITERALLY reach out and touch the others drivers regardless of which direction they are traveling. Lane designations seem to be merely suggestions. There are no single file lanes. If there is an unoccupied space, it is fair game to wedge your vehicle into it. It seems as though there is an unwritten rule to challenge drivers to see how many trucks/cars/motorbikes can fit side by side within the white lines. Horns are honked constantly and mere inches separate vehicles whether they are moving or stopped. It is one big game of "chicken". Animals add to the traffic challenges. Cows meander through the city streets uconcerned with the traffic. Even funnier was the pack of stray dogs chasing a monkey through the traffic, completely indifferent to the traffic speeding by them. Smog is very thick in the city and many people wear masks in an attempt to protect themselves. The city smells of diesel fumes intermixed with woodsmoke and spices. Strangely enough, the smell is surprisingly pleasant.
The buildings in Kathmandu are simple, yet most have colorful, intricate details that you would not expect. Most have rooftops gardens, solar collection systems, and rain collection systems. Hopefully my internet connection will stay strong so I can upload some pictures.
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