Ma Doshro (I Am Second)

My bags have been unpacked, most of my stories have been told. I've washed the Nepali scent from my clothes, I've sent thank you cards. I've stuffed down my feelings and put off writing this post so I wouldn't have to face them. I haven't let myself dwell on the memories, because the fact that I'm here and they're there breaks my heart.

They ask us to make an "I will.." statement about something we would do when we came home. All I can think now is, "I WILL NOT FORGET." I'm so afraid that my daily routine will overtake my life again, that my busy-ness will drown out my memories, that I will forget to pray for their beautiful souls. With a deep passion, I do not want to forget!

My emotions overwhelmed me on my first Sunday back at church. For starters, I was extremely disappointed when I woke up and remembered that I was home, I had dreamed of Nashville all night. Then, I don't know who picked the Operation Christmas Child video that was shown during the church service, but it was filmed in Nepal. Seeing the children and hearing the language just broke my heart. Memories flooded my mind. The four year old boy with the brilliant smile, riding a bike that was way too big for him all over the place by himself. The sincerity and passion in Rita's voice as she accepted Christ as her Savior. Her beautiful laugh and the way she says "Phillip" and "Isaiah". 14 year old Ambika, and the loyalty she has to Hinduism. Little Oosaipaw and his marbles, the way he tugged my arm and absorbed my affection. Kamari, who was too afraid. 18 month old Alex, watching cars in Nepali and cuddling his daddy as Mitch shared the story of Jesus with him. Mon trying to teach us how to say "thank you" in Nepali. Our Nepali Christian interpreter Tika, how she would reach out and hold my hand in such a sweet affection, or when she was scared. So many more faces and names. The tears and the giggles. The fear and the freedom. I would have much rather been in their strongly scented homes, sitting cross legged on the floor in a long skirt, eating whole sardines and using a bathroom with no toilet paper than sitting in the sanctuary at that moment.

The pastor had asked me to speak, and I thought I had my emotions under control enough. But as I stood before my church family, as the passion of God overwhelmed me, I just cried. Worship songs that had just been sung with a lack of passion, "Lord have mercy on us, Christ have mercy on us." and "Oh God let us be, a generation that seeks Your face... that turns our eyes from evil things... that casts down our idols." All I could think of was the people I had told Jesus about, who had refused Him. The houses where all we could do was pray, Lord please have mercy on these people!! They know not what they do! These families where literally generation after generation have worshipped idols. And those of them who did discover Christ, who knew that they might be beaten or mocked and were still willing to turn their faces from their idols and share the story of Jesus! And yet here Christians stand, eyes closed to the spiritual battle. Singing deep words without an ounce of passion. I expressed all of this. I stood there and bawled and urged them to worship! Missions exists because worshippers do not. The closing song for the service, Ten Thousand Reasons. 90% of the congregation was standing at the front of the church, before the alters, singing the very same song we had sang more than once in Nashville. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Your beauty steals my breath, every single time.

During our time in Nashville, I was a member of a team of 86 people. 44 of them were "nationals" from Nashville. We shared the gospel with 397 people! 47 of those people accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior, and 5 of them were baptized! 24 new I Am Second groups were started. The 44 people who live in Nashville will follow up in our absence, and disciple the people who accepted Christ.

So far, I have been able to train the youth leadership group at my church, and one of our middle school after-school clubs in telling a story about Jesus. We will continue meeting each week in a fashion very similar to "I Am Second" groups. Seeing them learn and share the stories blessed my heart more than I can express. I pray that the fruit of our labors will be abundant in this town. You're the God of this city!

Obstacles are the greatest opportunity for God to move.

♫ Spirit lead me when my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters- wherever You would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, and my faith will be made stronger- in the presence of my Savior ♪

-SaraKate

Day five!

Imagine a dreary day. A gray sky full of clouds, crisp air settling around you. You are standing with a crowd of people gathered around an animal trough full of water. There is anticipation and excitement hanging in the air. Everyone is holding a camera or cell phone, ready to record what you are about to witness. The women go first, three from the Sudan. Cheers rise from the crowd. As silence falls, everyone is asked to put any form of a camera away. Two men emerge from the back of the crowd- two men from Iraq who could be persecuted for what they are about to do. They step into the water and sink to their knees as the women did. A voice rings out- "do you believe in the Most High God? Have you agreed to serve Him for the rest of your life?" The reply, a confident "yes!". A hand reaches out to show him how to cover his nose, hands bend him forward into the water with the words, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost!" As the last man rises from the water, 100 singing voices rise from blessed spirits- "Bless the Lord, oh my soul, whoa my soul, worship His Holy Name. Sing like never before- oh my soul, I'll worship Your holy name." Chills climb your arms, not from the cold- but from the beauty of the presence of the Lord surrounding you.

I praise The Lord for His wonderful works I have been allowed to experience this week!

Not only did I get to witness 5 baptisms today, but I got to share the gospel with 8 people! I got to go back to Rita's house and teach her another story from the bible, a story about how to pray (the Lord's Prayer). She was delighted. Telling her goodbye broke my heart. She hugged me, pinched my cheek and said, "you so sweet. I love you!" (I can still hear her voice in my mind, I wish I could share it with you.) Her eyes and smile are so full of hope and joy now! She hopes to be baptized soon, but is afraid of her parents. Please keep praying for her! 

We also got to visit several new homes from different people groups today. There's one community that we found where we thought Nepalis lived but it turned out that about six different people groups were represented in this community of about 20 houses. Unfortunately in all of those places Jesus was rejected or we weren't able to tell about Him at all. Two in particular stand out in my mind. The first house, a Vietnamese man named Tom. He was cooking food for his children, and finally answered the door as we were walking away. He stood on the porch and talked to us for a while but made it clear that he was catholic and had no interest in religious conversation. He said he had to leave because he was cooking dinner, so my quick thinking partner for the evening (Jeff) went into this story about how much he loves food, and invited himself in to see what was being cooked. I excused myself to the bathroom (a habit I've adopted to buy a couple minutes and pray for the house). As I was using the bathroom and praying I spoke the words "may we be a light in this house". As soon as the words left my mouth, the bathroom light went off! Ok, God I get the message. I prayed and I prayed, I sent the darkness from the house in the name of Jesus. My prayer is that they will not be able to forget about Jesus in that house. And when they stand in that bathroom, their eyes will see and their hearts will hear and their Spirit will feel God as they never have before! 

The other home the sticks out in my memory is the house of Yawna. Yawna is Russian! She has a beautifully decorated home full of bright colors, relics from the holy land and crosses as decorations. She is Greek Orthodox. She was incredibly friendly and personable, telling me lots of stories from her home and explainin her beliefs with me. She let me tell her the story of Jesus! However, she recites prayers every night from a book that her grandmother taught her when she was young. It took a while for us to explain the different between her prayers, and a prayer to accept Jesus. She told us the story with the cube and said she would think about it. She also said she would tell her husband the story when he got home. She later told us that he does not believe in God and mocks her for it. The simple fact that she offered to tell him anyways is fantastic!! Please pray for them both. For her to realize her need for Jesus and to have strength. For him to actually listen to her, and hear the words of God. 

It is funny the ways of speaking I have adopted this week. When talking to people who barely speak English, I have been using a lot of hand motions or a translator- and when you speak with a translator it is best to not use contracted words (can't, don't, won't, etc). So now in normal conversation I catch myself speaking with very clear articulation and lots of hand motions ( even more than before! haha)

As the evening ended, we were standing in the cold in a Nepali community waiting for our ride. A man invited us inside his home, and we learned that they were Nepali Christians! We spent an hour learning from them and hearing their beautiful story. Two of the men preach at a Nepali Christian church! It was a wonderful, encouraging way to end the week. As I was sitting in their home I realized that all of my clothes are saturated in the Nepali smell. It's a scent of their cooking spices and body odor, I really don't know how to explain it. It's a disgusting yet beautiful smell that lingers in everything. The women usually cook in the garage or outside to keep their house from smelling. However, a lot of the families we worked with this week lived in apartments and did not have that advantage. Washing my clothes, losing that scent, will be very bittersweet. Maybe I will keep a shirt and never wash it ;) 

Here's my heart, Lord- take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above!

-SaraKate 

Day Four!

Joy mâché!

I wish I could simply sit down and accurately articulate to you my feelings and thoughts from today. I have learned so much! Right now, I am simply exhausted. The weather has been dreary and rainy all day... The majority of my afternoon I was wet and cold. Because of this, I have had some bad waves of pain from my rheumatoid arthritis. 

I share these negative things with you, to share the beauty. Without pain we can not know comfort. If you have never experienced the comfort and peace of Christ, I can not explain it you. It's simply something that has to be experienced. When I am sharing Christ with someone, when I am lost in His presence and lost in worship- I do not feel these worldly pains in my body. All I can feel is the joy and strength of The Lord resounding and pulsing through my Spirit! I wish that is something I could explain with others, that I could share a glimpse of. When a 14 year old girl is sitting across from me, claiming Hinduism with every fiber of her being because that's what her elders have engrained in her, when I am sad and frustrated because my word about this otherworldly pleasure is simply not enough. When elders respect our stories of Jesus but will not accept them, when Jehovah's Witness' have gone before us and left confusion. These are the moments when I have to leave the Holy Spirit in control, because I want so badly for these people's eyes to be opened to the truth. 

Please pray for us all. We are worn out; spiritually, emotionally, physically. But at the same time, we are more vibrant and alive in Christ than ever before. 

Many of us will be returning for one last visit to their communities tomorrow, and we need to be covered in prayer in the name of Jesus. Pray for Mon and Ash, for Kamari and Amber, for Waihay and Ehdah, for Sun and Ganga, for Somati and Harka, for Mon, Ambika and Darma!(these are only the ones that I have specifically worked with) These Nepali people have all now heard of Jesus, some of them for the very first time- and refused Him. Pray for our translators wisdom and articulation. Pray for myself and my team members strength, wisdom and protection against the strongholds in these lives, generations and communities. 

"Elegance does not occur when you add flourishes. Elegance occurs when you take away everything that is not necessary, and are left with what truly matters. "

 

In the name of Jesus,

-SaraKate

This is my name in Nepali :) I got to work with a beautiful translator today named Tika! She is only 14, a Christian Nepali! Without her, many people would not have heard stories about Jesus today!   

Day Three!

Holy Spirit You are welcome here, come flood this place and fill the atmosphere!

Since I woke up this morning, those lyrics were in my mind and heart. With my morning devotion I doodled them into my journal and claimed them in the name of Jesus for the places we would be visiting today. 

Yesterday, I mentioned a girl named Rita. She was the only person out of the Nepalese that I got a chance to share with that did not express fear at accepting Jesus as her Savior. She understood the story perfectly and expressed a desire to follow Jesus. But for some reason, she could not follow through with the sinners prayer. I could see in her eyes her desire for Jesus, the desire of her heart. However, when she opened her mouth to pray, she physically could not say the words. Because of the underlying strongholds I was sensing, I asked her if i could come back and bring a friend with me. Tonight I was able to go back and see Rita along with two of my dear teamates. We spent time praying over her, binding any strongholds, witchcraft or generational curses in the name of Jesus. I claimed in the name of Jesus that His Holy Spirirt was welcome there! Within a couple minutes of our prayer ending, Rita beautifully gushed the sinners pray in her own words!! Her mother was in the house so we asked Rita if she would like to share the story of Jesus with her mother. We got to watch as she led her mother through the evangicard in their language. Although her mother did not received Christ tonight, she was very receptive and the entire scene stole my breath with it's beauty! Her mother's name is Somati and her father's name is Harka. Rita tells us that they do not believe in Jesus, and do not want too. Please pray for them!! We got to spend more time with Rita, telling her another story about Jesus. Seeing her eyes light up at the wonders of her newfound Savior filled my heart with awe. Words truly can not express. 

Tomorrow we will be going back to feed her hunger and share more stories about Jesus with her. Please earnestly pray for these people, there are such deep generational curses and strongholds binding them in ways they can't see. Many of my team members where rejected by atleast one person or group tonight. Satan is seeing the hope we are bringing and he is fighting against us. We claim in the name of Jesus that he will have no grip on their hearts!  

Holy Spirit You are welcome here,

SaraKate

Day Two!

Namaste!

Today has been so beyond amazing. 

We started out with a training about the evangelism and discipleship methods that we're using this week and were placed in our small groups to go out into the city. 

My team was assigned the Nepalese people group. I am so in love. This people group fits my heart beat. They're busy and loud, their door is always open, and their shoes are always off! The specific street that we went too today was filled with all Nepalese, who all knew each other. Children were running back and forth and everywhere. The scent of spicy foods occasionally drifted past on the beautiful breeze.  I was welcomed into 4 different homes(the longest visit last almost 2 hours!), with different members from my team at different times. I was blessed to participate in presenting the gospel with approximately 8 people, not including the children who were in and out at various times. These beautiful people were so open to the story of Jesus, they freely shared about their culture and religions, and just as easily listened as we told about our Most High God. No one accepted Christ as their Savior tonight, and the main reason for that was fear. So many of them wanted what we were sharing, I could see it in their eyes. However, they feel that their families will not agree with their decision and reject them. The majority of the people that we spoke with today agreed that we could return tomorrow or the next day to share more true stories about this Jesus from the Holy book with them!! Please pray for them, some of the names that stand out the most to me are Mon, Ash, Kamari, and Rita. Ash and Mon are grandparents that hold a significant key to three generations being receptive to receiving Christ as their Lord! Mon invited some of us to eat tonight(our teams divided into even smaller "sub-teams"). She fed us rice, yogurt that was more like sour cream, entire sardines and an insanely spicy vegetable mix. I bravely conquered my entire plate, including the spices that were making grown men sweat, and then was served seconds! Thankfully, a little while ago my lips finally stopped burning, haha. At the next house, where I got to share the gospel one-on-one with a girl my age name Rita, we were fed again! This time it very yummy pork, with soda and banana! Please please please pray for Rita, she was the only person who did not express fear at accepting Jesus as her Savior, but for some reason could not follow through with the sinners prayer. She understood the story perfectly and retold it to me several times using our evangicards(which I left with her and she said she was going to share with her family!). She understands and expressed a desire to follow Jesus. She asked me to come back tomorrow and tell her more about Him!

For some reason cupcakes keep coming back to my mind. I was recently teased(in a playful manner) by someone I work with at the pregnancy care center. She teased me for being OCD and said she pictured me being the kind of person who would move through a tight schedule with a client and not give them time to share their personal story(I'm actually the opposite, I love people and their stories). For whatever reason, her comment stuck in my head and I pondered it later. I realize that I am OCD to a certain extent, like when it comes to methodical things such as organizing brochures or baking 700 cupcakes. But when it comes to people, you can forget it. I just love them! Sure we might need to do a lesson, but making them feel loved and cared for, truly listening to their story is so much more important than making sure that the lesson doesn't run a little late. When it comes to people you can't be OCD or methodical because they aren't cupcakes, they don't all need the same thing. Every person needs love in a different way. But today I realized, ultimately when it comes down to it- just as cupcakes need their basic main ingredients to be considered cupcakes- all humans need Jesus. Sure they still can't be treated OCD methodical exactly like cupcakes, because each culture and gender and "braches" of people need to be loved differently. But when it really, truly comes down to the roots-They all need Jesus Christ more than anything. So here amongst these beautiful people, I have discovered a way to be methodical in a consantly varying format ;) 

Also please pray for my roommate Cassie as she has a nut allergy and accidentally ate something cooked in peanut oil earlier today! She seems to be much better now after resting but please still keep her in your prayers :)

Nothing but the blood of Jesus,

SaraKate

Day One!

Moments like these, I wish that I was an amazing writer so that I could clearly articulate to you the things I desire to express. 

From the moment I left this morning, God  has held me in His righteous right hand. My flight was fantastic, the best I've ever been on. (from someone who's claustrophobic and scared of heights, that's saying a lot) I gave it all to Him. My anxieties, my fears and my pain. I've been waiting all day for my butterflies to catch up with me and overwhelm me, but thanks to the comfort of my Father, they had no grip on me. My pain started creeping in slightly a couple hours ago, but compared to the pain I normally feel daily, mixed with the stress and physical aspects of my day, it should be way worse. My roommate is a sweet walking miracle named Cassie, who's survived a double lung transplant! The prayer letters that Lyndsey wrote me hit right on today, reminding me to be brave in Christ and not allow myself to feel inadequate(this was especially concerning because I am the second youngest member of a 100+ team, with the majority being e3 veterans). The leaders are efficient and heartfelt, the orientation they shared with us tonight was moving. The worship was fantastic. The women I'm surrounded with love God and are sweet, caring spirits. I wish I could deeply describe the blessings and love I feel resounding in my soul. 

I was reminded again tonight of the burn I feel in my heart when India is mentioned. Not only does India have unreached people groups, but they have unengaged unreached people groups (so many that the list continues for 8 pages). This means that there is no one actively presenting Christ to these people. Every 1.5 seconds a person in India dies and enters eternity, with a very high probability of never even hearing about Jesus Christ. I pray that God continues to reveal to me this week of His plan for me to engage India (hopefully in February 2014!). 

I can't wait for the morning, we will dive head first into some extensive training to help us present the gospel in the most effective way, then we will begin engaging the local Kurds, Somalis, Southeast Asian Indians, Egyptians and Vietnamese. 

For now I'm going to do my best to contain my excitement and get a good nights rest! ;) 

🎶 then read the word and put to test the things you've heard until your heart and soul are stirred and rocked and broken🎶 -Clear The Stage 

Goodnight world,

SaraKate

21 HOURS

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

It's been brought to my attention that most people begin the "before trip countdown" atleast a couple weeks ahead... Well, I have officially begun my countdown and I have ***21 HOURS*** before my plane leaves! But only ***17 HOURS*** until I leave my house!

I can't fully express to you how I'm actually feeling right now. I'm such a strange mixture of anxiety and peace, of fear yet comfort. I can't wait to fully embrace the opportunity and mission field that God has led me too!

I'm the kind of person that doesn't reply anticipate things or dwell on them for a long time. I've been excited about my mission trip for a couple months now, but until last night, all of the things I have left to do hadn't hit me yet! As I was laying in bed, I realized I had a two hour orientation I still needed to listen too, cultural tips and evangelizing methods to study and remember, things I need to pick up from the store, an online airplane check in to remember, a Saturday church workday, laundry to do and a still empty suitcase all waiting for me!

As I sit here typing this, I still have some things to study, laundry to do and an empty suitcase! Even though my suitcase is empty, my heart is full and overflowing. Full of excitement and anticipation, full of love for my team members that I haven't even met yet, full of love for the people I'm going to get to share my Jesus with!

I would try to express to you the beauty that my heart is experiencing and seeing, but I know my words will fail. Words of this earth are so inadequate compared to the presence of The Great I Am!
 
I'm so grateful for all of the prayers and encouraging words that have been shared with me! One of my team leaders just called me from the road, just to pray with me for my safety and peace throughout the traveling process! I leave you with many heartfelt thanks for allowing God to use you to make this opportunity real for me, for encouraging me and praying for me! I am hoping that I will get to steal a few minutes at least a couple times this week to be able to post on this blog and share with you all!


Peace, blessings and love to you all!
-SaraKate