Monday, July 23, 2012

darjeeling.

"Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed." -Revelation 15:3-4

        i spent the last 10 days in darjeeling, india. darjeeling is on the border of nepal and india. i can't even put into words how much i loved it there. we spent our time with a couple who's been there for over 10 years and own a boys hostile, where they invite college boys to live with them and gradually share the gospel with them. at the moment, they have about 8 boys living with them. all believers! these boys have some of the most amazing testimonies of how God called them to himself. a lot of them are the very first Christian in their family. and some have been disowned from their family and are forbidden to go home to their village because of their faith. but this hostile is a place where they've formed their own family and where they openly and freely worship Jesus.
       the first night we got there, we had dinner with them and had bible study afterwards. right then, i could tell how much these boys loved Jesus. their exceeding joy in singing and reading God's Word was so contagious. it was like they knew full well what their purpose in life was...to glorify God and make His name known.
        throughout the week, the boys took us around darjeeling and introduced us to their friends, mostly girls, who were nonbelievers. we got to go visit these girls in their homes and spend time getting to know them. one of us always shared our testimony with them and prayed over them before we left. every night, we would go to one of the girl's homes and have bible study. all the girls, believers and nonbelievers, would come. the boys would lead us in worship, both nepali songs and english songs. so every night, i would be in a small room, cramped with over 20 people, worshipping Jesus, and studying His Word for countless of hours. i've never been more joyful!

our small plane to darjeeling.

one of the boys in the hostile and my precious brother, kuldeep,
showing me around darjeeling.

bible study at 5 every night. truly a glimpse of heaven.

we had a slumber party with the girls we met and 
spent the night playing different games with them.

one morning kacey and i rode ponies around
darjeeling. this is usually for kids but that didn't
stop us.

apparently darjeeling has great Ethiopian
coffee :)

sunjiv, kuldeep, and vishu. love them so much.

our last night, the boys and girls threw us a goodbye
party. so thankful to have met each of them.

swarnim, bullet, sundesh, sunjiv, kuldeep, mingma, and vishu.
i'm so blessed to know them.

:) yes, we did. #ZTA.


darjeeling, india will always have a special place in my heart.

      the boys at the hostile have reminded me just how precious God's Word is. because of their deep love for God's Word, they live everyday knowing that the Kingdom of heaven is something worth losing everything for. they don't have much and yet, they joyfully take hold of the things they've been blessed with...striving to make all they have as a tool to reach the lost with the gospel. i have no doubt in my mind that God is going to use them in a mighty way to further His Kingdom. i've learned so much from them. i want to continually beg the Lord to use me, for there is no better place to be than in His will. i want to passionately live out the gospel and urgently spread the powerful message of the Kingdom. i praise Jesus for reminding me this week to fix my eyes on things above, for there is hope coming for me, great glory that's yet to be revealed. my heart eagerly longs for His coming!

-milcah









Wednesday, July 11, 2012

sanga.

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it." - 1 Timothy 6:6


        i want to tell you about a remarkable woman i've had the privilege of meeting and spending time with here in nepal. her name is sanga. sanga is a nepali woman who's partnered with us this summer. she does most of the translating when we go to villages and disciple women. sanga also has 12 adopted children from 8 different villages that i adore so much. growing up as an orphan herself, sanga prayed that the Lord would use her to love on kids that were just like her. after becoming a christian at a missionary school, she dedicated her life to seeking children who were abused, abandoned, and helpless and taking them in as her own. and within a span of 5 years, she gave 12 kids a home, a family, and most importantly, a love greater than they've ever known.
       i am continually inspired by sanga and her beautiful heart. although she struggles with raising all these kids, she never stops sacrificing all that she has for them. she has faith that can move mountains. she's always depending on the Lord to provide for them daily and taking each day as it comes. because she relies on the Lord for all her needs, she has a deeper understanding of Jesus and a deeper love for Him. being around her makes me want to know my Lord more. she challenges me to have more faith and to find contentment in knowing that i always have hope in Jesus.
       for the past couple of weeks we had been praying for sanga and her kids to find a new place to live in because their landlord increased the price of the place they were living in at the moment. he gave them 10 days to find a new place and move out. when i found out about this, i was so anxious. i didn't know how it was possible for them to find another house in just 10 days, in the same community, when all the other houses around her were more expensive and out of her budget. but we started praying hard. and we prayed that they would find something close by so the kids wouldn't have to transfer schools. everytime i saw sanga, i would anxiously ask her if she has found anything. with a smile on her face, she'd say no but that she knows the Lord would provide. 3 days ago, 5 days before their move-out date, sanga told me they found a house right next door for a good price! of course i started crying and embraced her with so much joy in my heart...to which she looks at me and says, "The Lord will provide."

sanga. love this woman so much.

sanga with her youngest daughter, rebecca.

this week, teams from Mississippi and Virginia
came to Nepal and spent some time with sanga and 
the kids.

sanga's three boys; ruben, aaron, and benis.
can't tell you how much i love them.

this family has been the biggest blessing to me and 
so many others. 


          when i put myself in sanga's shoes, i can't help but get overwhelmed. what she's doing is so hard yet absolutely incredible. she's not only loving on kids but using that as an instrument to reach many villages with the gospel. both sanga and her kids are such a light in the midst of darkness. they have taught me about what it means to delight in the Lord, despite our circumstances. i feel like they all have a real understanding of how temporary life is here on earth. they have such a heavenly perspective, in which they have a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life with Jesus. even though they don't have a lot physically, they are spiritually wealthy. sanga has given her children the most important treasure. she has pointed them to Christ and has taught them what life is all about...to live for the One who gave it all. what an extraordinary mother.

-milcah


"Fame, pleasure, riches are but husks and ashes in contrast with the countless and abiding joy of working with God for the fulfillment of his eternal plans."      -Campbell White

Sunday, July 1, 2012

chitwan.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." 
                                                                                                                -Matthew 5:6


          this past week, we went to another village called chitwan. it was about a 6 hour bus ride to get there. we left early tuesday morning at 7:00am and arrived at chitwan around 1:30pm. we spent the afternoon walking around the community and shopping at different markets. the next morning, we woke up really early and went on an elephant ride at 6:30am. it was amazing. the elephant ride lasted for about an hour and a half. we went through the jungle and saw different animals, like hippos, deer, and tigers. it was so peaceful and a great time to be still and enjoy God and His marvelous creation. best morning i've had by far.
         the next day, we went to a church about 30 minutes from our hotel to disciple the christian nepali women there. we shared the story of the samaritan woman with them and taught them the henna drawing. i always cherish these times with the women. it was a wonderful afternoon getting to worship and pray with them. later that night, we went to see a tribal dance, which was awesome! i really enjoyed learning a little bit more about the nepali culture.
         we spent our last day in chitwan visiting an elephant breeding center and going canoeing! we got back to kathmandu this past thursday. we spent the weekend with sanga and her kids, which is always such a joy. 

our resort in chitwan.

this was on the outside gate of our resort. the
funniest part is that it actually was both wild and 
silent :)

with callie, the elephant. just the greatest
morning.

my new friend, Ruth. drew the henna of the
samaritan woman on her hand, while 
talking through it with her. encouraged
by her faith.

waiting to watch the tribal dance with candace and 
anna grace.

tribal dance...so fun to watch.

we surprised anna grace with breakfast on her
birthday. thankful for this girl.

can't get enough of little rebecca.

kacey, our last member of our team and one of
my best friends, arrived in nepal this weekend.
i'm so thankful.

           since i've been in nepal, i've been traveling a lot. we've been doing a lot of work and spending a majority of our time with christian nepali women. chitwan was the one place i've had some down time. i think one thing i've realized is how easily i can get distracted from the Lord while trying to serve the Lord. because we have to prepare ahead of time, i find myself thinking a lot about how i can best share a story from the bible or my testimony. while in chitwan, riding an elephant in the quiet jungle, looking around the glory of God radiating through creation, i realized that at the end of the day, God doesn't want my works. as important as it is for my actions to reflect my faith, the most important thing is Jesus, who He is and what He has done for me. He's teaching me to constantly stand in awe of the cross and who i am in Him because of what He's done for me. so i'm encouraged this week to know that Jesus just wants all of me, nothing else. and because of this, i rejoice greatly in my Savior.

-milcah

The Christian way is different- both harder and easier. Christ says, "Give me all. I don't want just this much of your time and this much of your money and this much of your work- so that your natural self can have rest. I want you. Not your things. I have come not to torture your natural self...I will give you a new self instead. Hand over the whole natural self- all the desires, not just the ones you think wicked but the ones you think innocent- the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead.
                                              - C.S. Lewis