A time for refreshment.

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." (Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV)



One of my favorite weeks of the entire year has come and gone, but not uneventfully. This last week was a time of spiritual refreshment. A time to celebrate, to remember, to share, and to love.

Monday started the week off with a bang! My roommate and I had the opportunity to share the story of Jesus' birth, life, death, and resurrection with our language teacher, Usha. I shared in my last post about the missed opportunity, but God is faithful and provided another one for us. We asked if we could tell her the gospel in Nepali (to the best of our abilities). She listened intently as we talked about the nativity, helping us form sentences and giving us words we didn't know in Nepali. Then she sat in amazement as we talked about Jesus' miracles and the way he lived his life on earth. And she was on the edge of her seat, literally, as we shared about his arrest, imprisonment, judgment, sentence, and death. And relieved when he finally rose from the dead on that third day. It was an incredible time of remembrance for us. There were so many parts of the story we had forgotten, that we don't focus on in this season. And it reminded me of the true sacrifice it was to send Jesus here. And the incredible love story I am privileged and humbled to be a part of.

 

When explaining the Nativity story, we used our Nativity set to illustrate. And since there's no King Herod in a Nativity set, naturally we used a stuffed doll.

 

 

Next thing I knew, Christmas was here! We had a friend stay the night on Christmas Eve, and we woke up the next morning and got dressed in our saris (yay!). Then it was off to Nepali church! I had been working with some of the boys from the campus on a Christmas nativity drama, and Wednesday was the big day. We hurriedly dressed them, and waited outside the church for our cue. They entered, found there places, and began to depict the precious story of our Lord, come to earth. To say it went off without a hitch would be a lie...it was far from perfect. But in my eyes, and I know in the Lord's eyes, it shouldn't have happened any other way. They were so proud! And it was a great time of bonding for me and those boys.

They were a little anxious right before show-time...

 

And the Holy Spirit didn't stop working there...

Friday we held a bible study for the women who live at our campus. Kimberley, one of the missionaries on my team, gave a study on suffering. How God gives us trials for different reasons. What a great reminder. "Count it all JOY my brothers, when you face trials of various kinds" James 1:2. I know that in the trials I have faced so far, joy hasn't been my go to...and I'm sure it won't be my first instinct in the future. But I was reminded of a sovereign, loving God who always has the best planned for me. And my soul was refreshed.

Then came Saturday. Girls club. The HIGHLIGHT of my work here. I absolutely love getting the chance to pour into these girls. To teach them about Jesus, about the Bible, and about themselves. We learned about Ruth this last Saturday. How she trusted her heart to God. How God provided for her, because she was faithful and loyal, not only to Him but to Naomi. And how because her heart was sold out to Jesus, God brought the right man, Boaz, into Ruth's life at just the right time. As our activity, I encouraged the girls to write two letters, one to God and one to their future husbands. The latter resulted in hushed giggles. I told them it's important to communicate with God. Yes, He is omnipresent, and He already knows everything that is happening in your life. BUT He wants to hear it from YOU. That's part of being in a relationship. Communication. And the letter to their future husbands, which seemed like such a foreign concept to them, proved to be their favorite one! They wrote about their hopes and dreams, their lives now. How they are praying for their husbands even now, and their assurance that God has orchestrated their marriages. What a blessing these girls are to me.

Now that I have been gifted with a week of spiritual refreshment, God has given me another gift! An opportunity for physical refreshment. This Friday night I'm leaving to go to the Philippines and Thailand for 10 days. My roommate and I will meet up with her mom and spend time basking in God's creation. I wasn't expecting to have this kind of opportunity in my time spent in Nepal, but God had other plan in mind. I'm looking forward to warm weather, shower heads fixed to the wall, beaches, and STARBUCKS.

And I'm looking forward to the next lesson God has for me. Whatever it may be.