Sunday, June 6, 2010

Written on the 3rd of June

I'm feeling very much under the weather, so I am home at the hotel for the morning while the rest of my team is off on grand adventures (getting their hair cut, eyebrows, facials, etc. done by women who have started working in the beauty trade industry to get out of the sex trade industry. I really really wanted to go.) Only positive: Time to blog

Decided to do highlights :) (These are tidbits, leaving out a lot, sorry!)

29 May: Church was so different, but so great.
We visited a children's home which had 40 kids. 40! The father's name is Bishnu & he is AMAZING. He is nearly blind and joked about still riding his motorcycle super fast. The game I was taken to at the beginning of play involved throwing chickens in the air. I had never done this before, it was quite alarming at first, but hilarious. After a time of playing several games with the young ones I made sure to spend time with the older girls (who are highschoolish age) and they love all the attention though they try to act whateverish at first. They called me sister to get my attention and held my hand wherever we went. I loved wandering around, taking pictures, and being clung to, truly. I think it is of the upmost importance that I focus on the older girls at whatever homes we visit. That night we played mafia at Johns, I won as the mafia, but walked away with an upset tummy & headache from lying. I don't want to be the bad guy again, lol. Rode on the back of a motorcyle today. If my mother reads this you should skip the next sentence :) On motorcyles only the driver wears a helmet & the roads are horrid, it is crazy dangerous in my opinion.

30 May: Breakfast at Northfields, our usual, with one of our contacts who shared stories that would blow anyones mind. I feel that my faith lacks so drastically when these tales are told. I pray for an expansion of faith every day. "Faith the size of a mustard seed moves mountains." What is the size of my faith? Why do I feel so incredibly small and incapable when this is God's promise? In the afternoon we went to my favorite home so far. Motorcycle ride again, saw my life flash before my eyes too many times, but this expands my prayer life, lol. The home was way out away from much of the city noise. The children were beautiful and the family was humble to the greatest extent possible. I loved everything. "Can I move in please?!" Sidenote: Before this trip I didn't know how many kids I wanted if any, now I want to fill my house with bunkbeds and kids. lol, this may change, but it is so wonderful to see here and now. && they called me dede (big sister is Nepali <3)

31 May: Pashtupati = Mother Teresa's home for the elderly = Incredibly devoted nuns/sisters ordering us about doing hard hard work all for Jesus. I cleaned beds, swept, moped, fed people that were SUPER old. I felt like the hands and feet of my Lord and it felt amazing. I was dripping in sweat, dripping, like hot yoga style, lol. The moping is INTENSE. You haven't moped until you have moped for a sister of a Mother Teresa's home. Truth. I was exhausted by the end of the shift. We got there around 8am and I thought it was probably 4pm when we finally were given juice as our thankyou. It was like 11:30, WHAT?! That was only 3&1/2 hours and I am ready for a full night of sleep please. Feeding the oldest individual there, a woman of 97 was something that changed my life. Definitely was frightened at first. I'm sorta scared of elderly. But, I just went for it and I will remember those moments for the rest of my life. I wish there had been a picture take. God will show me one later I'm sure :)

1 June: We worked at Pashtupati. I did much of the same, but helped bathe the women instead of feed them. I was frightened, but once again my world was shaken a bit. Hands and feet baby! It was so good. In the afternoon we went to a prayer time where many representatives come from different organizations to pray for their shared cause of fighting the trafficking of women and children. I loved hearing about the different organizations and what God is doing in their midst. Weak networking is probably what hinders the most growth in stopping this injustice. The traffickers have an incredibly strong network, those fighting them need to have a stronger one. Many organizations stick to themselves and their area, but to see some come together as a unified body was awesome. This is a prayer request: The good guys band together, recognize they are fighting the same fight, and can use each others strengths to cover any weaknesses. And beat the bad guys. God is on their side without a doubt.

2 June: Pashtupati day 3. We finished sanding and painting all of the beds blue. Finally. We then met with an organization that benefits women working in massage parlors, dance bars, and cabins (all which sell sex) through education, medical, counseling, and teaching other trades for them to go into. They seemed to be a newer organization with room for a lot of growth. They were not Christian, but very excited to have us visit. They asked us to volunteer if we have any time later on in our stay. I asked a woman what we would be doing and it sounds like they just want to pick our brain for advice and ideas. They asked if we would put together a report of all of our findings during our time in Nepal. I had never thought of this before, but it could truly make a different. We could send it to all the organizations we visited, the government, other governments (India where girls are trafficked to), and countless others. I pray that fruit will come from such efforts. At this organization a representative from the U.S. Embassy joined us. He was American, his mother-in-law actually went to APU, coincidence :) He specializes in the political & economical areas of Nepal. He was a great addition to our meeting. He wants us to meet the Ambassador. We are to call him a week before our departure to set something up and they want a copy of our essay if we put one together. SO COOL.

1 comment:

  1. woah...this is all so amazing Mrs. Potts. i love hearing about how God is stretching you and how you are in turn being the hands and feet of Him. this potential report sounds amazing, but knowing you, please don't take this on by yourself. ;) know that you bring peace where you walk
    love always, michael

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