Good morning!
Our final full day in Nepal dawned bright and early. I had my alarm set for 6:30AM but I awoke shortly after 5:00. I laid in bed for awhile thinking about a dream I had during the night. It wasn't long before Patrick woke up and we began visiting a little. I told him about the dream because it was so vivid.
As I've shared previously we had canceled the Pakistan portion of our trip due to not having a peace about it for security purposes. There had been a significant confrontation between the government and a radical Muslim group holed up in the “Red Mosque”. We had invited the Pakistani brothers to meet us in Nepal and had shared our concerns with them. They, too, had been aware of the significant confrontation and although they were disappointed we were not coming to Pakistan, they understood.
That's the background for my dream. During the night I dreamed that the siege had come to an end and Pakistan was peaceful. I dreamed that Patrick and I decided to travel to Lahore, Pakistan on an evening flight, purchase the necessary equipment the next day, and return to Delhi on the third day to continue to the conference with the 18 CSC film teams in India, essentially spending two nights and one full day. The dream was very vivid which is why I shared it with Patrick first thing.
After getting ready I headed downstairs to try to get on the Internet to do some email. Soon the brothers began coming down or arriving from the other hotel. One of the brothers was reading an English newspaper and the big story on the front page was that the siege of the Red Mosque had ended and Pakistan was enjoying peace again! I was stunned!
During breakfast Patrick was sharing with one of the brothers some of his favorite verses, such as the passage from Isaiah 55 that speaks of God's plans not being our plans. He also shared Proverbs 3:5-6 which speaks of delighting in the Lord and the Lord guiding your paths. The brother responded that his favorite verse was Joshua 1:8-9. Patrick opened his Bible to read it and when he read the words, “I command you, be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” When Patrick read those words he instantly thought of Pakistan and our fears that we had previously held.
Several other confirming things happened and we decided we should pray and put a fleece before the Lord. We have discovered over here that it is difficult to get flights on short notice. Most flights are booked weeks and sometimes months in advance. The only flights that would work for us would be a round trip from Delhi to Lahore leaving the next day, Thursday, and returning Saturday. We prayed and asked the Lord to confirm that if it truly was His will that we go, that there be two available tickets on those specific flights. If it was not His will, there would not be any tickets and we wouldn't force the issue.
We headed to the airline office. We got there just as they closed for lunch. Internally I wondered if I had missed it, if I had us on a wild-goose chase. We decided to take advantage of the time to price some video projectors in stores in that area. We returned after lunch and got in line. After just a brief discussion of our needs with the agent he clicked a few keys and said that it was unusual but there were two seats available on tomorrow's flight. So we asked about the return to Delhi on Saturday. He clicked a little more and then said that there were seats available for us on that flight as well! I asked him if it was normal for there to be seats available on these flights and he said absolutely not, but for some reason 2 seats were available! Imagine – two seats available on the two specific flights we had asked the Lord about!
We decided we didn't need to repeat the fleece as Gideon had done! We purchased the tickets! So, we are going to Pakistan tomorrow. We will be staying two nights and will have one full day for purchasing the equipment, just as in my dream. We've already done all the training and briefings on film ministry in general. Now it will simply be purchasing the equipment, giving the brothers a run down on how to use and care for it, pray for them and head on to our conference in southern India! Only God could put something together like this!
The rest of the day was spent with the brothers visiting, building relationships and discussing plans for Bro. Abraham and Bro. Roy to return to purchase the equipment and get the teams in Nepal initiated. They will return within 2-3 weeks after our conference in India.
We also got the opportunity to go to “Monkey Temple”, the oldest Buddhist temple in Nepal. It was nearing dark so we didn't get many good pictures. We were told that the founder of Buddhism was born in Nepal and many people trek to this temple because of its age and prestige. It's called “Monkey Temple” because it's situated in a forest on a hill overlooking Kathmandu, and there are lots of monkeys living on the grounds. We saw dozens, obviously accustomed to humans. We also saw Buddhist monks making their way around the top of the temple, chanting their prayers, some spinning prayer wheels, looking for enlightenment. How our hearts break for those caught in the endless pursuit of acceptance. We prayed that the Lord would send the light into their darkness.
We were taken around all day by Gajendra Tamang, the gracious Awana missionary who has been an invaluable help to us. As I shared previously he is attempting to secure a visa to visit the states in September to receive training at Awana headquarters that he will be able to impart to Awana workers across Asia. His appointment is at 10:00AM in the US embassy and we offered to accompany him, to offer whatever support and corroboration we could to his visa application. He was extremely grateful and agreed to pick us up at 8:30 so we could get through traffic and get there in plenty of time. His appointment shouldn't take long and he will take us to the airport for our afternoon flight to India, connecting to Pakistan.
That wraps it up for now! Thanks for reading my blogs. Please send me an email if you get a chance. I'd love to hear from folks back home. We're past the half-way mark of our trip and it's getting better and better every day. I'm convinced it's because of your prayers!!! Keep on praying!
Blessings,
Nathan <><
P.S. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures today. Our Internet connection was down. I wrote this during the night and jumped online real quickly before leaving the hotel. I'll write more from Pakistan and send some pictures!
2 comments:
Hey Uncle Nathan,
My mom & dad told me about your trip! That is so awesome!!! I hope all is well for you, And I will be praying for sure! Next time you guys come down hopefully I'll be able to actually see ya'll & spend time with ya'll....
Tell the girls and Aunt Lori I said hello!
Rebekah~
Hi Son,
I'm unable to send emails on Pegasus. Sent you a GMail with information.
It is really exciting to see how the Lord placed His witness on the Pakistan part of your trip. No confusion there. (I've been keeping a close eye on the 'Red Mosque' happenings.)
Not much to add except, 'Wow, how awesome is our God!'
Much love,
Dad and Mom
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