January 2008 Peak Performance-Nepal Reflections since returning: I left pieces of my heart with the people I encountered in Nepal. And they gave pieces of their hearts to me. I will forever cherish these pieces as they now have become part of my heart. While sitting in class the screen saver on my laptop reveals to me images from my time in Nepal. I am immediately drawn in to the beautiful faces of the people: the street kids in Kathmandu, the girls from the Peace Rehabilitation Center, the lepers separated from the rest of society. I love these faces. I miss these faces. I pray for these faces as they are so much more than faces. They are my fellow human beings and are beloved in God's eyes. These are the e-mails that I sent home throughout my trip. Enjoy!
Hello my friends, I wanted to let everyone know a little bit more about what I'm doing this January. I am going on a missions trip to Nepal. January 2-5 we have training for the mission trip in Minnetonka, MN. On Jan. 5th we fly to Nepal and travel all over the place. We are doing a 10-day trek in the Himalayas staying in tiny villages along the way, hanging out in a leprosy colony, hanging out with the monks at Hindu and Buddhist temples, and interacting with people in two cities. Please pray for us. And I am staying by myself for a week in Bangkok, Thailand basically because I can stay. I am going to check out the city and culture, and spend a few days on the Indian Ocean in a bungalow. As you can imagine, my family is freaking out because I'm going to be alone, but I am so stoked about being in Thailand. So please pray for this time also. At His Feet, Austin 
1/7 Hello, I have survived my 24 hours of air time, with my longest flight being 18 hours from LA to Thailand. I have arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal, and the trip has been amazing thus far. We had three days of training where our team of eight first came together. We have people on the team from California, Texas, New Jersey, Arizona, and Minnesota, and we all get along just great. 
Two pictures of the team 
The Leadership Team 
Plus our Nepali leader, Kumar. Story: On my last flight today, I met a 23 year old man named Dinesh who was a little man full of life. I spent the last 3 years in Malaysia working at a clothing factory. He is returning to his home in Nepal for the first time in 3 years. 
Dinesh I started asking him about his Hindu beliefs and we struggled explaining them to me in English. And then I got to share Jesus with him for the first time. I had him read passages of the Bible to me, I wrote the basic gospel message in his journal, and I had him write Nepali phrases in my journal. And I underlined a lot of verses for him. He was so excited and glad to meet me, and to hear what I had to say. My friend Evan ended up giving him his own Bible. I hope to keep in contact with him. Denish said that he would read the whole Bible. Please pray for Denish. Pray that the first seed I planted in him would bear fruit. I am still so pumped. I am now wandering around the narrow streets of Nepal. When we meet people, it feels like we have known them for years. The Nepalese are beautiful people. I love it over here. Please continue to pray for us; especially our next few days in Kathmandu where we will be interacting with a lot of random shop owners and street kids. Blessings! At His Feet, Austin 1/9 Namaste, A few more days have passed in Kathmandu and the adventure never ceases. Let's be honest: the city is filthy. Dirtiest place I have ever been for sure. But the people are probably the most beautiful. On the street, almost every other person will make eye contact and then I get to practice my Nepali. I picking a little up. The street are very narrow and most buildings are very close to the road and about 4 storeys tall. There really are not sidewalks, so you have to basically walk in the street and dodge traffic: cars, rickshaws, bicycles, motorcycles, tractors, people, liquids, cows, dogs. I have been run into on many occasions and the honking never stops-all night. Good thing I sleep hard. The city is surrounded by hugenormous mountains, but it's usually pretty foggy/polluty. Food is good; lots of museli (oatmeal), momo (potstickers), noodle dishes, curry, milk tea, and such. Today we shared pizza with Shanta, a woman who runs an organization called Peace Rehabilitation Center. She rescues girls from prostitution and helps get them an education. The girls were very shy at first, until we had them write their names down (all 9 of them) and then I was trying to remember how to say their names and whose name fit who. And then I had one girl take pictures with my camera of the other girls and it turned into a big giggle fest. It was a blast. These girls were young and beautiful and it is so hard to think that many of them were so abused before the organization rescued them. We get to see the girls again at their house in the future. I'll see if I can remember any of their names. 
Kaipana and Pramilla The last two days we visited the most holy Hindu temple in Nepal and the spiritual warfare was intense-my stomach hurt the whole time. But it was great to be able to talk with people who just hang out at the temple and learn more about their religion, and then also share with them. I have had numerous opportunities to share about Christianity and show love to many people. I have been blessed with many good conversations. And today we went to the Monkey Temple (lots of feisty monkeys running around), the most holy Buddhist temple in Nepal. The spiritual warfare was not as intense, but I again had great conversations. Fascinating day. 
Man who lives at Hindu temple 
Buddha statues At His Feet, Austin | 
