illumination

This is the first time I've had time or energy to update. And I don't really have energy now. But I'm gonna go for it anyway.
I've learned a lot in the past week or so since I updated. It's been probably the longest week of the summer so far, but it's not been bad. Just really challenging. Tensions are high among the staff, we're all really tired, and the newness is completely gone at this point. Kids club is happening in full force now, and the days are long and challenging. Relationships are progressing, and I'm still working on learning more of the languages being spoken around me. I'm exhausted most of the time, and sometimes I just want to go home, but I am still learning and I know that God has more to teach me before I leave this place. Here's a taste of what's been going on.
We recently spent an evening watching "God Grew Tired of Us" with Tika and Bhim, which was awesome. They talked to us a lot about their experience as refugees and life in the camps, as well as about their faith and what they're learning. They also asked us some tough questions, which was cool. It was interesting to see what they want to learn about us as well. Our evening with them really shed some new light on refugee life in America and I was telling Katherine on Tuesday how I felt like it must be hard for them to have to rely on other people so much. Back home Bhim and Tika would be fairly independent men at this point. They would still be living with their families, but in normal circumstances they would be able to have a good job (they're both intelligent guys) and make money and support themselves. They would also probably be married and have a family (a fact which totally freaks Tika out). But here they must rely on people they barely know sometimes to help them get around, understand things, fill out job applications, go to the doctor, etc. The world of indoor plumbing and air conditioning and shower curtains and traffic lights is a strange one, and they have lost much of their independence as well as have to adjust their personality to a completely different culture and language and value system.
As I described this I realized that my experience here has been only a shadow of that. I've often been frustrated with the lack of independence I have, the inability to do anything on my own, or the lack of trust that exists in relationships with people. I've felt that I was alone and somewhat lost in a world that was very different from my own. But my challenges are small things that are easily navigated, or are only temporary. This is life for my refugee friends. It is a hard thing that they do. I cannot imagine how much more difficult it must be for them than it has been for me.
And yet, they still love and are so good at making me feel loved. The Neopaney home has become one of my favorite places. We spent a decent amount of time there with Mommi and Tika and Hari and Goma, as well as Vishnu and his Hari and sweet little Ayush. They are beautiful sweet people and I feel so much at home with them. They were able to buy a house just a few weeks before we came, and about that time Vishnu and his wife Hari came from Nepal with their baby boy. I have fallen in love with this family and wish I could spend much more time with them. Mommi always makes me feel so happy- she calls me sister and has such adorable broken English. Hari and Goma are often at work when I am there, but when I see them they're such joyful girls. We were able to experience a very special memorial service with their family last night which did even more to make me feel a part of them. Pray with me that those of them who are not yet following Prabu Yishu will see His Truth and turn from their idols. I love them very much and can't wait to hear of the day when they are all followers of Christ. Pray also for the believers in the family that they will be able to share Christ's love with their family members and that differences in beliefs will not be a cause of division and argument in their family.
God is working in me, even when I am unaware of it. He is working all around me here, too. The service last night was a really significant thing for this family and several others, and it set a precedent for other events like it. In many ways it was a groundbreaking event in the Nepali church here, and I feel so blessed to be a part of what God is doing. Your prayers are keeping me going. Thank you, friends.