Friday, May 7, 2010

Nepal

I'm back! Haven't written for the longest time. Quite a lot has happened over the past month or so, the most exciting being my Nepal trip.

There were 6 of us in the team and we were there for 9 days. This was my fourth Nepal mission trip, and the toughest of all - physically and spiritually. I can't possibly relate everything that happened there.. so here are some highlights.

One of the places we went to was Bhugdeu, a small village in the mountains. We endured 2 hours of a gruelling bumpy jeep ride to get there. Like all other villages in Nepal, the houses were made of mud by the men of the house with the help of their neighbours.

The kids were adorable as always, and most of them had large holes on their soiled clothes, which seemed thin and not warm enough for the weather there. One thing was consistent throughout the days we were there - the beautiful smile on their faces and the clothes they wore. They didn't seem to have ever changed their clothes. They were dirty too, and didn't seem to have bathed for a long time. When we stuck stickers on their hands, a layer of dirt would be peeled off when the stickers dropped off, revealing much fairer skin!

I did children's work together with Andrea and Fui Ping and we had fun teaching the children action songs, bible stories and doing a puppet show! The children at that village seemed a little slow to learn but I was really touched by their enthusiasm. They were so excited when we gave them little gifts like a miniature harmonica, pens and hairclips.

Meanwhile, Dr Jade, together with Alvin (her husband) and Steve did medical work. It's tough for many of them to get medical help when they're located so far away from the city, so we brought the doctor and medicine to them instead. We also had the help of 2 translators from Kathmandu, Dipesh and Kanchan.

A few of us, including myself, fell ill towards the end of the trip. Moreover, I was itching from over 100 bed bug bites on my body. However, God sustained us throughout and we were still joyful and managed to do some shopping on the last day!

When I came back to Malaysia, I appreciated my life a lot more - the education I received, the comforts of my home and my family. At the same time, I missed the kids in Bhugdeu...

This trip opened my eyes once again to God's great love for the weaker, the poorer and the forgotten. We can never comprehend the awesome depth of His love and I thank God for the opportunity to be used as His vessel to bring His love and truth to the people of Nepal.