Its been a while

Its obvious that updating our blog hasn't been high on our list of priorities for the past 5 months or so, but we aren't trying to hide anything...just busy.
Our summer has been full of blessings, learning, bike riding, weddings, visiting friends and spending a lot of time together. We both worked more over the summer, since we had less classes with our internship, but made sure that we both had 3 day weekends and could do some traveling.
We did our first camping trip on the motorcycle- the rack suffered a bit with so much weight on it, Daryl got 9 ticks and it was pretty hot, but overall a good experience and a fun ride. We also rode the bike to MI for a friend's wedding. Six hours on the bike proved to be a little bit much. We may not try that again, or maybe we'll get softer seats.
More recently, we've been started up regular internship classes again, and preparing for the classes we'll be teaching in a few weeks. It seems to be the process of learning how to teach that is a challenge. It seems too that teaching is the best way to learn, and we have both come across things we wouldn't have unless we were intentionally looking for them.
Balancing Internship, work and home has been challenging, especially for Jodi. This is proving to be an opportunity to let go and trust God to help us see our time the way He sees it. Its hard to say no, but sometimes it gets to be hard to say yes. We want to be constantly surrendering ourselves to Him in this.
We're looking forward to a break in PA visiting family in a couple weeks. Daryl has been working on some songs, maybe he'll have a full album soon.

Nepal...a few more thoughts

Eleven hours in New Delhi Airport afforded us ample opportunity to spend time thinking about various aspects of our time in Nepal. Here are some attempts to type them out to share with you:

The feeling of residing so close to the snow-covered Himalayan Mountains is hard to describe in words. They remain breathtaking; it seems, no matter how many times you see them. Every time you look at them, your brain tries to imagine how big they must be and attempts to find a reference size to compare it to. Our God is good at often reminding us of how small we are and how great he is. I wonder so often how people who see these mountains so often can doubt the existence of an Almighty Creator God.

Jodi helped organize nutrition training for some new community staff in Humla. This was a good time for interacting with these ladies and helping them learn more. At the end, they were each given a tract and an explanation of the gospel, which most of them had never heard before. They seemed very interested and read the tracts carefully, trying to understand more. Please pray for the gospel to bring fruit in their lives.

We had a free afternoon during the training to go over to Kholsi village to meet Bibala, who had been out gathering firewood on our last visit. She told us that she had heard of our visit, and cried all night because she had missed seeing us and she was worried about whether or not Jodi had found a good husband. When we arrived at her house, she and her sons were finishing up their snack of bread, which she immediately offered to make more of for us. We assured her that we had just eaten a snack and that we were fine. Since Jodi’s last visit, Bibala had had another little boy, who she had named “Runi Bahadur” which means “crying brave man”. This seemed a little out of place for this little boy, who at the age of 6 months had a loud belly laugh that was probably the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard. Bibala made it clear that she was very relieved to be assured that Jodi had gotten a good, loving husband, and she felt terrible for not giving us something in return for coming to visit her. She convinced us to eat some very unripe apricots, which were so small and unripe and green that it was hard to figure out what kind of fruit they really were. During the course of conversation, we started talking about our ages. On being asked her age, Bibala, who has had no education at all, suggested (in all seriousness) that she was eighty, to which we replied that it was more likely that she was twenty. It was hard to say goodbye to Bibala and her family, not knowing when we would see her again.

We both agree that our trip to Nepal seemed like the appropriate time to be reading a book like Jesus for President. Being outside of the USA made us better able to analyze our own response to the system we normally live in, and more clearly see ways that our lives need to change in order for us to be living only as citizens of the Kingdom of God, that is so much more eternal than any kingdom of this earth. We don’t want to go back to the situation in the USA and become more critical of the people and lifestyle there, but rather set out to demonstrate that it is possible to live differently and be less dependent on the world's economy.

We left Humla a couple days earlier than we had planned, and bought plane tickets to Surkhet, a city a bit closer and more scenic than Nepalgunj(not to mention that it was a cheaper flight too). We were informed on the runway right before getting on the plane that the plane would actually travel to Nepalgunj, as Surkhet Airport was closed from a strike. We were charged the rest of the airfare, and headed for the hot plains of Nepal”grunge” (Daryl would like to point out that God created this place). We were informed upon arrival in the hot, sticky weather that the road was closed because of some fighting and we would not be able to travel to Pokhara as we had planned. We tried, somewhat desperately, to figure out a way to go around the road block to get to a place where we could catch a vehicle. Our contact in Npj was trying to find a vehicle for us, and after an hour of asking around, came back to let us know that he had found two guys with motorcycles who were willing to take us around the block and through the jungle to reach the main road. They asked a high price, but in our desperation we agreed that getting out was better than staying. In the end, the guys decided that it was too risky, and changed their mind about taking us. We ended up staying the night and catching an “air conditioned” microbus. As we were climbing up the hills in the heavy heat, the driver decided to turn on the AC for a few minutes. We appreciated the cold air blowing on us in the front, but no one in the back of the vehicle could feel anything, along with the fact that it slowed the vehicle down considerably. We changed vehicles to head toward Pokhara, and boarded a real Nepali bus, that may have at one time had working shocks, but at that point they had not been functioning for quite some time. We arrived in Pokhara 11.5 hours later, very grateful to not be on a bouncing vehicle.

In Pokhara, we were happy to have food with a little more variety and more familiar for Daryl. We rented bikes for a very cheap price and biked around the lake, went up to the top of a nearby mountain early one morning to watch the sun rise on the Himalayas and hiked down the mountain, took a paddle boat out on the Lake. We celebrated our 3 month anniversary and talked about the wrong expectations we had of each other….and the things or ways of thinking we needed to change. It was good toshare our perspectives with each other and to be able to see what ways we weren’t treating each other rightly, but also to be grateful for the incredible relationship God has given us and how grateful we are for each other.

We biked out of the Kathmandu valley to a friend’s church that Jodi had attended before. We arrived a few minutes before the service was to begin and we sat down to rest after our ride. The pastor asked us if we would be willing to preach for the service that morning, to which we declined and decided instead to share about the Lord’s blessings to us and sing a song. During the service, the pastor asked if we would be willing to teach Sunday school. We declined again, feeling a bit sorry for not wanting to spontaneously take these responsibilities. The pastor asked a little later if Jodi would be willing to teach the class for women after church to which she agreed, feeling it would be unwise to refuse three times. The teaching went well and the fellowship with the women was good. We stayed out at the church until 4pm and returned pretty exhausted.

We were asked to share at the youth group meeting with kids ages 13-18. We felt it would be good to share about the importance of being in the Word and making it a habit. We enjoyed getting ideas for what to share from scripture and praying through the things we felt we should share. It was a good first experience of teaching together. We felt it a good reminder to ourselves too, of the value in our own lives of reading the Word.

We were walking along the road one day when a kid came up behind us and said “hello”. We usually feel a bit annoyed at the kids that always say hello to us, but this kid seemed different. We walked and talked for a while and learned that he spoke pretty good English. He told us that his father is a very prominent politician, so they do not get to spend much time together. We shared about Jesus with him, to which he had many questions about the gospel. We met him again later, gave him a Nepali bible and invited him to go to church with us. He, along with two of his cousins, attended church with us the next Saturday. They all were eager to meet our friends at the church and were very bold in approaching people they didn’t know and introducing themselves. We were impressed with how much they seemed to enjoy their time at church. Please pray that he and his family would be convinced of the truth of the gospel.

We are so grateful for the time and experiences we could have over our 6 weeks in Nepal. We want to see more ways God will use this time in the future. Thanks for your prayers and support along the way.

Its been a while since we've posted on here....not for lack of things to post. We have had some neat opportunities and good fellowship with people here. We've been able to share the gospel with some different people, give out tracks and Bibles, etc. Pretty much every evening, and often throughout the day we are meeting with friends. Its been good fellowship, but please pray that we wouldn't get overwhelmed in it all.
We've spent some time talking about our time in Humla, and debriefing each other on how we were impacted through that experience. Some experienced missionary friends have offered to spend some time talking and praying with us and debriefing us on that time...and our time in Nepal. We're thankful for people who are willing to take the time to do that with us.
Tomorrow we are planning to go to a friend's village church and spend some time with the believers there. On Sunday, we've been invited to speak at the youth group I used to be a part of here.
Random thoughts
- last week we celebrated being married for three months and realized that with the Honeymoon and this trip, we've spent more of our marriage out of the USA than in. Maybe its a precursor to what the rest of our marriage will be like...who knows?
- We had mango-flavored cornflakes for breakfast this morning. They were actually pretty good. - Yesterday we went biking around in Kathmandu for the first time. We are really excited to have bikes to use now- thanks to some generous friends. Daryl would say he actually likes riding around in the traffic here, as long as he can see what the vehicle in front of him is doing( Jodi would say she feels much more at home on a bike in crazy traffic here than in a car on a freeway in the States).

More to come....thanks again for your prayers.

pics

I'm currently uploading a bunch of pics from our past month onto PicasaWeb. Take a look here.

from Humla

Here are some thoughts we recorded while in Humla:

Saturday, April 26th

We arrived here yesterday, after an early morning, hazy flight from Nepalgunj, on which we were the only passengers, along with the flight attendant. Life here moves very slowly; suddenly being at a higher altitude makes everything seem to require more effort. The weather has been great, though still a bit hazy on the snow mountains. We took a walk in the afternoon, getting to see a bit more of the town and surrounding area. It is great to be eating the local food again, though after 3 weeks of it we may not be so excited about rice and beans. I had a talk with Sunita and Sarita, the staff that work with the nutrition program. They feel a bit uncertain as to how to proceed with things as the people in the villages are experiencing the “food gap” between the harvests, when food is scarce. Its hard to teach people how to be eating better when they don't have anything to eat. It is disheartening to think of the situation the humlis are in, and difficult to see creative ways of working with what they have. We truly need the Lord's direction in this.
Today is Saturday, a day off for the Staff at RIDS. It is nice to have another day to get used to the altitude and the pace of life here. We read our bibles in the sun this morning, took a shower, and shared communion together. It is hard to believe that there are seemingly no practicing believers in this place. The quiet from the lack of traffic here is a wonderful change after our time in loud, busy Kathmandu.
Tomorrow, we are scheduled to go to Dharapori, where RIDS has established a field office. Dharapori is a village which is scheduled to begin a nutrition program this year. We also plan to visit Hepka, which is a tibetan village 3 hours north of Dharapori.
Jodi

Friday, May 1st
We've now been in Humla one week. It actually feels like it's been a lot longer. I think it's because this place feels so far removed from my normal world and even the world of Kathmandu. It feels so surreal to be surrounded by huge snow-covered mountains wherever I look, to see no vehicles with wheels of any kind (except the occasional small airplane), to see yaks, horses and donkeys coming past the place we're staying carrying firewood, to see homes made of stone, mud, and rough-cut lumber. It's also hard to comprehend how very different the lives of the people here are than mine. Very few of them probably would have any idea what this computer is that I'm typing on, very few of them know how to read or write their own language, very few of them know what it's like to be healthy and well-nourished, and very few of them have ever heard the truth about their Creator and Savior. I realized this is the first place I've ever been where I couldn't go to a fellowship of believers if I wanted to unless I was willing to take a plane ride or walk for several days.

Our base during our time in Humla is the RIDS-Nepal office in Simicot village, the biggest of the villages in Humla. It's the village that has the little dirt airstrip that we flew in onto. Here people have seen a few more white people in their lives than in the other villages, so not everyone stares at us incessantly. :) Last Sunday we began our first “field trip” - a trip out to some of the smaller villages where RIDS does a lot of their work. Jodi, me, and Seona – an Australian who's doing her doctorate work on green houses – headed out on the 5 hour walk to Dharapori. Simikot is at about 3000 meters, and Dharapori is around 2300 meters, so it was mostly downhill, although it starts with a pretty big up hill. It was the most amazing hike as far as the surroundings I have ever experienced. We met up with Sunita and Sarita – two Humlis who work for RIDS – and Renate – a German lady who is working with RIDS' non-formal education program (NFE) in another village along the way. In Dharapori, we rested for a while. Jodi and I were quite sore. Then Sunita, Jodi, and I went into the village to talk to some people and see what needs they have for nutrition and see if we could find a CNM (Community Nutrition Motivator) to train. There are more flies in Dharapori than I have probably seen in my life. These people, especially the children, are all malnourished and want help. But in some ways their mind-set, way of life, and religion, prevent them from receiving that help.
On Tuesday, we went to a village about an hour walk away called Kholsi, where Jodi had spent some time on her former trips. We spent a little time and prayed with a girl who has Polio who says her whole family is believers after Jodi prayed for her and she was healed of some sickness last time Jodi was here. Please pray that God will teach them who He is and that they will grow in their faith.
On Tuesday, we hiked 3 hours to Hepka, a Tibetan village. In that village, as in most Tibetan villages, the people are much better off and we saw only one malnourished child. Renate was trying to figure out if this has something to do with the values of Buddhism versus Hinduism, but we didn't really know what the connection might be. Tuesday night, we slept in an upstairs room in one of the village houses and we got our first experience of bed bugs. We brought them back with us to Simikot and are currently trying to get them out of our sleeping bags and mattresses. We've probably got near 100 bites each. We hiked a little over 5 hours, mostly uphill back to Simikot on Wednesday and just about wore ourselves out totally. I think Jodi and I should have done some training since we weren't very ready for high altitude steep climbing, coming from Indiana.
Yesterday (Thursday) was a day mostly of relaxing at the office in Simikot. My love and I got to have some really good conversation over a wonderful treat of a cup of instant coffee with powdered milk. Stop cringing AWC coffee snobs. You'd enjoy it here too. We talked about how we might be able to share Jesus with the people here since that's really our main motivation. If our motivation isn't Jesus, it's kind of pointless to be trying to help people to go into eternity with a healthier physical body, but no hope of eternal life. Next week we'll be going back where Jodi, Sunita will be conducting training for the CNMs from several villages. Jodi and I were talking about how she can share the gospel clearly through the nutrition training. I trust God is bringing us to your mind to pray for us in this during next week (even though you won't read this until after it's happened).

I think I have started to get a much more accurate picture of what is involved in being a cross-cultural missionary during my time in Nepal so far. I see that if God calls us to live here in Humla or somewhere like it and join in His work of building His church here, it would be a task harder than I can imagine. The mind-set of the people here is just so different than mine and they view us as white people as so far above them. There would be a lot to overcome, but we have no doubt that God is able to equip and sustain those He calls. From spending time with several missionaries in Kathmandu, I've gotten to see a little more up close what would be involved in being a missionary in a large third-world city. When we get back to Kathmandu in about a week and a half, we plan to spend some time fasting and praying to see if God wants to show us anything we should be involved in during our last 3 weeks in Nepal and if He wants to give us any more clear direction about our future.

Praise God that He's answered your prayers and kept us very healthy in every way so far and He's allowed me to trust in Him and not be overwhelmed with culture shock and not knowing the language. God's also allowed us to be strength and kind of a haven of rest for each other and He's caused our love for each other to grow.

Well that was quite long, but I hope it is a good update on what's been going on with us here. Thank you for your prayers. We look forward to getting back to civilization and having the possibility of communication with our family in the rest of the world.
Daryl

Saturday, May 3
Today the skies are finally clear and I can see all of the mountains. It's incredible. -Daryl

It is gorgeous today- clear for 360 degrees all around us. We took a walk down past the Shiva temple and sat on a rock, admiring the panorama of snow peaks. We spent some time praying for Humla, during which time two boys walked up the hill and decided to sit on the same rock we were sitting on( regardless of the fact that there were rocks all around us). After finding us somewhat boring, they decided to go to the nearby temple and ring bells incessantly.
Today I have felt so tired. A few nights of being so itchy and not being able to sleep are taking their toll. Last night, it felt like my whole body was on fire with itchiness. It was all I could do to pray, “Lord have mercy”. Every night the number of bites increases. Today I counted 46 on one arm, from my elbow to my hand.
In spite of the itchiness, this has been a great experience so far. Our trip to the field last week was a good though not terribly eventful four days. When we got back to Simikot, we were so grateful to finally get showers after so much walking in the hot sun. Our time in Kholsi was encouraging- it was so good to see the girl with polio again. She is doing so much better than the last time I saw her. The others in the village were so excited to see us, and everyone wanted to give us tea and bread. There are several new babies born since I was there last year.
It is getting more and more difficult to be a white person here, and I find myself wishing often that I could just blend in and not have to deal with being a novelty. The kids and adults alike see no shame in staring open faced at us, yelling hello, asking for pens, sweets or medicine. The nepali word for white foreigner, “quidee” can be heard yelled from quite a distance when we are walking around. We wonder how different it will feel when we are back in a society that sees us the same as everyone else.
Even though its been a clear day, it is beginning to get cloudy and we can hear thunder echoing off the mountains. It looks like it might rain. We'll see if we should attempt a shower and if we might get some hot water.
-Jodi

Friday, May 9

We got back from our second trip to the field last evening. The 5 hour, mostly uphill walk didn't seem nearly as hard to me this time. This time we stayed in the Dharapori field office the whole 3 days. We got there Monday afternoon and left Thursday afternoon. The purpose of this trip was to conduct training for 4 current CNMs and 2 new ones. Sunita did most of the training with Jodi doing a little. During this time I didn't really have a whole lot to do other than lighting a few few fires to make some tea and a few other little things. So, I took advantage of the time by reading some of my favorite book (the Bible). While we've been in Nepal, Jodi and I have been reading a book called “Jesus for President” which has been very impactful and has caused much introspection, prayer, and conversations between the two of us. It addresses some ways of thinking that I've grown up with, mostly regarding America, politics, military, and my relation to my country. In a very humble way, and coming from authors who have thought through hard and lived it out, it shows some major differences between the way most Americans in the church have been brought up to view their county and the way Jesus and the early church related to their country. And it shows a lot of inconsistencies in the popular thought patterns of the American church. I'd highly recommend reading the book. There's more about it at their website – www.jesusforpresident.org. I'll probably blog some more about this book on my own blog – http://dbwinger.blogspot.com .

Anyway – back to my favorite book. Because of how my mind has been kinda stretched by “Jesus for President”, I wanted to re-read some parts of the Bible with these new thoughts in mind. So on Tuesday, I read all of the book of Romans. It was a very refreshing and exciting experience, reminding me of how much grace and mercy our God decided to give us. I'd recommend reading the whole book of Romans in one sitting, but you'll have to set apart 3-5 hours and read it slow and soak it in. Then on Wednesday, I read the book of Joshua because I've had a hard time understanding why God commanded so much violence in that book, yet when Jesus came He would not fight his enemies and rebuked his disciples for trying to do so. Joshua is a kind of exciting book about people who saw God doing amazing things among them, bringing them into a country of their own. All they had to do is obey God and He was the one who basically annihilated the people who had the land before them. It didn't really answer my questions very much, but it was still good. I know God's thoughts are much higher than mine and I don't expect to understand why He does everything He does. The book of Joshua does show very clearly though that when the Israelites decided they could handle fighting an enemy on their own when God hadn't commanded it, they would fail. And, if God commanded them to annihilate a certain city and they didn't do it - whether it was because they thought the people were too strong for them, or they thought they could benefit from those people – it always came back to bite them. I find a lot of analogies to the Christian life in this early history of the nation God formed to be a light to the world. I love the phrase Joshua uses several times. He reminds his nation to “cling to the Lord” which reminds me of a little kid clinging to his mom or dad when he's scared because he knows he can't overcome what's scaring him, but he has full confidence that mom or dad aren't scared and they can take care of it. Thursday I read some of Judges – the next book after Joshua in the Bible. Kind of a depressing book. After Joshua and all of the people who saw what God did to give them their own land died, the people basically rejected God and paid for it. God kept seeing the trouble the Israelites got themselves into and he sent “judges” who got them out of their situations and turned them back to God, but as soon as the judge died, the Israelites would turn to idols. This ties in with Romans quite a bit, where Paul talks about how the Israelites rejection of God's plan for them gives room for us Gentiles to be brought into God's kingdom, and how Paul hopes that the Israelites will see us coming into God's kingdom and get jealous and decide they want to come back to God – through faith in Jesus since they weren't able to keep their end of God's first covenant with them.

Sorry if you were hoping to mostly hear about Nepal in this post. But I hope this instead prompts you to get into God's Word some more. Last thought about Dharapori – I may never again complain about flies in my house in the USA. This last week I would have been happy to have had just 5 flies sitting on my constantly. Instead it was usually more like 50 – especially while eating in the kitchen. And they especially liked hanging out in my scabs from where I scratched open my bed bug bites (sorry to gross you out). Thankfully it's still too cold here in Simikot for flies so we have relief from that now. We're planning to leave Humla on Monday if the weather is good and the plane comes. It hasn't been as hard as I thought it might be here. If I knew God was calling us to be here for a longer time I don't think I would dread it. But, a few things make me ready to get back to civilization. I can't say I'm looking forward to going back to the city in Kathmandu, though. I've very much enjoyed the lack of vehicles and pollution here. And I'm pretty sure that I'll never be anywhere in the world where I find God's creation more amazing than here. By the time you read this, I think you should be able to see some pictures, too. God is so good and loving. I hope He gives us a chance to help some more people in Humla understand this before we leave.

- Daryl

Back to the future

Hello family!!!

We are now back in the 21st century, ever more grateful for food other than rice and beans....though we miss the people, the mountains and the clean air. We are not currently missing the bedbugs either.
We praise God for good health during our time in Humla. Daryl had a short bout with diharrea and we both experienced some dizziness, possibly related to altitude, but other than that, we were doing much better than we were in Kathmandu before we left. We wrote several journals during our time up there, which we will post at a time when we can access wireless internet.
We are so thankful for your prayers for us as we were in Humla. We are now in Pokhara, a town west of Kathmandu. We plan to return to Kathmandu on Saturday, and we look forward to being able to be in fellowship with other believers after such a long time out of it.
We had some interesting times flying down from Humla. We had arranged to fly back to a different city than we had flown to Humla from, in order to make travel from there easier, but when we got to the runway to get on the plane, we were informed that the city we were planning to fly to was closed( this turned out to be a blessing as this place remained closed a couple more days). We instead flew back to Nepalgunj ( or "Purgatory" as i prefer to call it) where we planned to get a vehicle to ride to Pokhara. We found out shortly after arriving there that there was a strike and the roads were closed so there could not be any travel that day(Monday, May 12th). Later in the morning, a friend had worked out an exit plan for us: two guys with motorcycles would take us through the jungle to a place on the road past where it was blocked. We were pretty excited about that idea, but later the guys backed out for fear of violence on the road to get to the jungle. So we rested a day in Nepalgunj and got tickets to leave Tuesday morning, so long as the roads opened up. We left there in a Micro van, with a pretty good driver and some grumpy passengers the next day. We changed vehicles in a town later on the road, as the van was heading to Kathmandu and we were going to Pokhara. We ended up on a Nepali bus, squished in the very back where we could feel every bump. It took more than 3 hours to go 90 Kilometers, which Daryl averaged to be about 18 miles per hour. Needless to say, we were very glad to get off that bus.
We have enjoyed having some good food here(cheese and vegetables...bread....oh the joy!). We hope to be able to share some pictures and more processed thoughts on our time in Humla.
love to you all

~jodi

into the mountains

Yesterday, Jodi took me through Durbar Square here in Kathmandu. It's a place filled with Hindu shrines and temples - some of them hundreds of years old. It really made me mad. For hundreds of years, these people have worshiped and centered their lives around these worthless pieces of metal and stone, holes in the road - basically anything can be a god. And all the while God has been longing for them to know Him. It really gives a clearer picture of some of the places in the old testament where God tells people to turn from their worthless idols.

Today we leave the city and head for the mountains. We'll be taking two flights to get from Kathmandu to Humla district. I've been told it will be like going back 1000 years. And from the pictures I've seen I'll encounter the the most beautiful scenery I've every seen. We'll be traveling to several villages where Jodi is teaching women how to keep their children from dying of malnutrition. In these villages most people also have never heard of Jesus. We want to let God show Himself to them through us. Please pray for us during this time.

- Daryl

feeling the weight

Being back here and being able to share this experience with my husband has been incredible so far. I feel so grateful to be with the people here whom the Lord has given me a love for. I trust this is for a higher purpose and will have a lasting effect on the rest of our lives together.

It seems to happen often in my life, that when faced with a challenging task I struggle with feelings of feeling completely inadequate and ill-equipped. I feel that I may make terrible mistakes and people will see how truly unqualified I am. I know many people must feel this way about things they have to do that seem overwhelming and beyond what they are capable of and along with that, fearing the failure that comes with not being able to perform as needed.
The work to be done in Humla is what weighs on my mind; seemingly more than I can even hope to do. The thought of researching, training, evaluating and performing work with the ultimate goal(or second ultimate goal- the first being that Jesus is glorified and people come to know Him) of having enough food to eat, is a larger undertaking than I am able to do.

Before we left the States, friends prayed over us and one specifically prayed that God would protect our Hope(thanks Jes!). I realize that all of my hope needs to be in Christ and nothing else. If it is, tasks that seem daunting can be accomplished as we begin to realize that dependence on the Lord and His strength to work through us is essential. Phillipians 2:13 is a reminder of this: for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His pleasure.

Remembering that while I not feel adequate to do the work before me, the God we serve is more than capable of doing it and His strength works in me.

We made it

We made it from Muncie, IN to Kathmandu, Nepal. It only took 1.5 days and way too long of a stay in the New Delhi airport. But we actually had no complications in our travel, which doesn't seem right. We still feel a bit like we're in a daze, but hopefully after a few more hours of sleep, we'll be in touch with reality. The end.

Going to Nepal

For anyone who reads this blog, but isn't on our email list, here's a copy of an email we sent out about our trip to Nepal in the near future:

Hello family and friends,

You are receiving this email because we (Daryl and Jodi) thought you would want to know about our plans for spending time in Nepal shortly. Most of you have let God work through you to support one or both of us in our lives in the past and we really appreciate you. In case any of you don't know, we are now married - Daryl Winger and Jodi formerly Treese.

Jodi was in Nepal from October '06 to May '07, but in May, the extension of her visa that she hoped for didn't come through so she had to leave the country on 2 days' notice. So, she allowed the Lord to take her back to Muncie, Indiana and fall in love with her good friend Daryl. There has been need for Jodi to come back to Nepal to continue some of the work she had been doing with RIDS-Nepal (Rural Integrated Development Services) since she had left on such short notice. And now God has led us and blessed us with the opportunity to go back together - which also is an answer to Jodi's prayer not to have to go back alone.

We have some plans for our time in Nepal, but nothing is set in stone and we fully expect God to lead us into things we haven't planned on. Here are our tentative plans:
We leave here (Indiana) on April 15th and plan to get back on June 4th.
After getting to Kathmandu, Nepal and spending a few days recovering from travel and making arrangements for more travel, we plan to make our way to the remote Humla district, which is where RIDS-Nepal is working.
We will probably spend about 3 weeks in Humla - Jodi continuing to develop the nutrition program and to train others who live there to continue in the work. Daryl will be helping out in any way he can as well as supporting Jodi. RIDS-Nepal has several engineering projects, which I'm sure will interest me (Daryl) and Jodi is sure they will have work for Daryl to help out with.
When we get back to Kathmandu, we plan to visit the churches and ministries and people who have been dear to Jodi's heart and important in her life. They all want to meet Daryl and we're sure God will give opportunities for us to share about what God's doing with us.

As we follow God on this trip, we'd really like you to pray for us. Here are some specific things we'd like prayer for:

* Safety

- There's possibility of a change of government while we're there, which could mean violence.
- Travel within Nepal and to and from.
- Our health

* Discernment for what to do and how to minister without fear of the unknown or unfamiliar.
* Discernment about the future and the possibility of returning to Nepal for a longer time.
* Emotional and relational health

- Culture shock - for Daryl
- Keeping our relationship healthy

* Humility and the heart of Jesus to serve and love those we come in contact with (including each other)
* For Jesus to be known and worshiped by all Nepalis.

Just to be clear, we are not asking for any money. God has blessed us beyond what we expected with all the money we need through wedding gifts.

Thank you for caring and praying for us. You are a part of what God will do through us. If you'd like to keep up on us before and during our trip, we will be updating our blog - hopefully fairly often. Our blog is at http://darylandjodiinlove.blogspot.com . Also, feel free to email us if you want to know more or if God shows you something as you're praying that you want to share with us.

Also, if you'd like to check out RIDS-Nepal, they have a website too: www.RIDS-Nepal.org

Love,
Daryl and Jodi Winger

Link to Wedding Photos and Slideshow

We're back from our AMAZING honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and still excited to be married to each other.
Our wedding was kind of a blur....though it was beautiful. We don't remember too much of it, but our very talented photographer, Jayne Rohlfing managed to capture some incredible moments. You can view some pictures and a slideshow of the wedding on her blog.

engagement optimism

I've posted some thoughts on our engagement's parallel to the Kingdom of God in my personal blog. Take a look if you'd like.

- Daryl

Answers to prayer

As we look back on the year 2007, we see so many ways the Lord has blessed us and allowed us to experience His grace. Here are some of the prayers He has answered:
For Daryl:
Daryl spent a lot of time praying for God to prepare him for missions, for opportunities to become more involved in ministry with Church, for God to bring people around him who would challenge him to have more spiritual growth, to not become complacent or materialistic. The Lord answered these prayers by having Daryl lose his job, become a part of the Internship at Muncie Alliance Church, and in bringing strong believers around him to hold him accountable and encourage his walk with Jesus. Additionally, God caused a great job to fall in to Daryl's lap, that wasn't necessarily a 9-5 ordeal and one that allowed him to be flexible and be part time later, when the Internship started.
Daryl had also spent time praying that if it was God's will that he go overseas, that he would provide a wife for him before making that move ;) ....the rest of that is history

For Jodi:
Jodi looks on 2007 as being one of the most amazing and challenging years of her life. So many big changes, trials and blessings. At the beginning of 2007, she was praying for a home group of believers that she could be a part of- which the Lord answered quickly by providing an amazingly loving group of people( almost every single one from a different country). Around this same time, Jodi found out that she wasn't accepted to grad school and though it was a very difficult thing to discover, she was encouraged that the Lord must have something better, even though she had thought that it was the best thing. A little while later, as her wonderful roommate whom she had lived with for four months prepared to leave, Jodi prayed for another place to live. Some caring friends offered to let her live in the first floor flat of their house- which was also called the Prayer House. It turned out to be a crazy-awesome blessing to be living in a House of Prayer, and surrounded by so much intercession. Soon, Jodi was on her way out to the Far West of Nepal. She spent a month away from fellowship and other believers, which proved to be a very difficult time, however, Jesus became so real to her during that time. Jodi prayed that she would be able to return to this place, but that that it would not have to be alone.... ;) God answered that one in a fabulous way.

Later, as Jodi sat in Thailand after having to leave Nepal because of visa issues in a whirlwind exit process, she prayed for direction of what to do/where to go next. It seemed crazy that she would have been enjoying and thriving so much in her time and work in Nepal and then have to leave it all in a rush. Jodi didn't want to just return to the USA- because it seemed like the easy way out, and in other ways, the hardest option. Jodi chose to come back, even though she still wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do- but the Lord provided the funds she needed to return at exactly the right time. Jodi spent a lot of time praying that her return to the US would not involve her falling in to a complacent walk with Jesus, but that she would remain strong in Him and that she could be used as an encouragement to others.

The Lord continues to answer these prayers in ways that have blown us away. We are thrilled to see that He really does hear us when we pray, and He is ready and excited to answer in ways that lead us closer to Himself.

Together:
Now, as we look forward to forging our lives in to one, we continue to pray for God's direction and guidance as we seek what He has for us together. We both feel so privileged to have the Lord's hand on us so strongly, and we pray for eyes to continue see His hand, especially when difficult times come.