To Stay or Not to Stay?



Food? No thank you, I've got crayons to eat!

Cheesing it up at our garage sale a month ago!

 

This post is long overdue & much needed. Much has happened since I last wrote & we are excited to share how God has worked & continues to work in our lives. As most of you know, we moved nearly 3 months 
ago. Doing so has proven to be beneficial for our family but has definitely required some adjustment. For me, moving was not difficult but different. I had never not lived with my mom & dad. I was adapted to being with them day in & day out – even after marriage. For the first month or so, both NP & I found ourselves missing the only "home" we had known here. Though happily married & loving our time with one another, "just us" (+ Zeke) was uncharted territory that we had not traversed before & it was almost as though we didn’t know what to do. Not to fear, we’ve since discovered that the hours in our day seem to go away from us all too fast as we have very little time to sit & ponder what to do. Moving out has made me that much more appreciative of my mother & the many meals she prepared for me day in & day out. I know how tiresome it is to come home & then have to cook. I’ve a feeling I’m not the only one out there that experiences such! We have enjoyed having company over whenever we want & knowing that we’re not disturbing anyone. Zeke is beyond happy to have the run of the place & go wherever he wants (though he is now being locked out of our bedroom as he has figured out how to open the door, make it to the bathroom & kindly place all kinds of things in the toilet be it his stuffed penguin, bags of Instant Mashed Potatoes, Socks, Foam toys, etc.). In addition to his freedom here, he is absolutely loving seeing all the dogs in the neighborhood. A dog park is coming soon & though there is no playground here, I’m sure we will spend hours at the dog park with Zeke pretending to bark & longing to pet every dog that comes along! I am planning to soon try to open our home to the ladies within our building for dessert & fellowship – just a time to get to know the women & hopefully begin to establish relationships. We said before we moved that we wanted our home to be HIS home where we would minister to people & we are eager for the opportunities to do so.

As some of you may remember, about a year ago, we discussed the possibility of moving to Mumbai to serve. We were discussing a number of things but there was one dark cloud hanging over our heads – debt. Debt was the obstacle standing in between us doing anything that we felt God calling us to. Our debt needed to be paid off (or at least reduced significantly) before we could even consider anything. PRAISE GOD, the debt was paid off in March. Granted we still have a few small Medical Bills that we are taking care of, the huge dollar amount that loomed over is no more. With that being said, we wanted to begin conversations once again about ministry. We had been talking about moving to Nepal or India or staying here to work with Nepalese or Indians. However, in a way that only God could do – He revealed to both NP & myself (individually but at the same time through different means) that though we love Indian People & want all persons to know Christ as Lord, our hearts are most burdened for the People of Nepal – be it those that are in Nepal or those that are here in the U.S. We knew in that moment (& now) that God would have us work with Nepali People. The next big decision was to decide if we believed the Lord was calling us to go to Nepal or to share the Gospel with Nepalese here. As we prayed & talked, we sensed that for this time, the Lord would have us remain here. Here in St. Louis or where you may ask? That part we do not know. We only know that for this season, we are to be here in the U.S. Deciding such is not easy – our hearts long to see family in Nepal; we know Grandma & Grandpa in Nepal (as well as aunts & uncles) deeply desire to meet Ezekiel. This is not say that 2 years from now God may not give us instructions to move there, or 10 years from now He may ask us to do so. We do not know. We simply trust that for now, He wants us to be here & we trust that He has work for us to do here. Hopefully, we will at some point be able to at least visit Nepal even if only for a couple of weeks. Now, if you will….

Please join us in prayer. We recently had a meeting with some wonderful exhorters of the faith & they are assisting us. They currently are researching the demographics to find where there are large populations of Nepali Persons in the State of Missouri. We are aware that there is a great number here in Saint Louis (though not here in Saint Charles), some in Cape Girardeau, Kansas City & Rolla. Meanwhile, they are looking to see if there are more elsewhere. Where these populations are, they are seeking whether there may be an established Nepali Church or not. As they research, NP & I are praying to God for direction as to where He would have us go – be in here, elsewhere in the State or outside of Missouri. NP has a Masters of Divinity & Bachelors of Theology – he loves to preach & teach & God has gifted him to do so. Our sweet friends that we met with tried to help me understand the ache in NP’s heart as he is not fulfilling the calling God has given him. Likewise, though I’ve no degree, God has gifted me in certain ways & I long to be able to use those gifts fully. At this time, the question becomes…is there an existing Nepali Church that may have a position for NP to step into to serve as a Pastor or is there an area in which no Nepali Church is present but God would guide us to build His church there?

We are excited – excited for what God has in store with us. We continue to rejoice in all He has done for us, provided us with & the love, grace & mercy He extends to us daily. I am that person that wants all the details – who? What? When? Where? Why? How? As our sweet friend reminded us, God calls us to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). We choose to trust Him & the plans He has for us. As we do so, will you join us in prayer? Things to pray for:

Opportunities in our current state (be it in our work places, our neighborhood, etc.)


That we would continue to earnestly seek Him, be on our knees before Him & in the Word.


That God would make clear to us where He wants to use us & that we would follow in obedience trusting Him to provide all that we need to do so.


NP’s Visa expires on 9/24/16. We are gathering necessary documents to submit to Immigration to remove the conditional status of his residency so that his visa will then be extended. We do not anticipate any issues (especially since we have a child together & have plenty of evidence to show that we are still married & living together) but the more documents we can provide, the greater our chances are for not having to face another interview. We just received the notification yesterday that we may apply for between 6/24 – 9/24. I’ve already retrieved over half the information needed & have the rest on the way in hopes of being able to mail it in the first week of July. Please pray that all would go smoothly.


Some dear friends with hurting hearts that we are ministering to. We are praying that as we love on them & share the Good News that they would be receptive to the Gospel.


That we would be granted time off work to travel to Denver for vacation. Since NP began working, he’s not really had a vacation & we’ve not been anywhere other than AL since Zeke arrived – we could use some time away together as a family, NP has a good Nepali friend from his college days that lives in Denver & what better place to admire God’s handiwork than in the Rocky Mountains?


Our precious Ezekiel – for continued good health & growth & that we as his parents would strive to discipline him lovingly, teach & encourage him. So cute it is when we sit down at the table for dinner & before we do anything else, we look to see Zeke putting his hands together ready to pray. What a blessing it is to our hearts to know that he is understanding & if we nearly forget ourselves, there is our little guy there to remind us as he patiently waits with his hands clasped together.

We cannot begin to thank you enough for faithfully praying for us even when you may not have heard from us in a while. We are most appreciative of you, our brothers & sisters, who stand beside us interceding on our behalf. As always, if you have specific requests that you wish for us to pray for, we would love to join you in doing so. We would love to rejoice with YOU as you share with us the marvelous works He has & is doing in your lives.