White Knuckle Ride

December 13, 2008

Hello my dear Brothers and Sisters,

I would like to cover lots of stuff and am really wired on caffeine and adrenaline right now, but I will try to be as clear as possible.
The title of this post refers to the ride that I just had on this amazing Yamaha motorcycle. It transformed the one hour trip to the cyber cafe to a 33 minute adrenalin rush. The Pepsi that I had before the ride did not help at all.

To start with: an example of the amazing-ness of the amazing God that we serve. Last night I was planning on leaving Birtamod, where I have been stuck due to the strikes (I will talk about them in a sec) but something in me said not to go. So there I was wandering the small city aimlessly feeling very alone, slightly discouraged and totally burnt out. I decided to go back to my room and read some more of the Grisham novel I was in the middle of. As I sat there reading, but not really liking it or engaging at all, there was a knock at my door. I opened it and there stood the waiter that I had seen frequently, from the rooftop restaurant in the hotel. He asked if he could come in, and I said yes. We sat on my bed kind of awkwardly for about 2 minutes and then he said, "You know Jesus, right?" I answered, “Yes I do, why do you ask?" I have to pause here and explain that I am very careful whom I tell that I am a Christian. I do not hide it, unless told to, but I do not advertise it. So, my waiter had been watching me. I was bracing for a barrage of questions and maybe even some yelling when he said, "I need Him and I want Him in my heart." At that point I started to smile, a really big stupid grin, like a kid with a secret that he wants to tell everybody who will listen. Then, I got to tell him my secret, and pray with him and then welcome him into the family of the King. WE will be attending Church tomorrow, together as brothers in Christ. I no longer feel discouraged or alone; still slightly tired, but I will talk about that later.

I am moving from Ilam. It has been an amazing ministry to have been a part of but I am being called to the refugee camps. I talked yesterday to Pastor Ashok about starting a team in the camps that will go from camp to camp, 7 camps total, to start youth groups. I am really excited to see what God is going to do with this. I know that it will be amazing and I will be working and ministering among the Bhutanese people, and that is what I am called to do for this season. We will start putting together the team in mid January and hopefully start going to camps before February.

In my last blog I talked about wanting to give a Christmas blessing to the school in Ilam. I gave the school the money yesterday, and then I received an e-mail hours later from my agent/support coordinator/intercessor/mom saying that one of you had written a check. It’s amazing. Every time I act in faith, God moves. I love you guys.

Strikes.
The newest thorn in my side is "the strike." As some of you may know, Nepal is in the process of trying to piece together a Maoist (communist) government from scratch. This means that all of the peaceful groups that the former king supported are in need of government funding and recognition. When they don’t get the funding and recognition they block the roads. They set up blockades that limit all merchandise and travel. Today is the first day that there has not been a strike for the past 11 days. Highly inconvenient. I can hitch rides on motorcycles through most of the strikes because they just want to limit public transport and goods. This, however, takes a little research every time I want to travel because I don’t move when dangerous or potentially dangerous groups are striking. One of the most violent groups in called the YCL (Young Communist League). I don’t have time to tell you all about them, but if you picture evil boy scouts with guns, nothing to lose, and an intense sense of patriotism, you kind of get it. The good thing is that they have sworn to only terrorize their countrymen, and to leave all foreigners alone. They have no desire to be compared to the Mumbai attacks.

Tomorrow I will be leaving Nepal for three days to go to the border of Bhutan and India to encourage the border churches and do some intercession for the country. I would appreciate your continued prayer covering.

Christmas.
The team that I was planning on spending Christmas with moved their outreach location to south India, about 200 km from Mumbai. So I will not be going. There are a lot of reasons: 1) I don’t have a peace about it, which means that God ain’t in it. 2) It’s close to Mumbai and I would like to be wise-- not overly cautious (I have never been accused of that and don’t plan to be), but I think that going there for a pleasure trip right now would be against better judgment. 3) Fifty straight hours on a train is enough time for me to truly go crazy. So what will I be doing? I may just spend it here, with Ashok and his wife, Santi. I was thinking about trying to get to Kathmandu, but there is a bridge out (so no bus) and flying is too expensive. I may take same money that I have (not missions support) and take a few days to rest and try and find a place to do some snowboarding. After all, I am in the Himalayas, but I am still praying about that too.

The ministry of Ashok and Santi Rai is really being blessed. Recently, Ashok was able to lead 5 Nepali soldiers working under the UN to the Lord. After this they welcomed his church/school compound to use their water and power, which are both hard to come by in the refugee camps, and which are both being given freely. The only thing that they are asking in return is discipleship. Praise the Lord.

Please pray:

For Ashok and Santi, that their ministry continue to be blessed, and they continue to be able to spread the Gospel.
For my new brother in Christ, the waiter, and for our meetings.
For me to have a clear, defined path into Bhutan, and know when to move.
For the border churches, and my intercession for the country.
For my intercessors.
For the Lord to continue to supply all my needs (and praise for His supplying them.)

And last, pray that I get a rest and rejuvenation, however God orchestrates it (snowboarding as part of it would be nice!!)

In Truth

James P Lear