January 12, 2009
In my title I am not referring to cigarettes, I am referring to banana-flavored chewing gum. It’s addictive and I am up to two packs of five sticks each per day. I’m not proud of it, I know I need help…but I just love the gum. OK, enough of that.
The team for Youth Rallies in the refugee camps is up and running. There will be seven of us: Pastor Ashok, Pastor Joel and his wife Arina, and three 17 year olds whose names I am working on pronouncing first, then I will memorize them. Our first Rally will be with all of the youth in the Golab camp about 15 km south of Birtamod. The three youngsters are new to ministry but want to catch the vision, and they make a good little worship team. The two pastors are both great speakers and there I am right in the middle. We all have a vision to bring a fire to the youth in these camps and to get things moving without us.
Saturday we are going to start with a testimony from the most outgoing of the three kids and then I will give a one to two hour message, then a testimony from Pastor Joel, an altar call and some more worship and we are done. That is a lot easier to write, than it is to pull off. The biggest obstacle, as always, is language. But I know it will be great.
The biggest problem that I can foresee with the team and the youth ministry is finances. Normally, I would just ask the members of the team to jointly cover anything that came up, but their situation is quite unique. They are not citizens of anywhere, Bhutan has rejected them and Nepal provides housing and asylum but citizenship is not a part of the deal. This may not seem like a big deal but what it means is that there are tens of thousands of refugees with no way of getting a job. The UN provides food and water and shelter, so really no income is needed. SO, I am working with a team of six people with hearts on fire for God and not a paisa (100 paisas to the rupee, each paisa about 1/700th of a dollar) to their names. The nice thing about what we are doing is that we will have almost no expenses. Food and any lodging that we need will gladly be provided by the churches that we go to, but getting to these churches requires money. I have told them that for the first few weeks I would cover the traveling expenses and that I would talk to you and see if there is any way for you to help. The best part of this problem is that the travel expenses is looking like they are going to be less than 100 dollars a month, or about 5,000-7,000 rupees (remember it’s 77 rupees to the dollar), all in bus fare. As of right now, me covering the expenses will be no problem, but I just wanted to let you know that this will be another expense that I will be taking on. We will take up an offering at the youth meetings but like I said before there just isn’t any money in the camps.
Right now I am in Damak, waiting for a bus up to Ilam, where I will teach about intercession and hearing the voice of God for three days. Then back down here to write my message and make sure the team is ready for Saturday.
There has recently been quite the outbreak of Avian flu in India, just over the border from me, so please keep that in your prayers. Pray that it stays out of Nepal. I have mostly stopped eating eggs and have totally stopped eating all chicken, which is sad ‘cause its mostly the only source of protein that I get, but I will be fine. I weighed myself at the train station about two weeks ago and I was right at 132 lbs, when I left home I weighed almost 160. I call it the ASIA DIET.
Thank you to all of you who have been supporting me every month, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to know that there people who think about and pray for me all the time.
Please pray:
For my health.
For my newly formed team to find our strengths and utilize them.
For my illusions of American religion: I was raised Lutheran, with 19 to 22 minute sermons, and now I am giving sermons that are sometimes topping two hours, my poor religious psyche is so confused.
For my intercessors and my supporters, they are as big a part of this as I am.
Thank you for reading and praying,
In Truth,
James P. Lear
Monday, January 12, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Rest and Reflections
Today is December 28th , my third day in Kashmir, India. I received confirmation from God about a week and a half ago that it was ok and good for me to take a break and do some intense resting. I am currently about 50 miles from the India-Pakistan border in the Himalayas, at about 4400 meters above sea level. I am here to rest and recharge.
Something that is really cool is I have had time to reflect on and process all of the things that I have seen in the past two and a half months. It’s hard to put it all into words but I will try. I can look back and see the places that God used me in overt ways. I can recall changes in people right before my eyes. I can also remember the times that I put everything that I could into something and saw no results.
Two stories that really demonstrate this well…First, my waiter at the Hotel Daniel, Aaryan. I didn’t ever make an effort to witness with words to him. I was always nice and ready to talk but I never tried full witnessing (sharing the Gospel), and I didn’t have to. In God’s time he came to me and asked to meet the Lord. Second, I was leading a cell group in a village in Ilam, and at the end of my message a girl, about 22 years old, came in and started to talk to my translator and motion towards me. He explained that this girl and her brother had been living in a house where two people had committed suicide and now she and her brother were having suicidal thoughts and she wanted to know if I could pray and break this spirit off of her. I said that I absolutely could, and I almost started to pray, but then I heard God saying something: “she is not Mine, you have no authority”. So I asked the girl if she was a Christian. She said no. I then tried to explain that as long as she was a Hindu and thus a child of Satan my prayers were nothing more than powerless words. It was a disappointing night to say the least. The girl left in tears and I left feeling like I had failed.
I spent almost two hours talking about nothing but God’s grace and forgiveness and acceptance with this girl and I spent no time at all talking about these things with Aaryan. God’s timing is perfect. I know that I planted a seed in that girl that night and I know that no matter how much I talk, unless I am moving in God’s time, I will see no results, but that doesn’t mean I stop praying for her. I ask that you too pray for her. I have no idea what her name was but she was young and lost and in great need of a Savior.
In the mornings when I have my quiet time I still have visions of the children in Bhutan. They are beautiful children, God’s children. I can honestly say that I love those kids. I don’t know their names or stories but I know their faces. They were created to be in relationship with their Creator and they have been denied every opportunity to do so. I also have visions and sometimes dreams of the girls that are being bought and sold in the sex trade. After I have a dream about these girls, I wake up in tears. I try and pray or intercede for them but I can't, because I can't stop crying over them. I hate the way they are treated and the things that are done to them, and I pray often that God will show me how I can make a difference in this. So far I am just allowed to pray, and so that is what I will do with all of my broken heart.
Current events: Like I said before, I am in Kashmir, India at a ski and snowboard resort named Gulmarg (say the “arg” like you’re a pirate). I left Nepal on the morning of December 22nd and arrived at Gulmarg late in the afternoon on December 25th. It took me a 50 hour train ride and three taxi rides, totaling 14 hours. It was a long trip at just over 2,300 km but well worth it.
I have been here for the past two days and I have really been able to debrief myself on the last two and a half months. In YWAM, a very critical part of the DTS (Discipleship Training School) is the debrief at the end. I wasn’t sure how this was going to work for me, being here by myself, but now I know. If I am able to take a week or so off every two or three months, I will have the time and rest required to properly review the last few months and I will be able to refocus.
This may not make much sense, so I will try and help. I have been here in Asia for almost three months. I came here with the purpose of reaching out to the country of Bhutan. I am yet to even set a foot into Bhutan. This is something that Satan uses against me, things like “you came with a reason and you have totally failed”, and “if you were a good missionary you would be in Bhutan right now”, but this isn’t how God sees what I have been doing.
In my quiet time, God has assured me that my prayers for Bhutan make a difference. So, I pray. I ask you to join with me in prayer for patience, for increased faith, and for God’s perfect timing regarding my entering the country of Bhutan. I also ask you to join me in praying for the precious children of Bhutan, for the kingdom of God to come to them.
Please also pray for Pastor Ashok and his wife, Santi. Pastor Ashok and I will be meeting to carve out a plan for my next 12 weeks of ministry in the Bhutanese refugee camps.
Thank you for all of your prayers and all of your support. I am praying for you as well. I love to hear from you, via email and notes on this blog. I will update again soon.
In Christ,
James
NOTE from Melodie, James' Mom
James is back in Nepal, as of Jan. 4. He will update again soon.
Love you all!
Something that is really cool is I have had time to reflect on and process all of the things that I have seen in the past two and a half months. It’s hard to put it all into words but I will try. I can look back and see the places that God used me in overt ways. I can recall changes in people right before my eyes. I can also remember the times that I put everything that I could into something and saw no results.
Two stories that really demonstrate this well…First, my waiter at the Hotel Daniel, Aaryan. I didn’t ever make an effort to witness with words to him. I was always nice and ready to talk but I never tried full witnessing (sharing the Gospel), and I didn’t have to. In God’s time he came to me and asked to meet the Lord. Second, I was leading a cell group in a village in Ilam, and at the end of my message a girl, about 22 years old, came in and started to talk to my translator and motion towards me. He explained that this girl and her brother had been living in a house where two people had committed suicide and now she and her brother were having suicidal thoughts and she wanted to know if I could pray and break this spirit off of her. I said that I absolutely could, and I almost started to pray, but then I heard God saying something: “she is not Mine, you have no authority”. So I asked the girl if she was a Christian. She said no. I then tried to explain that as long as she was a Hindu and thus a child of Satan my prayers were nothing more than powerless words. It was a disappointing night to say the least. The girl left in tears and I left feeling like I had failed.
I spent almost two hours talking about nothing but God’s grace and forgiveness and acceptance with this girl and I spent no time at all talking about these things with Aaryan. God’s timing is perfect. I know that I planted a seed in that girl that night and I know that no matter how much I talk, unless I am moving in God’s time, I will see no results, but that doesn’t mean I stop praying for her. I ask that you too pray for her. I have no idea what her name was but she was young and lost and in great need of a Savior.
In the mornings when I have my quiet time I still have visions of the children in Bhutan. They are beautiful children, God’s children. I can honestly say that I love those kids. I don’t know their names or stories but I know their faces. They were created to be in relationship with their Creator and they have been denied every opportunity to do so. I also have visions and sometimes dreams of the girls that are being bought and sold in the sex trade. After I have a dream about these girls, I wake up in tears. I try and pray or intercede for them but I can't, because I can't stop crying over them. I hate the way they are treated and the things that are done to them, and I pray often that God will show me how I can make a difference in this. So far I am just allowed to pray, and so that is what I will do with all of my broken heart.
Current events: Like I said before, I am in Kashmir, India at a ski and snowboard resort named Gulmarg (say the “arg” like you’re a pirate). I left Nepal on the morning of December 22nd and arrived at Gulmarg late in the afternoon on December 25th. It took me a 50 hour train ride and three taxi rides, totaling 14 hours. It was a long trip at just over 2,300 km but well worth it.
I have been here for the past two days and I have really been able to debrief myself on the last two and a half months. In YWAM, a very critical part of the DTS (Discipleship Training School) is the debrief at the end. I wasn’t sure how this was going to work for me, being here by myself, but now I know. If I am able to take a week or so off every two or three months, I will have the time and rest required to properly review the last few months and I will be able to refocus.
This may not make much sense, so I will try and help. I have been here in Asia for almost three months. I came here with the purpose of reaching out to the country of Bhutan. I am yet to even set a foot into Bhutan. This is something that Satan uses against me, things like “you came with a reason and you have totally failed”, and “if you were a good missionary you would be in Bhutan right now”, but this isn’t how God sees what I have been doing.
In my quiet time, God has assured me that my prayers for Bhutan make a difference. So, I pray. I ask you to join with me in prayer for patience, for increased faith, and for God’s perfect timing regarding my entering the country of Bhutan. I also ask you to join me in praying for the precious children of Bhutan, for the kingdom of God to come to them.
Please also pray for Pastor Ashok and his wife, Santi. Pastor Ashok and I will be meeting to carve out a plan for my next 12 weeks of ministry in the Bhutanese refugee camps.
Thank you for all of your prayers and all of your support. I am praying for you as well. I love to hear from you, via email and notes on this blog. I will update again soon.
In Christ,
James
NOTE from Melodie, James' Mom
James is back in Nepal, as of Jan. 4. He will update again soon.
Love you all!
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