The One Where I Say Thank You

Dear Friend,

I'm taking on some big shoes to fill. I'm writing this letter on behalf of expats who have spent time at home after being away for a significant amount of time. You've probably noticed a few things were different with us. Maybe it was easier or maybe it was harder. But I want to speak for the expat community as I extend a celebratory "Thank You!", complete with lots of balloons, glitter, and confetti because, well, you deserve it. Here's why.

1. Thank You... for all of those early airport runs, picking up your weary travelers, decoding our tired mumbles, and heafting our enormous luggage bags. The same goes for drop-offs and all that goes with it--lack of sleep, traffic, crowds, and the super fun maze that is short-term parking lots. 😱

2. Thank You... for your patience when we text you from three different numbers and iMessage you and you have no idea what occasion goes with what number... Because honestly, we have no idea either. ❓⁉️

3. Thank You... for not taking offense when we yawn from jet lag and fall asleep in the middle of lunch. It's not you, it's us... Really. 🍳🍴

4. Thank You... for feeding our obsession with Target and their magical $1 bins of stuff. And Caribou Coffee, because outside of the Midwest, those are pretty much as rare as talking rainbow unicorns. ☕️🐴

5. Thank You... for your friendship. It's hard, the goodbyes are awful, and we are grateful that you think we are worth the trouble. (I don't know about you, but fuzzy Skype calls and dropped connections are my idea of a good time--wait, I'm the only one? Yeah...) 💻📱

So, again, on behalf of my fellow expats, Thank You, for being you. We think you're pretty awesome, and I for one wouldn't be as mentally stable without you. 😂🎉👏🙌  

The One with the Emojis 😳😉👌

I think I'm finally clawing my way out of the dark abyss of school and report cards and emails and just plain SURVIVAL MODE and I'm raising my battered and worn white "surrender" flag furiously. Can you see it? I feel a little bit like someone who has been trapped in a mine:

"The coal-dusted, grimy miner pushes himself beyond the cloud of debris and rock to find himself needing to shield his eyes from the brilliant and bright sun that always existed above ground but was never visible when He was trapped below the surface and cough his way past all of the gunk that had settled in his lungs." ☀️ (I can never resist a good emoji!)

I think that's a fairly accurate simile, and not just because of the Chengdu air pollution. 😆😷

But honestly.

So, without further adieu, I present you with my list of "Top Four Things I've Learned in the Last Ten Months." 🎉🎉🎉 

1) Grace Upon Grace 😇😇😇

There should be a specific day of appreciation for the people who appreciate teachers. And put up with them always obsessing over their classrooms. And listen to them whine and complain about the kids not listening. And hand them tissues when it's time to say goodbye and pass them on to the next grade level (or, let's be honest, pour the celebratory wine in thankfulness that the kids are not going to be in your class next year). In short, thank you for your grace and your patience in dealing with us mine-dwellers who are currently blinking against the brightness of the sun at the moment and getting ourselves re-accustomed to civilization again.

2) I am not a burden and we need each other ❤️❤️❤️

Let me be honest: I have never felt as needy as I have on the past ten months of living overseas. There have been so many times when I have fought and tried and tried and fought to remain stubborn (ahem) and deal with problems myself, but I (finally) have been broken down of that belief to realize that we need each other. We NEED each other. It's not enough for me to give help; it is my calling in life from Father to receive help too. I am not a burden for needing people, and neither are you. 

3) Goodbyes are hard and June is the worst month ever 😢😞😟

I used to love June. The beginning of summer: flowers fully blooming, and it's time to mow the grass. School's out for the summer, and water and camp fires and relaxation take over. But June has become the month of goodbyes, and I really, really don't like goodbyes. I don't know if anyone actually does. I'd like to meet that person and ask them what their secret to life is because I am not anywhere close to figuring it out. Please let me know if you do. 

4) Conflict is good. Wait, what? 😳😳😳

It's hard for me to say that statement without a question mark existing in my voice (for my friends who will get this joke, that would be the second tone in Chinese 😄) when I say that, but it's true! I never thought I would agree with this statement, ever, because it seems to be so against my character, but hey. It's actually really important and it helps you be real and genuine with people, which in my very humble opinion I think is what we should all strive to be with each other. 

Summer has been a pleasant surprise: I truly thought I would hate it, and while it has been the hardest month yet, believe it or not (see point 3 above), it's been the month that I've grown the most in. And it's not even half over yet. 😳

The One Where I Reflect

How much life changes in one year.

How many times I've had that thought in the past week. Who would have ever thought that in April 2015, I would be sitting in a coffee shop in Korea writing about my life in China.

Being in Korea with Reba has been so, so, so good, and it is an absolute miracle that I was able to come--truly. We've been able to exchange thoughts about being expats and what that looks like in our respective countries, we've been able to remember old memories, and we've been able to make new memories too. She's also inspired me to write down these thoughts. 

Here's what I've been learning: 

1. Joy is a choice. 

     

Every day I have to wake up and choose joy. It is not automatic, and the choice of joy is hard. But, it is a good choice to make. 

2. I'm really glad I'm in Chengdu. 

Even when the sun doesn't shine, even when I crave familiar-tasting sour cream, even when I am up to my eye-balls in school-related things, I am glad. 

3.  Good byes are hard. 

I'm really thankful to be meeting the people I am meeting. I get sad that I can't be around people longer. My head says that it's better to have met these people, but my heart says that doesn't make it any easier. I think I'm still working through this one, and I think I always will. And I think that's okay. 

Happy Easter,
Jessi 

The One With the World Map and the Translating 5 Year Old

"Hey Jessi, what's it like working at an international school?"

Well, friend, I'm glad you asked. Let me tell you two stories. These stories are probably my two favorite stories that I get to tell because they perfectly capture the incomparably crazy essence of this life.

So, here you go.

Story #1: I love doing lessons where I get to project the world map onto the board because every hand is in the air, every student is bouncing out of their seat with excitement, and every voice is talking all at once. (A real teacher's dream right?? Lol. Yeah.) "Ms. Souer, where is Korea?" "Ms. Souer, where is Japan?" "WHAT THAT HUGE COUNTRY ABOVE CHINA? IT EATING THE WORLD." (It was Russia FYI) "Ms. Souer, Ms. Souer, this one time, we went to this little island that sounds like the name Chengdu, but it's not, because I forgot the name of it, but we went to..." And on and on and on, one after the other (who am I kidding--all at one time) wants to share about somewhere they've been, or point out a country they've visited, or talked about the people they know in the countries on the map.

You know what I love about this though? What I really, absolutely, wholeheartedly love? When my students look at a map, they see people. They know that Sam lives in Hong Kong and that Bella lives in Brazil. They have travel stories--funny, sad, or otherwise. The world is so much smaller to them and they aren't afraid because they don't think of "scary" on our level. They've already done it--leaving all they know as familiar to be somewhere new. My students have traveled to more places than they can count (literally--we're working on that lol), and I think it's freaking AWESOME.

Story #2: End of school day--walking out to the buses. The bus driver pulls me aside and begins talking to me in Chinese about two of the students on the bus, but sadly, I don't even catch onto the meaning of what he's saying. The student holding my hand looks up to me and says, "Ms. Souer, you say, (Insert Chinese phrase meaning "I don't understand")."
Me: Blinks. "Um, yes, thanks (Student)."
We keep walking until I hear another student ask, "(Insert Student's Name Who Speaks Chinese), what did the bus driver say?"
Student thinks and responds, "He says, (Student A and B) need to be quiet on the bus."
And there you have it. Five year olds translating for me. My life. :)
 

The One Where I Hated My Job

Yesterday night, as I was lying in my bed willing myself to fall asleep, I realized something. I realized that I was dreading going to work in the morning. I hadn’t felt that feeling before as I did so strongly laying there, wishing my brain would quiet down.

My mind rolled over my un-logicalness, and I tried for 5 minutes to have a very logical brain. “Alright,” I said to myself. “Why don’t you want to go to work in the morning?” Because the kids don’t behave. I feel like I’m constantly fighting an uphill battle of reminders, behavior management, and discipline. “Okay. That’s legitimate I guess.” My brain thought about this for a while longer until another thought popped into my head. “Why are the kids misbehaving?” Because the kids just ARE that way. Because I’m a terrible teacher. Because I’m not strict enough. Because, because, BECAUSE!

And then, just like in the movies, the pieces of the puzzle began to form to reveal the bigger picture. I had stopped liking my job. Curriculum and drills and assessments had become the sole focus of my vision. But learning wasn’t fun anymore, I realized, for either the students or for me. And if I’m not having fun teaching it, then who’s to say they’re having fun learning it?

You see, teaching is sometimes a little bit like manipulation. You have to convince your students that what you’re teaching them is of value to them. You have to be worth their time. And if you can’t own what you’re selling, you should take a class in Salesmanship 101 because owning what you teach and making it your own is probably the most essential quality there is in teaching.

I had stopped delighting in five-year-old hugs, and wiggly teeth, and stubborn attitudes. I had too high of expectations for my students. I expected them to the perfect, and they will NEVER be perfect students because heaven knows how difficult it is for us to get down the hallway without a single peep. I expected perfection from myself, which… *THUD* oh my, excuse me. I just fell off my chair from laughing so hard. Eye roll. We all know that’s never happening either. Heaven knows how hard it is for ME to get down the hallway without a single peep.

I forgot that I get to teach them what it means to be a friend, and how to skip count by 2’s, and that bringing bugs into the classroom means that Ms. Souer will make you release them back into the tuffs of greenery that grows between the cement cracks on the sidewalk.

Life goes so much farther than curriculum. Life is about experiences, and by golly, my students are going to experience writing their first words, creating social skills, and developing fine motor skills by decorating a card for their best friend while I teach them about David and Jonathon and how incredible their friendship was. We’re going to learn how humans move by playing follow the leader and hopping, jumping, skipping, walking, and running around the classroom. And if we’re loud, I’ll apologize, but deep down, I will smile because I know that learning is going on in these little brains. We’re going to learn how to act and imagine from the dramatic play pizzeria that just opened up across the classroom, and we’ll probably learn how to tell time from the number of times they ask how many more minutes until lunch time.

My teaching is nothing if I cannot impart the love of learning to my students, but I know that they’re learn in spite of us.They always do. :)

The One Where I Rode the BRT and Something Terrible Happened

Those of you who know me well know that I am pretty fond of a good funny story. Those of you who live in China know that humorous stories are in abundance when one rides public transportation (or, at least, somehow these humorous incidents always seem to find me). Allow me to entertain you with a humorous story from one of my public transportation-riding experiences.

One day, I was traveling with two friends on the BRT to go to someone’s house for dinner. It was around 5:30 pm, which is prime everyone-is-going-home-from-work time. As we kept arriving at stop after stop, more and more people kept getting on the bus, until I felt very similar to how grapes feel while chilling in their bunch.

The person who’s house we were going to told us that the next stop was the one we needed to get off. I felt a swell of panic rise in my throat because we were feet away from the door but many, many, MANY people were blocking our exit, and if I got left behind, my group would never hear the end of it. (I am always terrified of getting left behind on traveling excursions, and somehow I never do, but, you know, it could happen…) Right as I look up from intently memorizing my toenails, I see my traveling group squirming their way through the crowd. Just as the bus came to a sudden halt, I lost my balance and reached behind me to grab the pole for balance.

Only, I missed the pole and grabbed some lady’s pony tail instead.

I couldn’t tell who was more shocked: her or me.

And this is the day that I used someone else’s hair to keep me from falling over on the BRT. Memorable days, my friends. J

Stories

Imagine for a moment that you and I are sitting somewhere in a coffee shop, sounds of espresso machines whirring in the background, groups of people happily chatting back and forth, and laptop keys of studious college attendees click-click-clicking away. Imagine for a moment that we are sipping our drinks and imagine that you ask me how life is in China. If you were to ask me that question, here’s what I would say. I would not tell you, “It’s fine,” or “It’s good,” because to be frank, those phrases limit the indescribable feelings I have for China. Let me instead paint you a picture of a typical day for me in China, and through this story, I wish for you to see and rejoice with me in the beautiful, hard, wonderful, stretching, and challenging. Here goes…

The alarm buzzes at 5:07 am. I blearily stumble to get ready for the morning, make vain attempts at coaxing my hair into place, mix together my instant coffee, and grab something to eat as I walk to school. I take the elevator down to the first floor from the 27th floor that my roommate and I live on. The darkness greets me as I enter the lobby area. Residents of Chengdu don’t see the sun peeking through the clouds until around 7 am each morning. I listen for the sound of rain, another permanent fixture of the city of Chengdu. If I hear the pattering of rain, I take out my umbrella from my backpack and try my hardest to dodge the huge holes of water. If I don’t hear raindrops, I revel in the coolness of the morning.

Mornings are my sacred time. Here, people seem to treasure their sleep greatly. Children run wild until 9 or 10 pm at night because of the cooler temperatures, but are promptly scooted into bed at 10 pm. Most sleep until 7 or 8 am. Because of this, when I leave the house at 6, I see around 3 people out of the millions that live in Chengdu on their early morning walks. I pass the same street vendors selling breakfast items. I walk past the same foul-smelling construction site that is near my apartment’s back gate. I see the same construction workers every morning. I bypass the same street sweepers clothed in orange taking care of the trees and bushes that line the roads. And I cross the same seven-lane highway on my way to work. I’ve gotten quite good and judging distances and rates of acceleration. Physics at work, my friends!

When I cross the highway and arrive at my school, the guards recognize me and wave. I’ve trained them well. The first week of school, it looked as if they were in pain when I waved at them. Now, they freely offer waves and smiles and Mandarin greetings.

I will do work in my classroom until our daily staff devotional. It looks different everyday, but lasts only for about 15 minutes. It’s a grand time to refocus for the upcoming day, take a deep breath, and praise.

My students arrive. They are talkative and excited and totally and completely dependent on the weather. We learn. We grow. We make mistakes. We apologize. We move on. We start fresh.

We exhale after the day is over. We wonder if the students learned anything at all today. We plan. We re-plan. We adjust. We use Plan Z. We laugh at something that happened today. We, despite the irritation, grin until the grin becomes a smile and the smile becomes laughter. We laugh harder when we realize we’re sitting in an empty room, laughing by ourselves, as the guards on their night rounds walk past the room.

I leave school at 8 pm every night, and the sun has long gone to bed. As I shut off lights and close doors, I sigh, realizing that I will have to be to school again in less than 12 hours and do everything all over again. I wave good bye to the guards. I close my eyes and inhale deeply the smell of the flowers that bloom outside the front doors. Heaven. I begin the walk home. I cross the seven-lane highway, sometimes stop and buy fruit from a man with a van, and gawk at the people practicing Tai Chi. I stop and listen to the music and watch for a minute, reveling in the peaceful sounds and graceful movements coming from the scene. The night life here is one of my favorite things. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is out walking around with their babies, children, dogs, husbands, wives, grandparents, and parents. It is not the fast walk of the westerner either. It is a slow, steady walk that allows to wind down from the day. I use the evenings to write to people, do laundry or dishes, and crawl into bed and fall asleep to await my beckoning call at 5:07 the next morning.

There are days when I love being here, and there are days when I wonder why I’m here. I don’t let the bad days overtake the good, and He has been good in letting me catch a glimpse of small, precious moments that help me realize He is here. I do not have an answer for the question of, “How has China been?” but what I do have is stories, and through those stories, I hope you can realize the real-life struggles and blessings I have encountered. And, oh my friends, the stories are merely beginning. J

A Quick Note

Just dropping in to give you all a quick update on the amazing experiences we've had in the past few days.
We have been able to be a part of so many incredible ministries here in Kathmandu. On Tuesday of this week we went to a men's drug rehabilitation center. The men who started this ministry have such incredible testimonies and are so filled with the Spirit. It was so encouraging to be around believers and have such great fellowship. We have seen God working in so many ways here, and this ministry is definitely blessed by the Lord. We also played football (soccer) with the men there, and they are very, very good. One of the men there hurt his foot, we prayed for it to become better, and directly after the prayer, it was healed! Talk about blessed by the Lord.

Wednesday we went the slums. We got there in the morning to partner with a ministry that feeds around four hundred kids every day. There is a school on the land also that we got to teach in for an hour. It was so cool to see how education is run in Nepal because that is just my forte. It is surprisingly hard to come up with an hours' worth of activities for children who don't speak English, but it worked and we loved being there. We also got to hang out with children for the morning/afternoon, which was such a large highlight in my experience there. The children there were poor, dirty, tired, and hungry, but oh how they knew how to love. Two little girls did my hair twice, and I got to paint their fingernails. This day was extremely hard for many (especially for myself), but it is something I will always, always remember.  

On Thursday we had the privilege of visiting a leper colony. I have never experience the level of hospitality I received than at the leper colony. There were many elderly folks there who took care of us. They made sure we were out of the rain and that our backpacks weren't getting wet. They also invited us into their houses to show us where they lived. There was a significant language barrier (the most we have encountered yet), but one of the ladies told us her testimony and it made me think of the verse about the spirits' of two believers connecting.

Friday, we got to hang out with kids all day again through the ministry, Kidsgames. Our friends from the drug rehabilitation center have an organization called Christian Sports Fellowship, Nepal, and they go to schools and play sports with the kids there. It was very fun for me to be in a school setting and see how things are established educationally.

We have all had so many incredible experiences in only a few short days of being here. I can't even imagine the things we have yet to experience. :)    

Greetings from Nepal!

I am writing to you from an internet place in Thomel District, Kathmandu. Everything is well here. The travel here took two full days and we got in Kathmandu on Saturday.We had to sleep in the airport in Abu Dhabi but it was okay. Plus, it was super cool to be in another country!!! We have done so much already in the few shorts days we've been here. We have done a lot of walking around to the different shops and talking with street venders. Yesterday we went to someone's shop and he invited us in for chai and we talked about his belief in Krishna (a sect of Hinduism). Don't worry, I'm not going to convert. ;) We visited Pashupathima (Hindu temple) as well as the Monkey Temple (Buddist temple). They are very dark places to be.

We are staying in a very nice hotel that is only 6 months old. There are no cockroaches and no squatty-potties! The electricity goes out literally every day, if not twice a day because it is Nepal. :)

I have had so much curry in the past few days, it is unbelievable. I have not gotten sick either or had diarrhea, PTL! Our team is doing well and bonding together. We enjoy being with each other, so I pray that remains. :)

You would not believe the city blocks and streets here. There is traffic all the time, but only sometimes it is better than other times, but it is always busy. We are stared at all the time, and people are always approaching us to sell us something. It has become the norm for us here. Because we are staying in the "tourist" district, there are a few westerners here, but not many. They are here mainly for the hiking and to experience Mt. Everest.

Well, I must bid you farewell! Don't worry, I am well and soaking up everything. I will have many pictures and stories to share when I come back.

Namaste!
Jessica  

This Is The Stuff of Life.

"Finally, be strong in the LORD and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over the present darkness. against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication with all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak." -Ephesians 6:10-20

This has been on my mind the last couple of days. Every time I put on my pack (as seen below), I am going to remember that I am putting on the armor of God. 

Embrace It. Whatever Comes, Embrace It.

I am curled up right now all cozy-like with my quilt wrapped snuggly around me keeping me warm. I have a cup of spicy tea steeping beside me, and occasionally I'll glance over and watch the tendrils of steam waft up to the ceiling. I'm also hacking up half a lung from this gosh darn cold I can't seem to shake, but that is beside the point. I'm really cozy right here. Really comfortable. If I wanted to, I could even extend this to say that my life in general is pretty comfortable too. I mean, sure I have an unknown future (who doesn't), but right now? Today? This week? I'm pretty comfortable where I am.

I have a feeling that in Nepal, I won't be very comfortable. There will be constant change. And constant new. And I'm really excited/terrified/nervous/anxious/joyful/scared for that impending occurrence.

I have forgotten what it is like to go into a place and be the minority. I have forgotten what it's like to for the abnormal to become an odd kind of normal. I have forgotten what it's like to have no other option but to trust God with every decision I make. I have forgotten.

During the school year, I am forced to plan out my life. And, frankly, it stinks. I've learned more about time management this year alone than I ever have before. I mean, it's a good thing to know but not a very fun thing to practice. After nine months of needing to have every day painstakingly planned out so everything can get done, it is hard to change mindsets to go from that to taking a step back from life, feeling free to do whatever, and having total flexibility in my life again. (I still have camp, but it's a different kind of schedule!) I miss the freedom, and I miss being able to live a non-stressful life. I think I am in store for learning a thing or two from the Nepalese culture. I think I will learn a lot about gratitude while in Nepal, and it is my hope and prayer that I will be able to take what I learn back with me here to America.

I am excited to embrace the unknown once again. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Be careful how you live; you will be the only Bible some people ever read." -William J. Toms
 

I Can List the Things I Have Left on a Single Sheet of Paper.

The end of the academic year is in sight! There is a light at the end of the tunnel. It is just hidden by three finals, ten lesson plans, a couple of papers, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. For my friends who are in the thick of it with me and feeling torn between spring fever and needing to get everything done, hang in there. We are almost done!! :)

  As the 2012-2013 school year is coming to a close, I can enjoy and revel in the fact that I MADE IT THROUGH THIS SEMESTER, but, because I will be gone to Nepal and then to camp for three months, I also feel the pressure of needing to get everything else in line for other things I will be doing this summer (like watching one of my best friends get married!!!) and next semester. It is hard for me not to get overwhelmed with all of the little things that I need to do before I leave. This past weekend I was able to go home and buy some equipment for Nepal at discounted stores. Many of you have also been a huge blessing to me by letting me borrow equipment! (Special shout-out to Laura for going with me to REI and showing me what to get! :) I'd be so lost without you!) 

A couple of weeks ago we had a training night at Dawnette's house. We ate an authentic Indian meal much like the kind we will be eating when we're there. It consisted of rice, curry, chicken, and some kind of yellow thing that looked like corn. It has a name, but I don't remember what it is.... And we practiced eating with our fingers! I burned the tips of my fingers a couple of times, but I got the hang of it soon enough. After the meal, we discussed The Shack. It is true that this book is controversial, but I really appreciate the discussion we had about it. The author never really intended for this to be a book about the doctrine of the Holy Spirit... because it's not. It's a fiction book and that is how it should be taken. Anywho, it was very good. I love listening to discussions about things like this because I learn so much from other people and what they take away from it all. Then we watched a little bit of Bride and Prejudice (one of my favorite movies). It was a lovely night and made my very excited for what is to come!

As of a week ago, I am roughly a thousand dollars away from my goal of $3,500! WOW! I am blessed by all of you. Thank you for your prayers for the team, safety, and for the financial means to come in on time. I am so thrilled that you are choosing to join with me and be a part of my team. :) I have absolutely no idea where the rest of my funding is going to come from or when it's going to come in, but I know one thing for sure: it will, and God will provide.  I ask that you continue to be in prayer for us. All of my team members have a lot on their plate and thinking about a trip like this would add a lot to anyone's schedule. Thank you :) 

What's New in my World.

Hi there. I figured it would be time for a check-in. I hope you are all doing well. It is a beautiful 50 degrees right now. I am sitting in Dawnette's kitchen as I type this, watching the sunlight shine through, bright and strong. The birds are chirping. The snow is melting. The windows are open. Spring has sprung.

In 54 days, our team will be en route to Nepal. That's like, less than two months. Really. (That also means that in less that two months, I will be finished with school, which is another terrifying thought in itself.) How quickly time flies. I wish we could be heading to Nepal right now. I want, I want, I want to be there. I am so ready to experience all of these things I have been hearing about for the past couple of months.

I have been thinking all about what we will be doing when we are there, and I think the thing that sticks out most in my mind right now is going to the orphanage. I cannot wait until I get to play and run and laugh with the Nepalese children. I feel like I know them already. I just have to wait to meet them. :) My heart is full of joyful anticipation of what is to come. Maybe it's because I'm an education major, or maybe it's because I love kids, or maybe because it's because I get to play with kids in a country completely different from my own--whatever it is, I am so ready to love on those kiddos.

I am just under 1/2 way funded for the trip. I am so, so, so blessed by all of you. I am thrilled to see what God is going to do for our team, and I am thrilled that I get to be a part of it. And the really awesome thing is that by coming alongside me in my journey, whether financially or prayerfully or both, we are a team. We are partners going through this journey together. That is the coolest thing. Thank you for letting me share this adventure with you. :)

How Sweet It Is.

So wouldn't you know it, but the time that I decide to write a post is the time that I am insanely busy and getting ready for the crazy week ahead. But, eh, I'll count this as my break for the day. I have so many thoughts and feelings and things to talk about, and it's all so amazingly wonderful. I am getting more and more excited as I am realizing that Nepal is a reality. It's happening. It's taking place. I am actually going to Nepal. Woah.

I wish we could be sitting in a coffee shop, sipping our drinks, and having this conversation face to face, so you could see what I'm feeling. Maybe that would help to explain some of my excitement. Because sometimes putting thoughts into words just isn't the same. But, until that time comes, I will try my best to share with you what has been happening in the world of Nepal planning.

Thanks to all of you wonderful people, I have $900 towards my trip. That means I am almost 1/3rd of the way funded. When I got the update in my email box, I was floored. You are all so generous and absolutely wonderful. I thank each and every one of you for the prayers and support that you have been sending my way. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for believing in me and believing in what God is and will be doing through our team. Know that as I type this now, I have a huge smile on my face. I am encouraged by you. :) Thank you.

Since my last post, we have had two training sessions. The first was an overnight weekend at Dawnette's church. We had a wonderful time of good, solid fellowship with one another and quiet time with the Lord. We also watched two documentaries about Nepal, which showed us what we will  see when we're over there. Someone even came in who has had a lot of experience with the country of Nepal to talk to us, answer questions, and share his experiences.

The most recent training session was yesterday. We learned about Hinduism and Buddhism, which are two prevalent religions in Nepal. The more we talked about this, the more I realized that what we are doing and what we will be seeing is going to happen. This is real. There are real people out there who are lost. They are searching for something--anything--to fill them. The word that kept popping up in my mind during training yesterday was the word fear. Fear. Fear. What an icky word. People all over the world are held in bondage by fear. Of the unknown. Of the future. Of public speaking. And we get to be a small part of their journey in letting go of the fear and embracing Jesus. I'm stoked man. Really stoked. Children. Lepers. Hindus. Buddhists. Lost. Afraid. Broken. Beautiful. Redeemed. All of them. People. And I get to meet them. :)

Quick Update!

Hey all!

Just a quick note to let you know that I am 1/7th funded! Very exciting! I will post this weekend when I have some time to give you a more complete update on what has been happening recently.

Until then,
Jessi

This is Nepal.

Location
Nepal is home to some really amazing things. I, for one, did not know that Mount Everest is within the borders of Nepal. This tiny yet incredible country is located above India and borders China to the north, Bhutan to the east, and India to the south. 

Climate
When our team will be in Nepal, we will experience weather that is approximately 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit (19.5-33 degrees Celsius). Most of the rainfall is gathered during monsoon season which is from the month of June through September. 

More info to come later! :)

Welcome.

Hey guys,

Glad you could join me in my little corner of the web. This is where I'll update about the trip, post pictures of the team, and share prayer requests. I'm touched that you would stop by. Check back often for updates!

Until then,
Jessi