Just a few pics... More coming later

 

Lunar eclipse!! Pemba is the perfect place to view it from!

A couple of our amazing guards :)

Breakfast time with the boys - one of my favourite parts of the day

The Greatest Commandment

Visiting the "Baby House"

Such cuties!

These beautiful ladies became my friends last year during school. They are still here and their kids are growing!

Hugs are huge part of life here in Pemba!

Sweet, sweet presence of God... My last Sunday for this visit

Goodbye Pemba!

Snapshots of Pemba

Thought I would share... :)

Church: at least 1000 people made up of local mozambicans, mozambican bible students, international students and visitors. We sit on wooden benches or grass mats on the floor... energetic, sweaty praise and then time spent
saturated in God's glorious presence... Picture beautiful mozambican children lost in the presence of God, just wanting more of Him and so thankful for all He is and has done in their lives. Picture international students from many different nations including the states, Brazil, Australia, Nepal, Madagascar, Holland, the UK, Germany
and many others just pressing into all God has for them as many of them have given up everything just to see what He has for them here... Picture mozambican bible students, both young and old some of whom have walked days just to get here for 3 months and have left their families behind for the sweet privilege of learning the bible, learning to read the bible and growing in the ways of God...

We had a guest speaker from Texas a couple weeks ago, she was talking about Love. About the incomprehensible love of God.

So she did an altar call at the end for everyone who wanted more of God and who needed his LOVE and his STRENGTH.

So I was up there, on my knees and my face was just like blergh, wet. I opened my eyes and there was a little moz girl (about 6 or 7) in front of me holding a little moz boy (under 2 years) and they were both staring at me like they were concerned. Then this little boy starts trying to gently take my glasses off my face. I didn't want to
lose my glasses because I only just got them in Malaysia, to replace the frames that broke in Nepal. So I put my face on the floor instead. Then I feel a little hand just gently patting my shoulder... ohhhh Jesus loves me! After a while I had to sit up a bit because my nose was trying to empty just like my eyes and I didn't want it to. So I sat up, opened my eyes and there are these two boys (around 7 yrs old) on their faces before God. hehe one had his pants falling down so I could see his obama undies, and the other one had this rip in his pants right in the middle (not too big so you could see anything)... soo cute. Only in africa...

Village outreach. I spent a few days in the bush bush with a team of Mozambican students and mission school students. We visited the village of the Mozambican pastor in charge of our team. He had lived there as a boy. God also organised it so that I was on outreach with another Australian girl who is here to help out, and 2 other people
from my school last year! One of them was on staff at my school and now she works long term here with Iris. The other was a student on my school and is now staffing. It was so great to hang out with them and catch up! The Mozambican bible students on our team were also a lot of fun and we all got along great :)

It was the most peaceful outreach I had ever been on. It seriously felt like a holiday. It's like that - the dirt feels better than a nice comfortable home with everything I could need and a lot of stuff I actually don't! Not that I don't appreciate those things too, but there's always something about going out to a village that I love.

The first night, I stayed with the tents to help keep an eye on our stuff (we didn't stay in a yard this time, we stayed out in the open but I felt safer than on previous outreaches). There were around 1000 people at the Jesus film that night. We were told that because we only arrived after it was dark, most people didn't know it was on and so to expect a lot more people from surround areas later. The second night, I spent mostly just loving on this one teenage village girl while the Jesus film was showing. Her friends came around as well and braided each others hair. We were also joined at different points by some more friends who smelled strongly of alcohol and kept asking the girls to go with them. Eventually the girl's friends left, but she stayed and ended up accepting Jesus that night! She also came to find me the next morning, just to hang out and be loved on some more :)

We went house to house praying for people during the day. There was one lady with a racing heart who was 6 months pregnant and her husband and whole family of another religion came to Jesus. Her heart rate also went back to normal. We prayed for a lady with a migraine who got better. We also took part in a church inauguration (made of mud bricks, wooden posts and mecuti roof with dirt floor) where all of us - pastors, students, villagers - got to walk around the church anointing the outside with oil and praying over it - we got a joy party on! That is something so great about this particular village - during our whole outreach they would randomly get the drums out and start going all out - voices raised, dust rising as feet pounded in the dirt in energetic praise to our king! There were a few hundred people hanging around us and our tents constantly. We bought a pig for lunch and shared it with the people.

We walked 1/2 hour to the river on our last morning there, meeting many women on the way with water pots on their heads. We walked through stalks of corn at least twice my height, with thick morning mist all around us. This river is where the villagers get all their water. One of the guys said he prayed for someone who had gotten bitten by a crocodile and that was why he needed prayer! We sat on the bank and just rested in the peace of God...

My time in Pemba so far has felt like a gift that God gave me, where I'm getting to process a lot of things and just be saturated in his presence... This place is just such a place of his Love and His presence... I think I've mentioned that word "presence" a lot already in this email but it's just so true. The night before outreach we had
a complete lunar eclipse where the moon turned red... the ocean is just, there. All the time and so blue and sparkling and it feels like you could just lose yourself in it and in God. I keep catching myself thinking, how did I get here? and thinking how much of a privilege it is to be here! On Saturday we had a wedding! We had it at the beach about 20 minutes by cameon away from the base. Anyone who wanted to could come! So we had over a thousand people - Iris kids, Iris workers, Iris missionaries, Mission school students, bible students, visitors, villagers who wanted to come, village kids from the area around the beach, the groom's family from the states and the bride's family from down in southern Mozambique. It was an absolutely GORGEOUS wedding with the waves rolling in from the ocean being the backdrop. God's presence rained down as we prayed for Him to come. His Love was so there!


The database went well - there is so much more that I could do with it than I originally thought! I think I got more done that what I thought I would, but not as much done as what I wanted to and what the base would have liked me to. I ran out of time, basically. If I had made Pemba completely about the database and nothing else, I may have gotten more done... but the Lord had other things for me there as well. Connections with people, friends old and new, a lot of heart surgery and processing... Pemba was truly a gift!


This visit has been so peaceful. I am staying in the visitors centre and so many groups and people have come through while I've been here. There was a team from Holland, a team from Scotland, a team from Virginia, a couple from England and a family from South Africa on sabbatical from their ministry :) Now there is a team from Prince
Edward Island (Anne of Green Gables!!) and a team from Texas, as well as a brother and sister from texas - one of whom is a missionary in Burkina Faso and a few people from Australia - so if you notice me coming out with any Aussie-isms its because my roommate was from Queensland!

Just another story to share and then I'll end this "newsletter". Our outreach team went out for lunch after outreach, to "Frango Assada" for chicken and fries. As we were waiting for our food to come, I noticed a young girl probably in her teens come in with an older man. He could have been her dad but she didn't look like she was having much fun. He sat her down in the corner on a crate and bought her some food, then went and started playing pool. She looked unhappy and I felt to go over to her. Me and another girl who spoke spanish (close to portugese) talked to her for a bit. She told us her name and said she was okay, but then the man came back. So we introduced ourselves to him as well, then our team had to leave... I asked one of the Moz pastors about it and if there was a chance it was a bad situation. He said yes it probably is. A lot of girls here have not many prospects or ability to provide for themselves so a man who wants her can just come and take her. I asked if he would marry her or just use her and he said he would just use her...

Please pray for people of Mozambique! If God wanted me to stay in Pemba, I would do it in a heartbeat. My heart is so there and so for the kids there and the people there. I feel like I have some great friends there who are long-termers... This time has been both a gift and also a re-surrendering and re-laying down of everything. It sounds
adventurous and fun to travel the world for Jesus and that is so exactly what it is! But it is also not without it's sacrifices. I want my life to be a continual "yes" to God no matter what he asks me to do, or when or where he wants me to go. He is my constant, my only one who is always with me :) He is everything I need and more! 

Back to Mozambique!

In just less than 3 weeks time, I will be heading back to Mozambique! This time will not be as a student at the mission school, although the next school will be in session. This time I have the privilege of helping out the children's centre director with setting up a new database, to store all of the children's records. There are at least 170 children currently living on the base. They are all either full orphans (both parents gone) or half orphans, or it is just not feasible that they live at home.

Last year during my time at the Iris Harvest Missions School each dorm had the opportunity to really get to know a specific dorm of children, and my house was paired with a dorm of 8-11 year old boys. There were 10 precious boys in the dorm, all with their individual, precious personalities! About 3 weeks before the end of school we invited the boys over for a movie night (or rather one of the more outgoing boys begged to be invited). As they all trooped into the house we noticed a new boy who hadn't been there before. We questioned the boys and they insisted he was new, he had just arrived the day before. So we had them all in, put on A Muppet Christmas Carol (one of the few movies we were able to scrounge from what was available!) and most of them promptly fell asleep within 1/2 hour! (we were happy about that later because a scary part came in the movie). We ended up carrying some of the boys back to bed... a very precious Mozambique memory! We found out later that the guards had found this new boy sleeping in the latrines, so Iris investigated his background and took him in.

I am so excited to have the privilege of going back to Mozambique, to serve there for a few weeks, possibly go on outreach to the bush bush and to love on the boys again! I am going in faith expecting the Lord to provide, expecting to see miracles as He loves on the least of these in the dirt, pouring out the best He has for the forgotten of the world. He is a good Daddy :)

Kids in church on a Sunday

JOY!

Beautiful village children

Some of "our" boys

Family, in Jesus!

Please pray for more of Jesus - like seriously crazy Holy Spirit filled precious times with Jesus!

That I would walk in the presence of Jesus all day long (and sleep in his presence all night long, visitations!)

Provision - that the Lord would stir the hearts of those who are to partner with what he is doing,and just crazy testimonies of provision!

That I would not hold back from loving people fully - especially as I know that I am always to leave people soon after meeting them. I do not want this to stop me from loving and giving of myself fully!

That he would move in the hearts and lives of my family here in Malaysia - I have 3 weeks left

Connections with the right people and divine appointments!

Restful sleep!! No interruptions unless it is the Lord!

Jesus' words

Jesus' HEART

Jesus' thoughts

JOY!

Hunger always for more! 

If you would like to recieve my newsletters, please email me at serena xh@gmail.com (remove the space between serena and xh) or by clicking here

If you would like to support me financially, whether once off or monthly just click on the "Donate" button by paypal on the left of this page, or email me for bank account details. If you prefer by cheque, please email me.

Latin America - September 2011!
Things are also gearing up for Latin America! We as an Iris Ministries Missions Team (Rolland and Heidi Baker) to the Latin Americas will be leaving in September from California, bringing revival fire to the nations of Mexico, Central America, South America and the Carribean! This is a trip expected to take around a year but may change depending on the Holy Spirit! We are focussing on the unreached people groups and will go wherever He sends us, however He sends us, no matter how hard to get to or how trecherous the way. The initial costs are to buy motorhomes and RVs, as we will be 4WDing it through the nations! The main costs throughout the trip will be just gas/fuel. We are excited as we were originally given the vision for this during the last missions school in Mozambique (Oct 2010) and we have been preparing since then. Learning Spanish, researching the people and the lands we are going to, praying and meeting together, speaking words over the trip as the Lord has been guiding us. The team is coming together from all over the world, from The United States, the Americas, Australia, Africa and others! Lord use us to bring revival fire to the Nations!! We are laying down everything and giving up everything that the world would know His LOVE!

Always remember that we are all each one of us missionaries in our own sphere of life. Wherever you are, whatever you do. Stop for the One. Go lower still. Let Him Love on you! Love on the one... and... Love LOOKS like something. What does it look like for the ones He has laid on YOUR heart? It looks like smiling at that stranger, it looks like wiping away tears. It looks like praying for the sick. It looks like sitting in the dirt or on the sidewalk with the one. Having them over for dinner. Visiting them in their houses or front yards. What does Love look like? Lets be Jesus' hands and feet in the nations! Lets be Jesus' hands and feet in our own backyard! The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few - so pray that the Lord would send Labourers! Who will go? Will you?

Love, blessings, Joy, and MORE of Him!! I pray Papa's love over you!

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

As you GO, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. Matthew 10:7-8

Iris Latin America weblog now up!

Preparations are now well under way for our Iris Latin America Revival Tour!

You can check out our new weblog at:

http://www.irislatinamerica.blogspot.com/

It will be updated regularly at each stage of the journey! Partner with us in spreading the revival fire of Jesus in Mexico, Central, South America and the Carribean!

Loving the nomads

We got to go on a road trip which meant we got to visit some beautiful nomads! We were invited into their tents out of the freezing cold air, and got to love on them and share what we have freely received. These people travel their whole lives, moving from one bit of land to another in some of the harshest conditions.

The Scarf
In the country before Nepal, while in our apartment there I felt to give my purple pashmina scarf to the girl who we were staying with. I kind of wondered if I was just in one of my over-giving moods and thought about whether it was the Lord or not. I felt to give it again and so told her I wanted her to have my scarf. However she wouldn't take it unless she was allowed to give me one back, as I'd "need it in Nepal!" She came back out of her room with this gorgeous, soft, warm, beautifully coloured scarf which was far far nicer than mine! I immediately felt overwhelmed with how God just wanted to lavish his love on me! I felt like the scarf I gave away was so plain compared to this one, yet felt it was so right too! So I packed it away and used it all throughout trek in Nepal.

Fast forward a month or so and I'm in the middle of nowhere (literally one of our 4wding tyres completely collapsed and we had already used up the spare, had to borrow the spare off our other friend's 4wd!), in a tent asking for Father's presence to come on this lady and her family. As we were loving on her, you could see tears appearing on her cheeks and our interpreter told us she could feel his presence (oh his presence and love was so thick!). She was in her seventies and had lived long enough to know what was real and what was not, what worked and what didn't. She could feel his love and wanted more.

As we sat there in the tent, talking and just being with this amazing family, I suddenly felt it again. "Give her the scarf." My first reaction this time was that I couldn't. I had only just started to notice a big improvement the cough which I had had ever since leaving for Thailand, and I knew that the scarf made a big difference as to whether I continued healthy or not. But I felt Father's love all over me again, almost weighing me to the ground and I felt, "Give her the scarf". I fingered the soft material, then made the decision and took it off, spreading it out so all the colours were visible and then folding it up to be able to give it to her easier. I offered to her by holding it out, smiling and gesturing. She said in her language that no, she didn't need it and I did. Immediately I felt I had an out and almost decided to keep it after all. But again, felt the "Give it to her". Our interpreter said that if I really wanted to give it to her I could drape it around her shoulders. I decided to give it to her on our way out, and as I sat there holding it on my lap, tears started to fall. I was horrified at myself. How could this scarf have meant so much to me? I hadn't had such a hard time letting go of a material object before. My face was wet with tears and I tried to hide them and wipe them away so she wouldn't see how much I didn't really want to give it. One of the team brought out the guitar and started to play worship songs in the tent. As I sat there trying not to cry, I prayed that the scarf would remind her of our visit, every time she saw it. I prayed that it would bring the presence of Father everywhere that it went and that it would release the kingdom of heaven everywhere that it went. I prayed it would be anointed for healing.

We stood up to leave and as we passed out the doorway, I held it in both hands, presented it to her again and draped it gently around her aging shoulders. Although only in her seventies, her weathered face showed the passing of the years, the endurance of the nomadic lifestyle and the things she had seen throughout her long life. She would have lived through many history making events, and later I found out that she would probably not have ever been to a big city before, and not had the chance to own or maybe even see something like that scarf ever. We went to sit in the cars and I could see her, still sitting on her stool at the entrance with her daughter beside her and her granddaughter in front of her. She picked up the scarf and started to finger it, looking at it properly for the first time...

The scarf was given to me in love, and to me for some reason represented love itself. I felt like I was giving away my friend from back in the other country, rather than just some piece of material used to keep me warm. Yet as I gave it away I feel like I learnt so much and received so much from the experience. When it is God who leads me to do something like that, he can look after the consequences (possibly getting sick again for another 2 months WHICH is not happening by the way). He gave his only Son away, anointing him to represent the Father, anointing him to release Heaven wherever he went. Anointing him to heal the sick...

I hope you get something out of this. It's not about how I gave something away. It's more about how God gave me, how he gave you the most important thing in existence to him... and all so that he could have us back. So that he could hold us in his arms again and love us and be loved by us... It's all about Him.



Sunrise on the road







Mother and daughter






Grandma with her scarf :)

 

Nepal - from christian workers kids, to street kids, to adopted kids (by our Father)...

...to kids in the base of the Himalayas, 11,000 feet above sea level!

My time in Nepal was so incredibly amazing... we were hosted by the Iris family there who already have four kids of their own, yet they took in all of us as well... Jesse, Tanya and Zoe got the spare room, Lonnie slept almost on the roof and us girls slept in the lounge, picking up our stuff during the day.


Arriving from the airport, no one was home so we climbed the fence!

  While in Thailand, the big earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. All of our team there started seriously thinking about how we could possibly go to Japan and help out with the crisis. Yonnie, our Thailand team leader also heads up Iris Disaster Relief and as such she knew straight away that she would be back and forth from Japan to Taiwan (her home) in at least the 6 months to come. I prayed that if I was to go, that the Lord would provide and make it clear. I ended up not going, but Jesse did go for 10 days during our stay in Nepal. The Japan team in that first response mainly ministered in Sendai, Japan and saw God's love poured out in awesome ways! Many people were weeping as God's love touched them and they recieved Jesus gladly. A lot had never before heard of Jesus. One Japanese pastors foot grew out to match the other :) Jesse was there in Japan when the second 7.something earthquake hit. It was funny because we were in Nepal watching "Furious Love" with the YWAM team and at the same time the Japan team were watching "Furious Love" over there, and while they were watching it the earthquake hit.

Love and affirmation of God poured out on the MKs
We arrived in Kathamandu on a Thursday and went straight that night to the children's home where they housed 9 full orphans. In Nepal they aren't allowed to have kids in the home unless they are full orphans (both parents not living).



The kids LOVED Zoe

  



Can I just say Nepal is one of THE most gorgeous places in the World...

 We then went to Nepali church on Saturday (that is their sabbath) where the pastor got the rest of the team to introduce themselves but skipped over me - apparantly I look Nepali! I LOVED the worship here, it was just a capella worship and no harmonies likes Africa, but the presence of God was so sweet and beautiful! The next day we had the privilege of going to the youth group which is run by the family we were staying with. This youth group is not of any one church but is rather a combined churches youth group and is mainly christian workers kids. An average of 20-30 kids come each Sunday after lunch, mainly to this one family's house that has a big yard. Also once a month on Fridays they invade the house of our friends, where the Mum normally cooks up huuuuge amounts of Spag Bol (Spaghetti and meat sauce) and garlic bread! She's amazing! So that Sunday we were given the responsibility of sharing a message and also organising games.... At first we had all these other random games organised, but then we had the genius idea of teaching them the game that overtook our school in Mozambique..... NINJA!


They kept playing even after everything was finished... this game is a virus

After Ninja, Jesse and Tanya shared their testimonies and spoke to the kids about how they are not just kids of their parents who come over to do amazing things for God, but how THEY also are anointed, called and equipped by God to change their world around them. We had a fire tunnel and prayed over them, speaking into their lives and sharing words the Lord would give us. We also had them become the fire tunnel and they got to pray over eachother and practise hearing from God themselves. They are such an amazing group of young people and part of my heart is still there in Kathamandu with those kids! We heard that a couple weeks later, one of the boys who couldn't even walk with his friends to the restaurant after church because of asthma, got prayed for at this youth group. He felt his whole chest heat up and felt like a hand reached into there and gave him a new lung. A couple days later he ran 2km without any problems! How GOOD is God!! He so loves his kids!

Fire Tunnel

My first mani and pedi!
We got to go visit a friend in Nepal (who does awesome haircuts, she cut mine) who trains up women who have been rescued out of dance bars and trafficking situations. We ministered to them first joining in their worship in the morning, then sharing with them, and then they got to practise all their mani/pedi skills on us... I find it so funny that something I have just not made the time to do before or really had the money to do before, just gets given to me :)  After I have sold and given away all my stuff except a few boxes, and am living by faith depending on what is given to me. It is sometimes hard feeling like I'm not independent and not earning my own wage, but I am in the best place and that is in the arms of my Jesus. My sails are up and he is free to blow me whichever way he wants! Pray for my stubborness to not get in the way! (as it still tries to sometimes).

We also had a great time ministering to some street kids. We got to connect with a team from Hawaii who are in Nepal for 3 months. They are full of joy and the holy spirit and we were so thankful to be around such refreshing people.

Releasing the kingdom in the temples and high places
During our time there we visited some of the temples just to walk around and release the presence of Jesus in those places. I was originally planning to go with the Hawaii team to a couple of high places to pray and worship over the city, but God put the girls from the family on my heart instead so we went to watch them dance (flash mob - probably on youtube by now... ) "Love the one in front of you" :)

Reports from the team that did go were incredible, there was one local person who really did not want them there worshipping, he was trying to take the guitar off the worship leader but then other local people of the temple beliefs were holding him back and saying "we want them here! We like what they are doing." It is so good to hear that even the locals loved it. The guy then picked up a stick and was trying to hit them with it, so the team decided to put the guitar away and then pray for people instead. Gods love ws poured out and people came into more of a revelation of who Jesus really is.

Iris picnic on the mountain!
Two days before the trek, we took a van and a 4wd (with no working 4wd) up this hill to 7,000 feet, as a celebration for the iris childrens home kids finishing the school term and getting their exam results back. All of
them are full orphans (as the government will not allow others in the home) and there is one girl who is 9years old and is in 1st grade, she came number 1 in her class and the school is letting her skip to grade
3 next as she is doing so well :) one of the other girls also got number one in her class, and all of the kids passed :) so they were all very happy. We packed 8 people and 2 kids in our 4wd plus a guitar and a suitcase full of food on the roof, and the rest fit in the van. At least 27 people and kids were packed in there! Kids squished onto adults laps. We had to borrow the van from one of the schools as the iris van broke down the other day... The 4wd broke down the week before. Both are really old but it is hard to get newer or better cars here as anything like that is taxed 100% coming into the country, meaning you have to pay the full value again. The 4wd they use there you could get in its condition for around $500 in the states but to buy
it in Nepal it is worth $12,000. So that gives you an idea!

A few days before the picnic, the iris kids home grew from 9 to 11 kids as they just took in two brothers. They are so small and so cute and in the space of a few days, it was already so noticeable the difference in their faces and behavior as they started to realise they are safe and have a home where they are loved and valued. They had such fun on the picnic playing with the YWAM team guys! (guys who are reading this- we need you on the mission field! We need fathers and big brothers and just guys in general!)

It was fun in nepal - even though we were staying in a nice looking place the power still goes off and the water runs out. We have to time our showers and laundry carefully! The power is scheduled to be on in different suburbs at different times and every so often everyone is given a new schedule. Sometimes it is on from 4am to 9am, then 2pm-7pm. Sometimes it is off all day until 8pm and then stays on all night until 8am.



We prayer walked the city, actually prayer drove around the main road. Prayed over the main human trafficking areas and brought His light into the darkness! This is one of the big touristy temples (see the golden statues in the back)



Street kids getting free dinner



Trekking to 10,000 something feet, bringing Jesus!

We just came back from trek and oh my goodness it was like the most hard, incredible, revelatory time for me :) it was physically incredibly hard, spiritually challenging as the battle is more full on up there, and I fell back in love with Jesus again... There is something about having taken an 18 hr bus ride over trecherous roads, a 2 hour 4wd ride over even more trecherous roads and then a hike up steep mountains and up rivers, ending in darkness then being helped by the other girls (my leg was stuffing up)  along these big wide open
fields in the Himalayas with snow capped mountains all around and starry skies, across a 2 log bridge (not falling in)... There is something about that that just is so romantic... And funny! It was so lord of the rings, even at a couple of points up the mountains where it was so steep that if we slipped we would probably just fall and keep falling... Jesus so loves me :)

getting off the bus and onto the 4WDs

sometimes the bus would run out of power halfway up a hill and would have to reverse, slowly and back around the corner on the edge of the cliff, then go fast to make it all the way up!

we stopped in a little village for noodles before starting the hike. on the way back down, revival broke out in this village and the whole village came from their houses and the fields, some with their harvesting baskets still on their backs, asking for prayer. they went through the fire tunnel multiple times they were so hungry for Jesus!

the kind of view I had most of the bus trip

bridges like this are all over the mountain, some over chasms that go way deep!

this was taken later on the trek, most of the snow had disappeared off the mountain!

There was one point where we were sitting in the kitchen/dining/living room of this tibetan family we were staying with, and I just felt so dry and far from God as I felt like I hadn't felt his presence or heard his voice in so long. This was partly due to the spiritual atmosphere of the place. One of the YWAM girls prayed with me and just soaked me in his love... Something broke and I got so hungry for the word again, just soaking in it and resting in his presence, getting so much of what he is teaching me through this whole thing.
We slept 11 of us in one room, 6 of us in the living/dining/kitchen and another 5 of us in the prayer room of their house (they were not Christian) We found out later that this family who had given their home for us were sleeping in their potato field so we could sleep in their house. the dad would have slept there anyway to protect the newly planted potatoes from the wild pigs, but it was just so humbling for us to realize that this family of 4 with two little girls were sleeping out in the field where it was so cold that we were even freezing in our sleeping bags inside, and there would often be frost overnight.

the pump where we got our water - no electricity or running water here... and no latrines either. yes. we went in the fields...

the daughters of the family whose house we stayed in - so cute!

6 people slept in here, along the benches, 2 to one bench, 3 to another and 1 on a small bench :)

11 people slept in here! 6 on the right, 5 on the left. It's a storage room I think

We came back from the nepali church one day to find new meat hung up to dry in our bedroom!

Some highlights of the trip:
The team split up as some of us were not able to make an extra trek to another village. I was with the group that stayed behind. The first morning, we went out to sit in a field and just worship for a bit. As we worshipped with one of the guy's backpackers guitar, a family of villagers came and watched us. They asked us through our translator what we were doing and the they asked if we could pray for their brother who loved down the mountain. They must have heard about the healings that Jesus had already done the night before. So we prayed for their brother. Then we found out that the lady had back pain, and so did the man with her. So we prayed for their backs and they both got healed. We asked if they wanted to know about Jesus and they did. So we shared the complete gospel with them, and gave them bibles. They wanted to read about Jesus before saying yes to him, because we explained very clearly that they could worship no other gods if they wanted to worship Jesus. So they were very happy and went away with their bibles.

During the first night of the Jesus film, during the film a few of the guys went to pray for a lady who had cancer and was dying. She had 7 little children. As they prayed, this beautiful lady started getting hit with the Holy Spirit, she started laughing and the tumor on her body went soft. The guys knew something was going on! The next day a few of the girls went to visit her, she accepted Jesus, her husband said he wanted Jesus too and they walked all the way to church that Saturday (nepalis have church on Saturday's). The people whose house we were in were actually also medical doctors and the husband went to see her the next day, tested and confirmed she was completely healed, and the whole village was talking about it!

On the second night we did the Jesus film, I got to pray for a girl who had a sore leg. She got healed, then the next day my own leg got healed as I was hiking back down the mountain! Jesus is so good! There was a man who got healed from a bad back because his ox had stepped on him in the field while working. There was another woman with cancer who we prayed for and she was originally not able to walk. We saw her on the trek down the mountain later on, she was trekking down too!

It was so great for our combined iris and YWAM team, as some of the team had not experienced God healing people so much before. One girl had a lady come up to her to pray for her elbows. Before she finished saying 'in the name of Jesus', she was healed and grabbing her other arm to lay it on her other elbow. Then she grabbed her friend to pray for her! This story was repeated a lot. The deaf were healed, people came to Jesus, we grew closer as a team and closer to Jesus.

to get to the church and the area we showed the Jesus film, we would walk along this track and then down the middle of a stream (stepping carefully on the rocks), also crossing a couple of streams on the way!

One of the ladies we prayed for who had cancer. She had previously not been able to walk, but Jesus is in the process of healing her!

More updates later!