And the Journey Continues

Hello dear beloved friends.

We are excited to tell you about the rest of our trip in Nepal and about the two weeks we spent in China. We are finally settled back into life here in the good ol' US of A. So we thought it was about time to catch you all up again.

The "house, church, farm" where the team stayed

Our last blog post left us in Pokhara. From there we took a five hour bus ride followed by a four hour jeep ride up into the hills/mountains to a little village named Bulingtar. Most of our team stayed at the church location while the two of us stayed with a local Christian teacher about a five minutes walk away from the church.

Nate, Jeremy, Julianne, Heidi, and Andrea moving rocks

Our beautiful bricks

We spent a few days helping build a future church. The building site was about an hour's walk away from where we were staying. We would eat breakfast around nine, head out around ten, and arrive at eleven. We helped make bricks and stack them so they could be used later to build the actual building. We also moved rocks into a large pile so they could be used for the foundation. Part of our team mixed cement, others dug out clay for the walls, and still others helped dig the foundation. It was an incredible experience for our team to help physically build God's church.

The Nepali missionary team dedicating the new church

We were in Bulingtar for two weeks. Our students helped lead and teach in ten different church services during those fourteen days. They were able to share their testimonies, preform dances and dramas, and teach 25-30 minute sermons. One Saturday we had three different services to go to. Our team had to leave at 5 am to walk two hours to get to the service, over rivers and up hills. They spent three hours there to then walk the two hours back to the next service. We were sick that morning and were unable to go to the first service. As it turned out, the team did not get back in time for the second service, so Nate instead shared his testimony and Julianne shared the message. They all got back just in time for the dance.

Hiking with our packs

Our team had the opportunity to take an hour and half long hike with our hiking packs to another village for some services there. At our first service there, a woman from further up the mountain had heard missionaries were going to be there. She had been demon possessed for almost a year. She and her husband had come to see if Jesus could heal her. She had been to medical doctors and witch doctors, but they could not help her. While our team was singing and worshipping Jesus, a group of Christian prayed for her. She was healed! She became a Christian right then, and her husband accepted Christ later that night. There is power in the name of Jesus! He truly does set us free.

Prayer and Worship Time

Nate watching the sunrise

Nate sharing at a children's program

We left Bulingtar and returned to Pokhara. We were able to watch the sunrise coming over the mountains one morning. It was so beautiful! We spent a week in Pokhara doing ministry there. We helped during a church service for street kids both our Saturdays back. We gave two open air performances of our dances and dramas with testimonies in between. At the end of the performance the gospel was shared and we were available if people wanted to pray with us.

Students preforming a drama

We also did something we like to call a "Treasure Hunt." Before heading out for the day we all get together to pray. We ask God to help us find the person He wants to minister to that day. We pray and ask him for a name, the color of a t-shirt, an age, a restaurant, or whatever else might be a "clue" to helping us find this person. We all compare what we felt God was telling us, break into groups, and search for the person or people on our "list." One day our team found their "person," they shared what they were doing, told them about God, and asked if they wanted to pray with them. He said he was fine, so they went on their way. 

Team praying together before the dance.
Check out the dance at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZFb48pOZvA&feature=player_embedded

A couple days later, a DTS team from Hawaii also did a treasure hunt. They found the same man! This time when that team shared, the man realized that God really was trying to get his attention, and he gave his life to Christ! This story is such a good testimony for us to follow what God tells us and not to give up or get discouraged because God is faithful!

We left Pokhara and returned to Kathmandu with a week left in Nepal. Our first day back we visited an organization called "Beauty For Ashes." It is owned by Americans living in Nepal and is aimed at helping woman who have been trafficked. They offer jobs to these women to try to help them get off the streets and have a job that can that support themselves and their families. They teach the women how to make jewelry that is later sold overseas in the States. All of the proceeds go straight back to Beauty For Ashes. We helped cut and sort cloth for the jewelry, polish rocks, and help cut out earring backings. We also had time to visit a bit with the woman and encourage them. If you are interested in learning more about this organization or how you can help, check them out at http://www.beautyforashesintl.com/wordpress/

The team writing encouraging thoughts to each other

Our last few days in Nepal were spent debriefing our time in Nepal with the team. Helping them process what the Lord had been doing in their lives over the last seven months and what they would now being doing once they got back to their homes. It was a good time of being able to be with this beautiful family relaxing and enjoying each other and Nepal. It was sad saying goodbye to them.

We left for China on the 31st of January. We were just traveling by ourselves. The rest of the team returned to Minnesota a couple days later. We had a HUGE heart for China, and since Nepal is so close, we thought we should take a quick visit while we were in the area. We wanted to see what it looked like living overseas and what ministry opportunities were there.

CHINA!!!

We spent two weeks in China visited with other American couples and families that were living in China doing work there. We were able to explore the city a bit and just have time for the two of us to recharge before coming back home. It was our first trip together overseas with just the two of us. It was such an incredible time. We fell in love with the city and the people there. We really hope this is place where God is calling us for the future. We're not sure when we'll be back...but hoping soon. :)

And now I'm sure you're wondering, now what? I think we ask ourselves that every day. Now what, God? For now, we are currently living back in Howell, Michigan with Nate's family. He is working with his brother-in-law again, and I will be starting my new job at Aeropostale this week. We will be living in Michigan up until August visiting with family and working to pay off my silly student loans.

We are hoping to go back to Minnesota and join the staff team there. We will be helping again with the upcoming fall Discipleship Training School. Our long term goal is to get back to China, either for a couple months with a team or for a longer term with just the two of us. In order for us to come on staff, we need to have monthly support. Even being on staff isn't a paid position. We need to raise our own support to live and work at YWAM. We hope you prayerfully consider becoming a part of our financial support team. We'd love to get a great team together for monthly support but we also love any gift you have that you can give us.

We are so grateful for all your love, prayers, and support you have shown us over these past almost nine months. We honestly could not have done what we've been able to do without all of you. Thanks. Thanks. And Thanks.

So much love,
Nate and Julianne Gibbons