Thansing

Yes, I'm truly trying to play catch up! For that reason I encourage you to go read Jordan's post about our second day traveling out of valley to get the details (as well as her perspective, because she’s just wonderful) :) 

"The day started at 8am when Lauren and I woke to get ready for the day. We were supposed to meet the TLM staff vehicle at 8:30am about a half mile down the road. We’d just locked the gate behind us and realized neither of us had our umbrellas…you just don’t do that during monsoon. So at 8:31am..." (go read!)

So yeah…crazy day to say the least. When Jordan talked about the wet seats she wasn’t exaggerating. And yes, I choose to think that the stuff pouring out the top of the bus onto my lap was just brown colored water. It’s funny now…and all I could do was laugh then. Before this occurred I was thinking, “I can handle this. This morning was just ‘one of those mornings’…it happens”. When we reached the point in the road where we had to turn around, I was still thinking, “ok. No big deal.” After waiting for some time, in the rain, and then jumping back into the hospital vehicle to “go find the local bus” we were able to flag them down. Walking onto the already packed bus and having to find a seat, climbing over the huge sacs, and trying to keep in the upright-standing position all while speeding down the winding mountain road proved to be a challenge…but still nothing I couldn’t handle. This is just Nepal. I sat down. In the soaking-wet seat. All I could do was laugh. My brain was screaming, “you’ve got to be kidding me! What else could possibly happen. And then, the brown water began pouring out of the ceiling with every right hand turn…about every minute or so. If anyone knows me, they know my least favorite combination is wet and cold. I sat there, with disgusting water pouring on top of me, thinking to myself, “seriously? This is becoming slightly ridiculous. What else could possible happen today?” and I heard the words of a friend of mine- words that have stuck with me over the course of the last year: “offer it up”. So simple, yet so profound. Stop after stop. Obstacle after obstacle. Seemingly complete chaos, but God used these simple things to work in my heart. I began to step back and look at the whole thing from a different perspective, one that took me out of the focus and put Him in the center—right where He belongs. It was there in that soaking-wet seat, next to the completely content little boy, with water pouring onto my lap, and several more road blocks and vehicle break-downs that the Holy Spirit was shinning His light into my heart and exposing the little things in my character in order that they be refined to mirror His.

We finally arrived to our destination and the sweet, sweet woman we met there only added to the impact this day had on me. This is Maiya Dangol, the chairwoman of Anandaban’s self-care group in Thansing:

She greeted us with the biggest smile and hug, telling us to not worry about the bus issues, that we made it and that was all that mattered.

She came to sign some paper-work at the bank with Sulachana in order to be able to invest the group’s money. 

SER has to start from scratch with these groups because they don’t even understand the concept of a bank, writing a check, or how to invest the money they've been given. She brought her record book because she wanted us to see what she had done with the money they were given. She was so proud. 

She also wanted us to come and see her home (it's there in the background). 

Maiya and her husband are one of the recipients of the low-cost housing. So, there we went, balancing across the rice patties.

Maiya touched my heart so much. She's so full of life, so full of joy. Those few moments spent with her made the entire trip, every part of it, entirely worth it. As I think about all the events of the day, from beginning to end, I can’t help but think “How representative of life was that?” So often we travel down roads with an end goal in mind, but life proves to us that it is never really as simple as going from point A to point B. We have no control over the obstacles we face along the way. Some of them can be bypassed, some of them require a mid-course correction...but regardless of the obstacle it teaches something about ourselves and prepares us for the next obstacle that we will face later down the road. It seemed like each thing that arose made the next thing so much easier to accept. We had no idea what the day was going to look like when we left our umbrellas that morning. We didn’t know how we were going to get to our destination, we didn’t know the course or what we would face as we went. We didn’t get the whole picture in the beginning. So often in life we want to know everything about anything. We want the entire picture and it seems like God purposefully brings the fog in order that we have to step out in faith. 

It reminds me of something another dear friend of mine told me right before coming here to Nepal:

“God often sends us down a road to get to the end of that road while at other times we go down the road to get to the fork in the road. Truth is, we may never know which it is until we go down that road. Good news is... The journey is your friend”.

The journey is about growing, learning, and being refined on the road in between. Sometimes we need to just stop, look at the obstacle for what it really is, acknowledge the fact that there may be absolutely nothing that can be done to change it, and let it produce the good fruit of patience, long suffering, and endurance. Often it's the obstacles we face that make us who we are, those are the things that refine our character faster than smooth rides. I'm learning to just go with it. He’s been rooting my trust in Him even deeper. And there, in the place of offering it up to Him (no matter how small or big "it" may be), is peace that passes all understanding. Even in something as simple as a day trip into the hills.

Nuwakot

Today, Jordan and I were able to travel up to Nuwakot with some of the Anandaban Socio-Economic Rehabilitation (SER) staff to visit one of their local self-help groups. TLM works is to improve the quality of life for people affected by leprosy, and in order to do that the social issues have to be addressed. It’s one thing to treat the physical aspect of the disease, but the social implications that it has can sometime be worse than the disease itself. Part of The Leprosy Mission’s goal is to reduce the level of stigma that comes with leprosy-affected people. This is where SER comes in, providing a plethora of things such as micro loans to help start businesses, vocational training, establishing self-help (or self-care) groups in different regions and villages, giving scholarships for education, allowances for low-cost housing, and toilets. They are also involved in anti-stigma campaigns that can include things such as skits, blood donation drives, and community gatherings.

Today was the second time I had been up to this specific village with these people, and can I just say…it is beyond a humbling experience. It’s nice to see “pokka Nepal” (real Nepal). Being up in the hills is drastically different from city life. Life seems to be quieter, slower, but also more challenging in ways. We met with the self-help group in the morning and then visited a patient's home.

 

Chairman of the community group

One of the leprosy patients who received a scholarship to continue her education (if understood correctly, she is in 2nd grade)

Mangal & Kashi (part of the SER team)

 

Jordan's just so tall here

Mangal was 18 when he found out he had leprosy. The only other person in his family to have the disease is his mother, who lives with him.  He found out about Anandaban Leprosy Hospital through his uncle who is actually the chairman of his village’s self-help group. He said that if he would not have been able to find treatment he thinks that he would have either been seriously deformed or even possibly died. He said that he was “very happy about the surgery because it stopped the tears; I always had tears before surgery”. Prior to surgery he was totally unable to blink his right eye due to the nerve damage caused by the leprosy. His family is very happy to have him home, and thankfully he has been able to integrate back into his community. SER has provided him with a micro loan that has gone towards his carpentry work, farming, and strawberry business. 

Sulachana translating

Mangal's wife, Sarumaya

When you first hear Mangal’s story it sounds so simple, but the reality is that not everyone is able to find treatment. So many are never able to reintegrate into their families, let alone their communities. If you think what could have been Mangal’s story, it is quite heartbreaking. Considering that his main work is carpentry and farming, his ability to provide for his family would have deteriorated as his hands and feet deteriorated. Over time, he would slowly lose his toes and fingers. No longer would he be able to tell if he had injured himself because he would never feel it, which often leads to infection…and that can most certainly be life-threatening. His wife, his children, his mother, who would take care of them? If you cannot farm where will you get your food? If you cannot work, how do you provide for your family? Your wife needs her husband, your children need their father, and your mother needs her son. And there is nothing you can do to change any of it. With no access to the treatment, so many things would be different for both him and his family. Anandaban provided Mangal and his family hope, the Hope. To me, it’s such a tangible expression of the compassion and love of the Father. TLM is just a vessel.

"It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness." -Lamentations 2:22-23

Mangal's family (minus his older son)

This is the heart of TLM, to eradicate the causes and consequences of leprosy. I have been working along side the people here at Anandaban hospital and I can honestly say the values that The Leprosy Mission says they uphold are definitely represented in their work:

We strive to be:

Like Jesus

Motivated by the gospel

Compassionate

Holistic

Valuing each person, their families and communities

Working at every level of need

Professional

In our attitude, actions and management

Appropriate in our practice

Open

Working for authentic participation

Promoting dignity

Ya Know, Just A Little Banana Suturing

Nerve Biopsy

Dr. Indra & Rachel (Daddy's girl!)

Take Two

Well...I promise, I had an entire post typed up. But sadly, something happened and I lost every bit of it. So I'm just choosing to believe that what I had wasn't what I was supposed to share with you :)

Take two.

It’s hard to talk about everything, but at the same time it’s hard to narrow things down as well. I’ve been up at the hospital a great deal since my past post and that, of course, has been right up my alley. To see medicine and mission put together, working in such a beautiful way is truly inspiring. Here at the hospital you have the widow, the orphan, the unclean, the outcast, the “least of these”. And it’s here that God is teaching me so much about ministry and about missions. I haven’t hopped up on a platform and given a “come to Jesus” message. I haven’t swooped in and changed the way these people believe in a matter of a month. God has placed me in such a way that I am literally living life with these people. All of them. Christian and unchristian alike. I’ve been saying since the first week that I feel as if I have been impacted by the people ten times more than I have impacted them. But, I know God’s hand is orchestrating every single thing. There are people who have already come and gone, people I may never see again…but I know that God has used the essence of who I am (in Him) to reach them in some way. I may never see the fruit in some of these peoples’ lives, but the beauty of it is, I don’t have to. The fruit is not for me, it’s for Him. Every single bit is for Him and His use. He has placed me here in this time with these people on purpose and I know that it’s for His glory.

So, I want to encourage you today. Whoever you are and wherever you find yourself, be all there. Being in a different country doesn’t classify what mission is. Mission is the heart of God and it is everywhere. All the time. Location is simply an external factor.

A missionary is someone sent by Jesus Christ just as He was sent by God. The great controlling factor is not the needs of people, but the command of Jesus. The source of our inspiration in our service for God is behind us, not ahead of us. The tendency today is to put the inspiration out in front— to sweep everything together in front of us and make it conform to our definition of success. But in the New Testament the inspiration is put behind us, and is the Lord Jesus Himself. The goal is to be true to Him— to carry out His plans. -Chambers

When Jesus appeared before the disciples in John 20 (encounter with Thomas) several things stick out to me.

So saying, He showed them His hands and His side. And when the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy (delight, exultation, ecstasy, rapture). Then Jesus said to them again, Peace to you! [Just] as the Father has sent Me forth, so I am sending you. John 20:20-21

The first is the focal point, His hands and His side. To see Jesus, the Love of God displayed in the Cross, and the power of the Holy Spirit who raised Him from the dead. This is the life giving key to living mission-minded, wherever you are. When we look to Jesus and only Jesus we become filled with joy, regardless of where He places us or the fruit we may or may not be seeing. It’s only about Him and His glory being made manifest in this earth through His children. This joy can be replaced by nothing, because it’s His joy that comes only from His hand. His Joy is followed by His peace. And His peace is followed by His sending. In the same way that the Father sent Jesus, Jesus sends us. And remember, when the Father sent Jesus, He sent him on earth and people knew him as the son of a carpenter. A carpenter’s son is such a common everyday thing, but it’s where the Father chose to place him. You may be a businessman, a stay at home mother, a student, a world traveler, a grandparent...wherever you are, He placed you there on purpose, His purpose. God has placed you right where He wants you, so don’t look to be somewhere else. 

Where has He sent you?

Look to Him and allow your eyes to see your surroundings through His. To see the widow, the orphan, the unclean, the outcast, the "least of these" where you are. They are there. May you look to Jesus, be filled with His joy and peace, and experience His faithfulness as He sends you out!

Pictures are coming soon! 

These Are People.

I’ve begun to ask myself some hard questions. One of which I cannot seem to get away from. What would I feel like if all of a sudden, because of something that I had no control over, I found myself utterly alone? Rejected by everyone I’ve known all my life…

Here you have these people. The utterly rejected, the outcast, those who have not been accepted by society, by family, by friends, by those who should have accepted them, loved them, been there for them, supported them, walked with them no matter what life brought. These people have a label. No longer are they seen as mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands…Their identity is found in one label, their diagnosis: Leprosy. And they are no longer welcome. That one label has infiltrated every part of their lives. Leprosy has come in and tuned their worlds upside down. No more “life as it once was”. Everything changes.

When you begin to see your hands and feet literally fall to pieces, begin to smell the stench of the infected wound that you cannot even feel…life begins to suddenly and drastically change. The perception you once had of you and your life shifts, and shifts rather brutally.

When your mother and father, the people who raised you, fed you (even if that meant they skipped meals themselves), took care of you when you were sick, and tried to make sure they found a good husband for you, the grandparents of your children…want nothing to do with you, literally over night.

When your brother, who you grew up with, fought with, ate with, and played with, the one who teased you seemingly non-stop, pulled your hair and shared your room…no longer welcomes you with open arms as sister.

When your sister, who became your closest friend, the one you shared all your clothes with, who did your hair and let you do hers, the one you cooked meals with, now will not even let you into her home in fear you might contaminate it and her children. Her children, your nieces and nephews. Those sweet babies that you watched be birthed into this world, the ones you held for the first couple years of their lives; those whose faces lit up when they saw you coming…you are now cut off from.

And what about your best friend? The next best thing to your sibling. She/he didn’t have to stay close to you like your brother or sister, but chose to…and now will no longer acknowledge you.

What about the man you married, the one your parents approved of and the one you fell in love with over time. The one you learned to work through things with. The one who was supposed to be there forever, you and him. The father of your children. The one who knew you in a way no other had ever known you. When he puts you out of the house and no longer acknowledges you or your existence as a human, let alone the mother of his children. Instead, he sends you away.  Later you hear, maybe weeks, maybe months, that he married another woman. This other woman is now in your husband’s bed where you once laid. Cooking and cleaning in the house you once lived. This other woman is now living your life, the life that once was yours. And there is absolutely nothing you can do to change it. Thankfully, your children at least have some food to eat and a place to sleep...for now. You hope that they are not treated differently because they are now the children of someone with leprosy, but you also know that that would be an exception to the rule.

What can you do?

Everything that your world was made of, everything that you once knew….it’s all over.

And why is it over? Why can’t the people in your life just walk with you though your condition, offering support and encouragement? Because this is the religion, and the religion is the culture. You are now unclean, obviously being punished by god for some sin you committed in your previous life. So, even god has rejected you. You are a person with leprosy and are not to be associated with, lest others become contaminated by you and your sin.

For many, this is where it ends. No resolve, to resolution, no hope, no happy ending.

This is the reality of numerous people here.  Sometimes we hear stories of women and men that become no more than just that—stories. We read them with good intentions and then move on to the next thing that pops up in our inbox, comes across our screen, or notifies us of it’s importance. In our busyness (without even realizing it) we gloss right over these realities as mere facts and sadly, even think of them as fiction at times. These are not stories, these are people. These are people who live the realities of these stories…every day. They have faces, they have emotions, they have hearts, and they have spirits—all of which have been so wounded. Let us slow down long enough to acknowledge the stories we hear as more than stories, but the people whom these stories represent. Let us acknowledge the humanity of it all, the rawness of emotion, and the reality of their reality. When these people become real to us, their stories can impact our lives and change the way we see the world around us. And hopefully, this change will move us to action in some way, shape, or form. And may that action always begin with prayer.