This is Joel's Old Blog

Zayd turned 1 yesterday! IT

Zayd turned 1 yesterday! IT was on Thanksgiving day and we had a great day. Indeed, it will be the only birthday where he really will have no idea what is going on...We are thankful to God for his life, all he has taught us and will continue to teach us, his health, his great spirit being in a foreign land... I am indeed the proudest father and luckiest man to be blessed with him.

Elise and I enrolled in a local tennis tournament yesterday. We both got beat the first round but we play in a mixed doubles today (We're a bit more hopeful) The guy who beat me is American and working on a large electric plant here in Nepal. He invited us over to their home last night and we had a feast! THey cooked 3 turkeys that were imported from the states.. several diplomats were there (wow! how they live in a different world) We were excited b/c we got to bring LOTS of turkey home with us.. turkey left over sandwiches in nepal ... you can't get better than that..

OUR FUTURE TENNIS STAR!

WHAT A DAY! our little

WHAT A DAY! our little man took his first little steps w/o help! this is not a photo of him doing it..but you get the idea....It is getting mighty cold at nights now. December is almost here. (30s at night)

i met with a guy from kerville, tx today. we know a few of the same folks. he lives half the year in dehli and the other half in texas doing kingdom work in the region...it was good to talk to a fellow texan! made me crave good mexican food...though, tonight i get to have a buritto i picked up at the american club rest today...won't be the same as home, though

Has anyone ever asked the

Has anyone ever asked the question, "Are ministers and pastors in the west over trained?" There does seem to be this cultural value (in some circles) of a higher ademic qualification in order to preach the gospel. I am not against training, seminary, or college. But has it been that we have placed an over emphasis on these formal structures to equip ministers? So many actually go to these formal institutions in America and never end up in the vocation they were trained for....Now that is not a bad thing..but it should make us think about it.. Yes, training is needed and should be viewed as a life long pursuit. But there does seem to be an overemphasis of importance of 'seminary' within western church culture...

It is estimated that in Nepal that 90% of the pastors have no formal Bible training of any kind. Now this is a real strategic need . How are disciples being made if church leaders are not equipped to teach their own congregation? I think more pastors and especially trained Bible teachers in the west should give more of their time to equip and teach pastors in parts of the world like Nepal. We were in Pokahara and I got to teach all afternoon to 45 pastors who had no training. Some of these men had been in prison for preaching the gospel... and live amazing lives of faith, yet some of the questions they would ask me were very interesting..like,
"If John the Baptist preached before Jesus, why is John the fourth book of the New Testament?" and "Why do animals have a spirity and soul like humans?"

The great joy was that ServLife provided 45 pastors with several key books for their library. (i.e. commentary, Bible Dictionary, etc) One man cried when he got them. Most have no books of their own to prepare their weekly messages... We in the west have been given and blessed in more ways that we realize...

We just got back from

We just got back from Pokhara and all i can say is "WOW". What a place of beauty and charm. the lake was an absolute paradise hidden in the foothills of the Himalayas. 45 pastors came to the training and ServLife bought everyone a mini-library. They were all shocked and filled with joy for getting books to help their teaching.

We took Zayd around and showed him caves, waterfalls, his first canoe ride, and hiked a little overlooking the snow peaks! more later....

our church here in nepal

our church here in nepal had a real good idea for raising money for a new project they are trying to raise money for. They are starting a ministry among the elderly and challenged people to give the following way: "If you own a motorcycle, give 5000 rupees ($75) and if you have a car, give 20,000 rupees ($280).."
We should do the same challenge for church goers in America... if you live in an apartment give $500; if you own a home give $1000. If you have a second home, give $10,000. that would make folks think about their abundance...

We are going to Pokhra (about a 30 minute flight) west of kathmandu. I will be doing some teaching at a pastor's gathering.. My first time to this area of Nepal. I hear it is real beautiful place. i am teaching two subjects, "theology of mission" & "holistic mission" -- I have enjoyed preparing myself. we were thinking of driving but with all the police/army check points, the drive is like doubled (it would be 8-9 hours) - my wife has stumbled across a local school in our neighborhood for preschool children. She and Zayd are hanging out there today and they asked her to teach the little nepali ones American culture things and english... most of the children already speak english...

our church here in nepal

our church here in nepal had a real good idea for raising money for a new project they are trying to raise money for. They are starting a ministry among the elderly and challenged people to give the following way: "If you own a motorcycle, give 5000 rupees ($75) and if you have a car, give 20,000 rupees ($280).."
We should do the same challenge for church goers in America... if you live in an apartment give $500; if you own a home give $1000. If you have a second home, give $10,000. that would make folks think about their abundance...

We are going to Pokhra (about a 30 minute flight) west of kathmandu. I will be doing some teaching at a pastor's gathering.. My first time to this area of Nepal. I hear it is real beautiful place. i am teaching two subjects, "theology of mission" & "holistic mission" -- I have enjoyed preparing myself. we were thinking of driving but with all the police/army check points, the drive is like doubled (it would be 8-9 hours) - my wife has stumbled across a local school in our neighborhood for preschool children. She and Zayd are hanging out there today and they asked her to teach the little nepali ones American culture things and english... most of the children already speak english...

one of the many really

one of the many really cool things of living outside america is getting to know people from all over the world. we have made a few efforts to get to know the international community here in kathmandu - today we got to go inside the British Embassy to KAPI (Kathmandu Association of Parents International) The british embassy has 7 or 8 houses inside and one of the couples hosted our monthly get together at their place. We then went to this private restaurant inside the embassy and ate lunch (my wife said that her fish and chips were the best she has ever had) I had a burger.. should have gotten the fish.
Elise has also been going to a weekly play group where mothers and fathers bring their little ones to stare at each other, run around together, and have snacks! We hosted it at our house last week and had kids from all over the world: Holland, England, France, Denmark (I should say mostly all over Europe)

Zayd hanging out and playing with his little buddies from England, France, & Denmark: Zayd is in the yellow!