This is Joel's Old Blog

can our life's decision reflect

can our life's decision reflect a deeper sense of faith? is God more pleased? scripture says that "without faith it is impossible to please God." and "Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the essence of what is not yet seen.(Heb)" I have been really thinking through this as we leave Kathmandu today for 1 month of travel in Asia and returning to the states in feb. No one knows the future, so we all live by faith to a certain degree, yet it is possible for some to have lives that require to have a higher degree of faith. Perhaps financially or in a major decision. Faith should not make us blind to reality and responsibility, but these thigns are really consuming my mind these recent days. It seems when you have the comforts and convenient of technologies found in the west, it is easy to trust and place faith in them....Living in the poorest country on earth where things are not reliable or nice,, allows you to place your faith and trust in God a lot quicker for sure, even if merely walking down the road. Not that you don't put your faith in God living among the "nice" things that the developed world has to offer, but it seems to take a bit longer. Indeed, issues like safety, protection, health, food, water, shelter are all things not easily guaranteed here and MANY do not have...
anyone have any thoughts on this? I welcome anyone's comments...

we had all the children from our new children's home in kathmandu to our home for hotdogs! it was their first ever hot dog and we had a great time as we played in our backyard....

I am so proud of

I am so proud of my wife! She wrote this recently and wanted to post it... ENJOY: (it is from http://www.reverie-inc.org/voices-9.html

Whenever I am speaking about my heart for the world and what I have learned from other cultures I share this story that inspired me to live passionately and generously for the millions around our globe that live on less than a dollar a day. Here it is:

When I was in college I was fortunate enough to live with a Chinese woman named Mei Ling. She was 2 years younger than me, yet a year ahead of me in college. I knew very little about Chinese culture and her Buddhist faith yet, learned quickly how devoted she was to her family and their ancestral goddess. One day, I noticed a beautiful fish necklace that hung gently around her neck. I told her that the necklace was gorgeous and she smiled quitely and nodded, "thank you." About a month later we were celebrating my birthday together. She handed me a tiny box wrapped with a ribbon. I eagerly opened the box and to my surprise, I found that fish necklace delicately resting in pink tissue paper. She smiled and said, "put it on." I was so stunned that I said, "no, really I can't take YOUR necklace." She insisted and I thanked her from the bottom of my heart. The lesson she taught me was how to give away something close to your heart to show someone how much they mean to you. From that day on I promised myself that if anyone ever complimented something I was wearing, I would give it away.

Soon after I made that vow, I was put to the test. I volunteered in a homeless shelter and befriended a young man named Mark. He had a ring on his finger of an eagle that was old and rusty. I knew he liked jewelry as he complimented a valued black jade ring I was wearing. I didn't think anything of this compliment until it hit me, "I should give him this ring." I hesitantly took the ring off my finger and said, "here, it's yours." With an overjoyed smile on his face, he took the ring and placed it on his finger where his eagle ring was. He put the eagle ring on my finger and sat proudly admiring his new ring. Instead of feeling a wave of despair for losing my treasured ring, I felt like a weight had been lifted. I knew the ring he gave me was worth nothing, but in my heart it was worth more than gold.

From that day on since making that life-changing promise, I have freely given many clothes, shoes and jewels to their admirers. And for keeping that promise, I am a much richer person. Thanks to my sweet friend, Mei Ling, who taught me the gift of giving no matter the cost.

zayd hasn't seen his grandmother

zayd hasn't seen his grandmother since june'03 - here they are getting re acquainted. It has been great to have mom here in kathmandu. i took her to get a foot massage yesterday and visit a women's empowering project. Today we are going to introduce her to our new children's home in kathmandu.
zayd has warmed up to her and seems like he knows that she is his grandmother.

Zayd showing off in his new Nepali outfit and showing 'Nana' his puzzle:

Here is a photo of blessing Udaya with a motorbike. Udaya and his wife run our children's home in kathmandu and he is also planting a church in his house!

2004 is here! things have

2004 is here! things have been a bit hectic the past days. we got pretty scared the other night as a small earthquake made our house shake. i was sitting here on the computer and elise was downstairs.. it reminded me of living in los angeles. it was pretty scary b/c of hearing the reports of the massive earthquake in Iran.
New Years eve, we got to go out on a date! we had a Nepali lady stay at the house with zayd and we had a great time (although we didn't make it to midnight) we ate at a french rest that was real overpriced for nepal and then went to a rest. where a friend was throwing a party. She is the owner of the place and told us it was an invite only and there would not be many people, but I think she must have changed her mind. THere were atleast 500 people.. Big dance floor.. we danced away to nepali music...

my mom comes to visit on wed. she was suppose to arrive tomorrow but she missed her connection in san francisco - we got to purchase 2 motorcycles this past week for 2 church planters here.. it was a real joy to surprise them and take them to the Honda shop and tell them to pick out a motorbike. One guy cried!