Growing

Namaste! (the light within me, honors the light within you)

Jamaste!(means praise the Lord) 

These are several greetings I have heard from Locals in Nepal.

Hope all is well with you! I’ve got some fun news for you this week. 

This past week a group of 5 friends including myself were connected to volunteer work in Nepal. We found this local volunteer work to be at a super cute school, full of light, peace, & joy. There are about 220 students here-all ages from kindergarten to high school.

The future hopes are for this school is to be rebuilt, & remodeled to have enough capacity for over 600 students. 600 Nepali students to take on the world through education, YES!

My friends and I have had the privilege to assist in teaching and sometimes taking over classes for the day to teach math, science, art, social studies, and English as a second language. We’ve also taken part in painting up some fun murals for the school too(see the pictures above) This has been one of my favorites as well. 

It’s been awesome! Besides hanging out with all the super cute kids, getting to know the staff has been a huge highlight too. We have come to this school, because we were told by our contact that they could use a “break” & refreshment. This has been our goal, to encourage & lift up these hard workers & love on those kiddos. 

Something I want to highlight to you on this blog post is the principal of this school. Guys, this person is a world changer. At a young age of about 16 years old he encountered the Love of God that propelled him to pursue Jesus with everything he was all throughout his high school and university years. In his adult years this man felt that God was calling him to be a light in the world in darker places but wasn’t sure what that meant until one day he was looking at a picture of the Earth & literally saw Nepal as one of the darker spots (unlit) on the globe. God used that photograph & this bible verse about being the light of the world (find bible verse) to send this man into the lands of Nepal.

Mathew 5:14 “You are the light of the world–like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.”

Through a series of events & Nepal being the country he was born into (He grew up in a different country most his life), he chose to come back to Nepal for the long run, along with his brother too.

This man-with his arms opened wide-uses his past skills as an assistant professor with a background in teaching to rebuild a run down school into a place where the peace of Jesus, Joy of the Lord, & educational opportunity exist for the children of Nepal. This school is located in a small rural town, outside of a city.

He is now the head principal of this school & his brother is a teacher there too. But this did not come with little sacrifice. This man & his brother left a well paying job, a loving family, a community of friends, and many comforts to plant themselves in an impoverished area-in effort to share the love of Jesus & bring opportunity to the children in Nepal for a better hope & future. 

For many families here-it seems that is one of the greatest hopes-that their children would have a better future through the gift of education.

There are big dreams in this mans heart for these kids, ultimately that each one of them would come to know Jesus as their redeemer & friend. This man has found his nitch & calling to be one within the educational system, but he is so much more. He carries the presence of a good Father, he represents the love of Jesus & a gentle yet brave authority to help steward these kiddos in the right direction. It was a treat to hear his story & watch him interact with the staff & children here.

The staff here too from what I have experienced, have been wonderful. They’ve got a heart to see these children thrive-it has been really cool watching the students work so hard to succeed in their educational experience.

The volunteers here are also amazing too. My friends & I have had quite a bit of fun living with them at the guesthouse we are staying at this week. Each of their hearts are so pure, kind, & generous! 

This school is currently looking for volunteers to help teach, build, & share any gifting or skill you may have. So for all you teacher friends, college students, & high school pals, if something about Nepal-something about helping shedding the light of Jesus-something about teaching- & something about playing with super cute Nepali kids sounds fun-feel free to reach out-I would love to connect you with more information on how this could happen in your life :). A worthwhile investment-for sure.

& for all you teachers out there, I just want to say “THANK YOU!” Thank you for who you are, what you do, & the amount of energy & time you have poured into building up the younger generations. You’ve made an impact-probably bigger than you realize. Nothing will go to waste with the Love, hard work, & perseverance you have sown into.

For me personally, at first this week started out a little rough-but very quickly it turned into pure joy. Let me explain: I felt a little anxious about teaching kids on my own. Thoughts like ” I know how to play with a little kid, but how do I actually teach a class of 30 little kids Art & English who speak mostly Nepali?!” or “I’ve never taught art before, what kind of art do these teachers want me to teach?!” or “i’m not a teacher I have zero confidence in being a teacher-my mom is the one who is a good teacher, not me!” or “what will they think if I don’t know what to do when everyone is staring at me?!” About an hour before I was supposed to go into my first class, I found myself sitting in an empty classroom with a few big crocodile tears shedding-feeling ridiculous & a bit embarrassed of how vulnerable I was in that moment. My friend approached me and asked how I was feeling.

Through our conversation I discovered that this was an insecurity I’ve felt for quite some time.

3 words: Junior High class presentations. YIKES! There were more than a few embarressing moments in my junior high public speaking career & I suppose that left a little wound in my heart I shoved down most my life, that left me feeling pretty darn inadequate to teach large groups of people. I’ve laughed about those embarressing moments throughout the years-but when push came to shove to “teach again”-it got the best of me. Whoops! 

But it doesn’t stop there. It also hit me in that conversation, about 3 weeks ago-as I was spending time with the Lord I mentioned to Him that I would like to learn how to teach-& that I wanted to let go of the zero confidence I felt when the thought of teaching came up. In that time, I had come to a realization that I wanted & could be more equipped to teach when a need arises in the future. I realized I didn’t need to walk in that past insecurity anymore. & in that prayer time, I had not a clue I would be teaching Art & English classes everyday 3 weeks later. 

So, it was actually an answer to prayer of coming to this school-an opportunity to grow in this area, & to release any sense of insecurity I once used to feel in thinking I was inadequate to teach a class. 

From there I thanked God for bringing this insecurity to my attention-and released it to Him. I also thanked him for being the God of all good ideas, & then I asked him to download some ideas with the help of my friends too for me to teach Art & English classes to 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, & 8th graders. & guess what? He sure did.

This week has been wonderful. I feel a new sense of freedom in the area of teaching. & I know I am actually never alone standing there in front of the class because God as a good father is standing there right next to me too. In fact, teaching was kinda fun really! 

It was a total joy to spend time with these kiddos. My favorites were probably the 7th graders though. I love going a bit deeper with that age. From name games to empowering the students that they too were artists all born with a creative imagination-it was a blast. & I also felt empowered to do more of this in the future when the need arises.

Thank you Jesus. You are good. & in the business of redeeming all things. Even the broken pieces of our mind, spirit, & heart from past experiences-no matter how big or small they may be.

So my friend, the same goes to you: God does not intend for us to live in our insecurities. He’s in the business of restoring all things! Redeemed. New. Alive. Awakened. Full of limitless potential. Just as God brings freedom in my life-I believe He desires to do the same with you. Is there something you want to release today to God that you no longer need to carry? 

2nd Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

2nd Corinthians 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun.

Psalms 111:9 He provided redemption for his people: he ordained his covenant for ever: holy and awesome is his name.

Besides volunteer teaching at this school my friends & I have had an awesome time staying at a house about a 3 minute walk away from the school, in the middle of the Rural Nepali area. Surrounding us are several houses, mainly rice fields, and corn fields too. Cow’s walk around the roads as if they own them, & you will find chickens running around freely as well. It’s pretty awesome (and smelly sometimes too). I love it here. We are currently staying in a house where several workers from Korea who volunteer at the school are staying at too. It’s been fun sharing meals together & cooking for each other. We made a joke about eating Korean food in Nepal, typical, right?! They’ve been so hospitable, & it’s been even more eye opening learning about what’s happening in Korea today too.

Pretty soon we will head back to a city were our whole squad will come together for about 4 days of Debrief before we head off to China. To get to China-we will first be taking a tour through Tibet-I am super stoked about this.

Thank you for tuning in. Thank you for checking in with me & staying connected.

P.S. A big thanks to Momma & Mrs. Smith, & Mrs. Radockovich, Phil Hermann, Prof. Feaster, Prof. Osborn, Jessie Schuett, Caren Lee, Coach Lisa, Taylor Evans, Miss. Naly & everyone else I may be missing (sorry) who has sown into my life through teaching/are teachers today, reading this blog 🙂 You guys are rock stars, for real. 

P.S.S. I am now halfway through the World Race….WHAT!?! Time seriously fly’s. Thank you for all your support, love, & encouragement in this time. Honestly, this has been the most intentional & best year of my life that I can remember yet. (Besides not being able to see you in person of course)