An Afternoon in Kathmandu

The Milk Baba

A few people have asked about the time I spent in Asia, so I thought I'd share a little about my travels there. I spent nine months during 2000-2001 in Thailand, Nepal and India with a ministry called the Prodigal Project. Based in Northern California the Prodigal Project is a Christian community that exists for the purpose of reaching nomadic youth with the life-changing Good News of Jesus Christ. From their website: "A global culture of nomadic youth is emerging in our world today. Ever searching, ever wandering, they seek truth and dabble in eastern religion adopting utopian ideals of harmony and community without God, but so often remaining lost and leading self destructive lives." Here in America you will find these kids at Rainbow Gatherings, on the streets, and following various bands. They are the hippies of today, but, unlike those of our parents' generation, they are not characterized by hope. Thousands upon thousands of them are traveling in Asia, and many of these are seeking enlightenment in the religions of the East, namely Hinduism and Buddhism. They come from Europe, Israel, Australia, North America. Our team lived and traveled among them, sharing not only the Gospel, but our lives as well. (1Thess. 2:8)
Here is something I wrote about an experience we had in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal:
Yesterday a few of us were taken to meet the Milk Baba, a Hindu sadhu, or holy man. He has been a sadhu since he was 18 and is now 70 years old. For the last 20 years he's eaten no sold food, but lives on milk and yogurt. He attributes his deep spirituality to milk. We were joined by Gus*, an American man we met who's been traveling for five years. We've spent a lot of time with him over the last several days, and have been able to share with him the Reason for our hope. I would like for you to join us as well, as we go to Pashupatinath.....
We walk down a narrow, dirty road, past people selling their handcrafts, past the large temple that only Hindus are allowed entrance to, and down by the Bagmati River. A cow wanders past, seemingly unaware of her god-status. Smoke rises into the air from burning bodies and the families of the deceased watch soberly, hoping that the soul of their loved one will find safe passage to it's next life. We continue on, past the houses where people come to die and across the old bridge. On the other side of the river now we make our way up steps and past small buildings that shelter various deities. We find ourselves in a grove of trees and are delighted to see monkeys - Momma monkeys carrying their young, and little playful monkeys making mischief. Huge butterflies and gossamer dragonflies flutter by in the clear air. Beyond the city loom snow covered mountains, the foothills of the majestic Himalaya.
We come out of the trees now to the building that the Milk Baba calls home. We take off our shoes outside the door and step inside his small room. He's sitting there on a mattress atop the floor. His long, long dreadlocks are wrapped elegantly around his head and tied with a strip of yellow cloth above the bright tika mark on his forehead. He is dressed all in white, and welcomes us graciously. Pictures of Hindu gods, many draped with tinsel garlands and strands of beads, cover the walls. There are also pictures of the Milk Baba in other countries where he has traveled at the invitation of his devotees. Most out of place in the wall decor is a very Catholic looking picture of the Virgin Mary.
We sit down on the floor as he puts water on to boil on a small burner sitting in the middle of the floor. A Nepali woman in a pink sari sits in the corner with a small girl wearing a frilly dress. A young disciple plays tabla drums while the Milk Baba sings a hymn to Rama and Krishna. Someone tosses coins in through the open door. Gus has a question for the sadhu.
"What is the Path?"
"Devotion" is the Baba's reply.
"To whom?" asks Gus. "Brahma? Krishna?"
The Milk Baba throws tea leaves into the steaming water. "They are all the same. All gods take you to the same place."
Fifty-two years of dreadlocks shift and he pushes them back into place, forward, toward the tika. Gus asks him to sing a simple song, one we can sing along with.
Gus alone joins in this song to Shiva, the destroyer. The smell of tea fills the air. Gus explains to us that the Hindu deities are not really gods, merely representations of various aspects of the Supreme Being. So, he says, it wouldn't be a betrayal for us to sing to Shiva. We disagree. The woman in the corner nurses her child and a young boy brings cups for tea. I wonder if they've been washed in the river near where the bodies are burned. The Milk Baba pours steaming tea for us and the boy serves it. More money is tossed in and the sadhu discreetly tucks it between the floor and his mattress. We sip our tea and talk for a few minutes.
It's time for us to be going now. We thank the Milk Baba and step outside, blinking in the bright sunshine. We find our shoes and walk away. Monkeys wash in the river. There are table full of carvings and statues of various Hindu gods. Go ahead and pick one. They're all the same.
Across the river a new body, wrapped in saffron cloth, lies waiting to be burned.
We spent hours, and days, with travelers like Gus, many of whom were asking the same question: what is the Path? Most of those were seeking the answer in the religions of the east. As we got to know them we shared our lives together: we crammed into traincars and rode rickshaws, ate curry and camped in the forest, we hiked mountains and rode elephants. As through all of those things we sought to point the way to the One who didn't just show us the path, but who is the Path.

*Gus is not his real name.

A Crane, a Train, and a Birthday

I'm 31 today. That used to sound old but my perspective has changed a bit over the years! I had a hard time thinking of things this year when asked what I would like for my birthday. The reason? I have everything I need, and much more. For most of my life my greatest wish was to be a wife and mama. The Lord has wonderfully fulfilled this desire and blessed me with a loving husband and wonderful children. What more could I want!
This morning Erik invited us to come to his work-site because they were bringing in a gigantic crane to move something. We packed some muffins, parked across the street, opened the van door and sat to watch the action. It was pretty exciting- a huge crane, seeing Daddy at work, and watching a train rumble by all in one morning! At one point this certainly wouldn't have been my first choice in how to spend my birthday morning, but today I wouldn't have had it any other way. My happiest moments are when my family is together, sharing life and making memories. Seeing Peregrine's excitement at watching the crane, and Alethea smile when she saw her Daddy, seeing my hard-working husband wave to us from across the street- those thing brought me great joy this morning. My life- and my joy- are wrapped up intricately in theirs. Now I understand why my Mom, when asked what she wants, always would say "I just want all my children to love each other." My family came over a few nights ago and had a celebration for me. Apart from my brothers being too far away to be here it was wonderful. The best moment though, for me, was watching Peregrine's face as he brought me my piece of key lime pie. His voice rang out with a loud "Happy Birthday dear Mama" and his face shone with happiness. Moments like those are the ones I'll remember for a long time. I am indeed blessed beyond anything I could have asked or imagined!
Here are a few pictures of the best gifts a Mama could ever want:

Peregrine Olive-fingers

Alethea the Blue-eyed Girl


My ever-lovin' husband and me!
(And no, we don't always dress like this.)

A Call to Prayer

It was nearly six years ago, en-route from Thailand to Nepal, I found myself staying overnight in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The air was stifling, warm and sticky. We were bussed from the airport to a hotel and not allowed to leave until they came for us the next day. We were served dinner around 10 at night and finally fell asleep, exhausted from the day's travels. The next morning I was awoken at 5AM by the Muslim call to prayer being broadcast over a loudspeaker from the nearest mosque. I walked out onto the tiny balcony and listened. I heard the faithful responding, and I began to pray for them. Here is what I wrote later in my journal:
This morning I have looked down upon the street and watched them go by: men in their dhotis pedal rickshaws carrying businessmen and a few women and children. A man carrying chickens that looked freshly killed. Women in colorful saris and some in black, completely veiled. Brightly decorated trucks loaded with bricks and cement. Bicycles pulling trailers piled with uniform-clad school children. An old man with white beard carrying pineapple and a woman beneath an umbrella to shade her from the sun. Women with babies on their laps and a young boy, barefooted. Men wearing long white tunics and white caps. Everyone coming, going, living their lives. I love their faces: dark skin, darker eyes, bright smiles.
This was the first time that the world of Islam became real to me, the moment it became people; moms and dads and kids. Real people who live and breathe and work and play and feel pain. During my time in Asia I became familiar with hearing the call to prayer throughout the day and seeing these people go about their lives. With world events as they are it's sometimes easy to forget that they're just people like you and I, most of whom have never been introduced to our Savior.


For the past several years Christians all over the world have joined to pray for the Muslim world during Ramadan, the month that Muslims are required to fast. This year it will be from September 24th through October 23rd. I've participated in this some years and plan to do so again this year. There's a booklet available that gives you specific countries or people groups to pray for each day, or you can choose to receive the information through email. I personally find that I do better with the booklet as email is just too easy to ignore. I think this would be a great thing to do together as a family as it will give your children some exposure to Islam, and a greater understanding of current events, but in the context of prayer. And of course there are lots of educational opportunities as well- geography and culture and history come to mind. The 30-days website also has information about Islam and other resources, including a printable calendar designed for kids. I hope that many of you, along with your families, will answer the call to prayer for the Muslim world.

Muslim Women Praying by Henri Cartier-Bresson

"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." -Jesus

N is for Nose-Warmer

Yes, a Nose-Warmer is just the thing to keep your nose warm in this weather we've been having. At least Peregrine seems to think so! Here are a few of the things we hope to do for the letter N:

• Read the story of Noah from the Bible
• Practice Number recognition
• Eat Nachos for lunch
• Practice counting by fives using Nickels
• Look at pictures from Nepal
• Make a Cheerios Necklace
• Take a Nature walk
• Learn Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters."
  

Tools for Parents

I've learned a lot of expressions from my husband, and one of them is "You need the right tool for the right job." When it comes to raising our kids we've been given the right tools- Scripture contains all we need for life and godliness- but learning how to use them and apply them in our lives and the lives of our children is often a challenge. I don't believe there's a "one size fits all" method for raising children as each one is unique and needs different things at different times. But I do believe that God will give each of us the wisdom we need as we seek Him. Peregrine, our first-born, is smart, talkative, and funny. He's also very independent and has a strong will to rival his Mama's. We're continually seeking God for wisdom on how to train him up in the way he should go. God promised that if we lack wisdom and ask Him for it, He will give it to us, so I have to believe that He is guiding us as we guide our precious children. There are a few tools that I've begun to learn how to use recently that I believe are being effective in "building" our little man.
The first is using Scripture more regularly in teaching him, and especially in correcting him. It's easy to rebuke or discipline a child for disobedience and neglect training them in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." When we use appropriate Scriptures in the correction and training of our children we're teaching them how to apply God's Word to their own lives and depositing in their hearts Scriptures that the Holy Spirit can remind them of later. We also, by doing this, are showing them that there's a higher authority than Mom and Dad, a holy God who they will one day answer to. I often explain to Peregrine that part of my job as Mommy is to teach and train him to obey me so that he will learn how to obey God. An excellent book to have on hand is Parenting with Scripture by Kara Durbin. It's an alphabetical guide of various topics and issues that we deal with in our children (and in ourselves.) For each topic she gives several Scriptures that address it as well as things you could discuss with your child and practical ways to apply Scriptural truths. At Peregrine's age I choose just a couple of the Scriptures to read with him and then we can talk together about them, but for an older child you could have them look up several of the verses and use some of the suggestions as well. I know there are other handy reference guides like this and with any of them I think it's important to take the time to read the verses from the Bible, not just the book.
The second "tool" we've been using is the time-out. I know all kids are different but Peregrine would choose a spanking over a time-out any day. So I reserve the use of it, generally, for the thing that seems to be the biggest heart issue at the time: currently we're dealing with arguing. Any response that that doesn't show compliance means three minutes in Daddy's big chair and I start the timer only once he's quiet. The thing I've been doing differently with time-outs is that, when it's possible, I take a time-out too, and sit and pray for him. He knows that I'm using the time to pray for him and then we pray together afterward. This has been helpful for me, to pray specifically about the arguing when it happens, and of course God hears and answers our prayers!
The third thing I've learned lately also involves prayer. I've been reading a Proverb in the morning, but what started out as just reading has turned more into praying the Proverbs for my family. It's so easy for my mind to wander when I pray and this not only helps keep me focused but it also guides me in prayer. There's such a wealth of things to pray for and as I read each verse I turn it into a simple prayer for various members of the family and sometimes for all of us. It's also helpful to apply Scripture this way as it seems to stay in my mind more throughout the day, and as I deal with Peregrine sometimes a verse I read/prayed that morning comes to mind and I can share it with him. I find that many of the Proverbs apply to him, some for the stage he is in now and others for the future.
Here is an example of some of the things I pray as I read, taken from the first few verses of Proverbs 20, this morning's chapter:

1 Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
Lord, please keep our children from ever abusing alchohol and being led astray by it. Let them instead be filled with the Holy Spirit.

2 The wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion; Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life.
Please help our children to make wise choices and stay out of trouble with the law.

3 It is honorable for a man to stop striving,
Since any fool can start a quarrel.
Help us to be peacemakers and to teach our children that as well.

4 The lazy man will not plow because of winter;
He will beg during harvest and have nothing.
Help Peregrine to be a diligent worker and be a good provider for his family some day.

5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water,
But a man of understanding will draw it out.
Please help Peregrine to grow to be a man of understanding, one who will seek wise counsel.

6 Most men will proclaim each his own goodness,
But who can find a faithful man?
Help us to walk in humility; help our children not to be boastful, and teach us all to be faithful to You and to one another.

7 The righteous man walks in his integrity;
His children are blessed after him.
Please help Erik and I to always walk in integrity and to leave a blessing of godliness for our children.

8 A king who sits on the throne of judgment
Scatters all evil with his eyes.
Please help our President to make wise choices that honor You and bring justice in this land. Let evil be scattered and strengthen him to do what it right in Your eyes.

I've been encouraged by discovering and using these tools. I share them with the hope that you may find them useful in building up your family as well.
Proverbs 14:1 "The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish woman pulls it down with her own hands."
Lord teach us to build our homes and families, to be wise women who honor and glorify You.