Gone Fishin!

The video shown here was shot as we rested after a vicious climb. We first met up with 3 guys that were coming down from the highlands gathering the medicinal worms (see previous post for explanation). As God would have it they were all believers and the guy in the bandanna Phurpu had baptized more than 10 years ago! Then as we had fellowship together more and more people showed up. All of a sudden we had about 15 believers standing around praying and encouraging one another. As you watch the video you'll hear words like "danye bhat" which means "thank you" and "Zai Mashe" which means something like "Jesus is powerful" or "Jesus is Lord". I first of all want to state that as we travel and bring the Gospel to the world we are in no way trying to rob people of their culture. We just want people to have the opportunity to know the Savior. These guys all continue to be Tibetan. They just follow Christ now. We don't want to change pe

I've seen alot of crazy stuff in my 42 years, but this one was a top ten. In the Himalayas there are no roads, so every item that is made down the mountain has to be carried up either by donkey or by man. In this video this man or more appropriately "superman" is carrying an office desk and the chairs that go with it. He is heading up a trail that will gain over 4000' in elevation. I'm not sure where he was going, but I do know he gets paid by the kilogram, a little over a dollar per. Wearing shorts and shower flops this guys was moving this massive desk up this mountain. I was amazed and hope you can appreciate the labor that some people in this world perfom.

With my puking behind me and a lot of miles ahead days 2 and 3 were days where we made up some time, moving from altitudes about 5000 ft up to 10K. The trails were steep and long. The weather was amazing though. The beginning of June in Nepal is the rainy season, that's why many tourists don't go there. It can be extremely dangerous during the monsoons. Flooding and landslides are common during this time. Many of the trails hug the river and make travel easy when its dry but when the river comes up you have to go over the higher trails which are longer and more treacherous. In these two days we made it from a village called Tal and got all the way to place called Dhukaru Pohkari. Prior to that we stayed in a place called Timang Besi. It was there that we all got hot showers. Oh my goodness what a blessing. It was there too that I ate for the first time in 48 hours. My meal consisted of boiled potatoes and salt. It was one of the best meals I'd ever had. Phurpu and James tho

While puking my brains out and getting a heavy dose of humility handed to me, the rest of our team was fully engaged in Kingdom work around us. We stopped in one village for lunch and as our guides were probing the locals, we find out that in that village they had a church with a pastor. It was quite a surprise since none of us thought that an established presence of believers had made up that far. I was forced by my illness to take refuge prone at someones kitchen table while the rest of the team went to see the local meeting hall with members of the church. It turns out they had a full blown sound system and a place big enough for many families to meet. In fact they told us there were about 150 believing families in the area. And we had no idea. Its really a comfort to me that God's Kingdom is so much bigger than me and my plans. It is never all resting on my shoulders, and thank God it isn't. What a glorious surprise to find that the seeds of the Kingdom were taking root on

When you are broken everything else ceases to matter. My vision of our first day in Nepal was shattered by a rude awakening at twilight. I arose to get sip of water from under the hard wooden bed in the trailside guest house we were sating in. The trail is the Annapurna Circuit in central Western Nepal in the heart of the Himalayas. Flanked by some of the world's tallest mountains, this area is truly a work of art. Our mission consisted of 8 men, Tony Lellie my friend and fellow football coach at Statesville High, Dave and Caleb Moss and Brent and Jared Bowman (the father and son duos), our Tibetan guides James and Phurpu. Our mission was to trek about 50 miles into the heart of the Annapurna range and distribute materials to unreached villages along the way and then hike the 50 miles back in about 9 days. Day 1 began with leg cramps at 4:00 am. So I began to hydrate with water. When day broke I grabbed the water bottle and noticed that it looked strange. The water in the bottle lo

Here is the first picture out of Nepal. I took this about 0500 one morning. Even with a cruddy camera its hard to mess that one up. The peaks you are looking at are Annapurna 2 and 4, both over 7100 meters. More to follow!

My bed, my shower, my family, my dog, my country....my goodness it is good to be home! I got home about 11:15 last night after 40 continuous hours of travel from the Himalayas to rural NC. I'm suffering the effects today, jet lag and some sort of gastrointestinal disorder that I wouldn't wish on anyone. But, I'm home, not in some airport or stuck in a hot airplane waiting on clearance to land. I'll get started chronicling the trip to Nepal tomorrow after I download some pictures and videos. This all depends on how I'm feeling. But, hopefully tomorrow there will be some pictures up and some commentary on our trip. It was a blessing. In the meantime check out one of my guide's website. His name is Phurpu (poor poo). It means Thursday in Tibetan. That is what day of the week he was born on. He was raised in a small village near MT Everest and came to faith in Jesus through a German mountain climber. Its a pretty cool story. Our other guide was named James. James is

Greetings from Kathmandu! I won't have any pictures till next week but it was an adventure. When I get back to my computer at home I'll update each day with pictures so you can follow along with our trip. Here are the nuts and bolts of it all. We hiked about 100 miles in 8 days going from altitudes just under 4000 ft to almost 13,000. In one case some of our team went as high as 15,500. We averaged over 12 miles a day and this morning I really feel like it. Shin splints, back spasms, and general exhaustion are the rule. We had many incredible opportunities to share the good news and I will update you on these as the days come. We met two amazing men of God who have a heart for the Himalayas and treated us with unreal servant hearts. An incredible journey no doubt. But I long to hear these words, "Welcome to America son!' I'll be home in a few days.