So it’s less than a week to go (we fly on Saturday to Abu Dhabi before heading on to Kathmandu on the 19th) and we thought we better post something on here at long last!
We have said many goodbyes over the last few weeks and even months, and the sadness of this at times has felt too much. The reality of being separated from so many important people is beginning to sink in and the events we will miss sharing in with them. However the emails we have been receiving from people in Nepal looking forward to our arrival, has given us the excitement of anticipated hellos and new experiences at the other end, and for this we are very grateful.
Our freight was picked up today and so we are left with two suitcases to live out of for the next couple of weeks until we are reunited with our things in Kathmandu. Packing was an experience which tested us more than we anticipated. Deciding what to take? What not to take? What do you need? What do you want? How can it all fit? Eventually everything in the "take/need" pile and a few from the "want" pile got condensed into 5 packages weighing thirty kilograms or less in accordance with the strict airfreight rules. All of this was made possible by the discovery of vacuum pack bags, allowing us to watch in amazement as our super king size 15 tog duvet was reduced to nothing larger than a pillow!
We made a visit to our link group in Dengie (Essex) yesterday and were completely overwhelmed by the welcome we received. The three churches may be small in number but are not lacking in enthusiasm and we very quickly felt part of their community even though we had known them for a matter of hours. Following the service in which we gave a brief introduction to what we will be doing, the church held a bring and share lunch (something they do every month but held an extra one in our honour!) which was incredible, we had never seen so much food!! We met some wonderful people and heard about new ventures the church is starting within the local area. Once we had torn ourselves away from the yummy food we gave a more detailed presentation with members from the other two churches in the group arriving as well. We are excited about the partnership we have with them and were truly touched by their genuine love for us, as one member said as we thanked her on leaving “Don’t be silly, you are family now!”
This refreshed in us the amazing truth of the Gospel in the sense that all who are in Christ are indeed brothers, sisters, family! We are comforted that wherever we go we are part of this wider family and the strength that this gives us as we take the next step of getting on the plane!
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