God's blessing are abundant ...

So let me pick up from where Dan left off. We were so blessed on Friday to be a part of an amazing day. There was a young woman that lived at PRC after being rescued from trafficking. She had been here for 2 years and been part of the family here. They arranged an introduction to a wonderful man and on Friday they were married. There was about 40 people here with members of the church attending and some of his extended family. She was so beautiful dressed in a beautiful red Sari. The wedding was very colorful. They have a custom where the bride cries during the wedding - I guess to show her family that she will miss them. At one point Suman was teasing her that she was not crying very much.

There was a white wedding cake and like most weddings more food than anyone could actually eat. The food was incredible. Mom if you are reading this these girls could really give you a run for your money.

After the wedding the group from Scotland had been given the very rare opportunity to conduct some interviews with three of the girls for a film that they are working on. Each girl shared with courage her story of how she had been lured into being trafficked, and some of what they had endured. The moments shared where heartbreaking and we were privileged to have them trust us enough to share their stories. One of the questions that each girl was asked was ... What has it meant to you to be here at PRC. They all answered the same way. This is where they found love and found Jesus. This has become a family. I can say that the Love of God lives in this home through everyone here.

The most amazing blessing we had was to meet a woman named Buna. She is such a living testimony to the Lord. Although she is very small, and probably only weighs about 80 pounds, we are told that she was about 50 pounds when she came to P.R.C. She had contracted an unknown illness while in the brothels in Mumbai, India and was basically sent back to Nepal for hospitalization in Nepal. They discovered her to be HIV+ and was the very first case of HIV diagnosed in the country of Nepal. This was approximately 20 years ago! Shanta brought Buna home from the hospital when they could do nothing for her, and she loved her back to health over a 1 year period. She has had many setbacks including tuberculosis (twice), and meningitis. Yet she is alive, healthy, and now an integral part of the organization her at P.R.C. She now not only runs the shelter home in Bhutwal, but she is now on the Board of Directors at P.R.C. !!! She is truly an amazing woman with a beautiful smile, a great business sense, and a true love for Jesus. She gives Him all the glory for all that she has endured, and she has been allowed and encouraged to become a leader in this environment. We are so honored just to know her ...

This is a day that I will never forget ...

Here is a picture of the main building at the P.R.C. complex

Sensory Overload ...

Well we arrived quite uneventfully in Kathmandu, and even looking out the plane windows as we were landing it was quite apparent that we were in another world. The buildings are old and poor and look different than anything we see in the U.S. The airport was quite modest with many propellar airplanes, open hangars, old helicopters ... it looked like something right out of a 50's movie. In fact I was surprised that they had a runway big enough to land our modern Qatar airways 727.

We were picked up by Suman and Shanta Sapkota, and Shanta adorned us with a traditional Nepali handkerchief around our necks. We came back to the shelter at the Peace Rehabilitation Center - about 20 to 30 minutes outside of downtown -and were shown to our room. It is a very nice room with a balcony overlooking some of the countryside of Kathmandu. Mountains surround us although in the haze you can barely discern them. No rain at this time of the year, so the air is fairly thick with smog and haze. We were happy to see we have a relatively western-style bathroom! Again perhaps something out of the 50's but it would most certainly work.

We were to meet a group from Scotland for dinner, so we chose to go into town to have lunch, exchange some money, and hit the market in search for the perfect Sari for Colette. We also wanted to buy a wedding gift for the young girl who was getting married tomorrow.

Driving in Kathmandu can only be described as crazy, and the city is much bigger and busier than we had expected when landing at the airport. In fact Kathmandu makes places like New York and Los Angeles seem tame. They say there are only approximately 1 million people in Kathmandu but I think they were all downtown ... motorcycles and small cars are rushing around the narrow 4 lane roads in what seems to be a game of chicken - it seems if you drive aggressively enough then people get out of your way - the only problem is that everyone is playing this same game. So there are horns honking and people weaving out of lanes which dont really exist - it is pretty much a "free for all" here. There are basically no traffic lights, and seemingly to real rules. Still we are surprised to hear that there are relatively few accidents here.

Shopping downtown in a similar experience - it sort of reminds me of being at the busiest concert, football game or sporting event you have ever been to ... fighting the crowds and vendors trying to get your attention. Only it is like this all the time here. Perpetual chaos. And the smells are good and bad, from sewage to food, your nose is overwhelmed almost as much as your eye. The colors are beautiful and people are bumping into each other everywhere.

Shanta ushers us through the crowd and we go into a jewelry store to buy earrings for the young woman who was rescued out of human trafficking less that 2 years ago, has been living at the shelter, and is now getting married. After we pick out the perfect pair of earrings, Shanta goes into "negotiations" with the shop. She suddenly becomes very serious, a woman on a mission. She seems to be happy with the outcome, we pay and leave. On our way out the sales girl states - "she is a very smart woman". I can't help but think that when Shant is negotiating the 'real' stuff - convincing police to charge a trafficker, etc. That she must be a force to be reckoned with. She has had to be tough over the past 21 years in this world of organized crime and the strong taking advantage of the weak. She is a voice for those who have no voice...

Writing from Doha, Qatar

So we are now sitting in the airport in Doha waiting for our flight to Kathmandu... Not much to tell yet it is dark here so all I saw was lights... but the plane was really nice.. One of the facts that I found on the plane is that Qatar has the highest per capita income in the middle east. So we now fly from one of the richest countries to the 4th poorest country in the world. I look forward on the next blog entry to put on some pictures...

Pressing on
Colette & Dan

And so it begins

So today ready or not we start our journey. I am so excited to meet all the people in Nepal and India Free for Life is in partnership with. We already call them partners, friends, hero's, and now family. It is interesting how over the years we have developed this bond together in the fight against our common foe trafficking. To help the continue the work that they do to help each child have hope for a better future , yes to have old things pass away and all things be made new is our prayer. To learning new skills, healing wounds some more easily seen. In every sense of the work we ( that is all of you) are partners, sisters, brothers and friends. I know I speak for you all when I say how grateful I am to God that He has given us a chance to be part of this amazing work.
Pressing on
Colette & Dan