NAMASTE FROM JOMSOM, NEPAL!!!

Greetings from the Matthew Ridenour of the present, which in the "Matthew Heads East" alternative reality timewarp, is the Matthew Ridenour of the future. I am going to do something TOTALLY unorthadox, and break the chronological blog code. I have to inform my faithful and wonderful followers of where I ACTUALLY am. I am in Jomsom, Nepal- trekking through the mountains and valleys of the Himalayas. And it is good.

I have managed to find the only "cyber cafe" within a 200-mile radius. And it is good. Our outfit is small but strong- led by none other than the man himself, Mr. Robby Rai (whose house we stayed at in Kathmandu for our first week in Nepal). Pastor Meg (a.k.a. "THUNDER) is the muscles of the gang. Standing only 5'4" in height, he packs a punch that crushes opponents thrice his size. He even literally carried me on his back across a river. I'm not kidding. Pastor Thunder is no joke. Then of course, there is my faithful friend and brother, Greg Zapf. Greg is a constant source of encouragement, and is also currently totally constipated- and has been for days. So pray for that. Finally, there is me- thus rounding out our fearless outfit.

We have been hiking up into the mountains, meeting people, sharing the gospel with them. We have been enjoying the beauty of this incredible part of the world- soaking it in. We were able to literally soak it in at a wonderful natural hot spring pool after our first and fairly brutal day of hiking, up to the town of Tatopani. "Soaking it in" left our hands pruned- and it was good. The main purpose of the trip is to glorify God and to be a part of what He is doing here in the Himalayas. We are meeting with local churches and small communities of believers to encourage them and train them a bit in the Bible.

Earlier this week, in the town of Lete, we met with the 3 Christians in the entire town. Until 2 months ago when Robby and another team came through, there was 1 Christian. He is overjoyed that he now has some fellowship. Robby sat down and explained some basics of the faith and such, and then suddenly turned to me: "Pastor Matt, please explain for these 3 from the fall of man up through the new covenant with Jesus. Pastor Thunder will translate." "Uh.... ok", I responded. And we were off. I did my best, through the Spirit.

Greg, Thunder and I hiked from 8,000 ft. to 14,000 ft. to reach the ceremonial location where Hindus during this month drink the blood of yaks on top of the mountain. Unfortunately for us, they couldn't perform this ritual anywhere within a 6-hour hike from civilization. But we had to see it. So we hiked. And hiked. And hiked. It was grueling- but we pressed on in the faith that we would see what few westerners see: the yak-blood ritual. And so, 6 hours and 6,000 vetical ft. later, we arrived. In the clouds. And could barely see. "So... where is it?" I asked. This was the awesome point at which we realized there was nothing to see. We had missed the ritual for the day. Perfect.

Given the situation, we made the best of it by befriending some locals in a hut who served us yak milk, yak meat, and some cheese dish that I didn't understand. But I ate- and was stoked. We purchased about half of a yak's worth of yak meat, Pastor Thunder threw the bag over his shoulder, and we were off- down the most treacherous mountain descent of my life. It was envigorating.

The main reason I am giving an update is to request prayer from you. Please pray for our time here- as we meet with people and with churches- may God's Kingdom go forth and He be glorified. I pray that we will be led by the Spirit to build meaningful and lasting relationships, and that we get to experience God's redeeming work here in Nepal. THANK YOU SO MUCH! More to come soon.

Blessings,
Matt