A Baby, a Two Year Old +2 on a Motorcycle: Life in a Primitive Village: More Tales from the Mountaintops and Valleys Below

Here's a photo of how we 4 got around. This one is taken in Kathmandu soon after Jenny's birth. Bill built the back seat for Jonathan. You can see that helmet laws were not nonexistent, much less infant seats and protection, in a town with only one traffic light while we were there.

Here’s a word from my journal about Jonathan:

He is more active than any two year old we know. He’s creative and has an imagination that stupefies us. He perceives relationship and has quite good coordination and energetic daring. He can be terribly obnoxious or enchantingly charming. He loves games, but is not particularly interested in books yet. Dr. Seuss is his favorite though. He’s completely lovable.

And he still loved and cared for his sister!

The next season in the village continued eventful. The plane ride in our little Cessna was very bumpy. My journal says: "Jon and I prayed together before the plane took off. Then as soon as we were in the air Jon wanted to pray again--this time to ask Jesus to make the plane go down!"

Before we returned to the village we needed to have had a new roof put on the house. But it was not complete on our arrival. 

We had asked the Lord to hold the rain until the roof was on. The first night we slept under the stars. A 5 minute sprinkle dampened us in the middle of the night-but that was all. They finished the peak of the roof the next day around 7 p.m.. At 11 the most violent storm we’ve seen in a year began. It was deafening and scared Jon silly—but my how we praise Him. He told us, “I care. I care so very much for you.

I was learning lots about village life from the women in the village. I would sit out front of our house shelling oil nuts here with them. I learned why they wear Indian coins around their neck. All their savings are wrapped up in their jewelry. No banks here.

During this stay in the village, I came down with chickenpox, and a few weeks later so did both kids. Then Jonathan turned three and we had a party for him with the villagers. The next day I was bit by a poisonous spider. My journal says we thought it was a Black Widow and I had a severe reaction. God healed this within a day. I don't know why Jesus sometimes heals and sometimes withholds, but it is at Father's good pleasure. And I know He is good and loving.

Today I am having spine surgery on C1 and C2 so there won't be any new blog entries for awhile. I go into this surgery, the same as with all our medical needs of the past, in confidence of Him who called me and walks with me, side by Side. He does all things well.

Funny Baby! Jenny’s Arrival and Jonathan’s Response: Tales from the Mountaintops and Valleys Below

We named Jenny before we were married. When Bill and I first talked about marriage and family, we both thought that Jenny Lynn was a beautiful name for a girl. Even without ultrasounds back then, we felt that sure this was our girl and called her Jenny throughout the pregnancy. So it was no surprise that the first words out of Jonathan’s mouth when he met his new sister in the hospital were, “Funny baby! Funny Baby! Jenny come out of Mama’s tummy!”

From my journal: Nov 3, 1972: 

Jennifer Lynn Leal arrived on Wednesday, November 1st at 9:20, weighing 6 pounds and 11 ounces. She has a round face, black hair and a determined little jaw bone and flat nose ... and a very thankful mom and dad and delighted big brother and grandmother, for my mother had come for Jenny’s birth and to help afterwards. She was a real blessing in the hospital and at home.

For myself, the experience was strange. On the operating table, the anesthesiologist gave me ether, all the while telling me it was pure oxygen for the baby. Once they assumed I was put to sleep, they began procedures. The strange part was that I was totally awake and one eyelid was not fully closed and I could see and feel what was going on, but could not move or say anything--though I tried desperately. First the catheter went in, then they started preparing the stomach for cutting, while the anesthetist started to put a tube down my throat and cotton. At this point, I could no longer breathe, and asked the Lord to take me away from this scene. I surrendered myself up to death--or whatever His pleasure may have been. Then I remember no more. But death has never been more real, nor my acceptance of His Pleasure more definite: a strange but rewarding experience.

Jenny was not an easy-to-sleep baby like Jonathan was. He slept the night at one month, but she was colicky and slept very little, or so it seemed, until she was about two. It was during this time of little sleep that I learned the truth of John 15:4-5, that the only thing I needed to do is abide in Jesus. A man I knew long ago said that “It doesn't matter where you are or what you’re doing if you are with the Shepherd, abiding.” I was safe with Him.

Jenny was a big joy to our family and much loved by each of us. We loved to watch her faces and listen to her “talking” to us. From my journal when Jenny was six weeks old: “Jenny is now beginning to talk lots and lots. Strong as an ox, loves to stand. Hates to sleep. Charming and flirtatious. Yesterday Bill said, 'I’m sure glad you like them at this age.' Immediately Jenny looked at me, gave me several big smiles, nods and knowing glances, plus a few gurgles. All we could do was laugh. She seemed to understand it all. She’s a real sweetheart.”

Soon it was time to head back to the village, this time with two little ones. So three months after Jenny’s birth, we returned to our village home, with joy and gladness in our hearts. It turned out that Jenny was also our Tharu landlord’s wife’s name. And the Tharu people also had flat noses as did Jenny. So they said she had a Tharu name and nose and loved her!  She still cried at night, but we told the people she was singing and we all laughed! Father had again paved another way into the hearts of the people, first with Jonathan, now with Jenny.

And we soon began to see some healing flow deep in our lives and bodies. “Friday night Jon closed the bathroom door on his thumb and immediately it was red and swollen and black and blue. We prayed and within 5 minutes it was completely healed. To God be all Glory.”

John 15:4-5: Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Song: Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above! 

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne! 

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!

Our Most Pressing Need Was More of God's Spirit: Tales from the Mountaintops and the Valleys' Below, #8

The pressing challenges never let up. The house we had in Kathmandu was at the bottom of a hill and always muddy during monsoon. Once, while pregnant with Jenny, I slipped off my motorcycle into the mud. I was bruised, but both our unborn Jenny and I were OK. That's when Bill knew we needed to move. God provided another house for us to rent, one with rooms out back for Kissan and his family. Kissan and his wife and young daughter returned from the village with us to spend the monsoon season in Kathmandu, helping us with the language.

There was also room for Kunti, a Nepali girl we came to love who had come to work for us. Kunti had had leprosy and was in remission and needed employment. She had come to put her trust in Jesus at Ananadban Leprosy Hosptial where she received treatment for three years: We were so grateful for her, for all God's good provision ... including celebrating His faithfulness to us on our 4th wedding anniversary: July, 1972. It's a bit amazing to us when we consider that all the stuff I've mentioned since Bill and I were married had happened in just 4 years.

BUT our most pressing need, that grew in intensity every day, was that we were out of our own resources and were pretty discouraged... learning we didn't have what it takes to live in such an underdeveloped country, missing many of the things we had depended on most of our lives. I began to fast and pray and met the Lord in His Word one afternoon during my quiet time, sitting on my bed. He came on me with power and gave me new hope and a new language to pray with. He took away the hurt and pain and gave me joy and a heart of praise, and He helped me to forgive and love those who had been unkind to me.

The change in me was obvious to Bill, though he told me not to tell anyone for two weeks, to see if it lasted. It did! I began to sing again and my heart was light and full of faith in the Architect and Builder of our earthly habitations. I even had more energy to keep up with Jonathan!

A few months later, Bill ended up in the hospital after a motorcycle accident in which the handle bars twisted and pressed against his knee and cracked it. In treatment, doctors took 30 cc. of blood from his knee. The next day they put him under anesthesia and checked the tendons, ligaments and muscles to be sure they were still connected. All was badly bruised, but OK except for a fracture. A cast was not advised but Bill had to avoid putting pressure on it. This meant he had to spend many days in bed and 6 weeks on crutches. But soon he learned how to mount his crutches on the side of his motorcycle and get around, learning to use only his good leg when stopped! It was during this time that Bill and Jesus also had a meeting in which Bill surrendered all he could, and Jesus empowered him with His Spirit too. Now we both had new prayer languages that we used in private. These have helped us pray for many people over the years--even when we don't know specifics of  exactly what we're praying for, God knows and pays attention.

Meanwhile Jonathan kept us busy and gave us much joy. When we were in Kathmandu he had many friends, including  Judith Kugler on the roof of our house in Kathmandu, and.Dawn Kotapish behind him on the motorcycle.

Faith, Mighty Faith: Language Analysis and Faithful Comrades: Tales from the Mountaintops and Valleys Below: #7

In the summer of 1972, Dr. Ken and Evie Pike came to Kathmandu for a workshop in linguistics. From the very beginning, Wycliffe understood the importance of formal language analysis as an essential part of making an accurate translation of the Scriptures. You may remember the linguistic training we received at the Norman summer school and that the Pikes were involved in that, as well as our wedding. That training continued on the field as Dr. Pike, tenured faculty at the University of Michigan and one of the original members of Wycliffe, came to help all the language teams in Nepal analyze the perplexities in our very different languages.

Because of this emphasis on linguistic analysis before and during Bible translation and literacy work, one of my jobs was to  analyze the phonology while Bill was working on the grammar. The Tharu phonology seemed very confusing and unpredictable. When you learn a language, you learn first how to pronounce a particular sound in a word or sentence. For instance, in the word "dogs," the s sounds like z because it comes after a voiced "d" consonant. Identifying and predicting sounds is what phonology does.

However, in Tharu there was a schwa, an "uh" sound, that seems to come and go randomly, and we didn't know when to use it and when not. Sometimes Kissan used it and sometimes he didn't--in the same sentence. Kissan was very patient with us and eventually we discovered that it helped predict an event in at the discourse level in the language. If that doesn't make sense, just know that it was that hard for us too--and we'd had 20 semester hours training in linguistics before arrival!

We had many people praying back "home" in the US. Without their daily prayers I'm not sure what would have become of us. It's one of the essential things every missionary must have--a good prayer support team. We heard from some who were praying for us at specific days and times, not knowing our needs, and yet later finding out how He miraculously met and cared for us in difficult times and situations at the exact time they were led to pray. The body of Christ is an amazing, powerful force of love and healing.

You also need to know that we were surrounded by the most amazing group of missionaries we have ever known. Soon Wycliffe/SIL in Nepal was working in 30 language groups in Nepal. This meant about 100 field members were needed to make things work. These were people we came to love and respect deeply. Here's a picture of our early days together. Bill and I are in the middle left, not standing together. Each of these people could write their own stories similar to those I've shared. Some have told of repeated, remarkable encounters and miracles. Below are links for books by Gary Shepherd and David Watters, if you'd like to read more; warmly recommended.

Angel Tracks in the Himalayas by Gary Shepherd
At the Foot of the Snows by David E. Watters