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.