Nepal Vision Trip Blog

So I have been absolutely consumed by uni and work this semester and haven’t yet put up my Timor blogs (sitting on my computer waiting to be posted!) But, good news! I officially finished my degree yesterday and in typical Caitlin style, I’ve already jetted off to my next place: Nepal.

I’ve got a separate blog for the trip as I’ll be blogging on behalf of everyone, so please go check it out here: www.nepalvisiontrip.wordpress.com

As a treat, I’ll put my first post from that blog here, but make sure you get over there and read about the rest of our experiences!!

Hi everyone!

Thanks for checking out the blog that I’ll be writing whilst I’m over in Nepal. I’m looking forward to sharing my discoveries, my experiences, my reflections and my photos of my time with the International Nepal Fellowship in Nepal from the 4th-21st of November. I’ll be doing my best to update at least every second day, and will be doing regular tweets. Follow me here.

So why Nepal you ask? Great question! To be honest, I’ve been incredibly blessed to fall right into this opportunity and have everything fall into place for me. At the beginning of the year, Nepal would definitely not have come to mind as a particular place I was dying to travel to (seeing as I’m definitely not a trekker, and that seems to be the primary reason for tourism!) or really work in. I’ve had my heart set on India for quite a long time now (the sights, the smells, the sounds, the CULTURE!!!), so it seems my heart was almost in the right place – it just needed a bit of redirection (north!) this year.

My first run in with Nepal came when I was prompted to look for an internship with an organisation for my university degree at the beginning of the year. I’ve been blessed to have a fair bit of experience in various NGOs, but I was looking for something a bit different and Dad suggested the International Nepal Fellowship – an organisation that his school where he teaches had also partnered with for this year. The idea of Nepal intrigued me – I knew little about the place except from the Himalayas and that it must somehow be a little bit like India. I emailed the office at INF and got a reply back quite quickly – Yes! I could come in for a chat about working with them this year.

I’ve been privileged to help out INF in small ways this year – through their social media avenues and by beginning to redesign their newsletters. Whilst I feel that I haven’t been able to do much for them, I’ve been blessed by what they’ve been able to do for me – by opening my eyes to the people and the problems of Nepal, and their great need for not only development, but to hear the wonderful news of God’s saving grace.

Since I’ve been with INF, Nepal has kept popping up on my radar – through random missionaries visiting church services I’ve attended (at many different churches, funny that most seemed to be from Nepal?!) or through a sermon in May about the 5 countries in the world with the most, least-reached people groups (yep, you guessed it, Nepal is in that top 5.) Or even at university, meeting Nepali students out of the blue (honestly, where have you been hiding before now?!) or getting the opportunity to hear Nepali heroes such as Anuradha Koirala at a seminar. God definitely has a sense of humour and a sense of determination – I feel he’s been pushing me towards this country bit by bit throughout the whole year.

The final push came when INF asked if I’d like to go on their 2011 Vision Trip – a trip run every year, bringing supporters from all over the INF World (Australia and the UK this year) to visit the projects, witness God’s wonderful work in Nepal and share in Christian fellowship with the other participants. I was super blessed to receive a contribution from INF to go on this trip, and I am beyond excited for what lies in front of me over the next two weeks.

I expect to be: challenged, confronted, saddened, uplifted, broken, humbled, and moved by this trip.

But I also expected the unexpected. Please pray that God will use my time (or should I say His time with me in Nepal?) in this country to be challenged by his calling for me in the world, to be humbled by this calling and to be a blessing to the people I come into contact with.

I encourage you to read more about INF’s work in the ‘About’ section, and I look forward to sharing with you again soon!

नमस्ते,

Caitlin