Dear Supporters,
Hello from Nepal! I wrote my last letter in the Dubai airport, and just a few hours later I was in Nepal. We’ve been here for just over a month now, and what a crazy month it has been! To start out with, we had to redo our visas in the airport because we made a small mistake, and then some of our checked bags were missing at the baggage claim. Of which one of them happened to be my personal bag, along with 2 bags for the team, which thankfully arrived the following day.
Those factors and others made for a really stressful first few days. There is a lot that goes into getting yourselves established in a third world country, especially when you have a group of 10 people. Not only do you have to get through the airport, and get transportation to the place you’re staying, but you have to figure out the basic necessities beyond that too. Getting safe food for the team, filtered water, and making sure everyone was well were some of my first responsibilities. Besides that we had to help them exchange money, get Nepali SIM cards, and figure out the laundry situation. It was a lot to say the least.
During our time in Kathmandu we working with an organization called Five14. They are a Christian, tourist trekking company that focuses on ethical employment to prevent human trafficking. The first few days they helped us get oriented by sending us on a scavenger hunt all by ourselves, taking us on a justice tour to see organizations fighting human trafficking, and then on a social business tour to see the solution many people are choosing to take through Business As Mission. The first few days were great and some of my most enjoyable days even with the stress.
The next week we went trekking which started out a little rough for me. The first day we had a 5 hour bus ride on which I didn’t feel great, and just wanted to sleep, but I couldn’t because of how bumpy it was. When we got to the place we were staying, I took a nap, but then I woke up feeling nauseous. Before I knew it I was bent over the toilet puking my guys out. Because I hadn’t ate anything sketchy or drank anything bad, there was nothing really to cause that. Our best guess was actually that it was caused by severe stress and extreme exhaustion from not sleeping much the previous two weeks from having to do so much for the team. That night I was still really tired and not feeling great so I tried to rest up.
The following day I was still weak. Thankfully, I didn’t feel nauseous anymore, but it took me a day to get my strength back. Once I did, I was good to go, and I felt great the rest of the trek thankfully. That was not the same case for the team unfortunately. As we got higher in elevation, the team started to get sick, and many exhibited symptoms of altitude sickness. When we were around 14,400 feet, some people really weren’t doing well, and our guide informed us that it was not safe for them to continue. We had to make some really tough decisions, but ultimately decided to have the whole team turn around and head back to Kathmandu. We ended up being gone for 7 days and actually trekking for 5 of those days. While it was tough to not get to finish our trek and get to the village we were trying to do ministry at, there was still a lot that happened along the way. The main thing we noticed was how much God worked in each one of us and really bonded our team together to endure the rest of outreach.
After spending a few days in Kathmandu, we headed to Sanga, a suburb of Kathmandu about 45 minutes away. While it’s on the outskirts of the city, it’s a much smaller town, and feels like a village. Our main ministry there was Christmas Caroling, but it’s not what you imagine that looking like. We would go around with a group of believers to different houses around the city. There they would sing Nepali songs, and since we don’t know Nepali, all we could do was dance. We would dance for several hours, someone on our team would share a testimony, then we would do one English or Nepali Christmas song that we practiced. Then it would be the same thing, day after day, for about two weeks. The only exception was church and some Christmas Day ministry. Some of our group got to run the kid’s ministry program on Christmas Day and then we got to run a seminar on Good Touch and Bad Touch as well as Porn and Puberty before we left. It was super good to get to teach as that is very much my preferred ministry compared to dancing.
There was about a week timeframe in Sanga that was really tough for me. Dancing is not my favorite, and I didn’t want to do it, but I had to step up as a leader and just do it. Being away from home during Christmas for the first time was really hard, but I had to remind myself of the worthy cause I’m doing this all for: Jesus. And I’ve had some frustrations with my team that have required a great deal of patience, but I just had to shift my perspective to what an honor it is to be an outreach leader. Once I worked through all of that, I had a really good time in Sanga, and it was even fun just letting loose and dancing.
We got back to Kathmandu right before New Year’s Eve. We got to celebrate with the team there and then had a few days before our midway debrief officially began. Our base is great about having two people fly out from Colorado Springs to do pastoral visits to check on teams halfway through each outreach. It was so good to be able to see two of my leaders, but who I would also call my friends. I got to talk to them about some of the tough things going on, but they were really encouraging, and really lifted my spirits. I would say as a whole those two guys brought fresh wind to the team’s sails and will allow us to finish strong going forward.
Yesterday we moved to Pokhara, Nepal’s second largest city, where we’ll be based out of for the 2nd month of outreach. It was about a 10 hour bus ride, which was incredibly bumpy, but thankfully we were on a pretty comfortable bus this time. The team did well, and despite some car sickness, we made it through.
Our team has actually been struggling a lot with sickness since the beginning. Ever since I got sick, it seems like it’s always something new, one person after another. We’ve had 7 people get food poisoning, 2 people test positive for parasites, and several others with stomach bugs along the way. Then there’s been altitude sickness and simple colds and everything in between. While this is normal for traveling overseas, and especially for DTS outreaches, this seems excessive. So much so that I actually reached out to our other teams currently on outreach and coordinated a time of prayer. Essentially each team gathered together at the same time to pray against the health issues the teams have been facing and for good health for the rest of outreach. It was a really powerful time and we already have seen things start to shift since then. We still would appreciate ongoing prayers for wellness for the team.
I know this update was a little on the negative side, but I don’t want to make it sound like this hasn’t been a good experience. Yes, there has been challenges, but that’s just the nature of outreach. Any overseas mission trip is going to have it’s problems, but I don’t want to make it sound like there hasn’t been good parts as well. In fact, I would say that this trip has gone really really well. There’s a lot more that could have gone wrong up to this point and thankfully we can say almost everything has gone really smoothly. As a leader, I’ve made some mistakes, but also a lot of good decisions, and God’s grace has been there to cover me when I haven’t. While this has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, it’s also been one of the most rewarding, and the most fulfilling experiences of my life. I remember reflecting and thinking at one point that leading this outreach is exactly what I’m built for. Literally God has prepared me for everything I need to lead this team in Nepal at this very moment in time.
For that, all I have to say is thank you. Thank you all for believing in me. I recognize it goes much beyond just the last year or so of me serving in missions, but many of you have believed and supported me for a majority of my life. I’m so grateful for each of you and the roles you played in my life to get me to where I am today. I truly don’t think I would be where I am or who I am today without each and every one of you. While I missed being home for the holidays and getting to see many of you, know that I love all of you, and value each of you being in my life. I’m incredibly appreciative for this opportunity and recognize that it is not afforded to everyone.
I know this was a longer newsletter, but I had a lot I wanted to share. I hope you enjoyed these updates and if you have any questions about any of it, please feel free to reach out and let me know.
Sincerely,
Jacob Frenzen
970-488-9235
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