Saturday, August 25, 2012

Nepal Service Trip - 2009


This article by Rev Dave Brown is another account of our service trip to Nepal (my personal exploration in possibility- to establish an orphanage in Mexico)

Nepal Service Project 2009 -
By David Brown
Thanks to the Ministries Support Unit and members of the Swedenborgian Church, the Way- farers Chapel board of directors and staff, and the congregation of the San Diego Swedenborgian Church for helping to make this service project possible.
—Dave Brown and Carla Friederich



At 11:20 PM on Fri- day eve
ning, September 18, a small group of eight spiritual wayfarers lifted 
off from the tarmac of Los Angeles International Airport on route to our final destination of the Ama Ghar and Loving Arms Mission orphanages of Nepal. The Rev. Carla Friedrich from San Diego and I accompanied this group as the first international service project for our denomination in many years.
I am friends with Shrawan Nepali, founder the Ama Ghar orphanage, which I visited six years ago. I was impressed with how the organization was run, and so in 2008 I pro- posed a church service project to The Ministries Support Unit (MINSU). Rev. Friedrich had been in contact with Kent Rogers of the Loving Arms Mis- sion, who had grown up in the General Church and was led by the Lord to begin this orphanage in Kathmandu. It took over a year of planning and preparation to launch this effort, and I know it was truly transformational for all who took the journey.

I turned to the Holy Word and, of course, to Swedenborg’s writings for my inspiration for being charitable and useful. Two quotes have helped me keep the big picture in perspective: 
Religion that is pure and un- defiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and wid- ows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world (James 1:27).
Heaven consists in this, that from the heart we wish better for others than for ourselves, and desire to be of service to others in order to promote their happiness, and this for no selfish end, but from love (Diving Providence §60).

This first leg of the flight for our Nepal service project was approximately twenty hours long before landing in
Thailand. Upon arrival in Bangkok, I handed everyone in our group a home-baked chocolate chip cookie that Amara and Mikayla (my wife and daughter) had made for us. It was a welcome treat after a very long flight and it was the last taste of home for the next few weeks. Bangkok International Airport is a massive structure filled with all the modern conveniences that you might find in any major airport—fast food, coffee, factory outlet, and duty-free shops lined the twenty-minute walk through the terminal to our connect- ing flight.

It was here that we met as a group, and I helped prepare everyone for the enormous adjustment in cultural and socioeconomic circumstances we would be facing in just a matter of hours. Perhaps prepare is not the appro
priate word here, because there really is no way to properly prepare anyone for the experi- ence of going from a wealthy Western country to a poor country in Asia.
It is not only a shock to the senses to travel from a wealthy nation with a massive in- frastructure to a poor, developing 
nation, but also a culture shock of dif- ferent languages, social norms, reli- gions, and life philosophies. From the Bangkok airport to landing in Kathmandu is only a four-hour flight, but it is a gigantic transition from the rela- tive comforts of the modern Western world. The last words of advice I gave our group before boarding the plane in Bangkok were, “Go with the flow.”

Spiritually, it is always a good prac- tice not to resist whatever happens in life, to accept the reality of life no mat- ter what form it takes and to maintain your spiritual center. This spiritual 
teaching, like most, is much easier to say than to practice. Landing in Kath- mandu was a flurry of activities—ac
counting for all of our bags, making sure everyone was present, and then transporting all of us through the crowds of people anxiously wanting to help us as we exited the terminal.

As we exited the airport parking lot we caught the welcome sight of Bonnie Elison, the director of Ama Ghar, who then helped us sort through all the confusion of people and bags. The van ride from the airport to Ama Ghar was a bit of sensory overload, taking in the fresh sights, sounds, and changes surrounding the city of Kathmandu. The Ama Ghar orphanage is six miles south of Kathmandu in the valley of Godavri.

That evening we were greeted with the amas (mothers) of Ama Ghar placing red tikka on our foreheads. All for
ty children of the Ama Ghar orphanage had been practicing for several days to make our arrival special. They performed several dances, popular songs accompanied by guitar, and traditional Nepali songs as a large group. (One of the girls who danced a traditional dance, Krishna, had won an award several years earlier and had been flown to Japan for her performance.) After they performed, the children kept the music playing and got everyone in our group up on their feet dancing with them. It was a magnificent evening filled with joy, laughter, and dancing after a long, somewhat grueling trip.

Many of the children left the next morning for their home villages, because the largest holiday of the year for Nepal, Dasain, was about to begin. While we missed many of the children during our time there, it also meant that each of us was able to get to know the ten orphans who did not have villages to visit for holiday. Spending time at an orphanage is one of the most heartwarming experiences in life. Although these children come from very difficult circumstances, their eyes sparkle and they are full of life! Their joie de vivre is infectious.

The stories of how these children arrived at this orphanage can be heart- wrenching. In the West, the devastat- ing effects of AIDS are not as visible as in Nepal where there are at present over 100,000 children who are orphans because their parents have died from complications due to AIDS. One of the orphans that I became attached to, Santosh, was taking care of his father at the age of five because his father was dying of AIDS. He had begged on the streets with his older sister, figuring out how to survive. The common- place level of poverty and need in Nepal is unlike anything here in North America.

We were able to spend quality time with these children for two weeks. 
Simply being a loving presence in their lives for this period was a gift to share with them. It let them know that people care for them and that they are loved. Beyond spending time with the children, we of course made ourselves as useful as possible. Organizing their library, mending and patching old clothes, repairing a volleyball net, setting up an old tire to use as a
basketball hoop and finally clearing an area of land that will become a part of a new orphanage site that is set to open in August of 2010.

The new orphanage is under construction, and when it is opened it will house seventy orphans, and there will be guest accommodations for ten volunteers. While in Nepal, Rev. Friedrich helped to create a bridge between the Ama Ghar Orphanage and the Loving Arms Mission Orphanage. I invite all of you to make donations to both orphanages if you are able. They do incredible and important work that helps to create a better and more loving world. Here are their Web sites where you can find out more about them, the children, and to donate if you are so moved: www.amafoundation.org and http://lovingarmsmission.org.
The Rev. David Brown is a minister at The Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

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