It's really hard to avoid ingesting the water here. Between the rain, showering, and dishes not being washed in hot enough water to kill bacteria, it's really rough. Somewhere along the way, I had some little bit of it. I don't really know where, but what I do know is that it made me realllllllyyy sick. Wednesday morning I woke up and I had absolutely no energy. I was completely drained. Instead of going to morning ministry, I slept in for another couple of hours. I got to go out in the afternoon, but it all went downhill from there.
By Wednesday night I had a 103 degree fever and a lot of flu-like symptoms. I then basically slept for 40 hours straight, with the exception of taking meds or checking my temperature. My fever finally broke last night, praise God. I've spent most of today just resting and trying to get my strength back because I haven't had anything to eat in the past 2 days.
Being sick in a foreign country is no fun. Because we don't have any ice here, I just had wash cloths and towels that we ran under the shower water to try and cool me down, but those had to be re-run almost every 15 minutes because I was so hot. Even though it was easier to sleep because I was sick, we had 2 parades come through yesterday who, although they were not as awesome as my Macy's band, were definitely as loud and as impossible to sleep through. We did manage to find a fan in the guest house, but the electricity was out (as it is quite often in Nepal) for almost 5 hours yesterday. The leaders did a great job of taking care of me though. They did everything in their power to keep me out of the Nepali hospital, and it worked. They stayed with me the whole day and all night and were continually checking on me and making sure I got everything that I needed. They did a great job:)
Please keep me in your prayers as I recover that I will be back up to speed quickly and that I won't relapse bc being sick is seriously the worst.
Anyways, for the 8 hrs that I was awake on Wednesday, I got to go with my team to the Peace Rehabilitation Center, a Christian home for girls who are victims of sex slavery. Even though these girls have lived through horrible things, the joy of Christ still radiated from within them. Even though I was not operating at 100% capacity, I still enjoyed watching the other girls on my team talk, dance, and sing with the girls. One of the things that the PRC teaches them is useful skills to support themselves with, such as making jewelry or knitting. They sell what they make to support the PRC, so I bought a really gorgeous bracelet from them.
It's kind of a bummer though, because my team went to visit the leper colony today, and I wasn't able to go with them. There's no way I'd be able to make the trek through the rice paddy and up the mountain when this morning I couldn't even take 10 steps to the bathroom without someone supporting me. Part of the Royal Servants schedule is to do a daily quiet time. Every day we get assigned 3 chapters of the Bible to read. We have read through Nehemiah and James, and as my team was leaving today, a verse we read earlier stuck in my head. James 1:2-3 says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that testing of your faith produces steadfastness." While I was looking forward to going to the leper colony, I can still find peace in the fact that God wanted me in the hotel today for a reason.
So more general description of Nepal. The guest house that we are staying in is super nice. Granted, it's no Four Seasons, or even a Hampton Inn, but it's great for a little while. It's slightly more run down than these pictures make it look, but each room does have its own bathroom with hot running water, and most of the toilets work. And while the occasional door handle does fall off, the windows work just fine as entry and exit until they can get them fixed :) it also has a fairly good restaurant at the bottom, and there is a convenience store right outside, which is nice. http://www.khangsarguesthouse.com/
The food is super amazing here. I missed 2 dinner meals (the meal we eat out) because i've been sick, and I can't wait to start going out again. It's great because it's super fresh. Most of the time they go out and get the ingredients after you order. Fried Buffalo momo with curry sauce- yum! new favorite meal here.
Please continue to keep my team in your prayers.
By Wednesday night I had a 103 degree fever and a lot of flu-like symptoms. I then basically slept for 40 hours straight, with the exception of taking meds or checking my temperature. My fever finally broke last night, praise God. I've spent most of today just resting and trying to get my strength back because I haven't had anything to eat in the past 2 days.
Being sick in a foreign country is no fun. Because we don't have any ice here, I just had wash cloths and towels that we ran under the shower water to try and cool me down, but those had to be re-run almost every 15 minutes because I was so hot. Even though it was easier to sleep because I was sick, we had 2 parades come through yesterday who, although they were not as awesome as my Macy's band, were definitely as loud and as impossible to sleep through. We did manage to find a fan in the guest house, but the electricity was out (as it is quite often in Nepal) for almost 5 hours yesterday. The leaders did a great job of taking care of me though. They did everything in their power to keep me out of the Nepali hospital, and it worked. They stayed with me the whole day and all night and were continually checking on me and making sure I got everything that I needed. They did a great job:)
Please keep me in your prayers as I recover that I will be back up to speed quickly and that I won't relapse bc being sick is seriously the worst.
Anyways, for the 8 hrs that I was awake on Wednesday, I got to go with my team to the Peace Rehabilitation Center, a Christian home for girls who are victims of sex slavery. Even though these girls have lived through horrible things, the joy of Christ still radiated from within them. Even though I was not operating at 100% capacity, I still enjoyed watching the other girls on my team talk, dance, and sing with the girls. One of the things that the PRC teaches them is useful skills to support themselves with, such as making jewelry or knitting. They sell what they make to support the PRC, so I bought a really gorgeous bracelet from them.
It's kind of a bummer though, because my team went to visit the leper colony today, and I wasn't able to go with them. There's no way I'd be able to make the trek through the rice paddy and up the mountain when this morning I couldn't even take 10 steps to the bathroom without someone supporting me. Part of the Royal Servants schedule is to do a daily quiet time. Every day we get assigned 3 chapters of the Bible to read. We have read through Nehemiah and James, and as my team was leaving today, a verse we read earlier stuck in my head. James 1:2-3 says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that testing of your faith produces steadfastness." While I was looking forward to going to the leper colony, I can still find peace in the fact that God wanted me in the hotel today for a reason.
So more general description of Nepal. The guest house that we are staying in is super nice. Granted, it's no Four Seasons, or even a Hampton Inn, but it's great for a little while. It's slightly more run down than these pictures make it look, but each room does have its own bathroom with hot running water, and most of the toilets work. And while the occasional door handle does fall off, the windows work just fine as entry and exit until they can get them fixed :) it also has a fairly good restaurant at the bottom, and there is a convenience store right outside, which is nice. http://www.khangsarguesthouse.com/
The food is super amazing here. I missed 2 dinner meals (the meal we eat out) because i've been sick, and I can't wait to start going out again. It's great because it's super fresh. Most of the time they go out and get the ingredients after you order. Fried Buffalo momo with curry sauce- yum! new favorite meal here.
Please continue to keep my team in your prayers.
- My health & the health of my teammates
- Strength to push through busy days on 8 hrs of sleep
- A continued love and compassion for each other
- For the hearts of the people we meet to be accepting of what we have to share
Hey!!
ReplyDeleteI hope that you are having a life changing experience in Nepal! I hope that you over come your sickness and you can keep on expanding Gods kingdom!
You don't know me, ha, but my name is Collin. I am hopefully planning on going to Sierra Leone next summer with royal servants. I just wanna talk to you about royal servants! If you could email me(if possible) or just write back on here, I will greatly appreaciate it! :)
Hey collin! I'd be more than willing to talk to you about Royal Servants! It was an experience that completely transformed my life, and I know that God can do great things in anyone who is willing to go. Email me at p.shirey2@gmail.com if you are still interested!
DeleteGreat post Penny! I am so glad you are feeling better. It is very hard waiting for news. Love you!
ReplyDeletePenny! Oh my goodness I'm so sorry that you got sick. I'm sure that was one of the hardest things you've had to endure, but I'm proud of you for staying tough! I pray that God will give you strength and that you (and the rest of your team) won't get sick anymore. I know that God has amazing plans for you. Keep on seeking Him, and you will be richly rewarded! You are sacrificing comfort to further His kingdom and make disciples. I love you SO much and miss you SO bad! I can't wait to talk to you in person (or, I guess voice, lol) later. I know you will have many stories to tell. Stay safe! Numbers 6:24-26. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete~343 =)