Dear Supporters,
A lot has happened since I wrote my last newsletter about a month ago. When I did, we had just moved to Pokhara, Nepal’s second-largest city. That was where we were based for the second month of outreach. The last time I was in Nepal, Pokhara wasn’t my favorite place, but this time around I enjoyed it a lot more.
The first week we spent serving the YWAM base we were staying at. We helped with kids’ ministry, went on prayer walks, and found practical ways to get our hands dirty. Some of our favorite times were going down to the tourist area to share the Gospel and getting to share in the church services that weekend.
The next week we got to do something a little different. Our team had prayed before we left and felt like we wanted to be involved in some Bible translation work in Nepal. God was definitely behind it because we managed to get the contact information for the lady leading Oral Mother Tongue translation in Nepal. Oral Mother Tongue is a method of audio Bible translation that allows for the Bible to be translated into people’s native languages (mother tongues). We got to work with the lady leading this effort in Nepal. Our main ministry during this time was helping work on the construction site for the new house they were building. This house will be where Bible translators, students, and staff live who are working on translating the Bible into every language in Nepal.
We helped clean, paint, and move material around which sped up their construction process. Through our efforts, the building was completed about 3 weeks early, which allowed translators to move in and begin working! In return, they blessed us with doing Word by Heart seminars. Word By Heart is a part of Bible translation which involves diving deep into Bible stories, experiencing them as if you were there, and then reciting them from your heart. Through this process, you’re able to memorize sections of Scripture and recall it on demand as a story you can share with anyone. It is a really cool experience and something I’m really glad we were able to do.
The following week we got the chance to go trekking again. After a rough first experience trekking, I was nervous about going again, but hopeful that it would be a redemptive time for our team. We worked with some young, passionate believers, who were our guides. They took us to a remote region called Lower Mustang, which was about 7 hours away by jeep.
We stayed at the last known church between us and the border of China, about 60 miles away. Beyond where we were at, there are no known Christians, and definitely no more churches. It was here where we were based out of during our time trekking. Each day we would go on little day treks to the surrounding villages that were mostly unreached, meaning they had never heard about Jesus before. We would go, share some of the Bible stories we memorized, and see where the conversation would go. Sometimes they would ask questions, which allowed us to share more of the Gospel, and then take the next steps. We would offer to pray for them, give them Audio Bible SD cards, and watch what God would do. Through this, we got to see some pretty cool things happen.
One cool story: One day we were on our way back to our church, and we were walking through a village when a woman came out of this shop to talk to us. Immediately I sensed something different about her, so I told our team we should stop, and go into her shop. We bought some things, started to talk to her, and she was so open. We were able to share a Bible story with her, then more of the Gospel, and she was very intrigued. She asked, “How do I receive Jesus?” Immediately several of the team members felt the presence of God so strongly. I even got teared up, and thought to myself, “This is it. This is the moment she accepts Jesus.” But, when we explained she would have to leave behind her other gods, she wasn’t ready to do that. She was close to death and didn’t want to risk losing her ‘salvation’ by forsaking her other gods. The sad thing is that by not wanting to lose her ‘salvation’ through other gods, she missed the one true God, who could bring her real salvation and eternal life. We didn’t want to force her, but instead prayed for her, and gave her an audio Bible SD card. She was so excited to listen to it. She immediately grabbed her phone, plugged it in to charge, and said she would listen to it as soon as she could. While we didn’t see her give her life to Jesus, we know that God is working, and who knows what happened when she listened to the Bible for the first time!
After several days of going from village to village and having many encounters like this, our time trekking came to an end. There were extreme weather conditions that were very hard on our bodies. It was constantly cold (highs of 20 in the day and below 0 at night) which was relentless when staying in places with very thin walls. When we were out trekking it was very windy which added to the effect. Then to top it all off, the church we were staying in had a fire with no ventilation, which made it really smoky and hard to breathe inside. All this combined gave our team some pretty bad coughs and colds. People were doing okay, but when we moved to a village that was higher in elevation, it began to take its toll on us. When our team’s condition worsened, we wanted to prioritize everyone’s health and safety, so we made the tough decision to go back to Pokhara early.
It was hard for me personally to have to go back early from trekking again, but I know it was the right call. On the bright side, it gave us a few extra days in Pokhara, which we took advantage of. We spent those last few days resting up, doing our final ministry, and getting ready to go back to Kathmandu.
We then spent our last few days in Kathmandu doing our final debrief with the team. We processed through a lot, got feedback from them, and did some fun activities as a team to wrap up well. We then got everything packed up, headed to the airport, and got ready to fly out! I went with the team to the airport and took them all the way to the gate, but I actually did not fly back with them.
I know I haven’t mentioned this to a lot of you, but instead of flying back to America, I decided to go to India. I haven’t said anything prior to this because I was waiting for things to be finalized which just happened a few weeks ago. Essentially the opportunity recently came up for me to go to Mumbai, India, and teach in one of their Discipleship Training Schools for a week. This is the same school I recently staffed in Colorado Springs, and I even spoke in one class, but this time I am teaching a whole week in India. This is a pretty crazy opportunity that is almost never offered to people my age. I feel incredibly blessed and honored to have this opportunity. However, it did not come without downsides, as it was a very difficult decision to make to leave the team. God has been speaking to me about India for the last 6 months. So much so that I thought I would be asked to lead a team there, and when I wasn’t, I tried to take my Nepal team there. I really wanted to honor my commitment to my team and see things through to the end. There were very few things that would have caused me to leave my team, and if God hadn’t spoken to me so much about India, I never would have done it. All I’m trying to do is listen to God and obey. I’m excited and expectant for what God is going to do during my time teaching in India. My Nepal team will be traveling back to the States without me, but instead will go with my co-leader, Faith. I then will miss their last week of debriefing and re-entry before they graduate next week. I’m sad to miss that, but I’m excited about being here in India. It has already been a crazy experience, but I’ll save that for the next letter.
For now, I just want to express my gratitude for my time in Nepal. It was truly another amazing experience, one that would not be possible without you guys. I can confidently say that God is moving in big ways in Nepal and I am blessed to be able to partner with God to see those things. In the coming months, I will send more newsletters reflecting on the experience, but for now, I just want to say thank you again! I’ll be back in Colorado on February 17th and look forward to seeing many of you!
Sincerely,
Jacob Frenzen
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