No Purpose of His will ever be Thwarted

Here is the spoiler before you even begin to read this post: 

We *do* make it into Nepal.

 Now take a deep breath as I finally share the beauty and brokenness that lead up to this point. I remember at one point when things were looking especially grim saying to someone, "When I get to Nepal, I will take particular joy in writing about this journey." I also want to stress in the most sincere way possible, we are only here because it is God's will for us to be here and "no purpose of His will ever be thwarted." -Job

After we knew that our season in the USA had come to a close, we began praying about when we should return back to Nepal. We were excited but were not sure if we should come this year or wait one more year. We prayed hard and finally came to the decision that this is the year we will return. At first it seems that everything supernaturally aligned for our return. Karina's position as a teacher at the same school was available and Simon would be working with the same organization only doing something more aligned with his personal convictions this time. 

We began raising support, in faith, as the borders of Nepal remained closed and though Karina and Jyoti's passports needed renewing, the passport services had suspended all non-emergency services. Those two small yet unbelievably significant aspects of our leaving, were what broke us down to completely surrender our hearts to God and would pray daily, "We trust you God." We knew that we serve an all-powerful God and so if He did not want us to come here, then we wouldn't. So we continued raising support, praying our friends and family would have faith with us as we were honest about the border and our passport situation. 

It was a busy season for all of us. The school Karina would serve at in Nepal asked her to begin teaching from online in the USA starting July 28th. As we met with our friends and family to share about what God had placed on our hearts, Karina was also teaching kids from across the world. All the while, Karina's passport had been sent to passport services (we could not send Jyoti's because they would not take a minors passport) and we were still patiently awaiting Nepal to officially open the borders. At this point in time, they were barely even allowing Nepali citizens back into the country, much less a foreigner. 

We continued to pray and surrender these plans to God as we waited and waited for answers. One day, Nepal made an official release statement that all Nepalese could come back in as well as their children (Jyoti and Prasansa) but no foreign spouses. We were excited for the development but also sad that it would mean Karina still cannot come back into the country.  We continued to pray and praise God as we raised support and waited for more news. Meanwhile, God's perfect graces gave us some real hope with different people we are connected with. They shared with us the only way for Karina to get back into Nepal. We needed permission from the foreign minister in Nepal. Well, Karina...me...I am not anyone special. Why in the world would the foreign minister of Nepal grant -me- permission to enter his country?We shared our situation of me being married to a Nepali man and having family in Nepal and were honest about all of our health and we sent in our application for approval, then we waited. 

While we waited and prayed/ praised God continually, we got Karina's renewed passport back! We were so excited but without that approval it meant nothing. So with slight disappointment, I (Karina) gave my concerns to God and remembered that no purpose of His will ever be thwarted and trusted God as we continued waiting with joy. 

Our original leave date of October 1st came and my heart felt a bit heavy but we praised God for the opportunity to finish getting some things done and were grateful for the extra week. On October 2nd, 2020 we woke up to an email that our application had been approved. The foreign minister had approved my case by God's grace, He had used some of our prior connections and softened this man's heart and he said yes!

Now we had a little less than one week to get ready and leave and a part of the criteria of allowing us to come back in was that we had already have visas in our passports. Since the embassy of Nepal in the USA is in Washington DC, we were again having faith and being hopeful that we would get our passports back in time for our coming Thursday (Oct. 8th) leave date. We also had to show negative Covid-19 tests and after calling so many places (many of them refusing to test our girls or demanding payment of $275/ person) we finally found a place that did all of us for free! The only caveat was that in order to get our results back in time before our leave date, we had to go pick them up ourselves. A small price to pay in the grand scheme of things! 

Wednesday, October 7th rolled around and we still did not have our test results (but we did have our passports with visas!) We continued packing, in faith that we would receive them. The doctor from the clinic, did something she never does and gave us a call to let us know we could come pick them up! 

If you made it this far, congratulations! We are finally going to the airport now. :)

It had been a challenging 3 months but we really grew closer to God through it all. Now it was time to fly into Nepal. With all the craziness, we did forget quite a few things but we did remember our passports/ visas, approval letter, and negative covid-19 tests. 

Our first flight was seamless. They gave us no trouble and though one suitcase was a couple pounds too heavy, he didn't charge us for it. We looked forward to our 3 hour layover to come when we arrive in New York. We planned to walk through the airport and find a nice meal to eat. 

This is not what happened. 

We found where our gate (should) be and instead of going through normal international security again, we were questioned and vetted thoroughly. They needed to see all of our paperwork and then proceeded to check its validity three separate times. They also were concerned with Jyoti's passport and were giving us trouble about that. During all of this, both girls were screaming as they impatiently waited. I honestly don't blame them. It was crowded, loud, and we were all very hungry. By the time all the vetting was over we had to literally run to our gate to catch our plane. The entire three hour layover had been used up! 

The next plane/ layover was smooth and easy. We all slept, watched a few movies, and with just a 1 hour layover we walked straight to our next gate after arriving in Doha, Qatar. 

The last plane was completely booked. I was the only person on the entire plane that did not have Nepali blood running through my veins. We arrived in Nepal and after waiting in a non-ventilated hallway for about 45 minutes with the other passengers on the plane we gave our passports to immigration. This took another 25 minutes. We were all tired, hungry, and thirsty but I believe that if it was just me and Simon it would have been easy. The girls were so done and were doing ridiculous things in their tiredness (like touching the floor and then licking their fingers!!) 

But alas, all of our baggage made it and I would say that the actual flights (minus our time in New York and cranky children) was really great and easy.

So, we are here and feeling the joy of jet lag!

 We give all the glory to God for getting us here and are so thankful for the entire journey as well. 

We are also thankful for all our friends and family for having faith with us, praying for us, and supporting us. 

So far, none of us have had any symptoms of Covid-19. But we are quarantining ourselves nonetheless. Please pray this continues!

Please keep in touch and let us know how you are doing. 

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