NEW BLOG

Hey Everyone!

My blog has moved! Check it out at www.bethanyreinbolt.wordpress.com 

I love baby goats.

Sometimes I worry about my self. Matthew 25, ya know?

7 Things I learned in March

7 things I learned in March. Ready, GO!

1. I am older than the internet.

Um, excuse me?

Here is the link to the article that changed everything about how old I feel about myself. The internet is twenty-five years young. I am  twenty.. cough cough years older than that.

2. There is no taco emoji. 

You are telling me that with all of these food options, I cannot text my sister a picture of a taco!? Whoever made emojis is obviously not from Southern California... and clearly needs food education.

3. The world is just made up of people.

Scientists, fortune 500 companies, beggars, supermodels. The world is made up of people- not just concepts and products. I met a few "high-ups" in the NGO world this month and to my surprise, they are all just people. People who make judgement calls based on their own experiences and with limited worldviews. People who don't know how everything is going to turn out, but have to give orders anyways. People with families and hopes and dreams and weaknesses. The world is just a bunch of people. Fascinating.

4. In Kolkutta, everyone drinks out of mud cups.

While in Kolkutta last week, I discovered that everyone drinks out of baked mud cups that have been extracted from the river!

5. Kerosene looks and smells a LOT like petrol.

Nepal has a petrol shortage. Our scooty was running low on fuel, so I went out to fill 'er up so that we would not have to go early before class. I went from one fuel station to another, and after asking around, discovered that there would be no petrol available in Kathmandu until the next day.

When I got home, Cynthia suggested that we use the spare petrol that I had put in the storage room. Spare petrol? I didn't put any spare petrol in the storage room. Meaghan must have put it there. We smelt it, checked the color, and all seemed right, so we dumped it all into the gas tank.

The scooter had trouble starting, and as it frequently stalled in the middle of the road, we nearly got rear ended by cows and taxis. Obviously that was not petrol in the storage room.

I asked Meaghan later and she confirmed that it was in fact kerosene. Whoops!

6. Nepalis do flowers well. 

The Nepali Flag!

Sandesh

Didi with a cool tree trunk. 

Tower of flowers. 

The neighborhood flower show goers.

Speaking of flowers...

7. My selfie doppelganger is the Dalai Lama. 

Ok, but seriously. The lady who got me started writing about "what I learned" each month posted about the My Heritage app (it is free and you have to go download it right now). It tells you what celebrities you look like. I have not laughed so hard in a long time.

I don't know y'all, I'm just saying... he could be my brother.

However, the only one who scored higher than His Holiness is the good ole' Larry King.




















Practically twins, right? It's that creepy smile.

I had to try once more, but this time without that silly smirk.

I think its gonna be a long long time 'til that app brings me round again...

India 1.1

I just spent the week in India researching. It was intense to say the least, so while I figure out how to share that experience, enjoy some random photos from my phone.

The city of Kolkutta. 

Mother Teresea's home for the dying. 

Tea served in clay cups.

The traffic rules are so random!

Victoria Memorial.

Newsey News

This is where it gets real.

Until now, this blog has been composed of photos of the silly children in my neighborhood or the thoughts that have emerged out of the heart in my chest that is constantly colliding with the world around me.

There hasn't been much about what I actually do.  

It has mostly been what I've seen and what I've thought.

Which is cool, I guess, but I'm excited that now I get to start sharing more.

---------------------------

For the past year I have been learning Nepali language and doing research on the causes of human trafficking from within Nepal (a published copy of my work will be available on Amazon Septemburary 1, thanks for asking).

Man, y'all, trafficking is a complex gig.

Organized crime, deception, exploitation of cultural weaknesses, poverty, an economy that is fueled largely by remittance, and a corrupt government that is recovering from a civil war and is struggling to form a constitution are all factors that encourage this mass exodus of people from Nepal.  

But it has to stop. This is not what God wants.

----------------------------

I don't have plans to save the world or to beat up traffickers. But I am pretty sure that God has a role in all of this for my friends and me... and YOU.  I can't wait to share more about it as plans unfold, but guess what?!

We are going to start a business! And we want you to be a part of it!

Stay tuned :)

Tuesday photos

downtown.

spring.

Jesus.

crocs + compost.

i forced myself to take a sabbath on sunday and planted some herb seeds.

i hope my little seedlings sprout!

for whatever reason, last week was one of the hardest so far. 

i'm so thankful that his grace is sufficient for yesterday, 

and that his mercies are new every morning.

also, new good things are on the horizon! 

i can't wait to share! 

i hope to get a written e-mail update out this week.

love y'all!

Sharing is caring.

8 Things I learned in February.

Today I'm doing that thing where I write about the things I learned this month and then I share my learnings with others. If you wanna share yours too, click here!

First things first.

1. I learned that Asmita moved back into the neighborhood!

Joy! It is so much fun to have her around again.

2. Tourist buses.

I don't know why, but I have never been on a tourist bus before! In Nepal, we mostly travel by local bus. Remember the grandma in my lap and the goats in the aisle kind of bus?

Earlier this moth C and I went to southern Nepal for a thing and we took our first tourist bus. And. And I had a whole seat all to myself. And there were no Nepali love songs blasting at seven trillion decibels. And we didn't break down. Or fall off a cliff.

It was magical.

3. Don't eat the floaty eggs.

If you put a whole egg in a bowl of water and it floats, you are not supposed to eat it. True story.

4. Bigger is better. 

I have been wanting a Nepali style nose pin for like ever, and I finally found one that I like. The girl at the shop stuck her fingers up my nostrils and blew on my nose to get that thing in there, but the important lesson I learned this month? Bigger is better.

6. Cook the (sinky) eggs on low heat. 

Y'all, it makes all the difference.

7. I learned that I shouldn't say all of the words I have learned.

Sometimes men see that I am a foreigner and say inappropriate things to me. Sometimes, my language tutors teach me words that I shouldn't say so that I know what they mean if those words ever come up. And sometimes, men say inappropriate things to me on the street and I accidentally say not nice things back to them in Nepali. And then everyone turns around and stares at me. And then I feel really really bad. Because I never would have said that in English and even though he may have deserved it, I didn't look very much like Jesus at that moment.

8. Grace is greater. 

I haven't fully learned this one, but I'm trying.

His grace is greater.

For the times when my tongue slips and for the times when I just can't find the words to pray. For the times when I make everyone late and for the times when I am the first one to show up. For those times when I think I will never be good enough and for the times when I think that my ideas are the most important. For all the times, His grace is sufficient to carry me.

Tuesday Photos... neighborhood shenanigans.

Check out Iesma's face! Hahaha!

The following photos were taken by Sandesh. Enjoy!

 

Flash Mob Friday: Small.

small.

I think it is ok to be small.

We have a phrase here in Nepal. "sano manche"

It literally means "small person."

Nobody wants to be small. Everyone wants to be a "big person."

The big people are important. The big people get looked up to. The big people have the job and the money and the name to go with it.

But I think that it is ok to be small.

I think that if everyone were "big," there would be no more room left in the world for loving and serving each other. I think that we would just spend all of our time and energy trying to stay big, and we would not have anything left for each other.

Stop.



Here's the deal: Every Friday, this lady, Lisa-Jo, invites people to write for five minutes (and only five minutes) on the topic of her choice. When the timer goes off, you have to post your completely messy writing on the internet. My friend, C, introduced me to 'Five Minute Fridays' and only having five minutes to write sounded completely terrifying- so I tried it.

Voices and Love.

Valentine's day just happened. For some of you, it happened hard. I celebrated by taking down our Christmas Tree. For those of you who had a less exciting Singles' Awareness Day, let the Voice of Truth fill your empty valentine's heart.

In light of V-Day, today at youth fellowship, the leaders got up and shared about God's love. One of the sisters shared about how God's love is unfathomable. Like, even if we tried to understand it, we couldn't. His love is so far beyond what we can see, hear, or think of.  (Isaiah 64:4, 1 Corinthians 2:9, Ephesians 1)

Then one of the brothers got up repeated over and over again how much God loves us.
God loves us.
God loves us.
God loves us.
With the same intensity that The Father loves Jesus, Jesus loves us. (John 15:9)
He loves us.
He loves us.
He loves us.


I walked home alone in the cold, sweet rain, meditating on everything that I had just heard. As I passed a flock of goats, I couldn't help but to feel God's love for me- which is kind of a big deal because although I know it is true, I haven't been feeling His love much lately. I had just spent less than an hour listening to people telling me how much God loves me and in that time it had already started to sink in.

God sure knows how to charm me! 

Earlier this week, I read this article online. It is a letter that a father wrote to his young daughter telling her how the world wants you to feel terrible about yourself. The whole point of marketing companies is to make you feel bad about yourself so that you will spend your money on their products trying to make yourself complete and happy.

A very good and wise father wrote his daughter a letter and in it he said, 

But words do have power and maybe, just maybe, the words of a father can begin to compete with the words of the world. Maybe a father’s words can deliver his daughter through this gauntlet of institutionalized shame and into a deep, unshakeable sense of her own worthiness and beauty.

Words do have power. As soon as I read this, I was like, "Oh snap. I have to stop using social media and reading anything other than the Bible and I should probably walk around with earplugs and look at the ground when I walk so that I don't see any advertisements..." 

Sometimes I go to extremes. 

But quite frankly, even if you put me in a cave with just a flashlight and a Bible, I would still hear the voices of the world and the Evil One because I have already been exposed. Even avoiding "the world" will not stop me from being exposed to lies (satan loves to twist the truth).   

Sometimes your friend gets all of the compliments and all you hear is, "You are not pretty enough."

Sometimes your co-worker gets the promotion and you hear, "You are not capable enough."

Sometimes your parents mean well, but all you hear is, "You are not quite good enough."

Sometimes your preacher talks about loving God more and all you hear is, "You will never be enough."

You are enough. 

You are pretty enough.

You are capable enough.

You are good enough.

You. Are. Enough. 

Not because of anything that you did, but because of everything that Christ did. Which means that your "enough-ness" will never change because it was never dependent upon you in the first place. Your "enough-ness" is dependent upon a Holy God who looked down from heaven and decided that he liked you enough to kill his Son so that He could be with you forever. 

If that's not enough, nothing will ever be enough. 

So the point of all of this?

Let the voice of the Father ring louder in your heart than those other voices. 

Read his thoughts often. Say them out loud. Thank Him for the truth. Tell others about the truth. Saturate yourself in the words of the Father so that there is no room in your heart for the lies that fight to come in. 

God loves you. 

God loves you. 

God loves you. 

Tuesday Photos: Meaghan's birthday edition

Meaghan's birthday was recently, so she corralled all her buddies to go for a hike. It was five glorious hours uphill and two painful hours downhill. The first three photos are from our friend, Mary, and the last four were taken by me. Thanks, Mary for the photos!

Cynthia, Estar, and Me walking up up up.

I jumped too late. Whoops!

I have squinty Asian eyes.

Buddhist prayer flags.

We had a picnic at the top.

Tuesday Photos: Chitwan Edition

 Hey Y'all.

Note: I am not a computer person. I hate computers. Right now I can't get this silly blog to cooperate with me, so forgive the formatting, unedited photos, and blah blah blah and just enjoy the moment... or something like that. 

Today I'm hanging out in the Southern part of Nepal where I just attended a really cool meeting with a bunch of Nepali men (and three women!) who are doing some really cool stuff. I wish I could tell you everything, but, well, this is the internet. 

We left yesterday morning with this sunset behind us. 

On the way, we stopped for lunch along with some Monks who were busy utilizing their smart phones. Look at the guy on the right... Busted!! 

The roads in Nepal may be dangerous, but what they are lacking in safety and structure, they make up for in beauty. 

This morning, before the meetings, I went for a run down by the river. 

I was running along and did not even see this RHINOCEROS chillin' in the river until the little Nepali lady stopped me and pointed it out. (Look, Mom, it was really far away... I'm fiiiiine.)   

Did I mention that I hate computers and why is this blue and all over the place?

After about nine hours of listening to and speaking Nepali, our brains were toast, so Cynthia and I went on an English speaking walk. We met an elephant on the road! Woot! And then some kids came to our hotel and started twirling fire. 

Welp, I'm super frustrated at this thing right now.

Hey, what's black and blue and read all over?

This blog.


Bahahahaha.

With that being said, and given the fact that Cynthia is correct in saying that I look like a grandma right now, I'm just going to act upon my appearance and call it a night. 

Holla!