God's Perfect Timing

** For our safety and the safety of all that work with us, 
​please do not share any of this blog on Social Media.**

We are back in Nepal and settling back into life here. We are finally adjusted to the time difference and we are having fun re-connecting with everyone. 

It seems as though we left America just in time before the COVID-19 craziness started up! We are praying for all that are effected by this virus and pray the spreading of it will slow down and stop very soon.

We are grateful to report that the situation out here is no where close to what it is like in other countries around the world! They have just begun testing in all regions of Nepal. So far, there have been over 1,000 people tested  and there are now 6 confirmed COVID-19 cases here in Nepal - 5 active and 1 recovered. The first case was at the beginning of January and he is fully recovered now. All of these cases were Nepalis coming back from overseas. 

The Nepali government is doing it's best to help protect this country and its people from being effected by this virus. As of March 22nd, the border is closed, public transportation has been shut down, schools and large events have been cancelled. There is a nationwide lockdown in effect from March 24th to April 6th but there are rumors of it being extended until at least April 14. We are grateful for the efforts being made to keep us all safe and healthy and pray it will be enough. 

Now that the lockdown is going on, we are staying home. Classes for CCBC and School of Worship have been cancelled until the lockdown is finished. All of the students have gone back to their homes for the time being. Church services at CC Kathmandu are being held online through our Facebook page.

​The only time anyone is allowed to go out is to buy food, go to the doctors, or get money from the banks/ATMs. All restaurants and non-food related shops are closed. We had to go into the city a a few days ago for a doctors appointment for Eden (vaccinations) and it was crazy to see the normally busy streets completely empty. We were even stoped by a police officer to make sure we weren't just out for a joy ride!

We even had a group with us from CC Poulsbo (Washington) that were stuck here for some time due to the borders being closed. Four of them were able to get flights out of the country before the lockdown happened but 6 of them were not able to. They went through 3 or 4 different flight cancellations before it became obvious that they were in fact "stuck" here. Finally, after a little over a week, they were able to be evacuated (with the help of the US Embassy) on a chartered flight back to America and they are now safe and sound in their homes. 

For our dear friends in America - please do not take this virus or the efforts that the government is making to help it from spreading lightly. I believe there is a reason it is not spreading quickly here in Nepal and that is because people are actually complying with the governments rules for going out side. If you do not NEED to go out - don't. Stay home and enjoy the time God has given you to be with your families. Try to do your part in keeping your family and other people's families safe during this time of crisis.

Our Time in America

We are amazed to see God's hand and guidance in our entire trip and the timing of our trip! If we had waited just a few days more to leave America, we would have risked being stuck Stateside and not able to get back to our Nepali friends and family. Although we would have loved to extend our time with Tonielle's family, we felt the urgency to get back with everyone here. On the flip side, if we had waited to come to America a little later, we would not have had such a fruitful visit due to church buildings closing, quarantines, social distancing, etc.

God's timing is truly perfect!

We had a blessed and very busy time in America! We landed in CA on December 14, 2019. We purposely did not plan to do much for the first week or two so that we could have some family time and recover from jet-lag. 

Christmas with Tonielle's family was special to us all. It was Eden's first Christmas and Levi's second American Christmas. We loved watching both of them experience the joys of seeing Christmas lights, eating Christmas goodies, and getting spoiled by their grandparents and others with lots and lots of presents. 

With the help of our home church, CC WestGrove, we were able to attend the Calvary Chapel Missions Conference in Murrieta at the beginning of January. The theme of the conference was "The Church that God Plants". It was a great time of rest and encouragement. We love going to missions conferences as it is a way to connect with other missionaries and hear what God is doing in their lives and ministries. 

The very next day, after the conference, we got on an airplane and headed up to visit our friends at CC Poulsbo (the same team who were stuck in Nepal with us for some time). We flew into Seattle and then took a ferry over to the peninsula that Poulsbo is located on - the view of the Seattle skyline was incredible!

​We loved our time there! It was great to see friends who had come on past trips to Nepal and to make new friends. During our time there, we were able to meet with the team that was coming. We had dinner at one of the team member's homes and then had a brief question and answer time. The next day was Sunday and Pankaj had the privilege of not only presenting a ministry update but also shared a short message with the CC Poulsbo congregation for both of their services. After church, we toured around the city of Poulsbo for some time before heading back to our host family's house.

That evening, we had a big surprise - SNOW! This was our first experience as a family in snow. Levi was so excited when he woke up and saw all the snow on the ground. Naturally - we had to go out and play in it! Pastor Joel invited us over to play in the snow with his kids in the morning, then in the evening, we met up with our good friend, Pastor David for lunch and then drove around with our host seeing other parts of the peninsula. It was a sweet visit and we are so glad we were able to go there!

After we returned from Washington, Tonielle's brother and sister-in-law came to visit for a week. It was the first time seeing them in 3 years and the first time they were meeting Eden. Although it was a tight fit for all of us to fit into our parent's 3 bedroom house, it was amazing! We loved having the whole family together and loved having our kids be able to meet their Uncle Robbie & Aunt Kelsie. Levi and Robbie even got to bond over their love for Pokemon! 

The following week, we packed the kids into the car and drove up north to visit our friends at CC Walnut Creek. The kids did great on the drive up there! Instead of driving the whole 8 hours straight, we broke it into 2 days. We were able to visit our friend in Santa Maria and stay at her house before we got back on the road the next day. 

Our time in Walnut Creek was blessed. We stayed with a sweet family while we were there. One of their 5 kids was named Levi so our Levi was excited about that!

On Sunday, we led worship and shared about our ministries and then Pankaj taught a great message from 2 Corinthians 4:5-12. After service they had a baptism and fellowship time at our host family's house. It was fun to be able to watch the baptisms and also have a chance to hang out with the congregation. 

The next day, we drove around San Fransisco, got some ice cream at Ghirardelli Square, and then started our drive back down to Southern California. We broke it into two days again and was able to visit one of Tonielle's School of Worship friends and his family for the night.  

The following weekend, we spoke at Temecula Christian Fellowship. We shared an update and Pankaj taught an encouraging message with the congregation. After service, they had a potluck where we were able to meet and talk with everyone from the church. It was a nice time of fellowship and we loved meeting everyone from the church.

After the potluck, we drove down to Oceanside were we had a big surprise planned for Levi the next day!  Tonielle's parents had bought tickets to Legoland for Christmas and we were finally going to take him there! We waited until we were pulling into the parking lot before we told him. It was a special day for the whole family. We loved experiencing it through the eyes of our very excited 4 year old.

On Sunday, February 9, Eden was dedicated to the Lord at CC WestGrove! This was a special occasion since Levi was also dedicated at CC WestGrove years back. We pray that they with grow up to love the Lord with all of their hearts and that He will use both of them to glorify Him!

On Valentine's Day, we loaded up the car again and headed over to CC St. George, Utah, where we attended and shared at the "Just Go" Youth Missions Conference! It was incredible to see the hearts of so many young people stirred up for missions! There was a special breakout session where the kids chose different missionaries to speak with and learn more about the ministries and serving opportunities. We had about 20 kids between the ages of 14 to mid-20s come to learn more about what we do and how they can get involved. 

On Sunday, we were asked to teach/share at the children's church for two services! It was a stretch for both of us as neither one of us have much experience teaching 3rd - 6th graders. Despite our fears, it went really well. The kids seemed to be genuinely interested in what were shared and many of them had great questions about Nepal and our different ministries there. 

Since we were out of town for Eden's real birthday, we had a party for her a week later with a few of our friends and family members. We loved being able to celebrate her 1st birthday with Tonielle's parents and with our friends. Looking back at the year, it is hard to believe how fast it went. We praise God for this little firecracker of a girl He has given us and we cannot wait to see her personality continue to grow and develop through the coming years!

Our last week in America was just as busy as all the other weeks and we wouldn't have had it any other way! We normally start to slow down a bit at the end of our trips and focus on buying last minute items and packing. Clearly, God had other things in mind and He knew the importance of us fitting as much into this trip! 

With the help of some dear friends of ours, we were able to be signed into both parks at Disneyland!! We had gone to Disneyland before with Levi when he was around Eden's age but we knew this would be the trip he would remember! Just like our time at Legoland, we loved seeing the excitement in his eyes with all of the rides and meeting all of his favorite characters! 

Just three days before we headed back to Nepal, we squeezed in one more road trip down to San Diego where we had the opportunity to share at a church fellowship down there. It was a small and intimate group and we loved it. It was the perfect way to end our sharing tour. 

​Although it is always difficult to leave Tonielle's parents, we were anxious to get back to our lives in Nepal. On March 1st, we started our long trip back! The virus was just starting to spread more  throughout the world by that time and there was a heightened amount of questions and precautions made by the airlines and airports we visited. We were questioned on where we were coming from and had our temperatures taken more times than we can ever remember! 

Now we are back in Nepal and like we said at the beginning of this update, we are grateful that we got back when we did! 

Thank you to each of you who made our trip as awesome as it was! Thank you for inviting us over to your homes and/or churches, taking us out for a meal or coffee, giving financial  gifts or just coming over to hang out and talk with us. We are blessed to have your love and support for our family. We treasure the time we had with each of you and look forward to our next visit in 2021! 

Love, 
Pankaj, Tonielle, Levi, and Eden Sarkar