Moving Away From The Blog

We're still alive even though we haven't written an update in nearly a year! We've gone to Canada, had a baby and returned to Nepal.

We've decided shut down the blog and move to an email news letter. This decision is mostly for privacy sake since a less public forum will allow us to be a little more open with our updates.

If you would like to sign up for our updates send an email to timesnotbackward(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @ ) and we'll send you a link to the sign up page. If you received this message via email just reply to this message. Though the new system is email only you'll always have the option of canceling or changing your subscription, and we'll never use your email address for anything else.

We'll wait a couple of weeks for people to sign up and then start sending out updates on a more regular basis.

Thank you for your interest, prayers, and support.
Kyle & Annie

Worship night with the Iris kids

Last night we went to have a worship time with the kids.  It was so great!  Nelson, our Nepali brother, led them in some worship songs with dancing and lots of drumming, as most of the kids wanted a turn on the hand drum.  They started to spontaneously share some testimonies and one girl shared how when she was on the school bus that morning she realized that she forgotten to full up her pen with ink before she went to school.  So, she prayed and asked God to help her and when she got to school she started writing with her pen and there was ink in it and it lasted all day!  The teachers here are really strict and so she was worried that she would get in trouble, but Jesus had something else in mind!  Hallelujah!

After some songs the kids all went into a time of spontaneous prayer and were intensely praying for each other.  At the end of this precious time one of the older boys said that while we were praying God gave him a song to sing.  He stood up right away and sang a beautiful song about how there is darkness in the world, but that God has provided a huge light for us and how for those that are feeling sick or in pain that there's healing in Jesus.  It was so beautiful.   I told him afterwards that Jesus was going to give him more songs, he just nodded his head, Nepali style, and had a big grin on his face, what a precious boy!

I love the kids at the Iris home so much, it's so great living just down the street from them.  Speaking of home, I want to get Kyle to take some shots of our house and neighborhood to show you all. Oh and some of the kids home too.  Kyle's on outreach now, but we'll do this soon.  Stay tuned.....

Baby!

Hey so I just realized that we failed to post on our blog that we're pregnant!  Yup I'm 21 weeks today and the due date is September 23rd.   We're super excited!  What's also exciting is that we're going to go back to Canada to have the baby!  Yup, so all you folks in the Toronto area that want to see us please drop us a line via e-mail and we'll try to arrange a time to hook up with you.  We'll only be in that area for a couple weeks and then we'll mostly be hanging out at my parents place as that's where our midwife will be.  Visit's to my parents place are also welcome :)

We'll be back in Canada from about the 20th of July until the last week or so of November.  We don't have any flights booked yet, put those are the dates we hope to be there.  My sister leaves for about a year to go and work with a ministry in the States on July 29th so we're going to go back a little earlier then we originally planned so we can spend some time with her before she leaves.

The kids at the Iris Nepal home are so excited, they're always asking me, "Annie Auntie how's your baby?"  Or, "how big is your baby now?" It's so darling.  We'll have to skype them while we're in Canada, I'm going to miss them like crazy!

Yay for babies!
Annie

About The Blog Name

I've come to realize that some of you might be uncertain of the meaning behind the name of this blog. Admittedly its a bit abstract, but it was the only name I could find that suitably reflected the circumstances surrounding the blogs origins. Two months before we took our trip to Mozambique I was reading through C.S. Lewis' Perelandra for the second or third time. It was in that season as we were preparing to step into something entirely new and embracing the realization that we would be drastically altering the course of our lives that I fell upon the following line from old Clive's timeless book.

"Since our Beloved became a man, how should Reason in any world take on another form? Do you not understand? That is all over. Among times there is a time that turns a corner and everything this side of it is new. Times do not go backward"

My understanding of this is that in time, in history, there are lines that once crossed bring about a level of change so total that things can not return to the way they were. The Christ event, the incarnation, death and resurrection, was such a line. A fallen world has been redeemed and it cannot be un-redeemed. The course of time has been changed and nothing can slow the momentum of Gods salvific plan.

So why choose such a monumental analogy for the title of a small personal account of a new direction in life? Like much in the Kingdom the macro parallels the micro, the big is found in the small. For us the decision to leave what we knew and follow Holy Spirit was crossing such a line. In our hearts we burned the bridges back to the life we had. We are learning to persevere seeing him who is invisible. There is no going back to Egypt.

Hebrews says this of the heroes of faith:

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

I believe that Jesus calls all believers to live with such reckless abandon. It doesn't mean that all are called to go overseas or quit their jobs, however I do believe that it Jesus wants to so posses our hearts that every decision of substance is in submission to the path He has laid before us. That we are so captivated by Him and the hope of His calling that we are heedless to the perceived consequences of obedience, and run with endurance the race that is set before us.

This blog is an account of us learning what all this means, learning how to follow Jesus. Learning about faith, hope and love. Learning about the Kingdom of Heaven. We've reached the point where going back is harder then going forward. We can no longer go backward.

-kyle

Such Is The Kingdom Of Heaven

Last week the DeBortoli's (Iris Nepal Base leaders)  had all the Iris kids over to their house for a barbecue. The kids enjoyed hotdogs, and other treats, and played in the big yard. The DeBortoli's  just so happen to have a house that came with a trampoline. Knowing what some of these kids were like when they first arrived at the children's home and now seeing the joy they continually carry is nothing short of miraculous. I'm understanding a little more why Jesus said such is the Kingdom of Heaven.

-kyle

Iris Nepal February Update

http://www.irismin.org/nepal/journal/iris-nepal-update-february-2012

enjoy!

Driving In Kathmandu

While the traffic here is not as bad as some places like India, its still crazy enough to keep you on your toes. Despite the craziness I love riding a motorcycle here.

The first portion of the video is road we ride almost daily, the second part is down town Kathmandu where we only go when necessary. It turns out that years of mountain biking growing up have had some unforeseen fringe benefits on the mission field.