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.

Till The Ground

Fields near the Iris Nepal Children's home

We've been in Nepal for 10 months, and among the many many things involved in the perpetual learning process that is missions, has been this tension between our expectations and Gods, between our perspectives and time frames and those of our Father. Its really a losing battle for us, but I doubt any good would come if we had it our way. Expectations can be a strange and powerful thing. They can become these carelessly placed anchors in our mind that we hold onto and are often used as some irrational measuring stick. Perspectives can greatly alter our interpretations of things. A wall can look much taller from its base than from an airial view. Seeing in the natural Elisha's servant saw things very different than the prophet who saw the superior reality of the Spirit. Time along with us is a created thing and the created will never have greater understanding than the creator.

Ten months has been like the beginning of some slow pregnancy of the kingdom. Holy Spirit has been moving but not as visibly as we had expected. He's been tending to seeds in us that would not survive if they were birthed now. In many ways carrying this child of promise has been the most challenging aspect of moving here. The changes of environment and culture can be embraced with relative ease, but to have the beginnings of something hidden within us and not yet be able to release it is a challenge that we were completely unprepared for.

Following Jesus here has involved a lot more waiting that we had anticipated. I especially had fallen victim to a sort of "take it by storm" type of ambition. Thankfully Jesus in His mercy has deprived the plant of ambition any water allowing it to wilt considerably. He is not slow towards us concerning His promises as some count slowness. His promises don't return to Him void, He is faithful, He is patient, He is always good. I'm learning that its imperative to trust His promises completely and place little weight on circumstances. When we react to circumstances we can easily repeat the sin of Abraham and Sarah and take things into our own hands. But we must remember that even though waiting for a promise may reach the point of frustration, He is always faithful to His word.

So while this season here has at times felt a bit listless, thats a rather limited perspective. Jesus has been tilling the ground and preparing us for His purpose, and we wait, but we wait with the hope of promise.

-kyle

Child Sponsorship

If anyone is interested Iris Nepal offers a Child Sponsorship program for the kids at our home. Photos of the children along with their sponsorship status can be found here. For more info email irisnepal@gmail.com

Radio Silence....

...We're still alive and doing well, but due to moving, no internet access, and our laptop dying, we have been rather lacking on the communication front. Hopefully in a few weeks we'll be able to give a more verbose update(with pictures) on whats been going on with us. For now we leave you with a point form outline.

• After 11 months of nomadic homelessness we've finally moved into our own flat just outside of Kathmandu. We live above a church and below our amazing landlord. The place is brand new which is a nice perk in Asia, and when its a clear day we can see a number of Himalayan mountains from our windows.
• The power supply on our laptop blew which has led us down the wonderful adventures of international warranty claims
• We've seriously been falling more in love with the children at the home.  The more we get to know them and their personalities the more they work their way into our hearts. 
• All the staff who we're away during the summer returned last month, and last week we had a YWAM arrive. Now we'll be resuming village outreaches, going to Nepal's many unreached villages and sharing the love of the Father with them.

On another note, last week we encountered Gods amazing faithfulness and provision. Essentially we ran out of money and we didn't know what we were going to do. So we prayed and thanked Jesus for His provision and faithfulness ahead of time. The next day we received more money than we immediately needed from a totally unexpected source. Then a couple days later our base leader came to our door with money saying it wasn't from him and he couldn't tell us who it was from. Jesus is so good and faithful, its amazing!


Thats all for now
Grace, Peace, & more Holy Spirit
-Kyle & Annie

Update

Our bi-annual update for Iris Canada is now online.

http://irismin.ca/updates/august-2011-kyle-annie-update

Marbles and the relentless generosity of children

The other day I decided I wanted to give each of the boys at the Iris home a few marbles. At one point they had  one or two to share among all 13 of them, but they had long ago disappeared the way marbles do. The day after I decided to get them marbles Jesus provided a whole jar of them to us for free. Not that marbles are expensive, or out of our ability to purchase, but any provision from the Father is a good thing, and for this we are thankful.

Today we gave each boy four small marbles. They were so excited and thankful over a few cents worth of round glass. They all kept saying "Thank you Uncle, thank you Auntie", and wasted no time starting a number of games around the play area. The smallest ones would just giggle while they chased their rolling marbles around.

About an hour after we gave them to them a five year old named Mahindra came up to me and placed all four of his new marbles in my pocket. Thinking he was being silly I took them out and tried to put them in his shirt pocket. He promptly places both hands over the pocket preventing my deposit and said he wanted to give me the marbles. I played along and thanked him, then a few minutes later I tried again to put them in his shirt pocket. Again he flat out refused. After a few more unsuccessful attempts I ran down to his room and hid them under his pillow. He soon discovered them, chased me down and shoved them in my pocket.

I had to accept it, he wanted me to keep them. This little boy who doesn't have very much, and shares all the toys with the other children, insisted on giving away his new toy that was entirely his own.

Freely we have received and freely we are to give. We can't hold onto anything so tightly that it gets in the way of love. Five year old Mahindra knows more about the kingdom than I do.

-kyle

Transformation

This is Pabitra. She's five years old and one of the newest additions to the Iris Nepal Children's Home. What we know of her story is similar to so many children in Nepal. Her father died and then her mother remarried, however, her mothers new husband didn't want any reminder of his wife's old marriage, so Pabitra's mother abandoned her.

When Pabitra first came to Iris you could see rejection hovering over her. Like many new orphans she would eat huge quantities of food because she was probably uncertain if any more food would come. While the other kids would run around and play on the rooftop terrace of the home she would stand motionless and stare out at the mountains. She would let you pick her up but she would sit lifeless in your arms. Everyone at Iris would just hold her and pray for her, pour as much love into her as we could. Most kids take a few hours to realize that they are in an environment of unconditional love and acceptance, Pabitra took days.

One day we went to the kids home to spend time with them after school and Pabitra was the first child I saw that day. She was a totally different person. She met me with a huge smile, arms flung wide, wanting to be picked up. She now is full of joy, giggling, running around with the other kids. She eats normal portions of food, and sings while she does her homework.

This is the transforming power of the Fathers Love. It demolished the spirit of rejection and poured out acceptance and love, and made a broken little girl into a new creation.

Glory

-kyle

The Narrow Gate

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."
Matthew 7:12-14

This verse kicked me in the pants the other day. "...the way is HARD that leads to life." Wow, that really speaks against a lot of what the Western Church teaches. Following Jesus is the best, most amazing thing one could ever do, but it's so hard as well. I've been having a difficult time adjusting to life here sometimes, but it ok. Doing what Jesus has called you to do is often difficult, it involves suffering, it involves the desires and wants of our flesh (body) to be killed, so that our life in Jesus can grow and blossom. My character is being built and issues that I thought I've dealt with have all been challenged since I've been here. The enemy has also been trying to discourage me and tell me lies, so it's been double the hurt (pruning) and pain sometimes. BUT, Jesus is so so good. He's changed my life! He's making me more like Himself until one day I am face to face with my Saviour - perfected by His glory.

Father, may my life be a sacrifice and offering to You. Thank You that You give me the strength to do this.

- Annie

I met my cousin tn Kathmandu!

That almost sounds like a country song.  After we got back from our outreach my Mum, Aunt AND Uncle all e-mail me and tell me that my cousin Amy, who I've never met, is in Kathmandu doing a DTS with YWAM.  She's an MK and has lived all over the world and I've never had the chance to meet her.  After connecting by e-mail we arranged to meet for lunch.  It was so good to connect and share about what's going on in in our lives.  It was surreal and yet completely comfortable, I mean we have the same grandmother, same cousins and we even have the same space between our toes!  I miss her already.  LOVE YOU AMY!!!

Village Outreach recap

Panwhalla in Janakpur

 Its been a few weeks since we returned from our village outreach in Janakpur and Pokhara. It was great to get out of the Kathmandu Valley and into other parts Nepal. Janakpur feels almost exactly like North India, the heat, the food, the people, the way the city is laid out, all of it. It made us miss our time in India a little.

In the three days we were there we ministered in one church and three small Dalit villages, one of which had never heard the name of Jesus before. We would gather and worship for a while to welcome the presence of God, this also tends to gather most of the village around us. One of the Nepali's on our team would then preach, and then we would pray for the sick. Because of the rigorous farming work in the rural areas almost everyone had some sort of body pain amongst other ailments. At lease 5-10 deaf people were totally healed, some heard their children's voice for the first time. Overall the vast majority of people prayed for were healed, many also accepted Jesus into their hearts, and received the love of the Father.


We had to pray for a few hours just to get through all the people. It gave me a better understanding how Jesus got tired at the end of a day praying for people. I kept getting to a place of feeling totally empty yet there are still people waiting in line, or bypassing it all together to receive prayer. I often had to pray as an act of will rather than a place of faith, but that didn't matter much, when we are faithless Jesus is faithful. The people were so hungry, hopeful and full of faith. They often had more determination than we did. If they weren't healed they wouldn't get discouraged, they would just receive more prayer until they were.

In spite of all that the Holy Spirit was doing I don't believe that was the primary purpose for us going on this outreach. It was a very trying and challenging time for both of us. The Lord was testing our hunger for Him and His Kingdom, testing our reliance on His grace and presence. Can we faithfully lay hold of His promises when our hearts or circumstances seem contrary? Though difficult these things were actually answers to things we have been praying about for some months now.


After Janakpur we headed over to beautiful Pokhara, had a day of rest, then hiked up into the surrounding mountains to some more villages. Because of an encroaching storm, and a navigational blunder that turned a two hour hike into a seven hour one, we never got a chance to do any direct ministry in the villages around there. Instead we all enjoyed the spectacular views and had an intense time of prayer for the area and the Nation.

-kyle

Village Outreach with Fire and Fragrance

In a few hours we're leaving for a 10 day village outreach with a team from Fire & Fragrance (a ministry under YWAM). We'll be splitting our time between Janakpur (map)  in the south and Pokhara (map) to the west. We'll be based in the two cities but spend most of our time in the surrounding villages of the Dalit (untouchable) cast. These people are shunned by the general public and can often only find work doing the jobs no one else will do.

Our hope is that the people we meet encounter the love of the Father and that Holy Spirit crashes in. That heaven would invade earth in a place where many have never heard the name of Jesus.

We'll write more when we get back.
Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
-kyle & annie

In Transit

Everything we've taken with us

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of packing and travel. We had planned on sorting out all the packing weeks prior to leaving but things piled up and we ended up doing it the day before. Our large suitcase was hopelessly overweight, we tried swapping its contents with other bags but it was still coming in 20 pounds over! Finally in the wee hours of the morning as we resigned to just pay the overweight charge I checked in online only to find that we had an extra free checked bag than what our travel agent told us! Thank God for hidden blessings. So the morning of our flight we managed to get it all under weight with the help of the extra bag.

We were incredibly blessed to spend four days in London on the way over to Nepal. We spent a bit of time seeing the sights but we were mostly there to see some beloved friends from Harvest School in Mozambique. It was a great time to catch up, pray, worship, and be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. They are all inspiring people who's heart is set on the kingdom and its exciting to see where Jesus is leading them.

We arrived in Kathmandu on the 13th and are settling into our temporary lodgings and fighting off jet lag. Today as we ran some errands I was incredibly happy to be back. Nepal already feels like home even though I don't yet speak the language or know how to take the bus. The hills around Kathmandu are stunning and with monsoon approaching in a month or so everything is becoming vibrantly green. It almost inspires me to become a landscape photographer.

-Kyle

Leaving soon...again

Kyle and I leave for Nepal in 11 days! We're really excited and can't wait to go. This is just a quick post to ask you all to pray for us as we prepare to leave. This is so different then just going on a long trip, we're moving to another country! Yet, in so many ways it's not a big deal at all. Nepal is so right, we're stepping into our destiny and there is nothing else we could do but to go there.

God is so faithful to us! He keeps His word and His promises. Thank you Father for the opportunity to live in a beautiful land and minister and learn from such beautiful people.

Bless you friends and family!
-annie

What Do We Have To Give

"To beg God to heal someone is to assume that you have more compassion than He does" - Randy Clark

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.
(Acts 3:1-7 ESV)

The above quote and verse from Acts have been challenging me lately, and changing the way I think. The vast majority of Christians believe in praying for the sick in some capacity, yet for reasons that escape me it is often reduced to an uncertain plea to God. Often in our near certainty that no healing will take place, we throw in the anti-prayer contingency "If its not your will to heal them, then give them strength, peace, perseverance etc". I've prayed like that in the past, but I don't really know why, perhaps it's learned behavior? As Randy Clark points out above, to pray like that is to totally disregard the nature of the Father. Furthermore I'm unaware of a instance in the NT of someone praying for someone in this manner.

So if praying for the sick is not a petition to God what is it? Whats been getting to me the most is where Peter and John say to the lame man "I have not silver or gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!". What is it they had? What do we have to give in a situation like that?  We're called to be filled with the Holy Spirit and His power, and that is a significant factor for sure but as I've mulled over it I've realized there is more.

I've occasionally fallen into the error of praying for a miracle just because it works, with no tangible love for the person I'm praying for. Sometimes because the Father love the person more than I do He heals them. But as Bill Johnson aptly says, "If our prayers don't move us they aren't going to move Him".  I've realized that power or anointing alone isn't how the kingdom works. I need to walk in greater love for the people I minister to, I need Jesus to give me supernatural love for them.

I also feel that as temples of the Holy Spirit we carry the presence of God with us wherever we go. The more time we spend in His presence, when our cup is overflowing, the more of Him spills out around us without us even trying to do anything. We can walk into the darkest places we can find and actually bring the presence of God with us. Sometimes His presence in us is all thats necessary to change the atmosphere around us. I believe that's what happened when people were healed when peter walked by them. It wasn't His shadow, he was so filled with the Glory of the Lord that it gave life to all around him.

While this is all partial revelation I do know that is changing the way I approach the "impossible".

-kyle