Arrival at Kolkata and to Nepal

Flight was delayed in Spore for an hour. We arrived Kolkata on 28 Sep at 11:30 pm. We stayed overnight at a nearby hotel. 
Breakfast a Babul Hotel in Kolkata
The next morning we scheduled to depart for Bagdogra. But the flight was delayed for more than six hours due to “technical problems”. The wait was exasperating as the authorities were not giving us an assurance if the flight indeed will take off. Thank God eventually the flight took off.

We reached Bagdogra at about 7PM, way past our scheduled time.  Bishop Samuel Sharma and his son Abishek have been waiting since 12 noon. So we had three older ones and three youths in the team now.  But we had to rush to the Nepal border as the  border gates closed at 8:00PM. We arrived at Nepal Border in good time but to our surprise, we learnt that the Immigration Office closed at 6:30pm and will only open the next day at 6:30 AM.  That would mean that our entire program will be disrupted. We were in a state of hesitation, not knowing what to do. We had to make a decision either to stay on the Indian side for the night and forgo the plan to visit Nepal or take the risk and go through the border. I prayed. 

We decided to take the risk and  go through the border gates. As our vehicle drive through, the border guards stopped us. They shorn the torchlight unto our vehicle, and to our relieve, waved us to go. 

Just as we thought the worst was over, there was another check point 500 meters away. This time another set of guards wanted to search the vehicle and asked our coordinator Bishop Samuel Sharma to come out of the vehicle. Our hearts almost stopped beating but as Bishop came out the guards told us to carry on. Praise God we went through without any problems. Yet again another sigh of relief.  Please don’t try this on your own without any supervision.

But that was the beginning of the ordeal. The roads were terrible as we tracked up the mountains in Eastern Nepal. The vehicle was literally crawling as the tracks were full of big rocks and slippery stones. The tracks were unbelievably narrow and with no barricade by the side of the cliff. It is one of the worst roads we have travelled. We travelled the whole night and the bumpy roads stole our sleep as well.  Strangely there was no other vehicle on the road. It was really the grace of God that we arrived safely at a village called Ketuke. 

By day break, we were mesmerized by the beauty if God’s creation. The mountains and the valley were literally singing forth praises to God. Beauty at its best. It was about 6:30 AM.
Kettuke in Okhaldhunga District in the Sagarmatha Zone of mid-eastern Nepal.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering Sis Jenima Sharma - A tribute

Image
Sis Jenima went to be with the Lord on 14 Nov 2024, after battling with  Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) for some time.  This is our tribute to her. It was in 2008, when I first met Sis Jenima, the wife of our Bishop Samuel Sharma. It was during our first trip to NE India, Jaigaon in particular. We were there to conduct a pastors' conference at the bidding of Bishop Samuel who had attended the Haggai Leaders' Experience in Singapore a few months earlier. This was the beginning. She was demure, quiet, hardly spoke a word in English. But she was extremely hospitable and genuinely kind. At that time they lived in a very simple house, with hardly any furnishing, all because of the call of God upon her life to serve the Master.  But one thing was certain. She loved the Lord, her husband and her two young children. She always wanted them to serve the Lord all their lives. She was a remarkable woman whose life reflected the love and grace of God in every aspect.  He...
Read more

Devotion - Psalms 44: 6-7 - Its God who gives the victory

Image
Psalms 44:6-7 - I put no trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame. Any soldier will know that the basic weapon of warfare, in those days, were the bow and sword. Without which no soldier will not venture into the battle field. Even the famed Goliath was geared in full battle order when he faced David with the stones and the sling. Isn't it a paradox then that David, one of the finest soldiers Israel had ever produced, proclaims that its not the bow and the sword that gives the victory. Its is the Lord, Jehovah, that gives the victory. I don't think David is trying to say that we should not prepare ourselves for warfare. His concern is that we recognize that ultimately its the Lord that gives the victory. A few things we need to remember: Human efforts are necessary in the God-man partnership Human efforts alone does not guarantee God intended results Recognize that its God that always gives u...
Read more

25th Wedding Annivesary - Silver Jubilee

Image
11-1-11 - 25th Wedding Anniversary. Today my wife and I celebrate our Silver Jubilee, 25 years of being married together. How time flies. I look out of the window, the weather reminiscent of the day we got married. It was raining the whole day and so is today. How appropriate. Praise God for His faithfulness in our lives and for the blessings He has given us. Lam 3:22-23 - Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. It has been a wonderful journey. Yes there were disagreements, quarrels, desperation and even "fights" but through it all, our love has grown stronger for the Lord , for the family, for the ministry and for one another. Jeya has been the magnet that holds our family together. Almost three months in a year I am out of country for ministry and kids busy in school. But she has always been the inventory holder that keeps reminding of the things that needs to be done an...
Read more