Earthquake news update 5

While Luke was out and about helping people, surveying the land, looking for friends and making sure they were alive we were back at "base camp."

The kids were playing and having a good time. If you know Paul, you know he is great at making friends, but doesn't quite know how to use discretion. He just wants everyone to like him.

There were a group of young men there early 20's maybe and he made friends with them. At first it was no big deal, they weren't far from me so I didn't mind them talking until Paul came up and said,

"Hey mom, my friend asked me to take him to our house. Can I go with him and show him?"

Instantly, red flags went up with me and the others with me.

Why would a grown man want to go to my house in the middle of an earthquake? I can only think of one reason.

I told Paul he must never tell anyone where we live and tried to explain to him the dangers without necessarily scaring him, but I had to scare him so that he would understand that not all people are good and people do have bad intentions. And that we need to be super careful.

That night a few minutes after we laid down to sleep a fight broke out between some of the men. They were both drunk. We have no idea what the reason was, but it was only a few feet away from us.

That night it rained something awful. Thankfully our blankets and things did not get all wet. The next morning my body was super tired. We were once again jolted awake by a tremor. It was about 4:30am. Emily woke up and wanted to stay awake for a while so I grabbed a chair and sat near the fire. There were a few men sitting there but I figured it was no big deal since Luke was only feet away.

After a few minutes they asked me a handful of normal questions and could tell I didn't know a ton of Nepali. So they started talking more freely. Although I can't speak a lot I do understand quite a bit. They started talking about "her husband" and "his money" and "their house". It made me very nervous, especially after what happened the day before with Paul.

We also started thinking of what would happen when people started running out of water and food. Our new house does not have dogs for protection and the gate is always unlocked, plus our house isn't quite ready for occupants--especially kids.

We prayed and it was then we decided the best thing for us to do was for me and the kids to go back to the States so that Luke wouldn't have to worry about us. How easy it would be for someone to take one of the kids for ransom, rob us, or many other things.

I am super excited about seeing my family, my 2 new nieces, and eating a Publix Roast Beef sub sandwich with all the toppings and a blizzard from Dairy Queen, but know I will be thinking of my friends back home who can't just "up and leave", but are everyday living this disaster. This will forever change their lives, way of thinking, and everything they know.