Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Packing and Leaving for the Hills

Wow your prayers are amazing! Look what God has done!!

The roads opened Sunday morning and it looks like we will be able to leave at 1pm this afternoon!.We are packed and ready. We didn’t want to be the first ones out of town because there are usually a few kinks and glitches because 15 days worth of traffic backed up needs to move through. Besides the first five busses that left yesterday were absolutely packed!

I’m feeling much better and walking normally on my foot though it still feels weak. I can sleep through the night without pain meds for my arm (although it still gets sore from overuse).(I'm still in an arm cast and sling.)

And we had power this morning when we woke up and we thought we had water...it was a false alarm but we had high hopes! We had heard rumors Saturday that all of Kathmandu Valley would also be closed so we stocked up accordingly. It was a relief to wake up Sunday morning and realize it was not the case so we could go to English chu.rch and prais.e Go.d!

Please pr.ay about the following:

1. Journey mercies and safe travel

2. We have tickets for the front of the bus...may they actually be what we get!

3. Continued healing

4. Ministry site visitation (we should get to check on the well situation this week)

5. If God would see fit, Iwe would have internet access from Dadeldhura to stay in touch.

6. Prai.se Go.d that He put Julia in my life when I so needed her... she has been my hostess for these 2 + and a personal nurse and encourager as well. She has also shared this computer with me graciously!

7. Praise Go.d that Dave and I can be together for the next 3 months of ministry, his visa was extended. We should be home on the same flight, June 1st.

8. Praise God I had my crown re-done this week and all it cost me was treating the dentist to lunch!(I took him, Julia and Dave to a lovely golf course). Anyone need dental work done?! Dave also got alot of needed dental work done this week... we tease him he is now ready for GQ! His was also free! God is good and blessed us with a young entrepreneur from our remote village out west who just happens to own a dental hospital in K-du. He wants us to do dental camps for the poor in rural areas with him and agrees to seek a visa for me with his connections... sounds good but Pra.ay for HIS will in all this!

You guys can’t imagine how much you mean to me, your prayers have encouraged have really boosted our morale.

I love you all!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Calamity Jane

It is with regret that I must report a disastrous situation. Yesterday I was simply minding my own business, taking a walk with my gracious hostess through the bazaar. First one boy pelted me with a water filled balloon...it is holy after all, a religious festival where the public throw paint and water as some kind of sport. The second balloon that was pelted at me appeared to be from a 12 year old boy. He hit me right in the back. As we progressed down the road, I thought I saw him in my peripheral vision about to launch another one. To my detriment I looked back to verify it and lost my footing and fell. HARD! I twisted my ankle and landed on my shoulder and face. The next several hours I spent in acute pain, as villagers and Julia attempted to get me a taxi and whisk me to the emergency room. Multiple xrays revealed that the deformity of my right shoulder was a dislocation, I fractured my right wrist and a strained ligament in my left ankle.

Currently, I am gimping around with casts that are suppose to stay on for 5 weeks. Julia has taken on the added the role of personal nurse to the role she already fulfilled as a gracious hostess. She is graciously typing for me as with left hand, I am totally useless. However, pain is now a 2/10 if I remain still and swaved in slings.

The bundh is still on. Rumor has it may open up tomorrow but the official holiday for “Holy” is tomorrow and Wednesday. We expect Thursday for the roads to be packed so our plan is to attempt to exit the city on Friday...Lord willing and the creek don’t rise. (Not a chance of that!..There has been no rain in months).

I need your continued prayers for rapid healing, for a way to pay the hospital bill (blue cross/blue shield does not cover this) of $400USD, for a smooth journey to our final destinations and for a clear sense of how to accomplish min.istry all handicapped. I asked God today what I could possibly do for Him in this state He said I could still praise Him so that is my intent.

All for now, I’ll keep you posted. Dave has mostly recovered from his upper respiratory virus. I am grateful for your prayers and for how God is teaching me to depend on Him and providing great friends to surround me.

Arrived Safely

Hello friends and family!
"I have arrived!" or so I am led to believe!

I had a long laborious journey but arrived safe and sound in K-du on time on Saturday. My gracious hostess, Julia, met me at the airport and has been a delight to share with... she is a young nurse from Vancouver and we are listening to 106.5 via internet fromvthe pacific North West tonight as I write! I didn't know we could hear "home" like this from half a world away!
I met up with my brother Dave, the next day and we have spent the last 3 days getting visas lined up successfully for the next three months, visiting our orphanage, networking with the college kids we have sponsored in the past and shopping for needed yarn and items to take out west.

Tomorrow I surprisingly have a job interview... the lady I meet with at 1PM is the Director of Nursing of the Nepali Nursing council and cheif of staff at the largest cancer Hospital in Nepal located in Chitwan. One of these before mentioned college students became a nurse, got a job there, rooms with this lady and when she became ill Manju offered her a dose of my "bug juice" she got well in a day and demanded to know where she learned this remedy. Manju told her about me and now she is dying to meet me and she is also here in K-du this week. Their Cancer hospital is reportedly seeking someone to teach alternative therapies and so therefore I am hooked up for the interview tomorrow! I need your prayers!

Saturday, Dave and I plan to head west. There is a road blockage for the next three days so we are obligated to spend a little more time here in the city. Thursday we will visit the women involved in the brick making women's initiative that have been beading and making jewelry for me in the past. We spent several hours with the orphans tonight... they all seem to be happy and flourishing!

G-od is good!
However our electricity is about to cut off again!