Internet Connection Progress, Yeah!!

5/6/11

Well Whadya know! I actually have internet in my own apartment!!!! It is slow as molasses in January but at least it is working here tonight!

You would not believe the obstacles I have had to overcome to get this! (See second pix which may account for some of our troubles!) Suffice it to say it has been an extreme challenge for the last two weeks. I will not be wasting any time reading the forwards you sent so please do not send any more... it takes me about 2 full minutes to open each email... and I have 530 here today so only personal emails will be read and responded to as I am able over the next few days...pending we have power and "line" for internet!

I will try to fill you all in on a few details:

The Bakery is coming along nicely. Our oven arrived in one piece although the back is dented... hopefully it will not affect function. We will obtain a gas cylinder tomorrow and try it out. I bought a large stainless steel work table in Kathmandu also and am including pix (first) of how we got it on the top of the bus. The oven had to come by truck "transport" and took about 10 days over these rugged roads to come 400 miles! We were able to purchase the oven including the transport for exactly $1000.00. We only had $500 for it so please pray in the funds for it. The table was another $350 and we still have to go find and purchase furniture for the coffee shop (i.e.: tables and chairs) etc. Also pray with me for an Espresso maker... anyone have connections with Starbucks upper echelons?

We plan to have a grand opening in about 2 weeks if we can get iron furniture ordered tomorrow and delivered on time!

The paraplegics have been knitting away in my absence and created all kinds of goodies. Looks like my suitcases to bring home will be full with what we already have! I am teaching them a few new techniques and products to try while I am here.

I visited the orphanage in Kathmandu while I was there. The 19 orphans and 2 parents seemed all healthy and happy. They are praying for 2 computers... one for boys and one for girls so they can study separately and not disturb each other with their homework???!!! They are taking pix of each one and writing their Bio's so you all can get to know them better especially if you are sponsoring one of them. 10 of them still need sponsors!

I nearly became the proud mother of a newborn baby boy on Monday... an unwed mother came from a day's walk away in Patan asking for an abortion. The boy who got her pregnant got married to another girl the week before. He would not take responsibility for the child. The village council decided it would be best for her to abort the baby... she did not have a voice in the decision. The village elders brought her here for it. She herself is an orphan aged 18 so family did not accompany her. She also wanted to get the whole ordeal over with. She is a distant relative of my landlady. Her first night here she went into labor! Lots of our hospital staff counseled her encouraging her not to kill the baby and coaching the men who brought her the same way. She had a lovely healthy little boy and was about to get up and leave the next morning but our staff said " not so fast... you got yourself into this mess... the least you can do is stick around and nurse this child till we can find a home for it." They came to me and asked if I could raise the baby or take it to America and find someone there to raise it. I said I would take it and we would pray for a great home for the baby.

I was preparing its first bottle of formula and P…… donated a baby bottle and some newborn clothes and accessories and we were just set to take him when 2 widows arrived from Dhat Gow (a nearby village) they have been childless their entire marriages before their husbands passed. They now live together and have always wanted children. They came with a few references and so it was decided they would be the new family for this wee one! Whew! I came so close to being a mommy again! Pray for the little fellow to survive and grow up to know our Lord. He has already overcome incredible obstacles! If he had been born a day or two on either side of her visit to the hospital to abort him (which they do not do here anyway) he would have been born in a field and abandoned or killed and buried and his little life tragically ended.

Also this week I and all the church elders spent two full days deliberating the case of a 12 girl who was asked into a believers home to assist with a small child in exchange for "improved education" last November?. However the girl never got sent to school at all and though she talked with her Dad a few times never mentioned she was in trouble. In March they finally got a call saying she was "sick" but they had taken her to a "medical" and was improving. The Dad then called my landlord as it is his "granddaughter" who instructed them to take her to a real Dr. as things sounded fishy. The new family never did, and by the time the Dad got half way across Nepal to his daughter he discovered horrendous abuse had been taking place and immediately removed her from the home and brought her here to see a Dr at this hospital. The poor girl has had bad nightmares and a long time healing these multiple scars all over her body especially head and face and back and the backs of her arms... places one cannot reach on one's own!
The girl’s story has been consistent since the day she was rescued... it was the "auntie" who beat her, clawed her back and mouth and threw her into a wall over and over by grabbing her hair... then cut it all off because she had lice. She also put so much salt in just her food so she couldn't eat it and made her sleep naked on a cold cement floor locked in a small room each night. She has nothing bad to say about the "uncle" who took her in. "Uncle" has been 2 months getting himself down here to face the parents, grandfather, and church leaders and when he now showed up, did not bring the wife charged with all the abuse "because she is 5 months pregnant and the Dr won’t let her out of bed due to a previous miscarriage". The ' "Uncle" at first denied any wrong on his or his wife's part... later admitted he had beat her on her hands and his wife had beat her on her legs with a stick but he had no idea how her ears were torn, how she had huge wounds on her face and back and the backs of her arms. "These must have been self inflicted or caused by an evil spirit... which the church had prayed over and she had been delivered."
Ultimately he accepted full responsibility for the abuse which obviously happened while the child was in his care though "he did not know how most of it happened". He admitted he first personally saw signs of trauma on her before Christmas and noticed each morning she had new wounds on her face and she would deny that she knew how they got there. These increased as each day there would be more. He did not let anyone know till March 7th! The Grandfather asked me to sit in on the second day of meetings as the first day the "uncle" spent nearly 2 hours interrogating the child in front of the church to try to prove his innocence. He felt the girl should have at least one other woman to support her in front of all those men and wanted my opinion as a nurse and child advocate.

Ohhhh this was hard. Even after the meeting, the men came down here to our patio to discuss it further and called back the elders again and again to meet and eventually worked it all out with the "Uncle" realizing his full mistake and asking forgiveness and the Dad and grandfather giving it. All was put in writing and it is ended. However no one is clear on what the wife will admit or what will become of her. The child had no voice other than mine sternly admonishing these men that the real issue is the health and future of the girl. She has been physically, emotionally and spiritually abused and deserves a lot of counseling and the best of education since she has missed out on a whole year of school over this. The parents will see that she gets it... they are from a very poor family and have 6 kids. I will see that she gets it... that will be my job to follow up and see that this child gets the help she needs. She will stay in her own home where she is loved and is safe. Pray for her and all involved! Poor kid had to listen to all these men deliberate her case as if she was invisible!

In addition to all the above challenges I have also been trying to help a Finnish family with 3 kids (5,7,9) that speak no Nepali, adjust to remote Nepali lifestyle and figure out what eat and how to cope out here. She has extremely high standards of cleanliness and punctuality which is culturally impossible with two small boys (undisciplined!) in a third world country!!!!! It is a trip trying to diplomatically translate for her and suggest she lower her standards and expectations unless she wants to be continually frustrated.

On the other hand their hired "teacher" is the sweetest blessing... a 26 yr old girl from Seattle who we have discovered is not only someone with incredible things in common with me, but a kind of strange kindred spirit. She has always wanted to come and live in Nepal like the people of Nepal. So I have helped her find a place to live and today we painted one of her two new rooms and she will move in this next week. She has a strong desire for ministry not just teaching this couples kids for 4 hours each day so is so excited about this bakery ministry. Alicia loves to bake and has been a barista in the past at Starbucks so is willing to help out all she can to get this coffee shop and bakery off the ground!

Well must turn in... almost midnight here and though the dogs are barking I must try to get some sleep! No wonder I am tired... reviewing the week it has been really busy and stressful!

It is my turn to share at the Women’s (Didi - Bhaini) meeting after morning worship tomorrow so better be alert for that!

Lastly for good news... I have just assisted two ladies with their 4 day gallbladder cleanses... both passed lots of gall stones! One lady is the wife of our prior pastor... we caught 21 of her many stones and the largest in about an inch x half an inch! (26 mm x 14 mm) she is very happy! I will send pix of it in another email as it has taken over 30 minutes to upload just these 3 pix! OK?
Thanks for all your prayers! I am thriving thanks to you all and the grace of God!!!!.

Dawn Didi

PS I have invited S…. (Driver of the YWAM van I wrote of in the past) his wife and baby for dinner tomorrow... he tried to go work in Dubai for a few months... found Jesus while he was there! I have been praying for him for 4 years now! I want to hear his story!