Hi Everyone!

It has been awhile since you heard from me so I want to give you an update!

I am ready to head back to Nepal again and be "On the Mission" once again! 

I was last there Nov and Dec of 2014. In that 7 weeks we were able to enclose level 2 of our new facility and get doors and windows installed. Hurray!

 I was able to confirm that the 2 paraplegic women were settled in their new space and free of rats, condensation and rain coming the in  roof ... Woohoo no leaks! They seemed very happy although Digri was sick and too weak to do any knitting for us this time. She did agree to try out the new wheelchair we had brought her the previous year but alas was only able to tolerate that position for about 5 minutes before wanting to be returned to bed. I doubt she has tried it in my absence but will offer her another chance to get used to it this trip too!

We were disappointed to be denied access to the prison this trip... security had been tightened due to escape attempts by some of the incarcerated so we took the warm mittens up to Anar Kholi, a church of 45+ members about 18 KMs up on the north ridge where it is always cold so our brothers and sisters in that community benefitted although the prisoners couldn't.

We also had a set back with the FM radio ministry and had to discontinue our programming due to technical issues.

Otherwise we had 18 women and 2 men participate in our skill training and product development program. These and many others are very excited to see level 2 of our building be completed and see us open the Education Center where we will offer literacy training in both Nepali and English, skill training, computer training, financial  and business training and then offer microloans to qualified widows and single moms and handicapped individuals to start their own enterprises. Pray for $3000 to complete the plumbing, electrical and carpentry work and lay carpet and outfit a small kitchen and boutique. Pray as we begin to recruit the future leaders and teachers for this Training Center. 

Level 3 has the concrete floor laid and the pillars with rebar up. We are praying for $8000 to pour the concrete roof and enclose it with brick walls and the needed doors and windows. If God should provide this now, I'd love to supervise the completion of this level this time while I am there!!! If you recall level 3 is to be a guest house so we can bring teams of folks to come network with this Nepali community and catch the vision of what God is doing in Nepal.

I got an email last month that the local church has been given the local FM  radio station complete with a broken transmitter requiring 15 lak to fix it ($15,000). Pray the total need for repairs will come in quickly.

If we can scrape together $1500 of that, the church is willing to let us resume daily programming in the Dotiyali language for 2 years! What a wonderful way for the 140,000+ people in these remote mountains to hear they are loved and valued and that God wants a personal relationship with each one. We gear our programs to illiterate women and children who typically have poor self worth and low cultural value. We want them to realize how very much they matter to God! We hope to add additional children's and health programming.

Here are a few additional prayer requests:

*Pray for each of our 9 ministries as we assess the damage caused by the 2 huge earthquakes and the                 subsequent 330+ aftershocks ( registering 4.5 or > on the Richter scale)

*Pray for our 31 orphans-  they slept outside under tents and tarps all summer due to fear of more quakes. We will try to assess for Post Traumatic Stress issues. The youngest is a 23 month baby girl whose mom was killed in the quake and the father can't care for a baby and keep his job as a bus conductor.

*pray for the prisoners - at last count 55 men, 6 women and one child. 5 have become believers and desperately need encouragement. Pray for the remainder to catch a glimpse of how much God loves them... no one else in that culture loves these social outcasts or remembers to visit them! Pray we will be allowed to visit and encourage. We plan to have the production team knit scarves with our yarn scraps to give to them as a Christmas present. If you are burdened for them contact me as I would like to buy something locally to add to these as a blessing to the prisoners. I will get them fruit for sure ( a rare treat for them!).

* I am taking a lady named Linda from Idaho with me on this trip. Pray for her adjustments and that we will be able to accomplish a lot together. We plan to tile, paint and organize the training center and look for whatever divine appointments the Lord should put in our paths!

*Pray God will show us where we should become involved with ongoing relief efforts from the earthquake disasters. We have some solar lanterns and have been given 30 wind up flashlights. Pray we'll know what families to disperse these to and if we should collect even more.

On a personal note : I returned from my last trip to Nepal in January ( had a delightful Christmas with my sister and family in Indonesia!) to an unpleasant surprise of a massive flood in my basement and a break in my pipe line 300 feet below my home. Insurance would not pay for a dime of either! It took me 8 weeks and a team from my wonderful church to clean up the mess! Talk about PTSD! pray for my house to be protected in my absence. 

I finally got a job ( it's been 2 years without!)  and I start tomorrow with orientation! It is" per diem" so I tell them when I am available! I will eventually be working 12 night shifts at the Franciscan Hospice Care Center. They only require I work one shift in a 90 day period so they are ok with my being gone already for 4 weeks. I was able to get 12- 8.5 hour shifts in the next 15 days before I head out to Nepal! The kicker is it's 7AM - 3:30 pm and I am a night owl... so starting tomorrow - Monday through Friday I must hurl my body out of the bed and drive 40 minutes to Tacoma and try to look alive and focus so early in the morning! "Brutal" for me as I rarely can sleep before 3 or 4 AM. Please pray for grace, energy and vibrancy to get through these next 2.5 weeks!

A Joy! I have a new baby grandson "Greyson Fox" he is 5 months old and such a cutie patootie! OML I didn't think it was possible to love anyone this hard!  

SO I challenge you to faithfully pray for Nepal and those the Lord would have us bless these next 6-7 weeks! Pray for safety as there is some political unrest over the constitutional drafting and implementation. One town along our travel route had violence and several deaths. India has gotten involved and blocked fuel deliveries over the border into Nepal creating great hardships which may pose problems in our travel. We may need to skip the 30 hour bus ride ($21)  and fly to Dhangadi ( $175 each way) followed by a 5 hour van ride up into the mountains. Pray we will find a way to get all the needed supplies out west.

I also challenge you to prayerfully come before God and ask Him to give you a #  (of $) that He wants you to offer back to Him for His causes in Nepal. We are so aware that the opportunity to make HIM known is a small window so pray for us to allow His grace to flow through us for His glory! Pray we will recognize the divine appointments He puts before us and be sensitive to if/ when we should stand aside and get out of His way if we ever get to thinking this is somehow about us!  #INAM (it's not about me) #all about HIM

Thanks for standing in the gap with us!