Dear Friends,

The winds of March are upon us as the weather warms up. We are thinking through strategies to survive the load shedding. It is now 16 hours of cuts each day but there is the promise of more to come so food hygiene will be an issue. We may have to return to our Okhaldhunga lifestyle.  What a marvelous ‘winter’ (your summer) we just enjoyed with both Daniel and Julia sharing time with us. We enjoyed Christmas, family walks and day trips together. This included the traditional new year at Anandaban on the edge of the Kathmandu Valley. Daniel returned to Australia on 13^th January to attend another exciting Summer Beach Project at Coolum as well as being groomsman for a wedding. Julia returned only last week just in time for her cousin’s wedding and the recommencement of uni. We are all adjusting to the changes of living separately again.

Libby’s Bit

I am presented with amazing variety in my roles at KISC. The annual carol service brings together many people in the community to celebrate the birth of Christ. 2008’s theme was ‘Adoration’ and a student band sang a beautiful theme song for this. Then in February, I was responsible for our inter-house music festival where the students work very hard to show off their talents in song, dance, improvisation and instrumental performance. Again, we were impressed by the amazing talent in the school. It is a great opportunity to encourage student leadership as house captains get their houses organized for the event. My new role as Vice Principal is still in its infant stage and I am attending many meetings gleaning much information about our policy of employment, admissions and other management issues. KISC is always looking for new staff so please encourage Christian teachers you know to consider coming to join us for a year or two or more. ( www.kisc.edu.np)

Bruce’s Bit.

I have started my new job as Acting CEO Nick Simons Institute (NSI) while continuing with the MDGP training. This is a unique challenge and opportunity to be more involved in human resource development for rural Nepal and to see first-hand the current situation. I expect to be travelling to various places in the next few months to see ongoing trainings as well as looking at future sites for MDGP training as our programme expands its rural sites. I was privileged to attend the US Christian Medical Association’s Continuing Medical Education programme in Chiang Mai in February. Libby was able to join for the first week for an opportunity for us to be spiritually refreshed and encouraged and for me to have an intensive 42 hours of medical sessions updating on many relevant topics. It was great to be among missionary doctors from many parts of the world working in various parts and see what God is doing. A couple of Nepali Christian doctors were also able to attend which was helpful for them. In January I attended the CMC Vellore International Consultation and council meetings. It was inspiring to be amongst committed Indian Christian doctors as they grappled with their issues of how to bear witness to Christ. CMC Vellore is starting a Family Medicine programme and I look forward to being part of the process as they develop this. Give Thanks for these wonderful opportunities and the challenges ahead both here in Nepal and India. I have 2 new fellows in my ITEEN group as we have started Ephesians. Please pray for Prakash and Joshua that it will be a fruitful experience for them.

NOTEWORTHY NEPAL NEWS

• President Dr Ram Baran Yadav on Christmas Day at a programme organised by the local Christian community said Nepal as a democratic nation treats all religions equally. There have been some disturbing reports of persecution recently so Pray there will be true religious freedom in Nepal.
• Mistakes by the crew of a plane that crashed in Nepal’s Everest region (Lukla airport) caused the accident which killed 18 people, including two Australians, said the official report into the accident. (We were in the region at the time and saw the wreckage.)

• An England-based group will head to Everest base camp(in photo) in April to play what they hope will be recorded as the highest-ever official sports match, raising money for charity along the way – it will be Twenty20 match where they will have to deal with air containing just 65 per cent of the oxygen they are used to. (This is the same place where we trekked in October – they say the area is the same size as LORD’s!)
• The government, after consulting with the country’s leading astrologers and religious figures, decided that the Nepali calendar for the next year (2066) will be one month shorter than the regular calendar i.e. will have 11 months only. Based on calculations of the earth’s rotation, it is said that the Nepali calendar is behind by 23 days. Unlike the Gregorian calendar, there are no leap years. However there is still some dispute about this so publishers are producing 2 calenders for 2066.

• Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said the vision of New Nepal will come into reality only when every Nepali citizen becomes literate -the government aims to make around 2.6 million people literate within mid-April. Nepal’s illiterate population is estimated to be around 7.8 million. Pray that this will be successful.

• 10,000 Bhutanese refugees resettled so far, of which Australia has taken 520. Pray for all these refugees as they resettle.
• There has been a bandh (strike) somewhere in Nepal every day in February and a total of 550 were counted for 2008. Please pray for the country in the midst of this.

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