Ready to Fly

Finally we are ready to fly! Nepal has been through a great deal of turmoil in the past three weeks, but amazingly, in the last five days, things have become more peaceful than we ever imagined! The king has given power back to the people, the Parliament has met for the first time in four years, the Maoist rebels have declared a three-month ceasefire, and the people are feeling very hopeful. The next thing on the political agenda is an election for a constituent assembly whose task is to write a new constitution. Pray that this constitution will create a favorable environment for the Gospel. (I Timothy 2:1-4) Pray that God will use us to encourage the alumni we will be visiting. There are nine couples in ministry in Nepal who are ISOT graduates. We are really looking forward to spending time with them!

Pray for Our Trip to Kathmandu

We began praying three years ago for this trip. We wanted to have an opportunity to spend time with some of our graduates there, knowing they needed encouragement. In December, many of you gave special gifts to enable us to purchase the tickets. We scheduled the trip for April 16, and began making plans. About 10 days ago, a series of nationwide strikes began, calling for the king to step down and restore democracy. There have been tens of thousands of people demonstrating daily in the streets. After watching the news and consulting with our Nepalese students here in Manila, we decided that it would be wise to postpone our trip. This was disappointing, but we are not giving up. We have re-booked our tickets for two weeks from now. Please pray with us that our trip can push through as planned. And more importantly, pray for peace in Nepal.

Days of Celebration

The last few weeks have been filled with celebration. All kinds of special programs...The closing program for the kids school, the annual ISOT banquet, the formal graduation program, and the 25th anniversary of ISOT. Add to this all the last meals together with students we won't be seeing again, along with late nights talking with alumni who came to town for the 25th anniversary. I love partying, but even I had had enough by last week! Here are some glimpses...

This is the closing program of the little school at ISOT (Achiever's International Elementary School). They used the "Under Construction" program generously donated by friends in Somerset, Ky. and it was a hit with everyone.

This is Yajak and Jyoti Tamang. Shortly after they arrived at ISOT four years ago, doctors discovered a large tumor in Yajak's leg. He was told that the tumor was malignant and that his leg would have to be amputated. But God graciously intervened and the tumor was successfuly removed and his leg was saved. Watching Yajak WALK across the stage to get his diploma was a very sweet moment. This photo was taken during the banquet for graduates and their families.

A special part of the banquet was a foot-washing ceremony in which the discipleship group leaders washed the feet of their graduating members. James is washing the feet of Kap from Myanmar. Last night we had dinner at Kap's house -- he cooked goat stew for us!

This is a shot of the graduation itself -- we had 50 graduates this year, and not all of them can be seen in this shot. Just wanted you to see our speaker, center of the front row. This is Steve Douglas, the president of Campus Crusade for Christ.

This was part of the 25th anniversary program, which we celebrated later on the same day. It was colorful, inspiring, challenging, and encouraging! Days like this make us realize how privileged we are to work at ISOT-Asia, equipping leaders for the Asian Harvest. Thanks for making it possible for us to be here. Pray that God will give us strength and wisdom to carry on with this wonderful job we have!

My Son Was Right!

Matthew warned me that maintaining a webpage is not easy. He said, "Mom, if you don't update it regularly, your friends will get tired of checking it!" Of course, I insisted that it wouldn't be a problem... but now I have to admit he was right. Sometimes I have several ideas in a row for what to write about . . . and then a few weeks go by where nothing inspires me to blog. So here i am, three weeks later, finally posting again. And just to make you laugh, I am including a photo sent to me by one of the ladies in my office.