From Bhutan to Nepal to Canada to the Philippines to . . . Cyberspace?

Have you heard of the country of Bhutan?  It is a tiny country sandwiched between India and China.  There are tens of thousands of ethnic Nepalis who were born in Bhutan but were forced to leave their country because of ethnic tensions.  (You can read about it here.) Most of them spent years in refugee camps in Nepal and were eventually resettled in western countries, including Canada.  Our church in Canada, Ebenezer Baptist Church in Saskatoon, has an outreach to refugees and immigrants from many countries, including these Bhutanese Nepalis.  About 15 of them have been attending Bible studies, and several have even been baptized -- clearly an indication of great openness!  But our pastor was concerned that they were not able to understand well because of their limited English.

That's when our friend Hal had a creative idea.  Hal is one of the pastors of Ebenezer Baptist Church, and he visited us here in Manila last year.  He knew that we have a lot of students from Nepal.  Why not set up a Skype Bible study, using an IGSL Nepali student to lead the immigrants in Saskatoon?  We tried it and it worked!

This is Rajen and his wife Shristi, leading the study from their dormitory room in IGSL.

When the internet connection is weak, they have to try different options to make it work.

 Sometimes they bring the computer outside where there is a better wifi connection.

 Don't you love the bamboo hut with the wifi connection?

The main thing is that they are really studying the Bible.  It's working!

We don't usually join them, since we can't speak Nepali, but sometimes we do, just to encourage them.  It's so nice to see this couple's growing concern for the young believers that have been entrusted to their care.  That's the ministry of dis-skype-leship!

Scholarship Miracles

Another part of my job that has become somewhat expected or normal for me is "scholarship miracles".  When we first started our scholarship department about 20 years ago, we raised about $10,000 for the whole year, if I remember correctly.  I was amazed and astonished as I saw God provide that amount.  In the years since then, our budget has grown.  Hugely.  This year's budget is $575,000. It sounds even bigger in pesos, and I do most of my thinking and planning in pesos!

Our director and president and I do most of the visiting and connecting with the potential supporters.  The people in my office do the work of producing the photos and stories about the students. God does the miracles! Each year, the new amount seems overwhelmingly impossible.  My faith has grown so much -- but I still have to learn to trust God in new ways each year, because He keeps stretching me.

Last month, one of our long-time major supporters contacted me. He usually gives $75,000 every October.  It is more than 10% of our budget, so we really, really appreciate him.  When he contacted me, he was very positive and encouraging, and he said many good things about his partnership with us.  Then he said that he is going to direct his giving elsewhere because he knows God will take care of IGSL.  Ouch!!!  That hit hard!  After turning off the Skype connection, I actually put my head on my desk and cried.  (I know, not very professional of me!)  After crying, I told God that I do trust Him, but . . . I just wish it wasn't all by faith.  Couldn't we just have a giant trust fund or something?  But the next day I told my assistant about it, and I assured her that we would watch and see what God would do.  And I meant it.  I was ready to trust God again.

Last Tuesday one of our new professors dropped in at my office. She comes from a developed country, and she finds herself in shock sometimes at the poverty in the places where our students come from.  This professor was walking on the campus, and a student started walking/jogging with her.  The professor noticed the student was wearing flip-flops.  She commented, "It would be better if you wear gym shoes when you are exercising."  The student said, "I don't have enough money to buy gym shoes."  The professor was shocked.  She was so surprised that she wrote about it in her next newsletter.  And one of her friends, back in her home country, was also shocked when he read that a student would not even have enough money to buy a pair of $10 gym shoes.  The friend wrote and asked how he could help.  So the professor asked me for some information about sponsoring students.  We emailed some photos, stories, and some options for giving scholarships. 

By Wednesday morning the friend had emailed our professor, saying that he would be sending a check for $50,000.  Wow, God!  I think I can keep trusting Him for the rest of the amount we need for scholarships this year!

An Unusual Day

My life is never ordinary. The fact that I am interacting with people from more than 20 countries on a daily basis means there will never be a dull moment.  Some days (as in my last post) I find myself eating rose petals!  But almost every day, there is something.  I think I have just gotten used to these amazing things that happen every day, and they have become normal to me.  But I have decided to try to keep track of a few of them.  You can decide if they are normal or not!

So, yes, I think yesterday qualified as an unusual day.  I am part of the IGSL Admissions Committee, so I often do interviews for incoming students.  Usually we do the interview after we have reviewed the applicant's forms.  But yesterday, our president asked me to do a quick interview with a student who was just submitting his forms--he wanted someone to give the applicant a bit of feedback to let him know if it was worth his time to pursue the application process.

Since IGSL focuses on training leaders, we really don't want kids.  We prefer that college graduates get a few years of ministry experience after their bachelor's degree.  Generally, we prefer applicants who are at least 25.  Occasionally we will accept a 23 or 24 year old if they seem exceptionally mature.  And many of our students are in their 30's or 40's or even older.  Yesterday's applicant was 16!  It seems he is a boy genius -- he was home schooled for elementary and high school, then started college when he was 12, and just graduated recently. 

The interesting part is that he had a good deal of ministry experience and had even coordinated some major outreach ministries at his church!  And he was president of the Student Council at his college!  He was articulate, pleasant to talk with, and confident. He has a full-time job, but felt that he could adjust his hours in order to study.  He wants to be used by God!  I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing him, and couldn't really think of any good reason to tell him not to pursue the application.

So, now his application will move to a committee who will evaluate him.  I will write a summary of my interview -- but I am guessing the committee will ask to interview him again because no one will believe the things I am going to write!

Incredible India

The tagline used by the Indian Ministry of Tourism is Incredible India!  While I was in India last week, I said to myself again and again, "Yeah! Incredible India! It sure is!"  I went there to visit Ebi and Sarah, some of our IGSL graduates from a few years ago.  They live in the city of Trichy, in Tamil Nadu.

India is a land of endless variety.  This photo was taken in an upscale clothing store, selling mostly saris.  There were six floors, and this picture shows only about one tenth of the options available on one of the floors.  I did finally make a choice, but it was hard!  You can also buy clothes from vendors sitting on a mat in the dusty streets, and from every kind of store in between.

Most women wear flowers in their hair every day.  It was so fun -- for just a few cents you could buy a garland of sweet-smelling blossoms. It's just part of the endless variety of flowers, foods, languages, people, colors, smells, sights and sounds...

This is a "sweet shop" with endless varieties of Indian cakes and candies.  One evening we were talking about different kinds of candies, and Ebi decided I needed to taste one of their favorites.  The shop we were in did not sell it, so we went outside and he jumped on his motorbike, and drove off to find a street vendor who had it.  We sat on the steps outside the shop, and Sarah unwrapped it and gave it to me, eager to hear my opinion.  I took a bite and chewed--it was very nice, with brown sugar and coconut and another taste that was somehow familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.  I said to Ebi, "I know this taste!"  He said, "Of course you do!  It's rose petals!"  What could I say?  "Oh, of course!  Rose petals!"  Somehow I neglected to capture that Kodak moment, but the next day I got a photo of Sarah drinking Rose Milk.

I loved visiting their campus and meeting the students.  It was so much fun to hear the stories of what God was doing in their lives, and to see their excitement at being used by Him. I got to speak several times to groups of students, and I also had a few chances to spend one-on-one time with people who were part of their ministry. This picture shows Ebi meeting with a group of college students, many of whom are not Christians yet. I loved it that these Hindu students felt so comfortable to attend a Bible study where they could ask questions to learn about God.

This was my fourth time to visit India.  I am sure it won't be the last.  We have graduates all over the country, and each new place is totally different from the last place.  Yeah, Incredible India!  Endless variety!

Still Alive

So, yes, I am still alive!  When I first found out I had shingles last March, I googled it to try to find out how long it would take to recover.  The resident doctor laughed when she came into my hospital room and found my laptop propped on its side on my pillow as I tried to educate myself.  Most articles I read said it would last about six weeks.  In reality, it was very painful for about two months, and still made it hard for me to sleep for about two more months after that.  By the end of July I finally felt that I could say I was totally normal again.

Lessons learned?  I think I can be more compassionate toward those who are dealing with chronic pain.  I remember in the early days, when the pain was very severe, crying to God that I couldn't see any purpose in it.  I was reminded of Romans 8:28, where God promises that He will cause EVERYTHING in our lives to work together for good somehow.  So I told God, "Okay, I don't understand what your purpose is.  But I believe that you have a purpose, so I will just cling to that.  It will be enough."  And it was.

Sick at Home

No photos this time, just asking for your prayers. I spent 4 days in the hospital last week with a diagnosis of "Shingles." I have low-level pain on my left side that flares up and becomes severe for a few hours once or twice a day. Sometimes pain medicine helps, sometimes it doesn't.  I have had it for two weeks now.  God has been gracious in providing loving caregivers, and I really feel His presence. But I pray it won't last very long!

Creativity

Most cultures have some kind of native handicraft, like weaving, pottery, or woodcarving.  When I am asked about the handicraft from my country, I usually say that quilting is one of  the favorites.  I have done a little quilting in my time, not much.  But living in the tropics, we don't have much use for quilts, so my skills have languished.  Last year I got inspired to try making some quilted handbags.

I had so much fun with it! I can usually finish a bag in a few days--that's much better for me than starting into a project that will take months to complete! I have a lot of pieces of fabric that were given to me by our students. And, since we travel more often these days to visit our graduates in their ministries, I have been taking the opportunity to buy some small pieces of cloth from various countries.

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Last year I decided to make a special bag for each of my two discipleship group members who were graduating. It was really a hit, so I am doing it again this year. The pieces of fabric come from all of the countries where our group members come from. 

Most of our students stay for three years, and there is some turnover in the discipleship group each year, so by the time they graduate they have been "group-mates" with people from many different countries. The squares in this bag come from (left to right) Bangladesh, Nepal, U.S., Korea, Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam, Myanmar, Pakistan and China.

I will be giving this bag away in about two weeks (and another one just like it that is not finished yet).  I'm sure they'll cry--but they will be happy tears!  I am glad to have discovered this way to bring together my culture and theirs.  It may look like a strange combination to some -- but to us it's a precious blend.

33 Years

Every year, during our IGSL Family Retreat, our celebration comes.  In the midst of 300 happy campers in a big dining room at the retreat center/camp, the three of us pull away by ourselves and  have lunch together, and remember the day we arrived in the Philippines.  We were all young and single and excited . . . and pretty clueless about what lay ahead.  Now we are old and married and still excited and hopefully not entirely clueless.  Last week, we did it again. Ron and James and I shared memories of the olden days, and thanked God for 33 years in the Philippines.  We are SO privileged to be here!

A Wonderful Way to Spend the Holidays

We spent our Christmas vacation enjoying Jim and Michelle and their two little boys!  What a precious gift from God -- we were so happy, and enjoyed every minute.  They left Sunday night to begin their ministry with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Papua New Guinea.  They will be there for a five-year term, but we are determined to visit them sometime in the next year or so.  After enjoying this two and a half week visit, there is no way we can wait five years to see them again!

Danny turned two years old the day after they arrived.  He is really a talker, and kept us engaged non-stop with his sweet and entertaining conversations.

Baby Joshua turned two months old the day after they arrived.  He is a smiler and always rewarded us with grins and gurgles when we played with him.  He loved being held, and Grandma and Grandpa were happy to oblige.  After they reach PNG, Michelle will have to deal with fact that we have totally spoiled him!

Our babies (and Jim and Michelle too), we miss you like crazy already!  But we believe you are where God wants you to be.  We know that there are kids and parents and grandparents in PNG who will all be together in heaven because you are being faithful to help provide God's Word in their language.  So go with God, dear ones!  We are smiling through our tears.