Enjoying Kathmandu

We have been in Nepal for a week, but this is the first time that I have been able to get online. Most of the time we don't have electricity, and sometimes when we have electricity, we still don't have internet. Most of the time we don't have water either! But the weather is cool, so it is comfortable, and we are having a wonderful time -- many encouraging times with our former students. One day we toured the historic city of Bhaktapur with some of our graduates, and I took this photo of "the women at the well." Will try to send more photos as I have the opportunity.

Fun experiences in the past week have included a baby dedication, a visit with a pastor who just got out of jail, a church anniversary, shopping for fabric, eating delicious curries, and having daily talks with Simran, the 7-year old daughter of our hosts. She doesn't speak English and I don't speak Nepali, but that doesn't stop her! She is pretty sure that if she just keeps at it, eventually I will understand.

Nepal

We will leave today for Bangkok, and stay with friends there for about 36 hours. By Wednesday we will be in Kathmandu, Nepal. This is our third trip to Nepal, but it is our first-ever IGSL international alumni reunion. We have had alumni reunions in Manila before, but this is the first in another country. We have a lot of graduates there -- 25 from our masters degree programs and 15 wives from our Partners in Ministry program. We hope that we will be able to see them all. I will post if I can, but electricity is erratic there these days, so it might not be possible. Please pray for our trip, that God will use us to encourage each graduate that we meet.

The Sun and the Stars and the Friends

The ingredients for an evening of fun . . . sun, stars, and friends. I love the people I work with--and I know that a great team is a precious gift from God! The faculty ladies in our Partners in Ministry program are good friends, some of whom I've known for 30 years, some I am just getting to know. We work hard together as we minister to our students, but we have fun together too. Recently we spent an evening at a roofdeck restaurant where we ate dinner and watched the sun go down.

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When we finished eating, the sun had completely set, so we spent the next hour stargazing. We saw Mars and Saturn and lots of stars whose names we have already forgotten. But we won't forget the fun we had that night.
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