Quick Update

Hi Everyone;

Although it's almost 1 in the morning, I thought I had better get in a post while we have both power and Internet, both of which have been rather unpredictable in the last 3 weeks, probably due to the frequent thunder and lightening storms. We've even been challenged by the water (or lack of) situation lately. But I must say that we have mastered the art of sponge bathing! And washing/rinsing dishes with a couple of litres water. Our baptismal tank has been used lately to collect the rainwater and that is used for washing clothes or flushing the toilets. Where there's a will there's a way! But we all agree that it is much easier to work around the frequent power outages than it is to do without water. We do buy bottled water (the big blue jugs like back home) but it's hard to have a shower with it. Tonight I got desperate, since we were all seriously in need of a decent shower. I managed to wash my hair, rinse it and sponge bathe all with half a bucket of water!

As for the political situation, it seems the Maoists are winning a majority across the country. It turns out that they were electing representatives to write up a new constitution. But the Congress Party seems to have been roundly defeated and hence may end up with very few delegates to take part in the assembly. This will probably result in a new government made up of mostly Maoist and some other party reps. No-one is sure what exactly will change but most are sure things probably won't remain the same. We'll have to wait and see.

The youth are gearing up for their missions trip next week. They leave on Sunday for the village of Gatlang in the mountains just north of Kathmandu. Karina, Alana & Sheri will be travelling with them, helping out in different ways. They have been raising support for all the expenses the last few weeks and, I think, are almost there. You can pray for all the youth (there are about 20 going), their continuing health, their walks with the Lord, and that this outreach would be effective and encouraging for all. Ken will also be going, as Pastor Shyem asked him to help out (I guess partly as chaperone of the mix of teenage guys and girls; their culture is actually quite strict, as you probably gathered from the stories of arranged marriages). Vanessa & I will be holding the fort back here, doing school work and maybe some fun stuff.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) Pastor Shyem, Ken & Karina go back to the riverbed community, mostly to check on the woman who is expecting a baby. Amazingly enough, the Maoists did not win in that area, even though they had promised new housing for the people there. Our contact fellow phoned Pastor Shyem to tell him and we all rejoiced! It was an answer to prayer, as we were afraid that might have closed the open door we have right now. In the one area where they should have won, since the people had nothing to lose, the Congress Party did instead! Isn't that miraculous? But almost ironic, the area where the church is located was another Maoist victory.

We're having a birthday party for Sheri on Thursday as she'll be away in Gatlang on the 21st. It'll be a real community celebration with lots of Nepali food (courtesy of the Lewis cooks). We were even given a 'Miracle Oven' (they don't have real ovens here, just gas burners) so the girls have been baking cakes! AND we found a pizza delivery place so everyone can taste New York pizza (hopefully it's like back home). What a great excuse for a party!

As always, there's more to share but this is long enough already. We'll try to get more regular posts in now that the Internet is working again. We heard that you had 18 degree weather. But you can't beat the 30 degrees here! We've already started on our tans! (but we know you wouldn't trade the cold for water shortages). Thank-you all for your encouraging comments. Some days we live for them! They warm our hearts here when the going gets tough. Bless you all! (posted by Bonnie)