Friday,

Tim, in the yellow shirt, and  Peter, with the very robust beard, doing maintenance of bikes at the church.  One of our girls really wanting to be a mechanic.   They drew quite a crowd.
Tahlia, above, is here in the guest house for the next 6 months teaching ESL to the students going to Indonesia later this year,and a crash course for the Freedom Tour girls.  The couple in blue, Leann and Ian Buckle,   have just arrived, and will be here for five years.  They will be heading up the work in Dologhat, 2 hours from Kathmandu, where we plant set up a training centre/camp site.  Tomorrow, Grahame is flying to India, first to Calcutta and then to New Delhi, to further our projects there.  We had three new arrivals today.  David Westbrook, from Mackay, will be teaching in the Bible College here for the week.  Most of the team are going out to village churches tomorrow.  It is about two hours drive, but it is lovely driving through the country.  We are hoping for a good view of the Himalayas on the way.
Robyn.

Thursday Letters from Oz, Great Footwork, and Glamor

Some children in the  Carmichael College sent letters to the children at our school in Kathmandu.  The letters were lovely.  One little boy said he thought  something was "orsm".  I hope the children here don't think that is the correct spelling.  It is nice to have that connection between the schools across the world.    One of the team members here is a good player in a ladies soccer team, and her club have provided shirts, boots and socks for the kids.  For a few afternoons, she has been giving some basic soccer training to the girls.  Some of the shirts are a little big, as you can see, but the girls had a ball.  They eagerly await the arrival of their new Aussie trainer each afternoon after school. Also, Linda (middle) and her two daughters in their new finery.  Most of the ladies who come like to go home with a little Nepali fashion.      Robyn

Wednesday Dinner, Elephant rides and stunning beauty

Team out to celebrate a birthday.
A night off for me from cooking.

                                                                                     Another stunning photo of our girl heading for Australia

Some team members on a trip to the zoo.  Linda's expression says it all.         Robyn

Wednesday The best teams

                                                    THE BEST TEAMS


The best teams are made up of a bunch of nobodies, who love everybody, and serve anybody, and don't care about being a somebody.

Tuesday, 21 April Exotic dresses, soccer and braided beards

One of our team members donated soccer uniforms
to the school and also one hostel.  Alley is doing some
soccer training at the school and hostel as well/

One of our beautiful girls in one of the six different exotic costumes for the Freedom Tour.  We saw a practice  session this afternoon and are looking forward  to seeing the full programme. 

One of our team members didn't escape the braiding skills of  the hostel girls.  Neatly plaited beard even adorned with flowers.  What a brave man to wear this down the street. 

Robyn

Team Mission Update Nepal 16th APRIL

At the close of another amazing day for our team members.

We enjoyed another round of visits to hostels with the amazing children. It is so very easy to love on these buttons. Others visited the Miriam Centre and had a very special time with the babies. Some of the team went with Mama Robyn who was on her first visit this trip. The arrival of Mama always generates high excitement in the hostels. Loads of cuddles, giggles and often tears of joy. Robyn's input into the lives of these little ones is tangible if you get to visit with her.

Another team is up in the western provinces visiting the towns, projects and villages there. Papa Grahame is shown below after having been taught how to take the infamous 'selfie'. This team is reporting an amazing time. We look forward to their return Friday night to regale us with stories.

Learning new tech skills.

***

As we walked to visit another hostel late this afternoon we encountered a number of kids happily playing after their day at school. All manner of games, hide and seek, shoot em up, ball games all with shrieks of laughter made the stroll very enjoyable.

Below are some shots of the sights we enjoyed.

Greetings and games as we passed.

Shepherding the ducklings. Sooo cute.

Chief Shepherd.

***

Spending time in and around this nation we have the privilege of seeing the many and varied ways the people find to make a living. Here are just a few.

Restocking the cafes with soft drink.

Tools of the trade for the many seamstresses and tailors.
Pedal powered of course.

Selling cooked foods for the evening meals.

Older Nepali men discussing the day.

Counting the takings.

***

Tomorrow we farewell Vivienne and want to pass on our sincere appreciation for all that she has brought to the ministry. Vivienne has worked solidly and advanced the administration skills of our school leadership as she achieved her goals with the group. Please pray for her as she travels. Pray also for team member Rachael who is not well with a nasty flu. Thank you.

Till next time.

Team Mission Update Nepal 14th APRIL

Another day down in Nepal.

The team split into teams again to visit hostels, to continue training, and a host of other roles.
One team spent the morning with the toddlers and babies in the Miriam Centre while another group played with the 8 - 10 year olds. This group donated a soccer ball and spent their time vigorously playing leader ball, tunnel ball and the like much to the delight of the children.

Everyone reported a fantastic time of loving on the kids. All being impacted and touched with messages written on hands, cuddles, time spent sitting on laps. A wonderful experience.

Easy to love these little ones.

Our neighbours have been celebrating the new year and a wedding. Here are some shots of the incredibly loud band that marched the streets to announce the wedding. A marquee was erected in the vacant block next door and a street kitchen cooked all afternoon to feed the invited guests. The band with four drummers, trumpets, tuba, and a traditional seven foot long horn marched the lane ways celebrating. Again let me tell you they were LOUD!

The Wedding band. 

The wedding kitchen.

The band leader.

***

The red dot on the forehead know as the Tikka is a ceremonial part of the Hindu religion in Nepal. A red Tikka is asking for "good" in life, in finances, family etc.
A yellow dot is in memory of a deceased loved one. People may choose to wear no Tikka for up to 12 months while in mourning without any questions being asked about not wearing the Tikka.
A red Tikka with a silver marking indicates the wearer has been to the temple, a noble and required act.
A Tikka of red and white tells everyone that you have given to the temple.

Being a Christian in this sort of society means you stand out immediately and makes life a lot more difficult. We acknowledge the committed stance our Christian brothers and sisters make in this land.

Rainy days.

The festivals that are celebrated regularly in this country are many and varied. Currently the people are celebrating another large festival time. Crowds of hundreds of people line the streets waiting a turn in one of the dozens of small temples scattered throughout the cities, towns and villages.

A walk through the Stupa temple grounds. Seed for sale.

Laundry day.

Today is a festival day as well as new year. A part of this festival is to celebrate a married woman's husband, to pray a long healthy life for him. In a society and culture that places little value on females a woman left without her husband is facing the end of her own existence, so to pray good for your man serves the ladies interests also.

Spinning the prayer wheels.

Three, four sometimes more!

Tonights sunset. The rain clouds are clearing.

Tonights conversation to close team devotions saw many share the high points that today's activities wrought. It was a terrific opportunity to learn more about each other and to join in the things that make a trip with Transform the Nations mission awareness tours so rewarding.

Till next time.

Mission Team Update Nepal 13th APRIL

Team devotions.

Monday the 13th was a wet and cool day. A maximum of just 15 degrees with showers saw the locals selling brollies from every corner.
We welcomed eleven additional team members overnight which has filled the guest house with chatter, laughter and more. Great to have everyone here.

Vivienne and Lalima

Vivienne has been working with the school leadership team and today after class they took a trip down town complete with Vivienne as a pillion passenger on one of the motorcycles in the motorcade, quite a sight.

Look out Boudha road here they come!

Ready for some fun after a big day.

***

With a new team we took them for a walk to find their bearings and begin to get familiar with the area in which they reside for the next few weeks. Here are some shots of some of the sights we encountered.

Netra checking the day planner.

Farming Nepali style..

Peter was a sight not always seen for the locals with his luscious beard and he drew plenty of long looks.

Photo opportunity at a hostel visit.

Nepali Ergon in action.

Traditionally Nepali mens attire.  

Sidewalk dress sale!

There is a buzz around the town as people everywhere prepare to welcome in the Nepali new year. 2072 kicks off as of Wednesday. All manner of decorations, bunting and lights have been set up and people will enjoy meals together, music and a general period of socialising. Let you know how long it lasts soon!

Below our neighbours are getting set for a double celebration as they add a wedding to the party plans. Check out the amazing light show we enjoyed last night through our kitchen windows.

Till next time.

Monday 13th April, Jade pagoda

The above is the Jade Pagoda in Mandalay.  The builder collected jade for 25 years for this temple.  There is 10,000 tons of jade, no bricks, and the cost is $400,000,000 plus $15,000,000 worth of jade.  The grand opening is on 1 June, 2015.  It is only one of it's kind in the world.    Now that would build lots of orphanages and schools.

We went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch and photographed some poor things that were waiting to be on the menu.  A bit hard to see through the glass, but one lot looked like giant yabbies, and another black and white striped lobsters.  They also had rather large turtles.  So on the menu was tripe (if you are our age you will know what that is.  I cooked it for my kids once, and they still have never forgiven me) , goose livers, turtle, rabbit, pigs trotters, and the most fascinating of them all, "jellyfish head salad".

Below is a duck dish, heads and all.  Apparently the brain is very nice.  Enough of the culinary joys of Myanmar.  Tomorrow, we head for Kathmandu.  A full days travel, as we go through K.L.  and then on to Nepal.  We are hoping the weather is kinder to us there.  It has been a very full two weeks, and it has been amazing to see the hand of God is many unexpected ways.  There will be some interesting days ahead.

Robyn

Monday 13th Yangon weary travellers

We arrived back in Yangon last night at 6 pm and it was 36 degrees.  We have had an exhausting trip but God has been doing amazing things.  We have had plans to meet people, and then we meet someone else by "chance" who offer us so much incredible help, facilities, connections   There are too many things to write here and many things not confirmed also, but we never cease to be amazed at what God is doing.  While in Lashio, we went to the orphanage  and the children sang for us.  These little ones in the picture are just some of them.  Can you see the white paste they all put on their faces; also the lady and her little girl.  It is a paste made from a tree and is used for beauty and sunscreen.  I always want to run around with a washer and wipe it off.  We also had the privilege of going to "Mary's house" to visit these ladies who are much older than our women in Kathmandu.  Some say they are about 50 or about 40, but they are not sure.   Some wonderful stories of redemption and hope.  There is a little abandoned boy there also that the lady has taken in, so he has a bright future also.  We met a man in Yangon who has a wife and two children, and he has taken in 16 other children in a two room house.  This is an amazing and sacrificial choice to make.  I also like this photo of the tattooed lady.  It is something a certain people group practice.   Grahame has interviews with some candidates for Indonesia this morning and we are going to dinner with a woman tonight who will be part of our new team here.   I am looking forward to being in Kathmandu into my old familiar surroundings, to see my lovely girls and women, and have somewhere to hang up my clothes.  I am so tired of living out of a suitcase and being in an aeroplane.  The team in Kathmandu have been doing a great job, with all things in good hands.

Robyn