Monday 12th January. The poor, wretched, lame and blind

Yesterday, as I walked down the street, the beggars, once again, were slumped in little  ragged heaps along the footpaths, begging for anything someone would give.  With hopeless eyes, they extend severed limbs and pleading calls; all they see are legs busily rushing by; people on their way to spend money on other things.  We are not supposed to give money to beggars, but how can one pass by and feel no sorrow and compassion.  " whatever you do for the least of these , you do for Me".  One old man had part of his arm missing, and was blind in one eye.  Another lady, skin and bone, in the most filthy state, her hair matted, calling out to passers by.  I gave her some money, and was startled as she looked at me with violet eyes.  Once, she would have been a beautiful young Nepali  woman.  My heart was breaking for them.  I went and brought some fruit and took it back to some.  But it is such a band aid thing.  As I was snuggled up in bed, so warm and cosy, last night, I wondered were they all were . It was freezing outside.  Even giving them money etc., doesn't tell them about Jesus, who they need so desperately.  It's an enormous problem, how could we start with even one.  I know there are so many lives being changed by TTN here in this country, and we are so grateful to God for being a part of all that, with very exciting possibilities in Myanmar and a new venture into India.  But it is so hard to walk the street each day, to see the human misery,and know they also face a lost eternity.  A good friend of ours says"Poverty is just a word, it means nothing to us really, until you are face to face  with it, and then it is indescribable to anyone who is not seeing it with their own eyes."  Please pray, though the problem is enormous.  I heard a quote recently " To succumb to the enormity of the problem, is to fail the one."
We leave for India early tomorrow morning, and I don't know what wifi will be like, so may not be blogging.  We return on 17th to Kathmandu.
Robyn

Saturday 10th January. missionaries and salvation

The remaining 6 members of the team toddled off to church this morning.  It was absolutely jam packed and people just kept coming in.  A young man was introduced who had always longed to be a doctor, but had no possible means of paying for the study; but everyone was celebrating today because he has just won a  full scholarship. He was very happy.  Then another couple, with a little baby came out.  The husband was weeping, and apparently, people have been praying for him for many years, and he and his little wife have just accepted the Lord.  Also, after church, Raju led another man to the Lord, and a third one, who couldn't control his weeping, will be reconnecting with Raju tomorrow.
We also had another couple prayed for who are going as missionaries to India.  It is a marvellous story we will share when we come home.    We also attach a photo of a beautiful little boy who belongs to one of our ladies at the half-way house.  When we first met him, he was a little limp, lifeless boy about 10 months old.  He is such a gorgeous little fellow now.  He was with us at the half-way house birthday party the other night, dancing around with the rest of us. It is so great to see the wonderful things happening in this country.  What a privilege.

Thursday 7th January

     One class posing for a photo.  The two ladies from Kingsway Christian School near Aukland, New Zealand had a wonderful time with their class.

In our favourite pashmina shop, sipping tea.  It is lovely the way the shop owner always makes us a 

cuppa whenever we are shopping.

 

My gorgeous sponsor girl on the right.

     

Bollywood dancing at the half-way house.

Graduation Day

Graduation was this afternoon, with people getting their certificates for counselling, three levels of teacher training, and leadership training.  It was such a joy to see some of our sponsored girls doing the counselling training, and one girl speaking, in english, saying how much it had helped her and how she wanted to teach others.  These opportunities would have been beyond their wildest dreams a couple of years ago, thanks to those people who sponsor these girls.  It makes an enormous difference in their lives.  We had two different  dancing groups.  One group were in black pants, and white T shirts with "No Other Name" on the front and they danced to "Who Am I" by Mercy Me.  The second group did a beautiful traditional Nepali dance in colourful costumes.
The team are having dinner out tonight as it is the last day for quite a few.  One lady left at lunch time, three leave tonight and three leave tomorrow.  So we will only be 6 tomorrow night.  

 Beautiful baby at the Miriam Centre

 Sally, with one of our babies.

 One of our sponsored girls, thanking her teacher for the training she has received and how much it helped her.

 Jayne in delight in the shoe shop.  Thousands of pairs in the supermarket.  You have to see it to  believe it.    

Wednesday 7th January. Halfway house visit

Last night, we visited the young women in the halfway house.  As it is holidays, two of them had their little children with them, as usually the children  live in the hostels.  One of the young women was having a birthday, so it was lovely to be there to share that with her.  Again, the Bollywood music came out and we all danced together.  The little children are very good at it.  Even the dog joined in very excitedly.  He is supposed to be a guard  dog, but he was enjoying all the festivities.   This morning, I took Sally, a paediatric nurse, over the the Miriam Centre to meet our babies; really toddlers now.  Some welcomed us with open arms, others were very shy.  The triplets that were rescued a couple of years ago looking like they wouldn't survive, are chubby little things now.    It was good for Sally to have a bit of a look at them, to see if they seems to be developing properly.
Grahame returns from the west tonight, with two of the ladies from our team. Three of the team head home this afternoon.  We are about 15 on team.  This afternoon, we plan another visit to one of the hostels with 24 little kids who didn't go home to the village over Christmas.  I have a dose of some sort of flu and am not feeling too flash.  The conference finishes tomorrow.  The afternoon is  when people get their certificates for their studies for the fortnight.  It has been a very full two weeks, with the house overflowing with over a hundred people.  Getting into the toilet is a challenge.  You have to be quick.

Monday 5th January. Visas, airports and new arrivals

Grahame arrived at midnight last night, only to have to fly out again at 3p.m. with two team members from NZ. to the far west of Nepal about 600 klms. away.  We had to go to the Indian embassy this morning to get visas for India, as Grahame and I are going there for five days from the 13th.  When we arrived there was a queue along the footpath waiting to get in.  We were number 54.  We sat there all morning; this being  our second visit; only to find out that we need to be back there on Friday morning (another queue), and again on Monday morning ( another queue) , in order to acquire out visas.  Bureaucracy!!!!  We had our final team member arrive late this afternoon.  She was very late coming out of the airport, and we worried we had lost her.  Finally, she turned up.  Baggage collection taking over an hour.  Almost everyone arriving this time has that this trouble.  They are upgrading the domestic terminal here, when the international one is in desperate need of modernisation.  Dr Ted, our keynote speaker, was saying that 41 church members from a church in Indonesia he knows, went down in the Air Asia crash.  That must have a huge impact on that community. Training goes on as usual each day.  When Grahame comes back, I will be able to send some photos on the blog, as I can do it on his computer.  Sore throats, and flu  like symptoms now doing the rounds in our guesthouse.  The joys of winter in Kathmandu.  

Saturday, 3 January

We all trundled off to church this morning, with the exception of Dr. Ted Boyce, who preached at another church.  We had a visiting speaker at church, a man from India, who spoke in English, and Raju interpreted into Nepalese.  Trouble is, we were having trouble understanding Indian-English.  It was very spirited, to say the least.  We enjoyed lunch with the team at the Bakery  Cafe, whose waiters are mute, one is a dwarf, and one who speaks English.  We always enjoy our times there.  Some of the ladies went shopping.  Now, tomorrow, back to business.  The guest house will be full with maybe 130 people in various classrooms.  Dr Ted is our keynote speaker for the week.  He is an old hand, having been here 6 times.  We have another member on team with tummy troubles.  Seems to be circulating.  We have had very little power today for some reason.  We think 12 hours a day without power is enough.  The neighbours dog barked from 9pm to 4 am last night.  The wretch was blissfully sleeping on the footpath this morning, while the rest of us were bleary eyed.  Still no joy with trying to work our photos for the blog.  Mr I.T. is thinking on it.