We are in the little hotel in Birendernagar waiting for the bus to pick us up for church. The "magnificent seven" left on the big bus to wend their way to Kathmndu. It took 22 hours last time due to delays in Kathmandu and then an accident somewhere on the way that held up traffic for one hour. Three members are travelling to Nepalgunj today after church to fly to Kathmandu and the rest of us go tomorrow. Yesterday was the opening of the school, and it was a great affair with a number of officials and the hall was packed. We had the concert in the afternoon, so many people stayed all day. The concert started half an hour early, as the place was jammed full with spill outside. It was oppressively hot, and the generator kept failing so the fans weren't working, and the singers etc. had to hang around till someone got it going again. But finally, everything was accomplished. The room almost had enough electricity of its own without the generator. We will be keen to be at church this morning to see if many of the locals turn up. Raju preached at the end. Don't know what he said, but there was a lot of nodding going on in the crowd. As we left the hall, we were surrounded by most of the village, with the school kids who had a little bit of english wanting to talk. Everyone wanted to have photo's with us. We felt like "rock stars" for a day. It's exhausting. On the way back to the hotel, we called into Jhuprakhola (Garbage river) where many of our girls come from. We walked down the precarious gravel track to the mud huts with grass roofs . The abject poverty is unable to be explained. We met an aunt and uncle of one of the ladies in the half-way house. There were two handicapped children there and we know of others. We would love to do something for these little ones but it is a huge task to set up another centre that requires such specialised people and accommodation. Our "first timers" were a bit overwhelmed by what they saw. It is difficult to deal with. The scenery is spectacular, with the mountains and beautiful river. The contrast is unbelievable, between what God makes that is so glorious and what man causes amidst the beauty. The great consolation is when we come to Kathmandu and see our lovely little girls and women filled with hope and great expectations for the future. Clean, safe, fed, educated, trained and daughters of the King. That is worth a " Halleujah"
