Our second day for orientation was held with Bruce and Libby Hayes focussing on the Nepal portion of our trip. It was fantastic to brush up on Nepali Christian history as well as the political history, and prepare ourselves, at least in a meagre way, for what will undoubtedly be two weeks of very different experiences, culture, weather, and society. We are very aware, as a group, that even though we might want to be useful to the Nepali church and the workers there, we will probably be the ones needing the help.

We now have a much more firm program in hand for our two weeks in Nepal which is bringing great clarity to our preparation.

Following our arrival in Kathmandu on Sunday July 20, we then journey to Tansen, a 10 hour bus trip on the Monday. Tuesday will be spent gaining some understanding of the integral mission happening in Tansen, as well as tour of the mission hospital there.

Arriving in Pokhara on Wednesday afternoon will bring a new perspective on ministry for us.

Over the course of 6 days there we will be

• leading two sessions of Children’s Ministry at a children’s hostel
• taking the Children’s Ministry at one of the Christian churches in Pokhara, while Chris and others will be attending the large Naya Gaun church, where Chris will be preaching with a translator
• we’ll be involved in a Nepali deep-end culture activity
• leading two Bible studies – one for local missionaries, and one for the Christian medical students at Manipal Hospital
• we’ve also been asked to do some Sunday School Teacher Training for the Naya Gaun Church children’s ministry leaders. There are about 60 teachers who minister to over 200 children each week
• as well as the above we will also be doing some handyman and maintenance jobs at a women’s hostel.

Our time in Pokhara will draw to a close with an afternoon of relaxing around Lake Phewa, and we are hopeful the monsoon weather will hold off for us.

Our journey back to Kathmandu will take about 6 hours and we then have a couple of days in Kathmandu to explore the bazaar, the temples, the palace, and hopefully to visit some Christian ministries and pray with those in leadership.

We only have another 19 days to be ready! Will we do it?