Spring Greetings from Nepal

Dale and Bethsaba Nafziger – Nepal
Warmest greetings from a cold “Land of Mt. Everest.” Given how hot it is here for most of the year, we are tolerant of the few months in which we must survive in unheated homes and offices. In the next few lines we want to both provide you with an update as well as thank you for your continued prayers and financial support.

Dale and Bethsaba Nafziger – Nepal

Warmest greetings from a cold “Land of Mt. Everest.” Given how hot it is here for most of the year, we are tolerant of the few months in which we must survive in unheated homes and offices. In the next few lines we want to both provide you with an update as well as thank you for your continued prayers and financial support.

Sushma & Shova – Sushma enjoys studies in Class 2 and Shova in Class 4 in a local Montessori school. We are blessed that they can attend a local school having good teachers and lasting friendships-in contrast to the highly volatile teacher/student populations in schools operated primarily for and by expatriates. Like most Asian countries; Nepal’s educational system is “exam prone”-a legacy left behind by the British. The Montessori system here attempts to deal with that reality-in-life creatively; by on one hand teaching children how to take tests but on the other hand not basing their entire academic future solely upon exam scores. Each week the hospital emergency room and ICU where Bethsaba works bear grim testimony to an antiquated system whereby exam scores are the sole measure utilized to determine a child’s fate-in-life.

Bethsaba – Bethsaba has continued her nursing and patient counseling activities at Patan Hospital over the past year. A mid-2006 periodic report she wrote indicated 80% of her cases involved attempted suicide and 20% involved alcohol abuse. 72% of these attempted suicides involved young people (25 years or less). This is probably a consequence of a number of factors including the fact that Nepal has lived on the brink of civil war for the past decade, students face extreme pressure to excel in academic performance, recent-graduates face a dismal job market where there are very few jobs, and young people are expected to live with and financially provide for the older generation. Part of our “critical presence” here is that of Bethsaba becoming involved with casualties of a country torn by conflict. Beyond the hospital Bethsaba was involved in quite a number of activities in our church over the past year including serving as chairperson of the leadership team, coordinating Sunday School, and regular involvement in youth and women’s fellowships.

Dale – As most of you are aware; we reside in Nepal on a business visa. This is neither a scam nor a cover-up.  Honest business is what we are indeed here to do. During the recent months of December and January, while most of you were celebrating the holidays, Dale was involved in producing about 6,020 gallons of tangerine juice.  Part of our “critical presence” here is that of providing jobs in one of the world’s most economically-depressed economies. With the major task of production now out of the way, we are confronted with the even more daunting task of selling the juice-particularly in the cut-throat business environment found in the country nowadays. Nepal’s recent decade of internal conflict has had a major negative economic impact-creating a situation where it is nearly impossible for old fashioned honest/ethical business to survive.

A Closing Request…

Despite the rollercoaster of life-in-Nepal; the message “We want you here” rings through loud-and-clear in so many facets of our lives-in the business, in school, in our church, with neighbors frequently stopping by to see Bethsaba for medication, and attempted-suicide cases calling her for a word of encouragement. As you are most aware, our continued “critical presence” here is highly tied to your friendship and your prayers. Please, therefore, prayerfully consider being involved with us in prayer in this wonderful and occasionally perplexing land.

God bless!

“Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless.” – Bertrand Russel, atheist

For Sushma, Shova, Bethsaba & myself-
Dale
Dale & Bethsaba Nafziger are missionaries with the United Mission for Nepal.  Dale serves as an electrical engineer.  Bethsaba works for the health department of the United Mission to Nepal in midwifery and general nursing.