“Warming Up” in Nepal
Dale & Bethsaba Nafziger – Nepal
Dale & Bethsaba Nafziger – Nepal
Warmest greetings from “warming up” Nepal! In addition to gasoline, cooking gas, electricity and water shortages we are also beginning to contend with the dust and heat of the hot season. Your friendship, prayers have been and continue to very special to us. Thank you for the many ways in which you express that. Via this letter we hope to maintain “our end of the deal” by keeping you abreast of things happening here. Read and enjoy!
New Church Fellowship Started in February
In February we began holding services in a second location way across town, right in the village where we live. At the moment we are meeting in a temporary facility but also constructing a simple building for fellowship in the long-term. It is amazing the number of local people who have showed up and expressed interest since we began. It seems that, symbolically, God was simply waiting for us to take the “leap of faith.” We maintain the long-term goal of doing much more than simply holding meetings (James 1:26)! Read more about this under the “Top of the World” heading below.
Another School Year Completed
March is the end of the school year here in Nepal. Despite many strike-days and other interruptions Sushma recently completed Class 2, and Shova completed Class 4. In late March we attended both of their “Display Days” (the equivalent of a “Spring Concert” in North America). All told we sat through well over 4 hours of dramas, skits, and what have you. It made me a bit more appreciative of what my parents must have endured for me in days gone by. Ha! We will continue to keep Sushma and Shova in Montessori during the coming year. Following that, however, we continue to pray for sound-wisdom, as we make decisions that will affect them for life. Nepal’s continuing political instability, frequent strike-days, etc. has necessitated that we prayerfully consider these issues.
“Top of the World”
In addition to her many other responsibilities, one of the “hats” Bethsaba has worn here during the past number of years is that of managing a small business that we operate out of our home. In recent years “Top of the World” has “cranked out” frozen french fries, nuggets (Tater Tots) and, most recently, frozen pizzas. The object of this enterprise is not to make “wads of money” but, rather, to employ village women in a safe, clean working environment. Seeing the change that has taken place in some of the girls’ lives makes it all worthwhile! As our church’s outreach continues to grow in the village where we live, we continue to be challenged to “grow” the business – providing more jobs for Nepal’s many citizens who have none, particularly young women-at-risk. Please join us in praying as we seek God’s will in this matter.
“Great Commission Companies”
One area of life that I enjoy greatly in Nepal is that of participating in a monthly meeting of “Great Commission Companies.” This is a group of local business men and women, both Nepali and expatriate, who share a “broader vision” for the businesses that they own and operate here. Currently we are working chapter-by-chapter through a book entitled “Great Commission Companies: The Emerging Role of Business in Missions.” The business environment found in Nepal nowadays is, frankly, depressing – but, as the book states, “…Christ will regularly take us out of our comfort zone and force us into situations where we must depend on his strength alone.” Quite a challenge! It is wonderful in this context, therefore, to meet and gain mutual support from a like-minded group of investors.
Family update…since we were last in touch
- During the past several months Bethsaba has been involved in a new hospice centre in Kathmandu. There is a great need for a facility such as this in Nepal that allows people to die with dignity.
- In February we celebrated Bethsaba’s birthday and in March Shova’s.
- In March we participated in a “Menno” sub-continent retreat, by the lakeside in Pokhara. It was a wonderful opportunity for “getting our batteries charged.”
- We are grateful for the continual prayers and the occasional “care packages” that come our way. Thank you so very much!
- Our “MST” is “up and running”-for which we are most-grateful.
- Finally, just a word of trivia. Last Friday (Good Friday) the Nepal Telecommunication Corporation issued over 72,000 new “mobile” (cellular) phone connections in a single day! Who ever said that Nepal is a poor country??? Like anywhere; people here are also willing to pay almost anything-for something they desire strongly enough.
Looking ahead…
Sushma and Shova begin a new school year in late April. Wonder Products is planning to make pineapple juice for a second year during the upcoming monsoon (June-August). I am planning to go to South Africa in July to “pick up” a few more MBA courses under Eastern College, St. Davids, Pennsylvania.
Are you interested in more-regular e-mail updates & photographs from us?
We try and send out comprehensive updates of this nature roughly every three months. If you are interested in hearing from us more often, however, please be aware that we send out a brief prayer request and photographs on a weekly basis via e-mail. Kindly be in touch if you are interested in receiving these. Also, please be assured that we keep all e-mail addresses confidential.
“Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.”
– Ecclesiastes 11:4 (NIV)
Sincerely, 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.