Nepal

    What an interesting connection has been made with a place and people already known to Meena and which gives us an opportunity to see something of her beautiful country. and be part of the welfare of her people.

    The recent link established between St. Hilda’s and The Leprosy Mission in Anandaban has been consolidated through Meena and Daniels’s visit together..  Daniel gave us a fascinating insight into the work done by staff at the hospital to give compassionate care to patients and to prepare them for their return to their own communities in around six weeks.  Progress in research and treatment means that leprosy, a bacterial disease, can now be cured if caught early so that the ancient biblical fear of disfigurement and stigma need no longer apply.

    It was lovely to see pictures of Meena and Daniel looking round the hospital in its extensive grounds.  We pray that damage caused by the earthquake can soon be repaired.  Such beautiful surroundings of gardens with the distant Himalayas give a sense of peace.

    Thank you to Meena and Daniel for being ambassadors and sharing their experience with us.

    Please continue to pray for the work of TLM and support them in whatever way you can.

Aileen

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Meena’s Coffee Morning

Raising funds for Nepalese Charities

On

Saturday 13th May

From 10am—12 noon

Come and enjoy coffee & cakes

With Good Company

Craft Stalls & Plants

 

All donations of cakes and plants will be gratefully received

 

January Newsletter from Daniel & Meena

Dear Saint Hilda’s of Halifax church members,

November

Back in November we travelled to two mountain villages in Eastern Nepal, to Meena’s ancestral land.  We taught a day’s English at a primary school only, although that went very well and we were well-appreciated by the school!  They were not used to new teachers so it was a sort of celebration dayJ.  Meena’s uncle is one of the teachers.

We had lots of teas and large meals with our relatives and made friends at their homes, I discovered how to cook on a fire-stove and harvest millet and toured a cousin’s farm-crop of cardamom.  He brought a gun in case there were monkeys, which destroy the crop.

In the other village we were told that 5 years ago the villagers had to chase 2 tigers away from the area!  People keep cows, buffaloes, chickens and pigs.  In this second village there is a larger school that was built on land donated by Meena’s family. We were welcomed by all villagers and made acquaintances, which will continue when we return!

We both met families for the first time, as Meena was a seven months old baby when they left the home village.  Half a century ago, Meena’s father had become a Christian.   He was rejected by the community, as they used to call Christians untouchable.  He left to Terai (flat) area for good. He tried to make social improvements, however, these were to prove to come more gradually, as follows:  a chimney for the cooking stoves to reduce smoke inhalation, with a school and electricity for lights, tv and mobile phones, over the years. We saw like in British communities, drinking to much alcohol remains a serious problem. We saw many drunken people and it is a custom there that people have to offer a rice / millet beer to every visitor, like a cup of tea.  Whereas, Nepali Christians do not drink alcohol, and this is a very good witness.

 After leaving the village, Meena’s father created a Christian congregation and made town improvements in a farm-town in the southern plains of Nepal, which we also visited prior to our mountain visit.  We can share about that at a later date, but please do ask us about it in February!

Back in the mountains: The people’s religion and cultural understanding and lifestyle are rich, so it is important to be respectful/able and to be honouring/able to others, which we were, of course.  I particularly made acquaintance with a gravestone chiseler/sign writer who was suffering from a hurting elbow.  One early morning I asked: ‘please join us and pray it gets better.’  We did!  He said I want to become Christian but because of my family I cannot. I made friends with a teacher also. The school was not doing well and I was able to encourage him.

Our cousin introduced us to a Christian man (a volunteer chapel leader) who over-sees a newly established Chapel (two years old) at the top of the village.  We went to chapel, which was a one hour walk, to meet the Christian brothers and sisters. That was our first experience walking one hour to go to church but some people walk two or three hours to go to church there. He asked me to share from the Bible in 11^th hour.  By God’s help I shared from the Twelve Bridesmaids Parable, as I had done before in Kathmandu (I did this regularly in Devon, at Lee Abbey).  And Meena translated into Nepali.

The Pastor invited us for a meal, which we enjoyed; besides food, we had a lovely fellowship and also we had an opportunity to get to know each other. They were very keen to know how life in the UK is and about the church.  So we did lots of explaining. I talked about Saint Hilda’s Church followed by the Pastor praying.   We gave gifts to Pastor’s family and the Chapel leader.

The Chapel leader (Ajamber) generously gave us a tour of the village and our land, on the mountainside.  He is now not only our Fellow In Christ, who voluntarily leads a group of new Christians of all ages, but has a small kiwi-fruit plantation within his farm, and has introduced kiwi-farming to the village, where he sells fruits. It was the best kiwi we ever had as we were just in time for harvesting.  Besides this he sells tangerines and also cardamom. There is demand for kiwis in Kathmandu!!!!!!!

I found the most important factor is friendship and encouragement (which God makes ‘greater’ than ‘normally happens’, and which is difficult to find often in this world).  With holy character, things can lead from there, where one person helps another. We can pray for that in our parish too!!!!!  Please keep us in your prayers also.

December and January

Meena and I have had our second (Nepali) Wedding Reception at a Christian restaurant with family and childhood friends.  We can show photos when we give our Anandaban Hospital slideshow!  I, Daniel have made a slideshow for you that will last about 20 minutes!  We were given a tour so I’ve written a few things about the hospital to share with you also!  I hope it is as good as the Leprosy Mission’s!  Irene (do you remember our niece) had her first birthday, and friends and family came and gave gifts and a sermon and prayers were said in the home (some photos at the slideshow), in Kathmandu!

We recently visited a Pastor, David and his family and we had a lovely lunch with them. We gave gifts from the UK.  It was a great blessing to see the new church building.  The new church building is still under construction upstairs, and they’re trusting to move soon, as they are living in a rented house. The church has a ground-floor hall, with underlayed carpet, which is already in use for church. It is on a beautiful farmed-hillside overlooking Kathmandu!

Meena has a VISA for six months so she will have to go back to Nepal in July, and then apply for a UK Residency Visa. If everything goes well she will come back to me in the UK in September.  Please keep this matter and us in your prayers.

November Newsletter from Daniel & Meena in Nepal

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Nepal! Thank you very much for your prayer and support! We arrived in Nepal safely. Daniel is getting to know more locals and the area and he is enjoying his stay, which is good for me.

Now Daniel is not afraid anymore with dogs. Here we have many street dogs so it was very hard for Daniel in the beginning for walking around but not anymore. Praise God! Many of my friends and church members were very happy to meet Daniel. We went to visit our friends who live in a poor area as we bought them gifts. They rent their land and grow vegetables and they also made a hut for their home. Now we regularly visit them to purchase their grown stuffs and to encourage them in what they are doing. And we time to time have brought them our homemade cakes and other stuffs. They are always very happy to see us and they look forward to our visits.

We regularly go to attend Church services; it is on a Saturday. I translate for Daniel. On one
Saturday we also sang the song “Trust and Obey.” Daniel was playing violin. People enjoyed it, as the instrument is new for them.

Last month after settling in, we visited Pachkhael Church and the village where all houses
had been destroyed by quake, as you know. It was our great privilege to hand over the donation we raised from churches coffee morning in Heatherleigh, Devon. They send thanks J J. Let us continue to keep them in our prayers, as there has not been any progress for the livelihood of these people.

After the Pachkhael trip Daniel and I went trekking to Poon Hill, which is over three thousand meter high, to view the Annapurna Range / Fishtail etc Nepali mountain. We went by bus to Pokhara, stayed one night and in the morning we set off for trekking. It was very hard walking for five days but the scenery was spectacular: hills, lots of waterfalls, flowers, birds, etc. We really enjoyed walking in the nature even though our feet were hurting and a leech bit to Daniel.

When we reached Poon Hill that night was very heavy rain, but I thought and prayed that even if it is still raining, I will go. We set off early at 5 am and it was drizzling, but on the way the rain stopped. When we finally reached the top, where there’s a tower, everything was cleared and we were very happy! Thanking God and praising Him to see his creation in the beauty of nature.

On Saturday 29 Oct 2016 we had a Pro-Life seminar for youth. There were more than 33 young people who participated. We were happy and thankful to God because electricity was on. I sang a song “Trust and Obey” for young people and Daniel played the tune on the violin. We have been performing “Trust and Obey” several times in House Groups, at Churches, and with friends and family as this song is powerful and suites our life. People have asked us to teach from the Bible at a regular fellowship meeting, open to anyone but at our family relation’s premises. It has been encouraging for us to share God’s word, sharing with new Christians and learning from each other in the House Group. Daniel shared about the Parable of the ten virgins and I translated in Nepali. And another week Meena shared in the House Group from Psalm 23, Good Shepherd.

Since last week, we are temporarily staying with Rebecca, my sister in law and they have a baby Irene who is our new niece; full of fun and learning! Daniel has written nearly 30 thousand words, describing his 13 years of learning being a Christian.

Please pray for Daniel as he is still suffering from a cold since we arrived on and off. So I decided to go to see doctor before we leave. Tomorrow we are off to our village Phattepur, my Hometown. Daniel and I are looking forward to meeting Church believers and will do some teaching as well. And after that we will head off to Bhojpur, our ancestral land. Please keep us in your prayers, for travelling mercies, and His favor that we will be a shining light during our time at both places. At Bhojpur we are also hoping to help out in the school teaching kids.

Finally, wishing you a good learning with all your new adventures with Christ that is happening at Saint Hilda’s Church, Halifax. And also we send our greetings and love to all friends in Heatherleigh churches and in the Doncaster Evangelical Church and other our individual friends.

Yours in Christ,
Much love and prayers,

Meena & Daniel.

October Newsletter from Daniel & Meena in Nepal

Dear Saint Hilda’s,
We have been hoping to visit the Nepal Leprosy Hospital but I have been suffering from a cold due to humidity here. Meena met up with a friend who is a leader in the Nepal medics fellowship and Meena knows them to meet up with in the hospital – I do have our photo and will print it here before we go.  I have tried to work off my cold in our garden/field here and so we are growing mustard leaves as the monsoon is over and it is too dry for other crops. It makes salad. My cold wears off by lunchtimes.

I played violin at church again John Rutter’s “For the Beauty of the Earth” and it went well but still suffered from nerves in a new and modern church.  I was very confident, thankfully, sharing about a Bible reading at a Fellowship meeting at the house where we are now staying. It’s a huge building and the ground floor has a room where Christians come and sing and pray.

There was no new rota that week yet, so Praful (new brother-in-law) asked me to share and with Meena translating, it went well. I shared about the Parable of the Ten Virgin Bridesmaids waiting for the groom to open the door for the feast and half ran out of oil in their oil lamps whilst waiting. The main insight I shared was that we have to wait for our desires but not wait to pray if we want them to happen, and we all want to go to the Feast! Not an easy reading but a favourite one!

We bought more veg from the subsistence farming family mentioned last month. We are temporarily staying with Rebecca, my sister in law and they have a baby Irene who is our new niece; full of fun and learning!  So due to my cold we have just been exploring Kathmandu mostly and going to Rebecca’s church.  I have written 40 thousand words, in my available time, describing my last ten years learning of Christian life, but it needs more experiences adding to bring it down to reality.

Finally, wishing you good learning with all your new adventures with Christ that are happening at Saint Hilda’s Church, Halifax.

Yours with our blessings!

Meena & Daniel