Chritmas 2010

Dear friends and partners:

Five weeks from today we will be back on an airplane headed for the second part of our strange nomadic life that has us splitting our time on two very different halves of the globe each year.  Lots of people have been asking us if we are excited to be returning to Nepal.  Although we are, to be honest, we haven’t been spending much time yet dwelling on our impending departure;  our goal in this new transient lifestyle has been to “be all where we are.”  In fact, beyond securing our tickets, our attention has been more on our lives and ministry here.  I just finished teaching a busy semester last week and still have a bit of grading to complete and then some “clean up” of the semester to have my courses in good shape for next year.  After the holiday we will “change” hats and begin to ramp up for Nepal. One of our missionary friends has aptly noted, “life overseas is hard, but simple; life in America is easy but complicated.”  Because of this all too true fact, you haven’t heard much from the Beines in the past six months.  What follows is an attempt to bring you all up to speed on the “second half” of this strange life the Beines lead:

Dave kept busy with various projects.  His primary responsibility for the past half year has been teaching anthropology, intercultural communications and linguistics at Moody Bible Institute, Spokane where he serves as Professor of World Missions.  Dave loves the opportunity to infect students with the mission bug (we know firsthand the huge remaining need for others to join in the task) and to equip them for that task through these practical offerings.  Dave also published a couple of academic articles within his specialty (medical anthropology) and presented another professional paper on HIV/AIDS in Nepal at the American Anthropological Association annual meetings in New Orleans in November.  Beyond this he taught a course in applied linguistics at Western Seminary (Portland) and led several workshops on culture, generational differences, Bhutanese worldview, and development for Moody, Prairie Bible Institute, Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), and several local churches and organizations working with refugees.  Beyond teaching, the highlight of his year was keeping up with our Bhutanese refugee friends here in Spokane and hanging out with his family.  
      

Musings from Kimberly

I am reminded this year of how little control we have over our circumstances in life.  Not so many years ago, I was striving to keep my sanity while caring for my mother (as she faded away), caring for little ones in my home, keeping our home running smoothly while Dave traveled, keeping my medical license and contributing to our income through part-time work, and investing in many valuable relationships.  Some nights I would drop into bed wondering if God would provide enough energy for the trials of the next day.  AND HE ALWAYS PROVIDED AND SO OFTEN ASTONISHED ME.  It was a time of great spiritual growth, seeing God be more through me than I could have ever imagined.  Those were the years that taught me to embrace suffering (even though mine was small) and my eyes were opened to how often the Scriptures encourage us to expect and be prepared for suffering.  These days, my life is utterly different.  My mother is safely under the care of Christ, in heaven, free from all trials now.  My boys are no longer little and they all go to school for six hours a day, five days per week.  I was laid off in a massive closing of urgent care clinics in North Idaho.  Since new clinics have begun to open, I have not been able to secure a job; I am told that because we go back to Nepal every year, I am not a favorable candidate for hiring.  Furthermore, the fact that I chose missionary medicine before completing my board certification in a specialty is now playing against me in the job search.  Some colleagues with whom I used to work have told me that they would love to hire me, but those with the power to hire have not yet been convinced.  So it seems that my career has come to a screeching halt.  I do hope it is temporary.  I have spent many hours getting educated online, in hopes of moving into the area of preventive care should I find my niche in medicine again.  With our nomadic lifestyle, I do not really have the option to complete board certification at this time in history, and I do not feel ready to embrace 80-90 hours per week again while my kids still fill my home with so much joy and so many opportunities for interaction, guidance, and simply enjoying one another.  I cannot express what a joy it is to walk with my kids as they grow into the young men whom they are meant to be; what a fantastic journey of discovery!  I am so pleased with the men they are becoming.

So, I am on a new spiritual journey.  The trail is not nearly as arduous, but the exact focus of my destination is not so clear.  Should I be striving harder to find work?  Can I handle it, given the far more demanding job that Dave has, when I firmly believe that our boys need a parent on the home front?  I have had wonderful opportunities to help some of my dear friends whose journeys are very challenging right now.  I must admit, also, that I have experienced loneliness while everyone around me is so busily working.  At times I have taken this phase as pure gift, a chance to dawdle, when most of my life journey has been a full out run.  At times I have questioned if there is a place in this world for me to expend myself fully, using my skills and passion.  In the end, it has been a season of surrender.  I am learning to surrender (again) my hopes and dreams so that I can wait to see what the Master has for me.  I also have this deep desire to mother some daughters.  We have progressed with Home Study and hope to submit our paperwork to the Nepali government upon our return.  Others have advised that this is futile.  Yet, we have felt compelled to do it.  In the end, I cannot see that I can pursue both a career and the unique opportunity to nurture some orphaned children, so I have expended energy pursuing both, not being sure of the course marked out for me.  I trust that it will all become clear soon.  I am truly open to the next adventure that God has for me; I wonder what it will be.  In the meantime, there are some wonderful Beine “men” for me to support and enjoy, so I will close these musings with this wish for you:  wherever you are on your journey, may you find friendship, purpose, passion and a love for your Maker that cannot be extinguished.  God bless you, my friends.

Some thoughts from the teenager, Nick (Mom hopes he will use the word “pulchritudinous.”)

Hello everybody!  Nick here!  I just want to tell everybody Merry Christmas and Happy new year.  I have had a very busy year full of all sorts of activities, both in school and out.  I am playing the tenor saxophone in jazz band at my school.  I really enjoy jazz band!  I wake up an hour early on Wednesday and Friday to play in the jazz band.  We just went to Eastern Washington University for a competition and our band did very well.  I enjoyed running in cross country for Chase Middle School.  I finished ninth in the city for 7^th grade boys.  Running was lots of fun.  I also did a giant project for school on global warming.  I enjoyed putting it together to present and I hope all you guys are not burning lots of unnecessary greenhouse gasses!  Just kidding.  Besides playing saxophone, I am also playing my guitar, and I enjoy messing around on our new keyboard.  I like school over all, but the best part is having friends to hang out with.  I am glad we have a two week break from school.  I am planning to go skiing, which I enjoy very much.  I also published a book about Nepal on lulu.com, which includes pictures and thoughts about our six month stay there.  I am very much looking forward to going back to Nepal in January.  I hope you all have a great Christmas and an excellent new year!

(Oh well, he did not use that word that we hear him use all the time; expand your vocabulary and look up “pulchritude.”)

A Note from Nate

Merry Christmas from Nate! Thank you to all of you who support us or pray for us.  It was fun going to Nepal this year and I am glad that we are going back soon.  I enjoy my friends there.  I am going to a new school this year, in Spokane, and I am really enjoying it, even being on Student Council.  I hope that your Christmas is as good as mine.

Contemplations from 9-year-old Jason, a.k.a. Jake

Merry Christmas to you all!  I have enjoyed my friends and family this year.  I am very glad for all of you who support us.  This year, I was in a civic theatre play called “The Legends of Sleepy Hollow.”  I enjoyed being Ichabod Crane.  I have also enjoyed developing a better relationship with Jesus this year.  These days, I like sports a lot.  I can often be found outside re-enacting great football plays I have seen on the field.  I am really enjoying school where I like my teacher and where I have many friends.  Again, Merry Christmas!

Thoughts from 6-year-old Joshua

I do not like the toilets in Nepal.  I think it has been a fun year.  I love to play soccer with friends at school and to play football with big brother Nate at home.  Actually, I love to interact with all of my brothers, and people say that I seem much older than six (sometimes).  For some reason, people like to laugh when I am around; they call me Jovial Josh, and I like that.  Merry Christmas!

Anastasia
No, we do not (yet) have a new daughter, but Anastasia (Ana) Carlson is about to become an honorary part of the Beine clan as she spends the next half year living with us and teaching our kids in Nepal.  We introduced Ana in our last newsletter (let us know if you didn't get this) and Ana will gladly send you a prayer card (anastasia.j.carlson@gmail.com) so that you can pray for her.  And for those interested, Ana is still seeking financial partners to help get her to Nepal (and back!).  Write her at the above email address for more details.
         

And Finally, the holiday season is often a time for giving thanks: we give thanks first and foremost to our God for making a way for us to know and enjoy Him forever through the coming of his son, our Savior.  Also we are thankful for family and friends who have spoken into our lives in so many ways throughout the past year.  And certainly we give thanks for those of you who have partnered with us through prayer and/or financially during the past year.  We are grateful!  Our sending mission, Wycliffe Bible Translators, is also thankful for you, and has put together a short video which wonderfully expresses our thankfulness for your partnership in reaching the Bibleless peoples of the world with the greatest story ever told.  To see this short clip either click on this link or copy and paste it into your Internet browser. http://www.wycliffe.org/Give/ChristmasGreeting.aspx.  Please consider this Christmas Greeting one from our hearts to you as well.   

Thanks for your interest in our lives!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and bon voyage from the Beines!

Wanna join us in our adventure financially?

Give online at:

http://www.wycliffe.org/Give/MissionaryMinistries.aspx

Or snail mail to:

W.B.T.

P.O. Box 628200

Orlando, FL 32862-8200

(Please earmark for Dave and Kimberly Beine

Or contact us personally at:

Email: david_beine@sil.org; kimberlybeine@gmail.com
Facebook: dave.beine; kimberly.beine

Phone us (rings to us both in the USA and Nepal): 509-228-8973

Where are the Beines?

While Kimberly painted the house, Nate painted the doghouse.  Snickerdoodle is officially an Oregon Ducks fan, as you can see.  :-)

10/03/2010

Where in the World are the Beines???  This is a question that recently reached my email inbox (which now has over 600 messages!).  Over a month and a half ago I caught a minute in transit to scribe what I thought (and still hope) would be our next newsletter.  Instead the draft sat until now (due the busyness noted below).  Since we are now being asked, I felt I should at least get a blog entry out to let you all know that we are alive and how you can pray for the busy Beines.  And hopefully this will turn into a full-fledged newsletter that will be making its way to your mailbox soon!

(On 07/15/2010, Dave wrote the following.)

This edition of the Beine Banter is being penned from the Denver airport (where I am in route to Chicago).  This is pretty much how it has been since our arrival back to the USA in mid June; busy and constantly on the run as we struggle to adjust back to the pace of life here in the USA.  As I write, I am listening to a podcast and checking my email, as three separate announcements talk over each other in the background.  What does all of this have to do with our newsletter?  Well, perhaps it explains (in part) why you haven’t heard much from us of late.  In this edition of the Banter you will hear of our life and ministry in the USA, and our developing plans to return to Nepal.  Enjoy!

Having settled back into life (and our home) in the USA, it is hard to get motivated to begin planning for our next foray back to Nepal.  Yet, with tight flight availability and other necessary long-term reservations it is imperative that we do so.  One of the first things we need to do is secure someone to teach our children next term in Nepal;  s/he doesn’t need to be a trained teacher, but someone who loves working with kids (particularly boys) who can manage our kids’ home school curriculum while in Nepal.  We are looking for just the right match for our kids.  Because of our isolation in rural Nepal we prefer some cross-cultural experience.  Please pray for us as we seek just the right match.  [Update- we now have our teacher lined up!  PTL!   We will introduce you to her in our next newsletter!]

What are we spending our time (six months) doing?  I, Dave have been teaching anthropology (two sections), introduction to linguistics and cross-cultural communication at Moody Bible Institute, Spokane.  The latter two of these courses are new at this school, so I have been writing the curriculum as I go along (which is very time consuming).  My goal in teaching at Moody is 1) to infect students with the mission bug (you know how we have been reporting the desperate need for more workers for the harvest) and 2) to equip them for missions (thus the topics I teach).  I have been very encouraged to see a sincere interest among many of my students, who appear very open to serving God in the mission field in general, and with Wycliffe Bible Translators in particular.  Since Moody is an approved training ground for Wycliffe Bible Translators and SIL International (Wycliffe’s sister organization), Wycliffe and SIL support our involvement on the Moody Spokane faculty.

This week in church a new follower of the Beines reminded me that although they know us, they don’t know much about Wycliffe and SIL.  In short, the vision of Wycliffe Bible Translators (the mission organization I have been with for twenty three years; and Kimberly has also been a member since our marriage 18 years ago) is to make God’s word accessible to all people in the language of their heart.  And the vision of SIL International (a sister organization to Wycliffe that I have also been a member of for the same length of time) is to “serve language communities worldwide, building their capacity for sustainable language development, by means of research, translation, training and materials development.”  So, we work for Wycliffe as our sending mission and we serve SIL International through our literacy and Scripture-use work in South Asia and through my posting with SIL as an International Anthropology Consultant.  For more information about Wycliffe and SIL International see www.Wycliife.org and www.sil.org respectively.  

Along with teaching, we continue our partnership in the Chepang literacy and Scripture-use project (Nepal) remotely from Spokane and I continue my assignment with SIL as an Anthropology Consultant.  My personal goal in serving as an International Anthropology Consultant is to use my vocation to further the Gospel by serving Wycliffe, SIL, and other organizations that are endeavoring to reach the ends of the earth.  Besides teaching at Moody and serving my own organizations I have also had the opportunity to work with Western Seminary (Portland, Oregon) teaching an applied linguistics course to future missionaries, with Prairie Bible Institute (Canada) encouraging their community development program, with Mission Aviation Fellowship providing cultural orientation to their new missionaries, with several local churches educating about missions, and finally, teaching at a regional missions conference, since landing back in Spokane.  Again, the wider goal being the promotion of (and quipping for) world missions more broadly.  On top of all of this we continue our local involvement with Bhutanese refugees here in Spokane (which is one of the main reasons we feel compelled to continue to split each year between Spokane and Nepal).      

Meantime, Kimberly has been holding down the fort at home.  Besides keeping us all dressed, fed, etc., she has been searching for new part-time work (to keep her medical license active).  And on top of that she even managed to oversee the re-carpeting of the upstairs of our house, and she re-painted the entire upstairs of our house herself!  Beyond this Kimberly has been spending significant time navigating the public school system here and trying to mesh that with (and find) a more appropriate home school curriculum for our time in Nepal.  Please pray for just the right solution.

There is one more thing that we have recently been doing for which we covet your prayers.  We recently began the “home study” process in preparation to seek adoption of one or two Nepali girls next year when we are back in Nepal.  Although time consuming, we feel God has led us to begin this adoption process.  In Nepal, girls are not favored and twins are considered a bad omen, so if twin girls are abandoned, they might be left to die, or they might be split up and adopted out to separate families.  We feel very open to the idea of adopting twin girls (or any girl/s) if God brings the opportunity during this next year while we are in Nepal.   Currently we are told that Nepal is “closed” to foreign adoptions (you might remember our dead-end experience with Baby Girl Tamang last year) so it would have to be an act of God to make this happen.  But we have felt compelled to prepare for the opportunity should it arise (which would not be very likely-humanly speaking); and we plan to drop our portfolio with the government adoption office upon our arrival to Nepal next winter and we’ll wait to see what happens.  Please join us in praying for 1) the timely completion of the home study process (we have just enough time--with no snags-- to complete this before we depart),  2) for the availability of twin girls if it is God’s desire for us, and 3) for the opportunity for a foreign adoption from Nepal against high odds.    

On a personal note, although we sincerely enjoy the various “hats” we have been wearing (and have felt led by God to put them on) and have felt led to pursue the various other opportunities we have mentioned above, all of these things have had us much busier than we would like.  So, please pray that God would give us the strength to carry out the various things God has for us to do.  We cannot do it alone!  And we would appreciate your prayers.

(back to 10/03/10)

So, that’s what the Beines have been up to.  Thanks for your continued prayer for us (although we have not been very good at keeping you up-to-date).  Sorry that it has been so long since you have heard from us!  And stay tuned for more in newsletter form soon!

The Beines

Coming to our U.S. home

We've made it to our U.S. home!  It was wonderful to hear Nate say, while we were on one plane flight, "We are always going home, either our Tansen home or our Spokane home."  What a blessing for these two parents to see how much GRACE has been poured out on all of us in the midst of our new nomadic lifestyle!  These are some pictures of how the Beines make the 12-time-zone jet lag adjustment; stay awake in the daytime by staying in the sun, and what better place than the southern California beach!

One great highlight to the return home was being reunited with our golden doodle dog, Snickerdoodle!  We are so thankful to the Wordell family who has generously loved him in our absence.  When we picked him up, they suggested that we talk about "joint custody," as they also really love him.  We are so fortunate that Snickerdoodle seems very content with this whole arrangement.


We are trying to catch up with the pace of life here in the U.S.  One of our friends who has done plenty of overseas living made a comment that really resonated with us: "Life overseas is hard and simple; life in America is comfortable and complex."  So true!  So, David is working hard to prepare lectures for his upcoming teaching, even through the blurry vision that comes as a result of the worst case of "pink eye" that he has ever had.  I am re-establishing our Spokane home routine, while hosting friends of the boys, and trying to decide where to interview for a new job (the company I used to work for has gone out of business in my absence).  Nick had his first speaking engagement this week at our church's Vacation Bible School.  He gave a powerpoint presentation four times, and did a wonderful job.  The other boys are rediscovering all the toys that have been in storage for six months, and reorienting their taste buds to such delights as cow's milk, hamburgers, hot dogs and ice cream!  Overall, we feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to serve our God in two very different locations in His world.  Thank you for your interest in our adventures.

Much love from the Beine Bunch (Kimberly)

The view from the tree-house!

A Paradise for Boys...

As you all know, there are some challenges to living in Nepal, particularly in one's gut where a multitude of bugs compete for territorial dominance.  However, I do want you to have a balanced view of the wonders of Nepal.  One project that we have begun, thanks to Dave and Ryan (our teacher for one month), is a wonderful tree-house.  A magnificent tree is conveniently located about 25 feet from our front door which makes a wonderful tree-house site.  The tree sits on the edge of a terrace, so that our platform is about 15 feet above the ground as you access it from our house, and from the other side, this platform is perched at least 25 feet above the ground.  This higher side offers outstanding views of the valley below Tansen.  We have plans to have multiple levels to this child's play house, but for now, we've only completed this one level.  The entire tree-house is made of scrap wood given to us by the hospital workshop, plus a lot of sweat and effort put out by several men (one being a young "man" of twelve years).  They can tell all sorts of stories about nails bending and drill bits breaking in the tough wood.  But alas, see below the fruit of their labors and the children enjoying this wonderful tree-house.  This is a great benefit of life in Nepal for boys who love outdoors and adventure.  We are blessed!

The harvest is plentiful...the workers so few.

Have you ever said to God, "I want to spend my life (that's right, SPEND my life, not save my life) doing ALL that you made me for.  I TRUST you in EVERYTHING I might encounter.  Please give me courage not to waver when the battle heats up.  Amen,"?  THANK YOU to all of you who have had the guts to say such things!

We have felt the battle heating up here on the spiritual front, and we feel compelled to pray for the workers in the harvest here in Tansen.  (And we know there are so many equally strained harvesters all over the world whom we have never met.)  As I have looked around at the workers here, interceding on their behalf, for strength to carry on, the strain has struck me.  I wonder if there are any others out there who might consider joining this wonderful team of dedicated, loving, creative workers at Tansen Mission Hospital?

Last night, I was talking with one of the new doctors on the team.  He was describing his day to me.  He was the only senior doctor on for the medical ward that day.  He told me how many patients he needed to see before he rushed off to the outpatient clinic and he emphasized how important it is to him to spend time instructing the new interns who have been placed under his tutelage.  I did a quick calculation.  He only had six minutes to spend with each patient, and he was supposed to instruct the interns in that time as well.  How could this happen?  Well, in the end, one patient had a cardiac arrest during rounds, so even the six minutes allotted to each one was gobbled up by tending to the neediest.  I'm sure that this translated to the patients on the outpatient side of the hospital needing to just wait longer.  Some would have to pay for a hotel room for the night and wait to be seen the next day.  They couldn't possibly go home, as that journey would take most of a day.  Will you ask with me, "Lord of the Harvest, could you please send even just one more doctor to share the harvesting work?"

Speaking of harvesting...there has been a surgeon from Norway here for a year and she is just on her way back home this week.  She shared a story at last night's church service about a patient she had seen over seven months ago.  The patient was a young girl with cancer with multiple masses inside her abdominal cavity.  Through a collaboration of the doctors and the social service at the hospital, they had arranged to pay for a substantial amount of her care at a nearby cancer hospital (our hospital does not have oncology services).  I don't know all the details, but in the end, the young girl died; yet in her death, God raised up a harvest.  The family recently returned to our hospital to share that a significant number of them were impressed by the LOVE they encountered at our hospital and they have now turned to the origin of that LOVE: Jesus Christ.  We are all amazed sometimes by the LIFE that God gives through deaths, such as this one, that often feel like medical failures.  Who can fully understand the mystery of God?

Okay, one final plea...are there any unemployed teachers out there wondering what God might do with their lives?  Our own personal journey of losing our teacher and trying to fill her role has greatly increased my respect and appreciation for teachers.  It is a challenging and important job!  And I am praying that God will pick out a teacher for us for the next five months when we come back to Tansen (February through June 2011).  But I see clearly that the need out here for teachers is huge.  You know, there is a school here for foreign kids, but we can't place our kids in it because there aren't enough teachers.  The first priority has gone to the families whose parents have visas that require them to serve a lot of hours at the hospital.  Dave and I have more flexible visas.  You might ask why not put them in the local Nepali schools.  Well, we have a little bit of trouble with the local pedigogy (repeat what the teacher says; no questions asked!), but really beyond that, the strain on the local system here is beyond our imagination.  For example, we have supported a boy here for the past ten years, so that he can attend school (each student must pay for his/her schooling).  He is in grade ten now and beginning to think about what he might do with his life.  And we've had ample opportunity to discuss this with him because his school was on break for two months, not because a break was scheduled but because they had run out of textbooks.  And all the power cuts in his city did not allow for the printing of more books.  Does that ever happen at your kids' school?  If you know any umemployed teachers who might have a heart to live in simple conditions and to take an exciting journey leading some fascinating kids of missionaries on an educational adventure, please encourage them to pray to the Lord of the Harvest.

Thanks for letting me share a glimpse of this side of the globe!
Loving the Adventure,
Kimberly, for the Beine Bunch

Old Photos

For the "Over Sixty" Crowd...

Today's tutorials for doctors at the hospital were very interesting. First, there was the Norwegian orthopedic surgeon who works in the busiest pediatric hospital in Stockholm and reported that this small hospital in Tansen, Nepal sees four times as many arm fractures as the one in Stockholm. Are there any orthopedic surgeons out there looking for a very fulfilling experience?

Then, there was a very interesting presentation on snake bites. This is the season when the snakes come out of hibernation and are hungry and in a foul mood. We've already seen the first snake in our yard. It was as long as Nate is tall and as thick as Jake's arm. Thankfully, it was as afraid of us as we were of it, and it quickly slithered away. There are thousands of deaths in Nepal every year from snake bites, but as I learned today, it is death related to local "treatment" as often as it is from envenomation.

The final lecture was about changing demographics in Nepal. When we started working in Nepal, average life expectancy was in the 50s. It has now moved up to 62 years. And currently, 6% of the population is over 60. At home, my mom died at 65 years old and many said that was so early. So, this changing demographic data sounds encouraging, doesn't it? Well possibly, but following are the sad facts. Just making it into your 60s doesn't mean that life is good. Social support from the government is almost non-existent. There are no doctors who specialize in geriatric medicine. There are no special facilities for aging people. And here is the worst...many elderly people are suffering alone in villages. Under the current conditions in the country, many working-age people leave Nepal looking for work. The youth flock to cities in search of more "western and modern" life. And the elderly stay in their villages, often with nobody to look after them, sometimes slowly starving to death. My heart breaks, yet again.

Anybody feeling motivated to be thankful for family, for government, for the Biblical concept of looking after those in need? You know, giving up living here in Nepal for eight years to go home and care for my mom until we handed her off to the Lord Jesus may have been a witness to the caretaking that Christ calls us to, more than I ever realized before. I am so thankful for the guiding principles of the Bible and for the day by day guidance of the Holy Spirit. His ways are wonderful and so different from the natural ways of man. Please empower us, Lord Jesus, to show your good ways...wherever we are.

Thankful for ALL of you whom I call "family,"
Kimberly

This week will be a busy one...

Well, with the transportation systems shut down last week few people were able to travel. As a result, now that things are running again, we are expecting a flood of patients at the hospital over the next several days. And likely there will be some very sick people who should have come last week but couldn't, making them even more difficult to cure. So, please pray for Kimberly and the other doctors today (Sunday) as they return to work.

Thanks!

Dave

Nepal update

Hi all:

Several have asked for an update about the current political crisis in Nepal.  Good news!  The Maoist have announced that they have withdrawn the strike!  Actually the Nepali word they used is more “postponed,” and they plan to continue their protests (just not make everyone else stop life), so we are not completely out of the woods yet.  But at least we can find food again in the markets, get mail again, get in and out of the capital city again, etc.  The New York Times had a good update on the situation this morning (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/08/world/asia/08nepal.html ) for those who are interested in following the situation more closely.

Last weekend my (Dave) home church, Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church in Fair Oaks, California, featured a live interview with us during their Sunday morning service.  The pastor was preaching on missions.  It was really cool (but strange) to be talking to them live at 12:30 AM Monday morning our time.  It is amazing how technology has changed in my 20 plus years in South Asia!  For those who want to know a little more about us check out the video at:      http://www.vimeo.com/11445132

And Finally, some of you have been asking about being notified via email when we post a new blog entry.  I think you can do so by clicking on the link "subscribe by email" near the top left of the blog page

Dave (for all)

Hot season has definitely begun!

Hot season is here!  This is the candle in our kitchen after a hot day.  And we are in the third day of the Maoist-called nation-wide general strike across the country.  Today has seen a few minor violent acts against here in Tansen against those who were ignoring the strike.  We have kept a low profile and been just fine.  I (Dave) am using the time to get caught up on email and other projects that have been on the back burner.  Kimberly has been going to work but the patient load has been light since all transportation has been halted.  We are well stocked, but locals are beginning to worry about running out of food since no groceries or food or vegetables have been able to make it up from India.  From what we hear the capital city is even more tense.  Oh, and our refrigerator gave out and we will not be able to order a new part (or get the needed part temporarily repaired) until the strike ends.  Please keep Nepal in your prayers!

The JOY of NEW LIFE!

More Details...

Today, I had the best Nepali language lesson that I have had yet. I cannot tell you any new words that I learned, but I can tell you that the Holy Spirit stirred in my heart as I listened to the details of my teacher and his wife coming to faith…finding their eternity secure in the Father God.

So, my initial story, received third-hand, had a few of the details inexact but not far off. I want you all to enjoy the details that thrilled me today. You see, this woman was lying in her bed, not sleeping, when the entire room went completely, utterly dark. Then it was full of light. Then dark again, and then light again. There were three cycles of this. (And this was not one of our power fluctuation phenomena.) She felt sure that this was a sign that she would soon die. She told her brother and her son about the experience, which had considerably shaken her. They had a meal with her and tried to reassure her that she did not seem close to death. They left for a while. She went out. She was out for three days, and she has no recollection of those three days. Gathering information from others who encountered her, it has been confirmed that she slept at a Tibetan camp and she was either mute or simply not making sense. Some children at the camp who were interacting with her decided that she needed some care, so they found an adult who then called the police and they transported her to the hospital. While being examined at the hospital, they placed leads on her body for an ECG and suddenly she regained the ability to speak and from that point on, she has a sharp memory. When her identification was clarified, it was a quick call to her daughters that began the spread of news that she was found. About 100 people were out looking for her by this time, and within 20 minutes, all of them were at the hospital with her. She was released from the hospital with no particular illness identified.

The group had some food together and discussed this strange occurrence. Her brother and her son noted the remarkable resemblance to Paul’s encounter with Christ and the parallel of three days for Christ in the grave. My language teacher, the woman’s wife, is well acquainted with the Bible, as he has had to teach the words in it to many foreigners over the past 20 years. He contemplated these things as they discussed the situation. Also, there was one family member who had a dream about this happening to this woman before the story was revealed. In the end, the woman saw that she was not really being called to death, but rather to LIFE! And she was ready to choose the light, to choose LIFE.

As my language teacher told me the story, he said, “My wife is uneducated. And she was a very strong Hindu. I have a very high education. It seems to me that Jesus prefers the uneducated and the lowly to the highly educated. It seems to me that He wanted to save us, but he chose to reach my wife first and then me.” His joy was palpable and it has infected me for this entire day. The kindness of our LORD is immeasurable! When I met this woman today for the first time, she greeted me with a hug. This is an unusual greeting here, but she just seemed to be overflowing with love. That too infected me.

Finally, I want to share that one of the first things they did was to call a missionary couple that they knew from many years ago; my language teacher says that this couple has shown them an extraordinary amount of love. He shared their story and about this new life that they have found. The coupled responded with dancing. Surely, this had been their hope for many years. Their prayers were fully answered. I am brought to tears as I write. We (our family and you) are praying for many things. Who knows when and how God might answer. Let’s not grow weary in hoping for the lost and lifting them up before the throne! This is what motivates us. One day, you will see, we’ll be in heaven and Nepalis will also be there, worshipping the King. Keep praying! Thank you. Your work with us is worth more than we can reckon.

Rejoicing!
Kimberly, for all the Beines

Darkness and Light!

A few days ago the wife of Kimberly’s language teacher went missing for several days in Kathmandu.  She has been found!  And the experience ended with both she and her husband giving their hearts to Jesus just yesterday- the same day Kimberly and I were praying and fasting for Nepal!  Here is the story as we heard it:

His wife was out walking and she saw darkness…and then light…and then darkness…and then light…. She heard God ask her if she would choose the darkness or the light.  This experience upset her, so she didn’t eat for a couple of days.   Then she was out walking again and fainted or lost consciousness for some reason and was found by some Christians who took her to a hospital in Kathmandu.  After she was recovered, and her husband had found her at the hospital, they decided together to choose the light.  Her husband, the language tutor, has worked with Christians for 22 years.  This power encounter led him to seriously consider this “gospel” that he has heard so much about.  And he and his wife have chosen eternal life with the One True God! 

This teacher called tonight to thank us for praying.  He said, “My time in Kathmandu was very hard…but God has saved us.”  Praise be to our Loving God!

Releasing little Baby Girl Tamang

Today was baby girl's one-month birthday.  Until today we had not even seen her  in person in order not to complicate any possible future adoption.  Since we got the final "no" yesterday, however, we decided to go meet her today and to pray over her as a family and to release her to the Lord.  She is so cute!  She has her own little crib in one corner of a nurse's station where she has been living this past month.  When we came in she was sleeping.  She awoke at the end of our little family prayer, yawned, and then just concentrated her eyes on us before returning to sleep.  It was a sweet family time of praying for her.  But hard as well.  I (Dave) hadn't realized how attached I had become to this little life I had never met.  We cannot have her, but we can continue to pray for her.  As we reported last post, the current bureaucracy makes her unadoptable (even to a Nepali family) at this point so she is likely to moved soon to an orphanage and live her life there until some change occurs in the law.  Please join us in praying for her care and salvation.  There is a wonderful Christian children's home (orphanage) nearby where she will likely go until she  is able to be adopted (if that ever happens) only by a Nepali family (if one can be found).

Please join us in praying and releasing Little Baby Girl Tamang!

Dave (for the Beines)

Praying over "baby girl" Tamang

"No"

Hello Faithful Partners,

I woke up this morning feeling a little discouraged...Nick continues to struggle with stomach pain, although the diarrhea has lessened and his appetite has increased.  His tests at the hospital only showed pus in his stool, but without identifiable cause.  We'll try a couple more tests, and we'll continue to wait.  Nick was due to have a friend visit from Kathmandu today, but a strike has closed the road and that is postponed.  We've had about 16 hours without electricity and I didn't plan well (this wasn't expected) and I am concerned that we may lose all of our food in the refrigerator and freezer (I really shouldn't have it so well stocked in this season).  And finally today we got the answer from the lawyer regarding guardianship/adoption of the abandoned baby girl who remains at the hospital: "No."  Adoption will not be possible for us for this girl. 

My neighbor invited me to join her at the local healthcare worker spiritual conference going on just a 20-minute walk from our home.  I just knew that I needed to go and worship the LORD and I knew that doing so corporately would encourage me.  There are hundreds of God's children from all over South Asia coming to our town to be encouraged in their service to the LORD through healthcare.  And it was a wonderful blessing.  I had some good tears, again, as we sang some songs that are very dear to me.  I was blessed by the message out of Exodus about the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, who followed God's edict, instead of the governmental edict of the time, and spared the Hebrew babies.  And I was inspired to pray the prayer written in the conference handout:  "Lord, please give me three wounds: 1) the wound of contrition, that I might come to repentance for my own sins, 2) the wound of compassion (the kind of love that comes with pain, and continues to love), and 3) the wound of hunger, for the Lord Almighty, for His Word, and for His ways.  Finally, I was encouraged to remember that God's greatest works have been accomplished through human weakness and in what seemed like the darkest times.  The absolutely darkest time was when the Father turned his face away from his Son, Jesus Christ.  And it is in that moment that He accomplished His greatest act: that of saving a whole family of children from all over the earth. 

So, I go forward to work today feeling weak to accomplish anything good, but inspired to cry out to God to accomplish His will.  I hope you will do the same.  I hope that your worship of God will not stop at the altar with the meeting of your own needs, but will continue on to the point of contrition, compassion and hunger for God.  And then may we rejoice together in all that God accomplishes through hearts fully surrendered to Him, no matter the cost.  Our time of suffering is short; let us embrace it boldly.  Our time of rejoicing in His presence will be FOREVER!

Serving Him in Tansen, Nepal,

Kimberly, for the Beines