Snippets

I have so much to share.  And I have to run off to the Bazaar so that we can eat dinner tonight, so I’ll share some brief snippets…

Is your work busy?  Yesterday, one senior doctor, two residents and one intern saw 130 outpatients, managed the maternity ward and taught two medical students.  And we still found time for tea and lunch.  I am beginning to get the hang of the faster pace in the outpatient department.  I only get slowed down when the language is Hindi instead of Nepali.

That is fresh chicken!  Today, I stopped to buy some chicken for dinner and while I was waiting for it to be cut, 32 live chickens arrived, all hanging from one motorcycle.  The delivery man had just come in from the village where the chickens are grown: all free-range, no hormones, and who knows what they are fed!  (See photo.)

Beines vs. Rodents.  We’re having a competition with the rodents for our precious food.  The rats like to move our potatoes to their nest in my towel drawer.  The mice like to chew on my apples and relocate my peanuts.  They both like to eat my plastic bags and release their contents.  So, we’ve declared war.  Our renters (who were here just prior to our arrival) caught one big rat on some glue-coated paper.  We snapped one giant rat in a trap.  Dave beat one rat ruthlessly with his flashlight in the middle of the night, but it still got away.  And this morning, when Josh woke up, the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a rat foot hanging out of a crack in our burlap ceiling (the burlap keeps the mud from falling on our heads).  Subsequently, there was a scurry of feet across the burlap.  I think we’re ahead on the score, but it is hard to tell when you don’t know the exact number of your opponents.

A theology of suffering?  I wonder sometimes if I have removed suffering from my theology.  The Scripture doesn’t do that.  As a team, last weekend, we pondered the feeding of the 5000.  In Mark’s gospel, he records that the disciples had just come back from a stint of hard work.  Jesus offered them a getaway for rest.  However, when they reached their remote getaway venue, a crowd was waiting.  I might have felt frustration and disappointment.  Jesus felt compassion; he saw the individuals in the crowd as sheep without a shepherd.  He turned to his disciples and asked them to feed the crowd.  Some rest, eh?  Of course, He also came through with a miraculous supply of bread and fish.  Do I look for the miraculous in my exhaustion?  Am I ready to serve with compassion when I was expecting rest?  Do I understand that this life is hard, and heaven promises delightful rest?  I wonder…

Thankful for immunity.  Herd immunity is great, isn’t it?  What is that?  That is the freedom to choose whether or not I want to immunize myself or my children because the vast majority of people in my environment are immunized and I am protected from so many illnesses spreading epidemically.  Here, in Nepal, we have chosen immunization for protection as the “herd” is not well-immunized and not so protective.  I am thankful for the option.  In my first two days of clinic, I saw a case of measles, a case of mumps, and a case of suspected typhoid.  I am so fortunate to have immunity to each of these (through immunization) and now I can keep on serving patients.

Nepal…the country where my heart aches.

We’ve been back in Nepal for eight days now, and we’ve had wonderful opportunities to meet with a variety of different people.  The reunions with old friends have been wonderful.  When we have asked how things have been in our absence, stories have surfaced that rend my heart over and over again.  I hope that we can bring a ray of hope and light into this dark world.

There is the young lady who just took a chance on marriage to a man from a completely different culture with a different language, different foods, different customs, etc.  She doesn’t know the man well, but she is hoping for something better.  Why didn’t her parents arrange her marriage in typical Nepali fashion, you ask?  Well, you see, at eleven years old, she was sent to the big city, to make money that her family could take.  She was lucky; her sisters were sold into prostitution.  She has worked for more than fifteen years, so that her family could have her money.  Have they thanked her, or shown her tender loving care?  No; they have simply used her for what they could get.  And since it costs a family much to marry off a daughter, they haven’t chosen that.  So, taking a chance on a foreign man sounded better than her life of lonely servitude in Nepal.  I wonder how she is coping with culture shock, let alone all the adjustments of married life.

Then there is the family with three children, ages three through eight.  They look like they may be two, four and five; they are so small and undernourished.  They have no clean clothes and no regular meals.  They sit in feces and sometimes sleep on the street.  Nobody can tell if they have ever been bathed.  People recoil from them, treating them more like animals.  You see, their mother ran off when she could no longer tolerate the beatings from her husband.  And in his drunkenness, he has failed to provide basic care for his kids.  The Christian neighbor, along with some of the local missionaries, has noticed the plight of these children.  They have washed the children, given them clean clothes, fed them and offered them alternative shelter for one month.  The father does not choose to relinquish them.  Perhaps he truly loves them; it’s just that alcohol has mastered him and he seems unable to choose well for the kids.

There is a new friend of mine here who is raising her three children by herself.  She had an extensive stay in the mission hospital many years ago, after a severe beating, if I understood her correctly.  During her months in the hospital, she heard the Gospel preached; she saw the Gospel lived.  In time, she came to believe that Jesus came to give her life also.  So, with hope now, she works and raises her children by herself, a daunting task for a woman in Nepal.  I do not understand all of the reasons, but her Muslim husband has left her to fend for herself and care for their children.  God watches over the orphans and widows (of sorts).

At church on Saturday, we were challenged to consider Stephen.  He was faithful in the little things, like the distribution of food.  And he was faithful in bigger things, like continuing to love people even in his hour of death.  Like his LORD, Stephen prayed that God would forgive his assailants, choosing not to count their sins against them.  Stephen was in an intimate relationship with the LORD, and it showed in the way that he lived.  I hope that my relationship with the LORD will someday bear similar fruit.

Lord, Jesus, please turn my heartache to love and use me to shine your light.  I find myself wanting to relieve the suffering in some way.  There is so much pain all around me; come near, Lord Jesus.

Overall, a Good Journey…

It was 44 hours from our home in Spokane to our friends’ home in Kathmandu.  This time we had no layovers long enough to rent a room for sleep.  We did catch an hour or two of sleep on airport seats, but there wasn’t much opportunity for good rest.  Maybe that is why we all slept pretty well the first night in Kathmandu, even though we forgot to take the melatonin: we were all completely exhausted.  The luggage trials all turned out quite well; when we reached Seattle, we were only checking six bags for Beines and two for Ana, but nothing was overweight (according to Asian standards)…but then they weighed our carry-on bags.  They declared those overweight and made us check three of them.  Nick looked a little like a hobo with his few items retrieved from his bag (computer, slippers, camera and hat) placed in a large plastic bag (usually used for car seats) slung over his shoulder, as he was adorned in his recently torn jacket that was held together with duct tape.  In the end, we did not incur an extra charge for baggage and everything made it all the way to Kathmandu.  We feel so fortunate; and then our load on the plane was very light, and the in-flight entertainment (movies and games) kept everybody quite occupied.  

The flight was a great weight-loss program for two Beines.  We got placed at the very back of the plane between Seattle and Seoul, and all the motion led to the filling of at least seven of those little bags that you find in your seat-back pocket.  And jet-lag finally got the best of Joshua at the end, so that he basically sleep-walked from the final flight, through the airport, to our taxi, where he got a good nap all the way to our friends’ home.  Really the challenges of the flight were few and we were incredibly blessed by how great all seven travelers did over that 44 hours.  Thank you for praying for us.  Today, we celebrate with our Nepali “family” the birthday of their two-year-old daughter.  And we seek God’s guidance to do His will during our few days here in the capital city of Nepal.

Kimberly, for the whole nomadic group

Final day before departure- Leaning on God!

Hi all:

Less than 20 hours now until final departure!  The kids are (hopefully) enjoying their final day at school and Kimberly and I are progressing through our final packing check list items and finishing up last minute tasks around the house.  Tonight we go out for our final hamburger (remember cows are holy in Nepal) for six months, get a good night’s sleep and then are on our way!

I wanted to get one more update out before we take to the air.  I had intended to do so yesterday, but due to an unforeseen electrical issues (the power company was putting an electronic meter on our house and discovered deeper electrical issues in their main) we were without power for most of the day yesterday.  This also meant that besides the update, several other items (like clothes washing, house final house cleaning, etc.) got postponed until today. 

At church on Sunday I shared that one of the biggest challenges we face in South Asia is not having control of so many things in our environment.  Here in America we really have developed a comfortable and controlled life so contrastive to life in South Asia.  I shared that this biggest challenge is also our greatest blessing as it forces us to lean on God for EVERYTHING (which is what our hearts really desire to do).  Frankly (and honestly), this is just harder for us to do in a place where everything is comfortable and controlled.  Perhaps our pursuit of safe and convenient lives has led to our spiritual atrophy as a nation?   

So, as yesterday’s unexpected power cut hit, I just had to smile and say “okay, God, what do we do now?”  How ironic to be in a place with such steady and regular power (power cuts are rare and almost romantic here) and be reminded of this fact, while we are headed to a place with half day power cuts are still the norm! 

We also have one more upcoming known “opportunity” to lean on God tomorrow and we would like to ask you to join us in praying for God’s provision.      We will be attempting to check our luggage (with US limits) from Seattle all the way to our final destination (Kathmandu).  We have done this before but are flying a new airline from Bangkok-New Delhi-Kathmandu and our Asian carrier tells me that we may have to collect our luggage in Bangkok and re-check it in with the second airline.  If we have to do this 1) we lose our US luggage allowance (2 bags 50 lbs each) en route and will only get 1 bag at 44 lbs each from Bangkok (which means having to pay overweight charges for some and for extra bags as well) and 2) we will need to pass through immigration to collect our bags (and pay visa and airport tax fees) and re-check our bags paying all of the extra costs noted above.  And we will also have a time factor to worry about as well (we only have about four hours in Bangkok). So, please pray 1) that we lean on God in the process, 2) that we could find favor and grace from the staff in Seattle and Bangkok who may be able to facilitate seeing our luggage checked all the way to our final destination without further cost, 3) for provision if they can’t do this, and 4) for wisdom about how hard to push at Bangkok if necessary. By the way, one of the bags contains refrigerated lab supplies for the hospital, so there is particular urgency that our luggage not get lost. 

Okay, that’s all to report for now.  I am sure other things will arise during the journey (they always do) so pray that we will use those opportunities to lean on God!

Dave (for all the Beines)

Progress… Six days and counting

First of all, to answer the most common question, no, we are not ready yet; but we are on schedule.  We will be ready next Thursday morning.  This time we more smartly (and realistically) scheduled our time, events and packing.  This has even left us significant relationship time to spend with friends and family in these final days.  Our goal has been to be “all here” in both of our homes on the globe, thus limiting the transition time (and stress) it takes to prepare.  And it feels like we have finally struck a good balance in this endeavor.

Kimberly’s surgery and ensuing recovery went very well.  Thanks for praying!  She is healthy and cleared for “take off.” The vascular surgery was 80% successful and she has had far less discomfort than before the surgery.  We will likely follow up on the remaining 20% upon our return next July, although there is also a chance that the remaining vascular issue may spontaneously resolve with time.

Ana update-   Ana reports that she is now approaching about half way to her needed financial goal (and this amount does not including some promised gifts that have not yet reached her).  She has a speaking engagement at her home church this Sunday and we have a feeling that it will all come together in the end.  Keep praying! 

Nepal  update- We just learned that the day we arrive to Nepal (January 29^th) there will be another national strike and so ground transportation will likely not be running that day.  This means we will need to figure out how to get seven people and 12 bags 5 miles across town (you may recall that I have had to walk much of the distance in similar situations in the past).  Likewise, the power cuts are now up to 12 hours daily in the capital city.  And the political stalemate continues.  In one way this is what I love about Nepal.  Life is so out of my control there that it forces me to rely on God to figure things out (and that is what my heart desires most deeply) rather than taking things into my own hands (which is my tendency here).  Our overly-controlled life in America (as comfortable as it is) seldom pushes us to this level of absolute dependence on God. 

 

And for those of you who continue to express concern for our safety, thank you.  Today there were several accidents across town when freezing rain turned the streets into a skating rink.  And last Monday there was a bomb diffused down town that could have created massive devastation.  Don’t worry, in just six days we will be out of this dangerous place!  :)

Dave (for the Beines)  

quotable quote

Dave took the boys out to a restaurant this weekend.  Josh came back to the table and asked, "Dad, are we Jews or Gentiles?"  Dad answered "Gentiles."  Josh replied, "Good!  I went into the one that said 'GENTILEMEN.'"  I give thanks for laughter, and sweet little boys who bring it on.

:-) Kimberly

Nepal 2011- 21 Days and counting!

The "staging area"

Wow!  We depart just three weeks from tomorrow (January 27)!  The final push for Nepal 2011 is well underway!  As the days get closer we will try to get better about updating our bog on a weekly basis.  We are now busy packing, preparing the house and making preparations for our arrival on the other side. 

 

In regards to the other side, as is the constant norm throughout South Asia, things are still politically unsettled as the UN’s peacekeeping mission  prepares to pull out of Nepal in two weeks (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12120981 ) and infrastructure remains challenged as power cuts are back up to eleven hours daily in the capital city.  For those of you who worry about such things, we remind you that it has been like this for most of our 23 year history with the region.  Take heart, God is still in control and He will guide us. 

   

Things are progressing well toward our departure, but you can remember us in prayer in a couple of ways over the next three weeks:  1) Kimberly has a small surgery scheduled on January 07th to repair a troublesome vein in her leg.  Following surgery she will need to stay off her feet (and avoid lifting) for about ten days.  Pray for our packing (and for me as I try to play Mr. Mom for everyone WHILE we are making the final preparations).  2)  Anastasia our teacher is still in need of support (she is currently at 12%of needed funding for her entire trip). Let us know if you want to help Ana get to Nepal (and back)  :)

The Beines