12...13

 Today, Jake turned twelve.  We had a simple and very enjoyable celebration.  We played games on top of Srinigar mountain, with the kids from two other families.  We are so blessed to have Jason as our third son.

 We are blessed by all of our sons, really.  Here is Nate enjoying a moment with Spandon; he was entertaining her with his Rubik's cube for quite a while.

This third photo is Jake, Kimberly and Kylie in Hong Kong.  The "13" in the title of this post refers to the completion of 13 full days in Nepal.  Kylie caught a bad cold shortly after our arrival.  Last night, it came back with a vengeance, and she suffered a ruptured eardrum.  Today, her ear drained fluid all day long.  For Kylie, it could be a bit disappointing: she arrived at her internship assignment, jumped in with both feet immediately {began teaching on day two in Tansen} and is still sick on the 13th day.  Would you join us in praying for the recovery of her eardrum, please?

As I downloaded these photos, I found photos of us in our house before the fire.  I was surprised by the flood of feelings that whooshed into my heart.  I do not think I have processed our loss.  I guess I have some work ahead of me during our Nepal time.  Tomorrow holds work on the Maternity ward in the hospital, so I think I'll only process a little tonight; I better get to bed.

Thank you for your involvement in our lives!
Kimberly

At the Higher Ground Cafe

We decided to go into the city (Kathmandu) today.  After staying in at our friends' house during the last two days of strike (no vehicles allowed on the roads), we were going a little stir crazy.  We decided to come to this quiet refuge/coffee shop perched above the chaos of the city.  It is all the more sweet after the journey here.

We walked down to the road and hailed a local "micro" (20 Nepali-sized passenger van used for public transport).  It looked too full to take; then we remembered that we are in Nepal...of course there was room.  As I grasped Nate's waist and strained to see Nick holding on, on the outside, and counted the heads of our party (including Josh who was sitting on a stranger's lap), I decided to count all the heads.  Because of the difficulty counting those hanging onto the outside, I am still not sure if there were 37 or 40 people crammed into/onto the van; I am sure there were at least 37.  So, the quiet spaciousness of the coffee shop is greatly appreciated...not to mention the free Internet connection.

So, now I will post the notes from our journey to Nepal.  By the way, Kylie is the classic strong, courageous, well-adjusted MK; she is doing fantastic with all the oddities of life here.  I realized this morning, as we hand-washed our laundry together, that I have a gift in having another woman in the house; thank you, LORD.


The Journey to Nepal
"We are three and a half hours into the journey, and we are only twenty minutes from home." The plane had mechanical problems and we had to take a different flight that left Spokane later.
Sitting in the airport...now 12 hours into the journey and we still have not left the U.S.

The longest leg of the flight was 15 hours between Los Angeles and Hong Kong. We were split up due to our late change of flight plans. Jake and Kimberly were seated together...Jake was sleeping in mid-flight and woke to find his Mom was not next to him and her movie was still playing. For the last 5 hours of the flight , Kimberly sat in Business class tending to a passenger who presented with the classic signs of heart attack...at 40,000 ft over the Pacific ocean. With aspirin (which we happened to pack this time), Nitroglycerin, oxygen and an AED standing by, we made it into Hong Kong and the passenger deplaned looking pretty well.

We had 12 hours to spend in Hong Kong. With a desire to show our kids the world, a goal to stay awake, and motivation to make the hours pass more quickly, we exited the airport and got on a tour bus. The weather was perfect: sunny and about 60 degrees. We saw everything from flowering hillsides to the view from the world's 4th tallest building (the 360 degree view afforded the opportunity to see how this city accommodates 7 million people: many high rise apartment buildings). Our tour guide, "Willi," enlightened us about the "one country, two systems;" mainland China is communist and Hong Kong is capitalist. He also made sure that the tour was concluded with an authentic Chinese meal, complete with jasmine tea, dim sum, noodles, pork in pancake and other delectables. It was thoroughly enjoyed by everybody, except maybe Josh whose taste buds are less mature and/or adventurous. At this point, we are a day and a half into our journey, each of us functioning on between four and six hours of sleep; we are trying to stay awake for seven to eight more hours in hopes that the total exhaustion will help us sleep on Nepal's schedule right away. Let's see if that works.

It did not work...within 5 minutes of take-off, all seven of us were asleep (that is according to report, as of course, I was among those sleeping). Apparently we missed the meal and had to be awoken at the landing. Ah, the challenges of crossing twelve time zones. Anyway, extreme exhaustion is helping us sleep at night now that we are here in Nepal, so for that we can be thankful.
Power cuts are 14 hours per day and Internet is only available by hot spot, for a price, where we are staying, so this may be posted after we reach Tansen...whenever that may be: we arrived just as a national strike began. All roads are closed. We have had to delay the move to Tansen for at least two days. We hope we can get out there soon.

Thank you for following our odyssey.
for the Beines, and Kylie

Happy New Year!

A decision made...

Thank you for praying with us as we have been making plans for our next step.  We have come to a conclusion that seems to us to maximize the positive aspects of each family member's hopes and desires...and it seems quite clear that this is the way that God is leading.  We will return to Nepal on March 2nd...well, it will be a long trip to get there, as our tickets are those "around the world" type.  We will spend nine weeks in Tansen.  Our plan is to serve at the mission hospital, archive our Chepang work of the past 14 years, enjoy relationships with people we love in Nepal, prepare for a sabbatical in the U.S. in 2014, and see what else the LORD might have in mind.

As this is likely to be the last across-the-globe trip for the six of us together (Nick, our oldest son, is making his own plans to chart his own course, and these include a focus on education with sights set on a good college experience)...we plan to culminate with a trip through Europe on our way home.  We haven't chosen every destination yet, but we do hope to see many European friends with whom we have served in Asia.  We will have one month to explore there.  We look forward to exposing our boys to more of this fascinating world.

We hope our house is re-built when we return to Spokane, but if not, we will navigate the final decisions upon our return.  In our absence, our wonderful friends, and comrades in this life, are willing to stand in for us to oversee the building project.  We thank God for you!

So, the Beines remain nomadic, even if for a shorter stint in 2013.

May you know the comfort of belonging to God, the one who is the same yesterday, today and forever!

Kimberly, for the Beine Bunch

Modification of the Agenda?

We have had hours of talking about our next step, and time to pray with many of our dear prayer warriors.  We have considered the opportunity to make all of the choices as our house is re-built.  We have considered the implications of leaving for Nepal and just letting somebody else build us a house.  We have considered what impact there might be on our kids if we did not return to Nepal this year, and yet still took a sabbatical next year.  We have considered our current state of exhaustion and the February 2nd date that seems to be coming at breakneck speed (this is the date on our current tickets to Nepal).  We have considered the implications for our next teacher who is serving with us as part of her degree program at Moody Bible Institute.  We have been doing a lot of considering...

At the moment, we are considering carrying on with our mission...to Nepal...just with a little delay.  We are mulling over the possibility of leaving in March, instead of February, with the plan to return to the U.S. at the end of June, as originally scheduled.  The advantages of this are many: good completion of our Chepang project, a little more time to logistically prepare (we don't even have suitcases yet!), good closure on this phase of our Nepal service (including closure for Nick, who might not return again to Nepal, with us, as he is setting his own course for life), the opportunity to see Europe (which we had already scheduled into our trip on the way home), etc.  You know, as we considered how we might invest our next six months, we realized that a house is certainly not a secure/"for-sure" thing...we might pick all the amenities we like (right down to the final light switch), and in a moment, it could all be gone again.  Or the end might come, in the twinkling of an eye, sometime in our lifetimes.  When it does come, I hope we are found investing in the things that last: people.  There are some people in Nepal, to whom we are committed, and it seems we need to see this next step through.  What will come in 2014?  We have no idea.  For now, it seems that we are being drawn back to Nepal, for yet another stint of service.  Is it easy?  No.  Is it fun?  Sometimes, but usually not.  Is it fulfilling?  Yes.  Perhaps there will be at least one Nepali who will be summoned at the final trumpet call, whose life we had an opportunity to touch in 2013...perhaps...and maybe not, but I am pretty sure that when that final trumpet sounds, I will have no thought for my house.  Christ will come again...to bring His people home.  He is preparing a marvelous house for us...I am sure that my choices on my small abode here does not even compare.  We seek the peace that surpasses understanding as we stand on the doorstep of our next journey. 

Thank you for praying with us!
Kimberly, for all the Beines

Remaining needs

For those of you who want to help with our remaining needs check out the spreadsheet at:

 Beine needs spreadshhet

Joy from ashes

HOPE…

This is the gift I was given the day that an electrical fire devastated our house (the dwelling that has served as this nomadic family’s home base for the past thirteen years…”our extravagant gift from God” as we call it).  It happened on November 28^th, 2012, fifteen minutes after David left the house for the day (the rest of us were at work and school).  That night after the boys had gone to sleep and we processed this event as a couple, I told David that I did not feel one ounce of despair.  Hope was my buoy, given as a pure gift, as far as I could discern.

The ashes have all settled now, our salvageable items have been removed, the “tearing down to the studs” (before the re-build) has begun.  We are told that it will take a minimum of six months to re-construct our house.  We have experienced a rich community of fellowship and love here in Spokane (from our neighbors, the public schools where our children attend, our church, and from friends across the globe).  We have been lavishly loved by people providing beds, toothbrushes, clothes, dressers, telephones, dishes, pillows, salt, sugar, firewood (when the furnace went out at our rental home)…and a thousand other little things that I never realized were making my everyday life very comfortable and convenient.  Many other dear people have given us hours of their time, organizing stuff, delivering furniture, cleaning sooty but recoverable items, transporting our children, caring for our pets while we looked for a suitable rental, choosing and hemming curtains to cover our windows at the rental, putting together a tool box for us (which has come in very handy with assembling new tables for our rental).  We know also that countless others have prayed for us through this event, and we feel so richly blessed.  We count ourselves some of the most fortunate people on earth; our lives are truly abundant.  We are finding that JOY also comes from ashes.

THE NEXT STEP…

Now we are mostly settled and looking forward to a different kind of celebration of the birth of our Savior this year (not quite sure how it is going to look but thankful to be together as a family, with Grandpa and Grandma Beine here too).  We already have tickets to return to Nepal on February 2^nd, 2013.  Do we keep that plan and leave the house re-building to the watchful eye of somebody else, or do we alter our plans for the Nepal stint this year?  Prior to our fire, I (Kimberly) was already feeling a profound exhaustion in my soul and was seeking a way to slow the pace of our lives just slightly.  Now, I am feeling that keeping the plan to return to Nepal in February may be my pathway to collapse.  David is highly motivated to keep our original plans, as our Chepang project is drawing to a close and he would like to properly archive the work we have done, so that we can pass the baton well, to those who come next to serve the Chepang people.  Not to mention that we feel we may need some closure (emotionally and psychologically) on our Tansen time.  We have already scheduled a sabbatical (where we will stay in the U.S.) for 2014, and after that we do not anticipate our eldest son returning to Nepal (he will be preparing to forge his own path in life).  Also, the team in Tansen, Nepal is in transition; very soon the community of foreign servants there will be almost entirely new to us.  So, it does seem like a good idea for us to go to Nepal in 2013.  We would like to make this decision by the end of this year; it will greatly affect the future of the college student who already has a plane ticket to go with us (to guide the boys in their school work while in Nepal).  So, we ask ourselves, “What is our next step?”

I feel quite confidently that this house fire is part of our story,that God is using to direct us along the path that we should tread.  In our current exhaustion, that path does not appear clear to us.  Please pray that we would discern His good plan and press on in the direction that would delight our Master.  Thank you for your precious friendship!  You are a thread in the beautiful tapestry of our lives that God is weaving.

Kimberly, for all the Beines

Our final days in India

The Beines camping at 13,000 feet in Northern India (June 25, 2012)

Help!  American life has swallowed us up!  Kimberly says that it feels like we have gone from 20 mph (South Asian speed) to 120 mph (American speed).  We arrived back to Spokane on July 03 and I have been intending for weeks to update the blog and fill you in on our final weeks in South Asia.  But as we have alluded to, life here has a way of getting busy- too busy.  Well, today I plan to get this done...

Joshua enjoys the train to Shimla

Following our departure from Nepal (an adventure in itself), we arrived to VERY HOT New Delhi (111 Fahrenheit).  After a day enjoying a hamburger at Hard Rock Cafe and a few niceties of urban India we boarded a northward-bound train to the visit the Pahari people where I had conducted linguistic survey work 22 years ago.  

Dave among the Pahari in 1990

After a nine hour train journey (which included 6 hours on a narrow gauge train that passes through 102 tunnels and over 800 bridges) we arrived at Shimla, in the Northern Indian state of Himachael Pradesh (http://www.shimlaindia.net ).  At 7200 feet the climate was much nicer than Delhi, and the pine-covered hillsides were a welcomed change.   This beautiful Indian hill station- affectionately known as "Queen of the Hills"- is the former summer capital of India from the British Raj days and it has such a sense of history, including where the partition of India and Pakistan was devised.  It was nice to be able to show my family around the many historical places along with many places from my personal history.  

A Pahari woman greets us in local fashion

A day later we climbed in a jeep along with our hosts and drove 11 hours to reach the 13,000 foot Chanshal Pass where we would be camping with a small band of Pahari believers.  It is only about 110 miles from Shimla so that tells you about the conditions of the road (that is why we are used to 20 mph speeds).  Arriving after dark we were tasked with setting up our tents in a cloud, complete with 40 mph winds.  It was a cold, damp night.  But in the morning the clouds lifted and so did our spirits as we worshiped with like minded,but culturally different believers.  I shared a short message (using local metaphors) in which I encouraged them to love and follow Jesus in the Pahari way.  The next day we returned to a nearby town and joined the local church where I was able to preach.  I focused on the role that suffering (something they know much about) plays in our maturing process as Christians.  The idea of suffering as a spiritual discipline is something we have pretty much lost in the West. 

Camping in the clouds

Dave preaches to the crowd

Wild horses roam the alpine ridges over Chanshal Pass

Following the service we joined three congregations for a baptism service in which over 70 people were baptized by local pastors.  Our children had spent the morning playing in the stream and constructing the pool that would later serve as the baptismal.  It was inspiring to watch these people publicly declare that they belong to Jesus.  There has been much persecution against believers in this area so confessing one's faith openly has a true cost for these people.  All of the pastors conducting the baptism have been beaten for their faith. 

A Pahari woman receives baptism

After the baptism we were again in the jeeps and on our way back to Shimla, arriving late during the night.  After a day of rest I then spoke to a leaders and pastors conference sponsored by our freinds who have been working in the area for many years. God has been doing many amazing things among people here;  the church is growing rapidly and people are willing to suffer greatly for their Lord.  I spoke on the various kinds of seed from Mark chapter 4. 

Dave teaching on Mark 4

We had one more free day in Shimla, travelled the same route back to Delhi and had one day there before boarding a plane bound for London, changing planes in London and arriving in Seatlle some 21 hours later on the evening of June 30.  We then spent two days decompressing with friends in Seatlle and then arrived back to Spokane on the afternoon of July 03. 

Celebrating the Space Needle's 50th Birthday

For more observations on our journey write us and ask to be added to our newsletter list.  The coming newsletter will offer more personal reflections inspired by our recent days in South Asia.

Lastly, our re-entry from a 20 MPH arterial (South Asia) on to the fast-paced 120MPH American lifestyle highway has us experiencing a bit of re-entry culture shock.  We have gotten ourselves too busy and are finding ourselves having to make concious decisions to slow down to keep our focus.  Please be patient with us. And for those interested in knowing more about our experiences from our kid's eyes, check out the various albums posted by nick at https://picasaweb.google.com/111421598601594217417 along with several short films made by all the boys together during their time in Nepal.
The Epic Ninja Movie:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pziu6g6uKqI&feature=relmfu
The watch of Time (2 parts):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WZbmbGlVX0
Pine Needle Sledding:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw96O5264Yk&feature=relmfu
More Pine Needle Sledding: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDKSjQh-Fig&feature=relmfu
Tansen Mela:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vTu5xFl8Tw&feature=relmfu
 Something Awesome:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylhQuBsTti0

Until next time...

The Beines