On Christmas day we went to Nepali church. The programme included performances from Saturday school (Sunday school). Pratiksha was very proud of the kids. This was finished by having lunch together at the church. Pratiksha’s parents had both been invited to preach at a church in a village near Pokhara and weren’t coming home until the next day, so we had arranged to have our family Christmas on Boxing Day. This meant that we could buy all the vegetables we needed on Christmas Day and start preparing them in the evening. On the morning of Boxing Day, Pratiksha went to buy two chickens. Our local supermarket had a frozen turkey for sale, but it was NRP9,950 (about £65). As it turned out, the chickens were 2.2kg each so one would have been plenty! But in the true tradition of a Western Christmas, we had lots of chicken left-over to eat during the week. With the help of Pratiksha and her sister Kritee, I made us some Christmas crackers (complete with corny Christmas jokes and a paper hat). This was a first for them, and quite confusing, but we all had a lot of fun.
Our usual work at UMN continues. Pratiksha has been busy with writing evaluation reports of UMN partners and sending out the new learning newsletter. Phil worked on the Annual Report which was published at the end of the year. He has also been working on a brochure to try and get new funding for our intern programme. We have about 10 interns each year at a cost of $2000 per intern. The programme has been hugely successful in training young Nepali Christians to work for organisations like UMN. Currently, UMN has 9 ex-interns (including Pratiksha) working for UMN, and many more working for other NGO’s or the church in Nepal. His next project is to work on the next issue of UMNews, ready for publication the second week of February. Phil didn’t get to travel much outside of Kathmandu last year due to the high volume of 60th Anniversary work to be done. In fact, the only two trips that were made for UMN were both to Tansen Hospital, the first trip in January to work on their yearly magazine, Friends of Tansen, and the second to cover their own 60th-anniversary celebrations in July. The hope is to be able to get out to see some of UMN’s rural work in places like Mugu, Rukum and Bajhang. Mugu is a very remote and difficult place to get to so the trip can be arranged or cancelled with very short notice.
Prayer Requests
With winter having arrived it is cold. About 14°C during the day (a high of 18°, low of 1° for yesterday. My phone currently is recording the temp as 9°). I know, that’s nothing compared to the UK, but remember, it’s 14°C outside, and EVEN COLDER inside. We are using an electric oil radiator that we were able to buy last year, but this only works when we have electricity (currently the power is off for about 11 hours a day, and mostly not on until late in the evening).
There is also a gas shortage in Kathmandu right now. We are down to our last gas cylinder for cooking and we hope that it can last until the shortage is over. The shortage could last for 1 month or all winter. Please pray for those that are struggling with fuel this winter.
Government of Nepal
The constitution is due to be delivered next week and so we expect there to be a lot of strikes and protests around this time. Nepal has been waiting for the constitution for many years now, and a lot of people don’t expect them to have anything this time either. Please pray for a peaceful time in Nepal and for the governing body to be able to agree to a helpful constitution for the country.
Blessings,
Phil & Pratiksha
