Saturday, July 12, 2008
Subject: New grandbaby!
Dear Prayer Partners,
We have some great news to share with you. Mike and Allyson have a new baby boy born July 11th, named Luke Thomas, and mother and baby are doing well. The baby was induced 3 weeks early because of some health problems that Allyson was having. Luke joins Joshua (6) and Katie (4). Of course we are once again proud grandparents. Christianne and Grant’s baby is due on August 20th.
We would ask for your prayers for our village festival on August 23 and 24. We are now preparing a booth that we will have to raise money for the work in Nepal. We need the Lord’s creativity to make it appealing to our village people. We have pictures of previous trips to Nepal that many from our village have participated in and then we sell food and ask for donations from interested people. It is a really good time for us to make Christ known in our village and for them to see our church as one that reaches out to those in need in other parts of the world.
Lou also needs much wisdom for the trip to Nepal in November. He plans to hike up to an ethnically Tibetan village where they hope to bring aid in the future.
We also want to let you know that Andy and Bethany Maier and their 4 children have joined us in the work here in Leysin. Andy will be traveling with Lou to other countries, and both of them will help us continue to share Christ with people in our village. We are so happy to have them here. They did church planting in Germany for 13 years and so will have a lot to offer. Pray for their 4 children as they have to learn French and settle into a new culture.
Thank you once again for standing with us in pray and rejoicing with us in our work and family.
Only the heartiest survive this region. Approximately 50% of the children will not reach their first birthday. Mothers give birth in stables with the animals and are required to spend the next 21 days there. Male babies are considered more important than female; hence, the mothers will only eat rice during the first year of breast-feeding. It is considered the purest food. They are allowed to eat vegetables and other excellent grains while breast-feeding girl babies resulting in four times more females who survive. In the coldest of conditions most children have no shoes or underclothing of any type but simply wear one tattered over garment. There are no roads, electricity or running water. The nearest health worker is at least a 10 to 12 hour walk, and he would have only the rudimentary medications if any at all. The extreme climate demands small houses with no windows in which all heating and cooking is done over an open fire. The walls are black with soot, and it is not surprising that everyone has a cough and that the number of older people can be counted on one hand. Life expectancy barely reaches 36 years old. But most significantly, these people have no concept of a God who loves them and cares for them. Spiritual beliefs and traditions appear to be minimal as the major focus is on day-to-day survival. Death is always “on the door step”. They have no hope after their last breath.
19 students from Leysin Switzerland along with seven Nepalese reached one of the most destitute villages in the Himalayan Mountains near the Tibetan border. The village is a two day hike from the nearest landing strip in the mountains at an altitude of over 12,000 feet. Temperatures dipped well below freezing during the nights along with fresh snowfall covering our tents and makeshift housing. I slept on the ground on three pieces of wooden planks in a makeshift shelter. It gives a whole new definition to "cold feet". Waiting for the morning sunrise takes on a whole new meaning as everyone waits for the warmth of the sun. These forgotten people have never received aid from the Western world let alone from their own countrymen. As an extension of the church planting effort started last spring and during the winter months in the Mugu region, we continue to make every effort to share the good news with people who have never heard the gospel.
Our group of 26 brought in our own tents, cooks, cooking utensils and food for the project. Porters and donkeys transported over 2 tons of materials which would supply each home with two to three fluorescent lights produced by solar energy, batteries and smokeless stoves and stovepipes. Many of the villagers made several two day trips to carry in supplies on their own back. The thought of having a light in their home and the stove to cook on brings a motivation this village has never known.
After the two-week project every single home was equipped with lighting and the smokeless stove. Every child received a new pair of shoes, two sets of clothing, a new sweater, a book bag and school supplies that would last for at least one year. For the village, this two week project was the most incredible event in their history. Our Nepalese team pastor, who has been trained to maintain and upkeep the solar system, will make the 12 hour walk regularly so that the gospel message will be heard and planted in their hearts. We expect that a new church will be started in the coming weeks and months.
It is anticipated that life expectancy will now become much longer. As the Gospel is being shared and good health principles are taught, infant immortality will drop dramatically. Lung disease will begin to diminish as families get used to the concept of clean air inside their home. The total cost for the project was approximately $31,000 (about the price of remodeling one of our western kitchens). Lives will be saved. Grandparents will see their grandchildren. And it is my firm conviction that you will one day meet many of these villagers at the "Marriage Feast of the Lamb," and they will thank you personally for praying and for your gifts.
Next Steps:
The Tibetan border is now well in sight as we could see China from our mountain village perch. We will do our first project in an ethnically Tibetan village by November and will continue to concentrate on this people group for the next year. We are beginning to formalize plans and assemble teams. It is extreme, but please do contact us if God is calling you to seriously consider Nepal in your future.
Every home received a smokeless stove and 2 or 3 solar lights
The men of the village make the 14 hour trek to the air strip several times to carry over 2 tons of equipment to their village. This man has 4 stoves of over 80lbs. on his back.
Every home received a new smokeless stove and 2 or 3 solar panel lights that last up to 14 hours per day.
This girl receives her first pair of shoes ever. Adults said that this was the greatest day ever in the life of the village.
Jan Felo