The video below is of mine and Wendy’s Nepali Church Engagement, want to know how we ended up in this crazy situation? … Click here to read Wendy’s account of events

From the very beginning, I knew God had put Wendy in my life, literally, she was just there one morning, in my house in Kathmandu, walking down the stairs as I left for work. After closing the door, I felt a little spiritual nudge and went back inside to introduce myself to the lady that will soon be my wife.

A whirlwind few weeks followed, including an adventure trekking around the mountains of Kagbeni. Then sadly the time came to leave, to depart back to England. Only, I didn’t, I couldn’t. A culmination of a breakfast mishap, traffic jams, queues, luggage searches and unhelpful staff meant that I missed my flight and returned to Wendy and the KISC Guest House. The three days we gained before my rearranged flight were crucial in cementing our relationship and preparing us for the long year apart that we knew was coming.

Wendy returned to America as I was in England and apart from through a computer screen, we didn’t meet again until that Winter, Christmas in America. We had a fantastic month in Chicago and Minnesota spending time with Wendy’s family and friends.  At the airport gate I told Wendy that I would ‘marry her tomorrow,’ but that God hadn’t told me it was time. As it turns out, it took another year for that day to come.

Wendy graduated from Moody Bible College in the Spring and came to England in the Summer, from where we both flew to Kathmandu to teach at KISC. After half a year, we were again at the point of making decisions about our near future; where to work, what to do, which country to live in. The most important decision however remained mainly unmentioned, to marry or not to marry.

When making decisions that affect the rest of your life, I can’t imagine not seeking God’s guidance on them and trying to discern what He might be saying. Not only during that period did I hear way too many people ask about marriage, but God spoke to me through a book. I had figured, that reading a Christian marriage book would be a useful idea, a place to pick up a few hints and tips. It was an interesting read, but part way through, I just put it down and prayed, ‘God, if this is your will, if this is the right thing, please, confirm it to me.’

This is what I read next …

“Consider how this applies to your need to find the right mate. Let us say you live in the United States, a nation of nearly 300 million people. Or you may live in Britain, with 56 million people. Among all these millions God is preparing one specific person to be your mate. … Add to that the possibility your appointed mate may not even live in the same country. How are you to find that person?  The proverbial picture of searching for a needle in a haystack scarcely does justice to the complexity of the problem.

God’s word indicates the answer: to be led by the Holy Spirit.”

This text was so relevant I couldn’t have written it. One boy from England, searching for a soul mate. One girl from America, working in a country thousands of miles from home. A relationship that one couldn’t search for, but could only be found through the Holy Spirit.

So, to the proposal …

How did it all pan out? … Well, at 4.30pm on Sunday 15 January 2012, I left Wendy at school finishing  her art project, this left me 100 minutes to find a ring, buy roses and get ready for one of the biggest nights of my life. I went from jeweller to jeweller searching for a ring, but it didn’t prove easy. Knowing that Wendy wouldn’t want  gold, or anything ostentatious, most places couldn’t help me. I prayed for leading and direction. Finally in a small shop far from where I started, I found the ring. To this day, I still don’t know where it came from, only from God. We had pulled hundreds of rings off the shelves, but none were appropriate.  All of a sudden, the shop assistant had one in his hand. It was about perfect, a gift from God. I was too excited about getting the ring to exactly remember what stone was in it, but I’m pretty sure it’s a dark sapphire, and I’m assured that the two shiny things in it are diamonds too. Whatever it is exactly, it looks very pretty. On some level, I didn’t expect to be able to pick out a ring that Wendy would really like, but by the grace of God, it turns out I did.

Next, dinner. I didn’t want Wendy to know what plans were afoot, yet I wanted her to enjoy a great meal. Bearing that in mind, we went to her favourite daal bhaat restaurant, which is the equivalent of an eat-all-you-can curry house. Two heaping plates later and we were stuffed.  I was impressed, what more could I ask for in a future partner than someone who can rival a Nepali at eating huge quantities of rice.

After dinner we went for a stroll. I’d packed extra coats and gloves in case it got cold, which it did, I’ve been told that it even dipped below freezing that night. We walked to ‘our tree.’ This is the tree where we had our first date; the tree where we discussed all the reasons that why it would never work between us, but decided to go for it anyway.

Unfortunately, the tree wasn’t quite as romantic as I remembered. The Winter had stripped the leaves from the trees and the heat from the air. The consolation prize however, was the view of the stars shining through the branches.

So with the ring burning a hole in my pocket I wanted to propose, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t fear that held me back.  The problem instead was how busy the tree was. Motorbikes kept rolling past, dogs kept barking and the shop next door was still open. It wasn’t ‘romantic’ enough! We made conversation, talked about the past, the future, life, we prayed, worshipped, but all the time there was too much commotion for a proposal. In fact, on one occasion an old lady went and ‘did her business’ in a nearby outhouse after which a distinct smell of human waste hung in the air. At that point we left and walked up the hill. I was half looking for a better spot, but couldn’t find one and soon returned to the tree.

As the night drew in and people went to bed, the time came. I told Wendy that I wanted to make a commitment to her and gave her a ring, not knowing if she would accept it. My heart beat like crazy, I was so nervous as I handed her the rose shaped box. ‘Are you serious?’ she asked, ‘Yes’, I said … ‘I will’ she replied!

We hugged it out and I proposed again, this time on one knee. After another ‘yes’, I dropped to one knee once more and asked again, this time in Nepali, Wendy replied with an emphatic ‘Hunchha!’

Queue, hugging, praying, emotion and the realisation that God has given me the most incredible lady to spend the rest of my life with.

We left hand in hand, excited for the journey that God has laid before us.

Want to know Wendy’s side of the story? Click here to find out more…

1996, do you remember it? The year of Spice Girls, Dolly the Sheep, Gazza’s goal at Euro 96? What about the next 15 years? Tony Blair, The Millennium (Bug), Harry Potter, the rise of the Internet… the list could go on

In 1996 in Nepal, the Maoist led civil war began followed by 10 years of turbulence, the massacre of the Royal Family, the dissolution of the government, an absolute monarchy, the formation of a Republic, destruction, rebuilding, 15,000 dead, a whole new political structure and a growing church.

When I arrived in January 2010, I had no real idea what Nepal and her people had been through. The situation that I found appeared very stable, there were no shoot to kill curfews, no bombings or huge demonstrations. I arrived to a democratic country that I assumed had a government similar to ours. It has taken two years to really understood the recent history of Nepal and that behind each smile, there is a history, a past, a life in some way impacted by the recent conflict.

I have met people here with differing political viewpoints. There are those still loyal to the King and conversely those highly optimistic about the government and the new Prime Minister. Mostly however, I find people are apathetic to politics. There has been so much change, and so many continuing changes that in some way it almost doesn’t matter who is ‘leading’ the country. The more important questions are, ‘do I have a job?’, ‘can I feed my family?’, ‘am I safe?’, ‘do I have religious freedom?’

I recently read a book about the ‘People’s War.’ It depicted the crimes committed by both the Maoist fighters and the Army. The aftermath of bombings was a recurring theme in the book. Interestingly, if there was to be a roadside bombing, the Maoists would normally pull people off the bus, before they then blew it up. There was one instance however of a bus travelling in the Madi region, where this did not happen and 38 civilians died. The Maoist leader Prachandra described it as “our greatest blunder.”

Neither party in the conflict was guiltless. 15,000 people died, 15,000 families were left mourning, there was extensive damage and devastation and an economy left in tatters. Despite the carnage, I am thankful that there were not the atrocities or genocide witnessed in other civil wars.

I don’t really know enough about the situation in Nepal before or after the war to hold a particularly strong opinion on its morality or validity. It has however brought about large scale political changes, 15 years ago there was a monarchy and now there is a fledgling democracy which includes the Maoist Party.

Keeping up with the changes in politics is very difficult, there seems to be Prime Minister after Prime Minister. I would put myself in a similar boat to what I consider to be the majority view in Nepal. I don’t concern myself overly with the political deadlock, instead I simply periodically ask whether I can I continue to work and worship here without issue. Thankfully the answer to these questions currently, is yes.

Photos from the Christmas holidays, including the Admin Staff Picnic

From Nepal Dec 2011, posted by Simon Hall on 12/21/2011 (22 items)

Generated by Facebook Photo Fetcher

1984-2009, the traditional Christmas. Family, Church, tree, presents, TV and a groaning, but happy belly.

2010, Christmas in America – Snow, sledding, ice fishing and a lovely new family.

2011, has been the first Christmas which wasn’t organised for me. The first Christmas where neither culture nor family set the agenda

Apart from the odd shop selling plastic trees or small nick-nacks, there really is no tradition of a Western Christmas at all in Nepal. Most people are Hindu or Buddhist. Presents are given during Dasain and sparkly lights and candles are seen during Tihar.

Christmas is only really celebrated by foreigners and Christians. Christmas has to be intentional, there are no Coke billboards advertising that ‘Santa Claus is coming.’ This has meant that Christmas is really focused on Christ here. For the Nepali Christians, Christmas is a time of great celebration. My Nepali Church put on an 8 hour party incorporating prayer, food, songs, dance, a ‘talent show’ and more.

So what did the Christmas period in Nepal look like for me …

Firstly there was the school Christmas production. Delivered outside by Christmas light, we enjoyed drama and dance and a Christian mesage, wrapped up as we were in hats and gloves.

Next came the children’s home Christmas Party; a barbeque, piñata, and a present exchange. Never have I seen someone smile as broadly as the boy who received a bottle of Garnier Fructis Shampoo.

Christmas Eve began with a lively and packed Nepali Church service, followed by an invitation for tea. In the evening we joined a party of Missionaries and other Christians in both bringing and eating a feast of international flavours. Dinner was followed by carols in English, Nepali, Swahili, Tagalog and more.

On Christmas day, myself and Wendy opened presents by the roaring fire (well the gas heater). We then chopped and cooked roast vegetables and praised the Lord that the load shedding schedule allowed us power for the oven. After slicing and dicing we joined the Christmas Celebration led by Kathmandu’s biggest Nepali Church. The Church put up a huge stage in a rented school field where they performed songs and dance, and gave testimonies and messages about the reason for Christmas. An incredible number of people (8,000) came.

In the afternoon we hosted our first ever Christmas party at the flat I share with Edwin. Eight of us joined together for Christmas dinner; 4 teachers, 2 UMN workers, 1 Leprosy Research Lady and a Polish tourist (in a pear tree). Each of us brought enough food to feed an army and we enjoyed another amazing feast.

The Christmas Evening was spent beginning a tradition that may become a crucial part of future Christmases – Skype. We both spoke to our families and some friends and were able to be a part of the celebrations in both England and America.

Whatever traditions, food and people the next Christmases may hold and wherever they may be, it will always be a celebration as we remember the time God’s Son came to Earth.

Please see below for some photos from the Year 8 Activity Week trip to Chitwan.

As a first-time Homeroom teacher, leading this trip was this was a really big learning experience.

We did a lot of praying and praise God, in spite of the rhinos, elephants, crocodiles and very dubious transportation, no-one got injured in any way!

My recent prayer letter to the Church.

If you would like, please read and pray.

Christmas Prayer Letter

I’m learning at school, that there’s a whole other side to this teaching gig. I’m feeling pretty confident in the ICT lab. I’ve almost got the hang of this planning business and I hope I’m providing lessons that make ‘geeky’ IT things, interesting and even on occasion fun!

However, I’m having to learn to engage with a whole other type of machine these days. Machines that aren’t made of silicon and plastic and can’t just be rebooted when they’re having problems, nope, these machines are flesh, blood and hormones!

During Activity Week in Chitwan, my students didn’t just turn up for 55 minutes, make part of a website and leave, they were around constantly, all day and night. It turns out they’re more than just automatons who submit homework with varying degrees of regularity. Believe it or not, they eat, breathe, laugh, and cry – they’re real, if a little bit shorter than average, people!

Likewise last night, I slept on the roof of school, as part of another homeless simulation, with students who had built their own, somewhat pitiful, shelters out of cardboard and newspaper. Again, these kids become more than just the ‘noisy one’, ‘the distracting one’ and ‘the quiet one in the corner’ – they become real people sharing their sleeping bags and their struggle.

It’s not just student machines that I’m learning to work with, there’s the older models too, the staff. No longer just a pleb at the bottom of a ladder, sometimes I find myself working as part of a team, sometimes even perhaps leading that team. Do I have any idea how to work with others beyond following instructions, pretty much no. Do I try and take on too many tasks, because I’m worried how to ask someone else to do them, definitely! Am I going to learn how to work with people in a more productive way, absolutely. There are plenty of people here who can teach me, and I fully intend to sit at their feet and learn.

Then there’s one more type of these living, breathing machines, neither student nor staff, these ones are called parents! This week I had a Secondary School parent’s evening and was pretty much booked up all the way through the night. As it turns out, what you teach in class, or how you are doing as a pastoral leader of the 12 and 13 years old machines, is of interest to and has an effect on these parental machines too.

In many ways, it’s all a far cry from sound editing, or creating animations, or learning how to stay safe online, or any of these other lovely ICT topics I enjoy teaching. It’s cool though, a whole other side of the job and a whole other area where I definitely need to rely on God’s grace and wisdom.

On Sunday night, for the first time in my life, I experienced an Earthquake.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14967812

It was funny. I was at a BMS (Baptist Missionary Society) get-together, tucking in to a bring-and-share meal, as the Earthquake struck. At first I thought that someone was bouncing up and down on the other end of the sofa, infact I was getting a little annoyed trying as I was to eat my curry and lasagne. The next thing I knew we were lining up and exiting the house, this I assumed was an over-cautious reaction to a fire in the kitchen. Everything changed though when someone yelled the ‘E Word’, suddenly there was a real sense of urgency. Outside in the courtyard the world was alive with the sound of dogs barking, children crying and bells ringing as the Hindu people cried out to their gods.

As we sat on the concrete, I felt as if I were on a ship.  The ground was rolling beneath me, like waves in an ocean. Looking around at the people with me, there were a mixture of reactions. Some kept eating and talking as if this were the most normal thing in the world, others looked very shaken and most perhaps looked bewildered. I was surprised that we weren’t huddled together praying, but I think there was a lot of  panic preventing ‘playing it cool’.

Was I personally scared? Yes. Very much so. There is a tendency after the event to retail the events and emotions in a nonchalant way, but in those moments I was truly afraid. As earth beneath me rolled more liquid than solid, I kept thinking if you can’t trust the ground, what can you trust?

I guess it’s the fear of what could have been and fear of the unknown that were the most disarming. We’ve been told since day one that Kathmandu is overdue a big disaster bringing earthquake, they come every 70-75 years and the last one was in 1934. The question floating in my mind, ‘is this it, is this the earthquake that flattens the city?’ Having never been in an earthquake before, I didn’t know what to expect and despite many talks at school, I still wasn’t really sure what to do. Should we be hiding under tables, should we be inside or outside? Does an earthquake get bigger? How long do aftershocks go on for???

Fortunately as earthquakes go, this was relatively minor and Kathmandu was really left mostly undamaged, cracks in the odd building, but nearly all still standing. There was however, a tragic loss of 3 lives as the wall of the British Embassy fell on passing motorists. In fact one of those who died was a friend of a friend of a friend, close enough to make this death more than just a statistic.

The Earthquake has been the hot topic on everyone’s lips, students and staff alike. The following day, the assembly hall was buzzing with nervous excitement and people eager to share their stories.

One comforting thing I learnt during this experienced is that in that time of fear, I didn’t fear death. I knew instantly as the earth shook that I was loved by God. I felt a great peace of knowing that there is life beyond our brief time here. In addition, I also learnt that worrying for someone else is a lot worse than worrying for myself.

The ground has taken on a new meaning for me now. It no longer is guaranteed to be sturdy; one earthquake and that which was once a myth is now a reality. Since the event, I’ve been a little paranoid, unsure if the swaying I feel is actual ground disturbance or just dizziness from standing up too quickly.

I have had to reassess the real and genuine threat of earthquakes and I’m taking all the advice and precautions I can get. In fact I even ended up in an informal Earthquake Seminar, some of the notes of which you can see here. The organisation running this training compares the situation in Nepal to that of Haiti.

I’ve shared some of their slides below, they are perhaps worrying, but for a reason. Citizens of Kathmandu and those like myself who are privileged enough to live here need to be aware and prepared for what may come.

I would encourage you to pray for Nepal, a country susceptible to earthquakes. Pray that disaster doesn’t strike, pray that the seismic disturbance last week has released enough pressure to prevent a huge earthquake forming, pray for this city, pray for these people.

KISC just received record exam results, a testament to the hard work of the staff, students and everyone involved in the KISC Community.

Praise the Lord for his goodness.

KISC Results