October 2015 Update

The best picture of the Himalayan Mountains I could get. Kathmandu, Nepal, October 2015

Hello Friends,

I hope you are all well and enjoying the fall.

Things are rolling right along here in Thailand. We are now about half way through the first semester, and getting ready for our outreach weeks.  As mentioned in my last post, we had almost 30 students registered this year, which is the largest student body we have had to date.  Unfortunately some of our students were unable to obtain the proper visas and had to return to their home countries...Please pray for them, they will be trying again to get their visas at a later date, so pray for favor for our students.

With this many students we have been able to conduct more out reach ministries.  On Fridays we have been trying to meet people at one of the nearby universities, and have had limited success.  On Sundays we started an outreach in the community where our dormitory is located.  We invited the kids in the neighborhood to come for free English lessons every Sunday morning.  We have been running for about a month and this week we had over 80 children come.

Sunday Morning Outreach:  Free English Lessons.

I spent the first two weeks of October teaching in Nepal.  It was a great time, I taught in the mornings and spent the afternoons relaxing and taking in the sights of Kathmandu; a nice change from my normal pace.

The Nepalese Student in their morning chapel.

There are 9 students attending Pastor Prem's school in Nepal.  They were great to teach, though I had to do all the teaching through a translator as their English was limited.  It posed a few challenges, but Prem did a great job translating.

The main city of Kathmandu lies across the river from Lalitpur Nepal, October 2015

Kathmandu and the surrounding suburbs is an interesting city  I got to spend time exploring one of the main tourist markets and it seemed every other store was dedicated to trekking.  There is still a lot of damage from the earthquakes waiting to be repaired, in some cases whole buildings of brick and mortar sitting in heaps while people set up temporary shelters or repair a room at a time.  In some ways the whole city seemed to be stuck in some time in the past...I am sure there is a modern city with commercial businesses, offices, and shopping centers somewhere, but I never saw it.  It reminded me of many of the other small towns and cities that I have seen in my travels...except this was a national capital, not some industry town in the middle of India.  Thus, it had all the amenities one would expect of a national capital and tourist center:  Embassies, hotels, foreign restaurants, tourist traps, high-end stores, commercial businesses and industry; but it felt as if it was all just a little behind.  At least that is the impression I received from the parts of the city I visited...someone else may have a different experience.

Rice fields near Lalitpur

The month of October also means English Camp for our Children's ministry because the schools take a season break.  I was gone for most of the camp this year so did help as much, but I have been able to still pop in and hang out with the kids for a little while each day.

Other than this, not much is new worthy.  In another week the students will be going on their two week ministry trip...I may or may not be joining them, that decision will be made this week.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, Let me know if you have any questions.

Love you All,
Tyler