Pokhara

 This is the view from the roof of the house. Only one peak to be seen here, but this morning we briefly saw a ring of them

 This is himself with the most necessary accessory for Nepal. He is in front of the house we are currently in.

 These are two views of the INF complex from our language classroom. The top one shows the admin centre and the bottom one part of the school. As you can see there is much lush vegetation around and a good area for the students to play in.

Off to church in the new kurtaa suruwaal with the fabulous bag, which is much to special to carry veges home from the markets in!

July 8th
We are down to the last few days -- four more sleeps.
The tenants are in the house and we hope the cat is going to settle with them.
We have had lots of goodbyes to say-- Ken's pottery friends and  gardening clients, Alison's colleagues.
On Sunday 1st July there was a lovely commissioning at Eastview Baptist and we have had several smaller gatherings where people have taken the opportunity to say farewell. Today we were at Franklin Baptist with Jess and saw some old friends there.

After the service on 1st July we had a family lunch with all of our children and their families. As it is school holidays and there are two family birthdays we have had several other meals and outings together as family. The grandchildren have been practising their Skype skills--- and grandma and grandpa have been making sure they can operate it too!

All of this has been a huge encouragement to us.

We leave Thursday at midday and arrive Kathmandu Friday midday their time (six o'clock Friday evening NZ time).

We hope we will soon have everything in place so we can keep in contact with you all.

8th June

It seems a long time since I wrote the last blog and much has happened since then.

We held a Nepali-Kiwi dinner at the end of April which was great fun. The photos give some idea of the event. The main course was authentic Nepali food and the dessert was kiwi favourites.

As I write this we are exactly 5 weeks from touching down in Kathmandu. Arrangements in New Zealand are proceeding well. Someone has been found to take over my caseload for the next six months, at which time the job will disappear, thanks to changes in government  policy. We have also got someone to rent our house. Ken has found someone to take on his gardening clients.

These last five weeks will be busy with packing up the house and organizing work things. The time will fly.

Hi again. I need to practise writing these blogs so I have got it sorted before we leave.
The last few weeks have been really busy. We have had amazing and overwhelming support from Eastview. We have got our tickets - fly out July 12th, we have got our insurance organised, and we are sorting out our computers etc. We have had two lots of vaccinations , but seemed to have had a reaction from the rabies shot. We are feeling better now, but have another lot scheduled for this Thursday, including Japanese encephalitis.

We will gain strength for this

 challenge by drawing on ‘the

 unforced rhythms of grace’.

Matt 11.28 The Message

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

Minnie Louise Haskens





Contact details: katwist@xtra.co.nz