We participated in a wonderful celebration the middle of May. 

 

As you may remember, in Nepal we worked with Human Development and Community Services and its executive director, Tirtha. On May 16th, Tirtha's youngest daughter, Shreya, graduated from Gordon College, a liberal arts Christian college just outside of Boston, MA.  Because our return to Nepal has been delayed, we were able to attend her graduation.  As part of the celebration, her older sister, Sradda who works in Washington, D.C., was able to attend. But, the biggest surprise for Shreya was that her mother was able to come from Nepal for the event! Needless to say, it was a happy time and a joy for us to get to participate in the mini-reunion of the family.

 

Tirtha, meanwhile, remained in Nepal preparing to leave for his sabbatical Ph.D. studies in Chiang Mai, Thailand. One of International Ministries' missionaries living in Chiang Mai returned to the US a week before Tirtha arrived in Chiang Mai. She graciously offered him her house and household worker for his first month. Among other blessings, her household worker is very familiar with the university area and will be able to help Tirtha find suitable housing. This sabbatical is much needed, as Tirtha has been heavily involved in government relations. This sabbatical will give Tirtha time to reflect on what God has done so far and to see how God directs for the future. Since reading and writing, as well as meeting new people, are life-giving activities for Tirtha, his studies will be refreshing, not another source of stress.

 

Between these two events something tragic happened in Nepal.  On May 23rd, at one of the major Roman Catholic congregations in Kathmandu a bomb went off during the worship service. Three people died and 12 other victims were hospitalized. As the investigation progresses there are indications that the bombing was carried out by an extremist group. The group is opposed to the fact that Nepal has been declared a secular nation and is no longer a Hindu kingdom, and is calling for those actions to be rescinded. The prime minister of Nepal condemned the bombing and ordered a high level of investigation.

 

This was a sobering experience for all Christians in Nepal and God has used this incident to bring Christians in Nepal closer together. Please pray for the Church in Nepal, and more specifically for the families of those who were injured or killed during the bombing, that God would comfort them in their loss. Please pray that Christians would not be intimidated by those who seek to harm them, but that they would be empowered to return good for evil.

 

Please continue to pray for us as we trust God in His wanting us to return to Nepal as we to raise our support. If you haven't already, go to our website http://www.internationalministries.org/missionaries/108 and read more about our ministries in Nepal and how you can give towards our goal. It isn't too late to be a part of the Luther Rice Matching Gift Offer.

 

Thank you for caring about God's work in Nepal.

 

Bucky and Carole Sydnor