"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lam 3: 22b, 23 NIV) was my Lenten reading for Holy Saturday; meaningful for me on that day, as I was reflecting on the closed tomb and waiting for the early morning empty tomb.

It reminded me of the song I have sung hundreds of times throughout my life: "Great is Thy faithfulness, Great is Thy faithfulness, Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand has provided – Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me."

Little did I know that a week later, we would be experiencing that very promise of God.

On Friday evening, April 21st, Bucky and I sat in front of our landlord's TV watching the evening news, anxiously waiting what King Gyanendra would say to his people.It was now 19 days after the beginning of the party-called demonstrations and strikes, closure of schools and shops, halt of public transportation, storages of kerosene, petrol and food, 9 days of day-time curfews imposed by the government, and shoot-to-kill orders to the police to control the demonstrators.

What would the king say? We all listened intently as he declared that the parties could now name a new prime minister and elections would be held. The landlord and his family were happy with the proclamation. We were ecstatic!

Later in the cool of the evening sitting on our porch underneath the bright starry sky, we were able to hear the massive cheers and celebrations around the city of the thousands of unknown faces of the Nepali people as, we thought, they were celebrating the message of the king proclaimed at 7 pm earlier in the evening.

Of course, we really didn't know what would happen the next day. But for Friday evening, that was good news.

But the next morning, that was exactly what it was! Yesterday's good news! It turned out I needed the Lord's mercies to help me that Saturday.

You can't imagine the shock Saturday morning when I read in the newspaper that the parties had rejected the king's offer. They wanted something more, and were calling for more demonstrations beginning again on Saturday!

I listened to the morning news. No curfew was announced for that day. Being Saturday,the day of worship in Nepal, we walked out to the main road to go to church. We were a little suspicious something wasn't right as we saw only one taxi on the road. The driver did agree to take us to church for triple the price, since he claimed it was dangerous for him to be on the road! As we were riding there, a prayer came out from hiding in the bottom of my heart; I asked God to help us get home after the service was over. The church is a long way out on the outside of Ring Road, Kathmandu's Beltway. Taxis are hard to find coming home from church under normal circumstances, let alone difficult ones. I really wasn't that interested in walking nearly 1½ hours to get home! I had no idea how appropriate that prayer was!

You can't imagine the sadness in my heart from reading the morning's newspaper, but singing praises to God in Nepali with our Nepali Christian friends and colleagues lifted my spirit!

And then just before the sermon at 11:30, the worship leader announced that a curfew was being imposed from 12 noon for inside the Ring Road. That is where we live! We only had a half an hour to get back home! There was NO way we could walk that distance in a half an hour. As we immediately walked out of the church with a few others, we could see understanding in our friends' eyes as they said good-bye to us.

We needed the Lord's provision for us!

As we were walking along the dirt path from the church to a secondary road, I was praying that God would help us get home. We were both also mapping out in our minds a way to walk home, not along the main roads, but on the smaller roads; longer, yes, but a route with not police on it, since walking, we wouldn't be home by the 12 noon curfew time.

Shortly after reaching the secondary road, we saw a bicycle rickshaw just having reached its passenger to her destination. Even though he needed to return to his home in that place before 12 noon also, he was interested in another fare! God provided us with a mode of transportation. The bicycle rickshaw that took us 2/3's of the way home!

As we were riding on the bicycle rickshaw bumping along the unpaved dirt roads, not complaining one word, we were discussing what way we would walk to get home, as soon as the rickshaw driver stopped to let us off. I don't think I ever walked so fast, first on the side roads, then on the main road, finally reaching the road to our home by 12 noon. And 5 minutes later we arrived home! 12:05! We were home!

God faithfully provided for us! God provided a bicycle rickshaw for us to get home in time.

Once again this morning, Tuesday, April 25th, God's compassions for this land are needed. Today has been called by the parties as the biggest demonstration yet!During the morning news, we heard that the king had announced Monday evening, April 24th, the revival of the House of Representatives that had been dissolved in May, 2002. The peak demonstration day that could have been full of bloodshed was now rechristened as Victory Day, as the demonstrators now began celebrating instead.

This Tuesday morning, unlike last Friday evening, I am slow to rejoice. I need to see more of God's mercies in this land, as Christians in this country and around the world are praying for peace. It was just only the beginning. A new prime minister will be chosen soon, elections need to be held, and the parties need to work together to provide leadership to this country. It is a tall order to fill. Now that the demonstrations are over, there is a lot of hard work to be done. It is just the beginning.

I would encourage you and your churches to make a commitment to pray for the country of Nepal, and the Christians here, for months to come. Even if things go incredibly well over the next few days and weeks, this country has a long, long way to go. The Maoists insurrection still needs to be addressed. The economy is suffering terribly. And the Christians need to find the role God would have them play in that change, in addition to evangelism and prayer.

Over the past number of days, we have experienced God's faithfulness and provision because of your faithful prayers for us.They have lifted us up and kept us going during many uncertain moments of the strikes, curfews and demonstrations of these last few tense weeks.

How much more will God continue to provide since the difficult times in Nepal are NOT over.

My prayer for you is that these words – All I have needed Thy hand has provided – Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me…. great is your faithfulness – may give you strength, and God's faithfulness will provide you what you may need in whatever situation you face.

Thank you for your prayers for us, and Nepal,

Carole