“Have you hear from anyone from Nepal?” was the text that arrived 7 am Saturday, as I was getting ready to prepare my treat of Saturday morning's freshly ground coffee. 

“Whaaat?”

Forgetting about making my special coffee, I flew downstairs to connect to the Internet to get more information.  “A 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal!”  In disbelief and shock, these were the first words I said on Saturday morning. 

My heart broke and tears filled my eyes as I saw the pictures that were already posted. And with fear, I read the scanty information that was there. As I read the limited information, my thoughts were for my all my friends in Nepal. Are they safe?  What about their families? And their houses?   The hospital where Bucky and I lived for 13 months? I worried as it was close to the epicenter.

In the US it was 7 am Saturday morning, and 4:45 pm Saturday evening in Nepal. I sent off an email to all of my personal friends and IM colleagues, just hoping that someone had email capabilities to be able to communicate with me.

Sitting on pins and needles, I finally received one response two hours – the family was okay and living out in the open fields around their home, as there were so many after shocks.

And then the Skype phone calls began to my friends who don’t have Internet access.   They were also uninjured and their homes were not damaged. They had cooked their meals outside in their garden, as it was no longer safe to be in their home.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard about my friends - both in Kathmandu and in Lamjung. 

The next step was to send Skype SMS messages to IM’s partners telling them that IM wanted to send relief work funds through One Great Hour of Sharing.  I also said that I would be trying to Skype call them early our Sunday morning, their late afternoon Sunday, to find out about their situation. I wanted to know about those related to the Nepal Baptist Church Council (NBCC), the Nepal Baptist Bible College (NBBC) and Human Development and Community Services (HDCS).  

Finally Sunday morning came, but Skyping only helped me a little. Disappointedly, I was only getting a few answers from IM’s colleagues through whom IM would want to send relief work funds.

I was frustrated as I saw other organizations requesting donations so quickly.  The question, “How could they have made contact with people in Nepal, when I was having such a hard time?” raced through my mind.

My ability to trust God with all the details was being challenged. I wanted to KNOW and NOW.

But today, 48 hours after my having to wait and see – impatiently, I must admit –encouraging information was received from Nepal. IM could now move forward with a plan to give  $25,000 through One Great Hour of Sharing to the colleagues with whom Bucky and I served. 

God finally answered my prayers – a person who was waiting impatiently.

God does answer all our prayers: sometimes, “yes,” or “no,” or “wait.”   But He does answer.  I just had to wait – not an easy thing to do.

So plans are being made to send relief funds to Nepal. You may also give to IM’s Nepal Earthquake Relief ( see http://internationalministries.org/read/58021  for details).

Thank you for caring for Nepal,

Carole

P.S. I still have to hear from workers in the rural places, but I’m feeling patient now and IM sponsored relief work can start.