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Walking in Newness of Life
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The path to the guest house
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"Mama, I can walk!"
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ABBS child concentrating on a new skill
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"Wow! This coloring is FUN!"
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New commentaries
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A Thank You in the sand
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Pastor's wife sharing her story
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A rural pastor
During the
time before our Easter celebration, my thoughts focus on the promise God has
given us so we can walk in newness of life – and reflecting on
those words reminds me of some experiences in my recent trip to Nepal.
Walking
along the path to the guest house where I stay, I saw the process of earthquake
reconstruction, slowly rebuilding to bring newness of life to those people whose houses were
damaged.
Walking
around the classrooms of Asha Bal Bikash Sewa (ABBS), the HDCS school for
children living with disabilities, I saw a young boy walk - in newness of life – who
once, when he arrived at ABBS 7 years ago, was totally paralyzed from the effects
of his being born with cerebral palsy.
New educational
opportunities will continue to bring the ability to walk in newness
of life:
ABBS children enjoy educational games on tablets specific to
their learning capabilities;
New commentaries for a Bible College’s library expand the theological
resources for the students.
Catching up with two women leaders who participated in the Training for Conflict Transformation Trainers in Egypt, I listened as they shared their experiences from this training to walk in newness of life, personally and professionally.
“Effective training
for me personally and professionally... a flowing grace transforms my attitude
and understanding... I have been transformed: in relationships, perceptions,
and facilitation skills.”
“Able to relate, adopt
and design the contents, training, and teaching tools in our own context... I
am transformed... my initial narrow idea for worshiping God has transformed
into a broader my mind set... the biggest thing I saw were Muslims and
Christians coming together for making peace.”
After
the worship service at church I met two colleagues from the past:
The wife of the pastor, who started the local
Baptist church Bucky and I attended, sharing her experience during the worship
service of her walking in newness of life as they moved from Nepal to UK to
minister to the great number of Nepalis living there;
A rural pastor, my meeting him for the first
time since my time in 2007 teaching him in a basic discipleship class at the Baptist
12-week training for rural pastors and lay leaders, brought tears to my eyes:
seeing him and hearing of his continued walking
in newness of life God promises to him and his remote village
congregation.
Thank
you for your faithful praying and giving which bring newness of life to Nepal in a variety of ways.
May
you experience this Easter promise from God anew,
Carole