A visit to the Far West always rejuvenates me and helps me to be focused. I need to be in clinical practice off and on to keep my medi-cal license in Nepal. So this time I visited Dadeldhura in January-February to help out in the Mission Hospital . This hospital, begun by TEAM mission 40 years ago, tries to serve the medical/surgical needs of seven outlying dis-tricts in Far West Nepal, all of whom are neglected by Nepal’s decision makers. After democracy, some efforts have been made to provide health care and education, but the geopolitical layout is so poor, and the re-moteness of this place needs to be experi-enced rather than just heard about.
It was very cold and all the regular staff (including most expats) had taken leave to warmer places. A small power generator keeps chugging monotonously as the govern-ment is unable to provide power to these remote areas. Roads are non-existent and we arrived there in a four-wheel drive taxi from Dhangadi (the nearest airport).

This is the true transformed life of Brother Kalusingh Tamang. Once he was separatedfrom his family after a court session because his wife and children became Christians,and he was a witch doctor! He left and went with his brothers for four years. But becauseof the prayers of the church, prayer groups, and his mother, he came back to his familysaying he was sorry, and he confessed the Lord Jesus as his personal Savior. They happilycelebrated their youngest daughter’s birthday in the church.

We are ever grateful to each one of you foryour prayers, love, and support.When we look back to the day the Lordcalled us to be missionaries in 1978, andwe left home and everything to follow Himin obedience, we see how He has sustainedus and blessed us with good things. Itreminds us of the words He gave us whenHe called us "And we know that in allthings God works for the good of thosewho love him...He who did not spare hisown Son, but gave him up for us all– how will he also, along with him,graciously give us all things?" This hasbeen true for us, and it is also true foreveryone who loves Him.Let me share with you a very real incidentthat took place recently.

Special event during Passion Week
We had a very special event during Passion Week. All our staff met on our rooftop where we washed each other’s feet, and afterward partook of the Holy Communion. It was very much a heartfelt event. We hugged each other and felt oneness in the Lord’s ministry. Thanks be to God.

Women’s Training
Five of our women from EFM Kolkata went to West Bengal Bible Training Institute for one month. All these women left their families for that month, which was really challenging. Papiya Jena of Farakka left her 18 month old daughter with her mom while taking this course. Laxmi Murmu and Mita Manna left their husbands during the study. Ranjita, the prostitute’s daughter, left her job for this study. They all graduated in April and received their certificates. Please pray that these women will be effective in the ministry in their respective churches.

Pastor Koz, Pastor Rahman, and myself gathered together for our first team leader meeting in Las Vegas. Koz and family hosted the event with excellent Persian food and hospi-tality.
The focus of our time together was praying and fellowshiping about our growing Skype min-istry, the work Pastor Rahman is doing in Turkey amongst Iranian refugees, and how we can help.
We received $900 from the 2012 Christmas brochure. This money is being spent to expand our broadcast so that more people/groups can join. We are now able to have 25 people or groups join each of our Skype broadcasts. We will also be adding as many as four broadcasts in the coming months. What we are exploring with Pastor Rahman is bringing him on as a career missionary with EFM. Currently we are filling out the application packet; please pray for this process, because Pastor Rahman’s English requires Pastor Koz and me to translate most of the questions and his responses.

Dear Friends and Loved Ones,
The past three months have been busy with ministry and life. We hosted the new direc-tor of Evangelical Friends Mission at the end of January. Dan Cammack was returning from EFM’s field in India and made a short stop in Ireland to get to know our families and ministry better. We spent a few days together learning more about him and his vision for the mission and sharing what we are currently doing as a field.  February was busy with various opportunities to share Christ with individuals with whom I came into contact through either basketball clinics or coaching. On one occasion I was asked to speak to coaches at a basketball club that I have helped in the past. I had decid-ed that when I get these kinds of opportunities I would always leave a copy of Meet My Head Coach after speaking. About a month after speaking I got an email from a parent of one of the players who was there on that day. She had found our ministry on the Internet and wanted to thank me for sharing, but also for leaving the tract. It seems that she and her family are from the States. They are Christians who have been living here since last summer and who are looking for ways to minister while they are here. Amazing how God connected His people, and all because I left Meet My Head Coach. It will be interesting to see how this works out for His glory and hopefully for the salvation of those with whom we come into contact.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS FOR THE 12/12/12 EVENT

HAPPY NEW 2013

We estimate that about 6,000 Christians and non-Christians praised the Lord! We felt His presence moving throughout the five-hour meeting. Music, prayer, and praise times all seemed to be directed by the hands of God. Together we all made declarations to bless the city, families, and our authorities.
We trust that God has blessed this event to impact the city and the government.

Hi all,
Happy New Year! I hope you felt “Christ with us” during the holiday season, and that you will all year! I am officially back in Rwanda. But before I update you on that, I want to give an update on life before Rwanda.
I had a wonderful last few months, full of the Lord’s timing and grace. It is always amazing to watch how the Lord fits all the details together. He always provides whatever we need. I spent September in California visiting churches and friends. I even got to spend a day on the beach. I spent October in Ohio enjoying the fall weather and the changing leaves. I also got to meet a ton of wonderful people and visit several churches in that region. After that I headed to Kansas for EFM board meetings and a time of catching up with Brad and Chelsea (teammates). That was a wonderful time of preparing mentally for Rwanda and allowing the Lord to help us cast vision for the future. I returned to Friendswood for a week of packing, visiting, and saying good-bye. I even had time for my small group to throw a Christmas party for me. (Thanks again to all who came out to show your support and love.) What a confirmation of the Lord’s calling in my life.

This generous gift went towards a major felt need of the Rwanda Friends Church - paying down a debt they have on their guesthouse. The guesthouse is to provide the yearly meeting with some sustainable income to help support their budget. As of 2013 EFM will no longer be directly supporting the Rwanda Yearly Meeting budget as they have for the last 25 years. With EFM’s generous gift to them of $34,000 they were able to pay off a sizable amount of the principal, and renegotiate the remaining debt to a much more manageable monthly payment. We also say, on behalf of the Rwanda Friends Church, “Thank you very much for your generosity!”

As the year 2012 came to an end we were blessed and challenged during our annual staff and family retreat held in Hetauda (Central Nepal). All our CHE trainers were led by the Holy Spirit into a time of sharing and testifying about God’s faithfulness in their lives, which they all experienced abundantly. Even though they went through difficult times, they were able to rejoice and come together praising and thanking God for the wonderful way He led them all and guided them in their ministries as well as their personal and family lives. As we planned for 2013 each one of us was reminded to “press on to that ultimate goal…for which Christ Jesus took hold of us.”
It is indeed a joy for us to be serving in this country with this faithful band of trainers.