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May 1, 2001
Dear Friends and Family,
Prayer time again!
Board meeting
We have just completed our board meetings, which went very well.
I ran two sessions in which board members brainstormed to delineate
what the issues are that affect their being able to provide people
and funds for the work here. The next day they were in groups
by geography and selected the five most important issues. It was
a very fruitful time, and very sobering. The United Mission to
Nepal (UMN) is going through a process of strategic change so
it was important to get input from this group of stakeholders.
Pray for peace
The government has decided to deal with the problem of the Maoist
guerrillas by sending in the army to secure the area and maintain
security and following this with intensive development activities.
Many people think this is a mistake and that there will be much
fighting, land mines, etc and that the second stage will never
occur and many innocent bystanders will be killed in crossfire
or because they were believed to be in collusion with the other
side. The first and model district for this to happen is the Ghorka
district, which is where we have one of our hospitals. Tomorrow
our executive director and health services director are making
an emergency visit to the hospital to discuss the situation with
the staff.
My management skills
I am being asked to take on the corporate management of the four
UMN hospitals. I really need your prayers on this. I do not have
management skills in general or for hospitals. My experience is
more in evaluation and planning. In fact, I have intentionally
avoided managing others. There are so few of us that right now
that I seem to be the most qualified. However, as I consider it,
I (and friends I have counseled with) think that although this
may appear to be a good decision in the short term, overall I
can be more helpful as a planner and a looker at the big picture
instead of having to deal with the day-to-day issues. Anyway,
this morning as I was praying, it came to me that this might be
God's way of helping the hospitals to consider all options, including
closing. That seems drastic, but the scenario I want to avoid
is as follows: Expatriates have to leave before there are enough
adequately trained and experienced senior health and administrative
Christian Nepalis to run the hospitals. The Nepali Christian community
eagerly takes on the task because they see it as access to Western
funding as well as an opportunity to employ friends and relatives.
Western funding drops drastically as Western missionaries go and
the Christian identity of the hospitals deteriorates. The hospitals
need to increase charges to cover the unmet expenses. The community
says to those running the hospitals: "You call yourselves
Christian? When the missionaries were here they could run the
hospital very well without these increased charges. You must be
filling your pockets." The hospitals slowly deteriorate and
eventually close.
My health
In the last two months, I have sprained my ankle, my bad leg,
three times. This last time was the worst and has me on crutches.
A colleague in Health Services as well as the executive director
are both physical therapists, so an intensive exercise program
is in the cards. I have felt it has been weaker and more unstable
in recent months, and I wonder if the recurrent sprains are stretching
ligaments, making it increasingly unstable.
Well, I guess that is it. Thanks
Love,
Beverley Booth
The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 153
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