November 21, 2003
Dear Friends and Family,
Long time no see. Several friends started to ask whether everything
is all right with us. They were concerned since we have not written
for a while. Well, no news is good news! While we were quite busy
with many things, we did not forget you or forget to write you.
We just could not find one unifying theme that would tie together
everything other than the fact God has his hands in all things
we do.
The end of September to early November was a period of traveling
for us, especially for Simon. Simon traveled to the countryside
in Nepal for his mentoring duties. This was followed by a two-week
visit to Japan for the PC(USA): Tokyo, Kobe and many other cities.
After conducting a three-day management seminar for United Mission
to Nepal (UMN) staff, we joined a group tour to Tibet. Now that
we’ve been back for a week, on November 24 Simon is off
for another week to work with UMN projects that are preparing
to operate as independent entities. Imagine preparing to send
off eleven children to college within two years, all with different
ideals and abilities.
During the first week in December, Simon will be in India for
another PC(USA) assignment, followed by a short visit to the Woodstock
School, which was run by PC(USA) in the past and is now running
as an independent school of excellent reputation. Confucius once
said that a wise person learns from others’ experiences
while an average person learns only from his or her own errors.
Simon is trying to become wise and learn from Woodstock's experience.
We shared with you earlier that Simon’s major responsibility
these days is to assist current UMN projects in their efforts
to have an active and productive life after they leave the bosom
of UMN and won’t benefit from UMN’s management expertise,
its good reputation in the Christian community, and extensive
personal contacts of missionaries from overseas. As is often the
case in mission work, this phase of growing up, when the responsibility
for survival is handed over to the national staff, is a period
of uncertainty, anxiety, and, sometimes, resentment. The tremendous
opportunity it presents for a more mature relationship and the
possibility for the local leadership to step up is often forgotten
due to the concern over the uncertain future. Simon’s challenge
is to help Nepali staff see the inherent uncertainty as a necessary
part of growing up. Current political, economic, and security
uncertainties in the country contribute to the heavy sense of
insecurity overall. Please pray that we may find permanence in
God and be able to share the strength with all around us.
Going to Japan from Nepal was quite an experience. These two
countries were more different than any two we could imagine. In
Japan, the crowded sidewalk flowed smoothly since everyone stayed
to their left. In Nepal, even the vehicles do not stay to one
side of the road, sometimes cars drive on the left side of the
sidewalk. In Tokyo, school children were scraping off chewing
gums from the sidewalk, while in Kathmandu heaps of garbage line
the streets. However, Christians are extreme minorities is both
countries. While the two societies were not reconcilable in Simon’s
mind, realizing that our God accepts these different situations
and shows his grace and love in all circumstances made this year’s
World Communion Sunday a special one. Incidentally, the Christian
population in Japan is approximately 1 percent, the same proportion
as PC(USA) membership to the U.S. population. The influence in
the society is much greater than the membership count. Christian
hospitals and Christian schools represent quality, in their programs,
people, and their ideals. God grants power and strength to small
number of humble and obedient servants. Simon came away with great
respect and gratitude for fellow Christian servants in Japan. |
