“Be still and know that I am God.”
– Psalm 46:10
I’m sitting here writing this from a small Christian school in a rural village in Nepal. The mountains off in the distance are beautiful, but right now we are secluded to a little piece of the jungle near the India border. Having the opportunity to teach again has been a huge blessing. The children are adorable as always and eager to learn. In addition to some teaching, for several evenings we’ve been able to walk down to a field on the outskirts of town where all the local children gather for fun and games. Had the opportunity to learn some Cricket, and then in turn we got to teach them how to play American football! These have all been excellent opportunities to build relationships with locals in hope of sharing the love of Christ with them throughout the month. We even began practicing a skit to perform out there that clearly explains the Gospel story.
However, for the past few days there has been no school in session and we had to suspend our evening activities out at the field. Little did we know that when we came to Nepal we were arriving at a time of great tension within the nation. They are in the process of trying to write a constitution and there are elections going on right now as I write this. Yet not everyone here is excited about the freedom to vote. The communist parties here are trying to prevent the constitution from being written and are doing their best to prevent people from having the opportunity to vote. The entire bus system, which is the most common form of transportation here, has been shut down due to a 10-day strike. If I see any vehicles driving down the road, it’s nearly completely limited to cars full of communist loyalist with loud megaphones. It some places it has gotten violent, with firebombs and riots at major intersections.
Our contacts are doing their best to ensure we are all safe, hence the reason for such tight restrictions this week. It’s been quite dishearting though, espeically for the teams assigned to this area for the entire month. And it’s equally frusterating for us as squad leaders as our goal has been to travel to different teams throughout the month, in addition to needing to reconvene to spend a week training our newly raised up squad leaders. However, we know that God has a reason and purpose for all this. The upside for us has been quality time with each other and the opportunity to spend quiet time with the Lord.
Sometimes the Lord has us walk through seasons of waiting and listening. And I’ve certainly realized the importance of these moments of stillness. Often our immediate reaction to a sudden change of plans is frusteration and anger, especially when we are trying to do the Lord’s work! We love to be busy and being productive gives us a sense of pride and accomplishment. Yet sometimes God wants us to stop and listen for a bit. If you’re anything like me, being busy doing “work” can often push relationships and time with the Lord to the side. So God always knows exactly what we need. And a moment of stillness is probably what we need.
On a lighter note, earlier this month staff from back in the States flew out here for our 4 month debrief. For this one we had extra responsibilities because this is the month where we raise up new squad leaders to take over for when I leave in January. We also selected three new team leaders as well and had a few team changes. The three squad leaders set to take the reigns, Jeff, Amanda, and Jill, are without a doubt earnestly seeking the Lord and have already proven they are capable leaders! I have full confidence in them and have already enjoyed working alongside them in this time of transition. Please pray for myself, my co-leader, and our new leaders and we seek to follow the Lord’s leading for this squad.
In addition, please continue to pray about helping to financailly support my mission further. I’m nearing my deadline for the end of the year and am still $2,000 short of my goal. You can click the “Support Me” link on my page, danlidwin.theworldrace.org to make a donation online. Or you can send a check to the address at the bottom of this letter. Feel free to contact me at any time as well if you have further questions. I may be on the other side of the globe but I love to stay in touch!
Thanks again for your continued prayers and support. I pray the Lord fills your heart with thanksgiving and praise this holiday season. We certainly have so much to be thankful for!
For His Renown,
Dan Lidwin
