The Tansen Mission Hospital was a lot bigger than I expected it to be! It was founded by an American missionary, but only about 10% of the current staff were Christians. We met both dentists on staff, who were members of the church. We saw the emergency entrance, the supply rooms, the occupational therapy rooms, the surgical rooms (they really let us go everywhere), touring the entire hospital before meeting up with the chaplain for an hour-long worship service. A woman led worship for awhile, and then the chaplain began to speak -they both stuck to Nepali, so we didn't understand what was being said, but we still enjoyed it. It was cool to see the responses of the people there - many in the seats, listening along, were not Christians, and had just come in while waiting for a friend or relative.
After awhile, the chaplain turned to us and welcomed us in English, encouraging us to share something. James shared one of his raps (James raps, and it's awesome. If you live anywhere near Phoenix, come and hear him sometime.) Then, Melissa, Debbie, and Robert all stood up and gave testimonies, translated by the chaplain. It was all well-received, and an encouraging start to our ministry in Tansen.
After the service, they served lunch at the hospital cafe, which was just a very small room with two long tables and benches. We had dal bhat. After having some tea, we left to visit the Little Lamb School.
At the school, we played all kinds of games with the kids. The groups we saw ranged from around 2 to 6 or 7. We sang songs, told stories, and got them to participate in all of it with us, which wasn't hard; they were eager to pay attention. We met the principal briefly - he was male, but all of the teachers were female, most of them fairly young. A few of the teachers spoke English very well, and translated to the children for us. The kids were incredibly cute. At the end, we had tea again and Robert and I chatted with one of the teachers, Bijetta, about how she'd like a computer and internet access to learn more teaching techniques from American schools. We could tell that she really had an honest heart to help the kids.
After finishing up at the school, I went upstairs to the house above it, where Prakash's family lived (and where the Ghimeres and Melissa were staying.) I sat and talked with them, ate dinner (dal bhat), played with the Ghimere girls - who were still overloaded with energy somehow - and then Prakash led me back home; it would take me a few days to figure out the streets well enough to walk around on my own.
After awhile, the chaplain turned to us and welcomed us in English, encouraging us to share something. James shared one of his raps (James raps, and it's awesome. If you live anywhere near Phoenix, come and hear him sometime.) Then, Melissa, Debbie, and Robert all stood up and gave testimonies, translated by the chaplain. It was all well-received, and an encouraging start to our ministry in Tansen.
After the service, they served lunch at the hospital cafe, which was just a very small room with two long tables and benches. We had dal bhat. After having some tea, we left to visit the Little Lamb School.
At the school, we played all kinds of games with the kids. The groups we saw ranged from around 2 to 6 or 7. We sang songs, told stories, and got them to participate in all of it with us, which wasn't hard; they were eager to pay attention. We met the principal briefly - he was male, but all of the teachers were female, most of them fairly young. A few of the teachers spoke English very well, and translated to the children for us. The kids were incredibly cute. At the end, we had tea again and Robert and I chatted with one of the teachers, Bijetta, about how she'd like a computer and internet access to learn more teaching techniques from American schools. We could tell that she really had an honest heart to help the kids.
After finishing up at the school, I went upstairs to the house above it, where Prakash's family lived (and where the Ghimeres and Melissa were staying.) I sat and talked with them, ate dinner (dal bhat), played with the Ghimere girls - who were still overloaded with energy somehow - and then Prakash led me back home; it would take me a few days to figure out the streets well enough to walk around on my own.
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