Postcard from Nepal

Our focus for this postcard is on the land of Nepal. The Christians in that country have united to declare today as the Global Day of Prayer for Nepal. This coming Thursday, 10th April, an Election of the Constituernt Assembly will be held which could usher in a lasting peace to that strife-torn country. It is only two years ago that the king stepped down and declared Nepal a secular state. A few months later a ceasefire between the Government and the Maoist rebels was declared. Since then a fragile peace has been maintained.

This all has huge implications for the Nepali Church which has seen tremendous growth in recent decades. The secular nature of the state should protect religious freedom but these laws have not been fully implemented. We need to pray that the government will be given divine wisdom in the decisions it makes. And we need to pray that Christian organisations will continue to have opportunity to work with the Church in the spread of the Gospel in all areas of the country.

Our special prayer link is with Wayne and Tanuja Martin. They have completed a second term with Interserve as doctors in the main hospital inTansen and will return to Perth with their two children Alecia and Siobhan in a month's time. They plan to return in 2009 if there are teachers to teach their children. They have weathered lots of difficulties during this term but have finished on a real high as the hospital community showed such open-hearted appreciation for their servant-hearted ministry. They will be visiting us in late July.

BT