Homeward Bound

Hello friends and family-
As most of you know, my brother Daniel has relapsed. While in Mexico on a mission trip with my sister, doctors found a tumor in his brain. The last time he had it he was 7, now he is 16. Mom flew down immediately. We are trying to get him out of Mexico as soon as possible because the medical care there is horrendous. He has an MRI scheduled for Monday morning, after which we are hoping he can fly home to WA.
I am currently packed and ready to go. Dave is taking me to Kathmandu on a bus where we will stay the night and hopefully I will be able to catch a flight the next morning to the states. Its going to be a long trip- but I am so happy to be going home to be with my family during this time.
We would appreciate prayers when you think of us, especially Daniel. I am really sad to be leaving Nepal, but know that what I am doing is the best thing. Thanks to all my supporters... next time I write I will be back in the states!
God bless!
Alexa

Chitwan (part two!) and prayer requests

Here is that video from Chitwan.... enjoy!! By the way, my laugh sounds really weird on camera and in my defense, it was only about 6:45 am. :)





Prayer requests:

We just got back from Kathmandu today, whew, what an adventure! I will blog about that later. Dave and Nick headed out to remote Nepal to stay with the Chiapong- natives to Nepal. Kimberly is leaving at 6 am tomorrow morning to go to a remote village for a medical camp. I am in charge of the youngest 3 Beines for the next 2 days! I feel like I have finally begun to take a breath from all this traveling, and now I have a new responsibility. Pray for me, for peace of mind, patience, and wisdom. Two of the youngest Beine boys have been sick for the last three days- so pray that their recovery continues and that there are no relapses on my watch! Second, they are building a mini 'road/path' right on the other side of the Beine's house from mine. It is 7 pm and I still here them out there working. Pray that no problems or difficulties arise from this... I am only good at solving problems in my own language!!!
I leave you with a praise: I have not gotten sick at all! I have had a few mild tummy aches here and there, but that is it!!!! Thank you for all the prayers and support from back home, it has carried me through some rough days emotionally. :)
Oh wait, one more thing... my youngest brother and sister (Daniel and Tori) are in Mexico on a mission trip right now! They will be running a VBS and building a church. Pray for safety and unity for the team, their travels, and for good health. I am so excited for them. :) This is Daniel's first trip out of the country besides Canada.

Much love,
Alexa

Isaiah 40:30-31 "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Chitwan! (part one)

So I realize that it has taken some time to get these up, but here are some pictures from Chitwan (for some reason, my video of our elephant ride won't upload right now). We stayed at the Island Jungle Resort. It was wonderful! We took all back roads to get here, had to turn around a couple of times and then got to our 'boat' to take us across to the island. After a 10 min. hike through the jungle, we came to all the huts where we stayed for an amazing two nights and two days. Hot showers available (sometimes) for about an hour in the evening, no outlets in the rooms, and electricity from only about 6-9 pm. What fun! We were met by two other families from Tansen... so we had a nice, big party of 16. I think this is one of the coolest things that I have ever done in my life. The elephants were definitely the best part!!! I would say that the worst part was the 5:50 am wake-up call; not so cool. :) This is our ride over to the island. :)

Our hike to the huts through the jungle

Nick and Nate bathing with an elephant!



Glorious Sunset in the Jungle seen from the back of an Elephant!


Crocodile!

Elephant safari


Me with the elephants!

So now we are in Kathmandu again for a wedding reception and to meet some friends, back to 12 hours a day with no power. We are here for about a week, I am staying in a different location than the Beine's for this trip. My host is wonderful! She has three boys, and her husband works with Wycliffe. Her garden is the most amazing thing I have ever seen, I think I have posted pictures of it before on my blog.

Right now I am waiting for the Beines to come pick me up to go up to a small mountain town for the next two nights. Then, we will come back for the wedding reception, Jake's birthday party, and then back home to Tansen on Thursday. As always, lots going on in this part of the world. :) I'm just trying to soak it all up!

Blessings and peace be upon you! Have a glorious day!

*Ephesians 3:14-21*

The Pokhara side of our vacation...

First day in Pokhara... total culture shock. So many tourists and foreigners and Nepali's that speak English! I had to go back to the guest house and sit for awhile to process it all!

Everybody has a water buffalo, yours is fast but mine is slow. Where do we get them I don't know but everybody's got a water buffalo-oooooooooo!

Happy Birthday Joshua Beine! 6 years old today!

'Holi' day- a Hindu tradition where you throw dye and colored powder and water balloons on each other. :) They still have the color on their skin 5 days later!

A relaxing rest of the day on the 'pontoon' boat in Pokhara. Kimberly and I took a turn at peddling while the boys all stuck in their fishing poles. 4 hours on the lake=BLISS!

Next post: Chitwan pics!