How Many Cows

Instead, I wanted to just share quirky, silly bits about my projects here in Panama. Maybe share how I have been emotionally defeated by a table saw (I’ve tried to work with it- multiple times- but it scares me so I use other tools to avoid it!) or how it is so hot that my cold shower at night before bed isn’t nearly cold enough and I daydream about adding ice cubes to the rain-catchment tanks.  Or perhaps how I glued the last fitting on a 180′ pipeline before realizing I had a piece of the pipe (right in the center of the 180′ line) going through a hacksaw.  *note: a hacksaw blade can be removed so I was saved from having to cut the pipe (whew!).

I didn’t want to write a post about Nepal.

But I have to write about Nepal.

Even though I have tried not to think about the earthquake, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I was woken up by an alert on my phone around 3am on Saturday morning.

As soon as I got the alert, I went to Facebook to check statuses on my friends there. My missionary friends checked in OK, my Nepali friends checked in OK, and my trekking friends initially checked in OK (only later was I devastated to learn that Dan, one adventurer/advocate for Nepali Orphanages I met while hiking to Everest Base Camp in 2011 passed away from head injuries sustained while on Everest). I also received word from our Hydromissions consultant in India that a member’s house had collapsed, but everyone was fine.

I praised God for those who survived and cried for those who didn’t and prayed especially for their families. As the death toll has continued to rise, my heart has continued to be burdened and praying for all those families hurting from loss of loved ones.

I spent time in Nepal back in 2011. I had been assigned a Hydromissions project in the Chitwan district. My teammate, Jennifer, and I trained a Nepali engineer, Bijay, with our drilling equipment. I still keep in touch with Bijay and he was the first person I messaged when I heard about the earthquake to check up on him and his family. I was relieved when Bijay responded that although they would have to be sleeping outside for now, they were safe.

In addition to the Hydromissions project, I spent 12 days trekking to (and from) Everest Base Camp in the Himalayas with my close friend, Kimmy. It was the most beautiful and brutal trek I had ever done.  It is where we met many other trekkers, including Dan and Sara, and kept in touch with them over the years. Dan and Sara were both on Everest (with other teammates) when the avalanche struck. Sara is still trying to get home, but has at least made it as far as Lukla (away from Base Camp, but still a long way from home).

Hydromissions itself is not a Disaster Response (DR) organization, but I am on a DR list for Engineering Ministries International (eMi). It is a list comprised of engineers who have been trained to provide technical support when disasters strike. I am “on call” if needed for Nepal. I will know over the next couple weeks if I will be heading there to support the relief efforts.

Please pray for Nepal, India and all the people worldwide devastated by the earthquake.

Please pray for the Relief agencies and volunteers in Nepal already.

Please pray for eMi as they mobilize teams to send.

Please pray for me as I pursue God’s will and direction for my role in the relief efforts.

Thank you,

❤ Cait