Funds are coming in!!!

As you can tell by looking at the "thermometer" on the right we are working on raising $2000 per month to cover everything for the children's home. We are confident that this is more that what is needed for the 30 children but we want to not only raise the support that funds their basic needs but also what is needed to develop and improve the children's home.

and...

...we have raised $345 dollar in monthly support!

This is outstanding and we are so thankful and excited that people want to join us in helping these children.
Thank you so much!

/Andreas

Recent developments

The recent developments of this project resemble the new fuelsaving technology that some modern cars are equipped with, the Start-Stop technology. It is supposed to cut off the engine when the car is at a standstill and start it again when the driver puts his or her foot down on the accelerator.

From the intense forward motion of our trip I sometimes wonder, to be totally honest, if we are in a "stop" phase now. It would be ironic because this phase of our project requires a huge amount of work and time. The trip to Nepal was the wonderful and magical opening ceremony but this part of organization, planning and marketing/networking/fundraising is extremely important and necessary.

However, when we look at what is going on we realize that we most definitely are in a "start" phase. The contrast to playing with the children and praying with them compared to sitting at home in a cold Norway sometimes makes it feel as if nothing much is happening...but much is happening. 

As we mentioned in an earlier post, we have founded a "förening" in Sweden. This is similar to an NGO or a non-profit organization in the US. We have a board and are in the process of being registered with the Swedish government. This in turn will allow us start our fundraising in earnest since we will be able to get a bankaccount in the name of an organization, not a person. 

It also means that you can become a member of our organization! That's right, the organization is in reality individuals that have come together and desire to be a part of helping the children of the Light for Nation children's home in Kathmandu. To become a member simply submit an email to kjernald@live.com with your name, adress and phonenumber. It costs 100 SEK/year or $15/year and helps offset some of the administration costs. As always, 100% of the donations go straight to the children's home (Except for banking fees). 

In other news:

1. We are working on a new website that will help with promoting the Children's home and our partnership with them. It is also intended on making it easier to donate to the children's home. It will have a clear and easy-to-read layout with multiple options to give support.
2. We are also hearing from Nepal that the process of settling the debt that the children's home had accumulated due to a complete lack of funding is being paid of according to plan. This is a huge step in moving forward with our partnership and we feel particularly excited about this.
3. The children just finished their final exams yesterday and we were told that they did well. WE have email contact with them but due to the sporadic nature of electricity in Kathmandu we are working on finding alternative solutions so we can be more up-to-date.
4. The wife of the oldest son, Laxmi, is having some medical issues that we would ask you to pray for. 
5. We held our first ever presentation of our project! Laurie cooked some delicious Nepali food and we showed pictures and videos while sharing our dream. Clearly, the presentation needs much work but it was fun to be "out there" sharing with people. We even raised about 1000 SEK in funds!

In closing, we would ask you to continue to pray for us and for our project. Our dream and vision has come to life in a beautiful way and we are so excited to share it with you. Please share it with your friends and let's all join in becoming a part of something meaningful and lasting. It is fun!

Stay tuned.

Joyfully,

Andreas

 

Nepali Night

Tonight we will have our first Nepali night at church.  The first one will be mainly with our church, but after that we will advertise and get more people in.  We are trying to raise awareness about the partnership between Light for Nations and us.  This will also generate funds...hopefully.

I have cooked Nepali fried rice and we have naan.  I will also be making Nepali chia for anyone who want to try that wonderful stuff.

Please pray for us tonight.

Blessings,
Laurie

The day the förening/organization was officially founded!

Today was a great day! This is a picture of the board of the "förening" Because of Two, which is the working title/name for the "förening" that is founded with the following vision:

We want to work with children in need and give them a home and a family building   strong, healthy and Christian families in Nepal.

Idag var var en mycket lyckad dag! Detta är en bild av styrelsen för föreningen Because of Two, vilket är arbetsnamnet på den förening som har som vision:

Vi vill verka för att ge utsatta barn ett hem och en familj och att bygga starka, hälsosamma och kristna familjer i Nepal.

Laurie Kjernald, Andreas Kjernald, Michael Helander, Olle Kjernald, Margareta Kjernald, Kunal Mukhopadyay

Practical Stuff

For those who have been asking...

We are working on setting up the donation/financial section for those who would like to give.  Here is some preliminary information so that you can do so.  At the bottom of this page you will find examples of what it looks like when you click the "Donate" button on this blog. You find it on the right side of the blog and it looks like this. 100% of the money donated goes to the children's home, minus bank fees. 

If you live in the United States, you have three options:
1.Normal bankcheck 
     Please send donations to:

     New Hope International Ministries

     One Macklem Dr.
     Wilmore, KY 40390

    On the subject line of your check please write NEPAL 
    (New Hope is a registered non-profit and the donations are tax deductible.)

2. Paypal. Use the "Donate" button on the right here on the blog.
3. VISA/Mastercard. Use the "Donate" button on the right and choose that option.

Om du bor i Sverige:

Det finns ett bankkonto du kan använda redan idag. Det hittar du till höger här på bloggen. Du kan också använda dig av "Donate" knappen och sedan använda ditt PayPal konto eller självklart också ditt VISA/Mastercard.
Alltså, du kan välja mellan vårt Swedbank konto, Paypal eller VISA/Mastercard.

Om du bor i Norge:

Tag kontakt med oss personligen så hjälper vi dig med detta. Andreas har telefonnummer 98027134.   

For any other country that you may be residing in:
The best way would be to use the "Donate" button on the right and chose to pay via Visa/Mastercard for the donations connected with this site.

INFORMATION
This is what it looks lik when you click the "Donate" button on this blog. Notice that it says "Because of Two" everywhere. We are registered with Paypal as a verified account.

_______________________

This is what it looks like when you click the link in the blue circle aboe, indicating that you want to use a VISA/Mastercard. It is a standard form that is simple to follow.

Thank you for your help and interest in these beautiful children.

Blessings,
Laurie

Making a New Normal

We have been home for about a week now from N*pal and working on remembering all the details. Sometimes it is so easy just to fall back into the old patterns and routines...but that is not what we want.  We go through the pictures and see the faces that are so easy to love and remember why we made the journey in the first place.  We want to make a new normal in this family, by adding all these beautiful people into our daily discussions, prayers and thoughts.  We want them to effect the way we see the world, the way we spend our money, and the way we see others.  

One of the things that we talked about with the Director (daddy, KB) of the home was the religious climate that is in N*pal.  KB has letters from Hindus that state they would be willing to support them and give them money if they would renounce their belief in Jesus.  He has lost supporters over the fact that he teaches and lives Christianity with the children in a Hindu/Bhuddist country.  Yet, his faith is strong and they are thriving even without the money that we Westerners believe that we ''need''.  

Kathmandu

Kathmandu is a rather large city.  It is really hard to get a true picture of it while you are in it, but easier from higher view points.  I have not met one person that lives in Kathmandu that actually says they like it there.  Don't get me wrong...they all love their country and think it is amazingly beautiful, but they are not referring to Kathmandu when they are speaking like that.  It is a cacophony of smells which include incense, sewage, car fumes, pollution, trash, cows, dust and sweat.  It is a cacophony of  sounds which include horns, chanting, bells, loud music, normal city noise, cows, monkeys, dogs, etc.  It is a cacophony of sights (which include a lot of what I have already mentioned) and temples both Bhuddist and Hindu, colorful buildings, amazingly beautiful people, trash, trash, and more trash,  and spectacular mountains, etc.  I think you maybe starting to get the picture.

This is known as the Swayambhunath or more commonly known as The Monkey Temple (because there happens to be monkeys all around). It is a Bhuddist stupa...with a small Hindu temple on the side.  (notice the dark spindle looking objects...that will be explained later)

We visited some of the sites in Kathmandu that Andreas had not seen before.  It is amazing to watch people of different beliefs and how they (me included) have a sort of sub-culture.  For those of us who are Christians the Hindu and Bhuddist beliefs are straight out of the Old Testament.

The statue of Bhudda at the stupa.  This is the N*pali Bhudda...not the laughing Bhudda that you find in other parts of Asia.  The Bhudda was born in N*pal...interestingly enough he stated that he was not a god and did not want to be worshipped...guess no one listened.  

This is a stone...that some people were worshipping like a god.  

This is a bell, when you go to the temple you ring it...some say to make sure the god is awake, others say to seal the deal (so to speak).  

This is another part of the Monkey Temple, the flags are Bhuddist prayer flags.  Here is where I will explain the spindle objects in the picture above.  Each flag has a prescribed written prayer or prayers on them.  When the wind blows it is suppose to take the prayers with it.  The spindles objects are actually prayer wheels.  They hold paper in them that has the same prayers on them as the flags.  The people walk around clockwise and spin the wheels to release the prayers.  As they walk around they also carry beads to count how many times they spin the wheels...I think they are suppose to do it a prescribed amount of time.  Then there are huge wheels that they also walk around and spin.  

This is a stone, carved like a little man and dressed that was being worshipped.  I'll be honest...it gave me the creeps.  

This is the rat god, I really don't know what he is suppose to do...but he is obviously popular.  

This is the Pashupatinath Temple.  Considered to be the most holy temple for the Hindu god Shiva. It is on the Bagmati river (which the people say is the most polluted river in the world), and it is where most of the funerals are held in Kathmandu.  The smoke you see is from the cremation of the deceased.  The ashes are then put into the river.  It is not a site for the light of heart and makes me sad every time I am there.  Yes, there is a boy in the river collecting the firewood that did not totally burn up.  On the other side of the river was a girl wading in to try to find valuables from the bodies...every part of me wanted to scream...get out of the water...but I refrained. 

These scenes echo all over Kathmandu with small temples everywhere, or a rocks for that matter.  It really does make you think about belief.  Hindus believe in anywhere from 35,000 to 38,000 gods.  I personally think it would be exhausting trying to please all of them.

So now maybe you have a little better picture of the people that we have long loved and the culture that is almost totally opposite to our own.  We will be planning within the next two weeks and working on getting the non-profit registered in Sweden.  We have a non-profit in the States that will allow us to use them as an umbrella until we can see if we need to begin our own there and in Norway we can receive donations through our church. We also have paypal.

If you are interested in joining us on this adventure please let us know.  You can contact us through this blog or kjernald.blogspot.com   We will be getting specific needs out soon.

Blessings,
Laurie