Jim in Nepal #2: Weeklong residency for the MA in Organizational Leadership students

This is the second of two posts about my recent trip to Nepal.

For the residency (see prior post for an explanation), we spent the week at a small hostel/hotel in Dhulikhel, a lovely green, hilly area east of Kathmandu.

Rice paddies along the road leading to Dhulikhel.

Students hauling luggage to the guestrooms of the hillside hostel/hotel where the weeklong residency of teaching and fellowship took place.

An early morning rain cleaned the air and revealed a few Himalayan peaks that had been hiding behind the clouds.

The rain also left a rainbow behind!

I'm always keen to explore flora and fauna that are new to me, and to capture them on film if I can.

The food was great, and Nepali, naturally, not American. This is breakfast. Yum!

Narayan Khadkha is the DAI director for Nepal. Cindy Perry oversees all of south and southeast Asia for DAI and has worked in the region for many years. They are amazing people!

An essential activity were the twice daily tea breaks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. A wonderful opportunity to get to know one another.

Another meal - this is lunch.

The Kathmandu cohort. This was their fourth of seven residencies that will take place throughout the three year program.

Yum, time for dinner!

Another breakfast.

Jim in Nepal #1: Kathmandu

In my new role as the Assistant Director of Development Associates International's MA in Organizational Leadership, I had the privilege of joining one of our twice-yearly week-long gatherings (what we call a residency) of students enrolled in the program (a cohort) in Kathmandu, Nepal. We have over 800 students enrolled in the program in 33 cohorts in 17 countries - thus, residencies are happening all the time and are how we kick of each new term (two courses/term). Each residency consists of a week of teaching and fellowship as students progress through the 12 courses in the program over 3 years. As the Assistant Director of the program, it will be important for me to understand every aspect of the program, including how our residencies operate. 

This was my first opportunity to see a residency firsthand, and it was a great week! A highlight was meeting the students in attendance. Since our aim is to develop and train Christian leaders, all 25 men and women in this cohort hold a leadership role of one kind or another throughout Nepal, from church/parachurch ministries to local and transnational development agencies. Closed to the outside world for centuries, Hinduism has been the dominant religion in the country in every way possible - you'll see a number of Hindu temples, large and small, in the pictures below. Yet, Christianity has grown steadily in the past three decades, from just 25,000 in 1980 to over 1 million today. It was exciting to meet an amazing group of Christians and to hear about what God is doing in and through them in Nepal.

This first post contains pictures of Kathmandu. The second post, coming shortly, will present pictures of the residency itself.

 I had a day to spare back in Kathmandu after our week at the residency (in Dhulikhel, 1 1/4 hrs east of the city).
 

Perched on the back of Narayan's motorbike, on our way to church.

Saturdays are the "Sunday" for Nepal - most businesses are closed and Christian churches hold their services on Saturday.

I estimated 400 people packed into this tin-roofed oven. The congregation sat on rugs spread on the floor. Oh, and the service lasted 3 1/2 hours!

Bill Innes and I enjoyed dinner with Narayan Khadkha and his wife, Subitha, and their two daughters a few hours before my 11 pm flight headed for home.