Goals

Our field director, Tim Holbrook, was here to visit us in Darjeeling for about a week and a half in October. We worked with him to set some new goals for the project for the next couple of years. One important decision that was finalized was our plan to open an English-language school next year. Our teammates, Jonathan and Karen Lovitt, completed a course last year through Cambridge University to be certified to teach English as a second language. We will also be attending this same month-long course in May, 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand. There are many intelligent, educated and ambitious Nepali youth living here in Darjeeling who need jobs. English is the trade language of India and the key to getting a decent job. Many young people here want to improve their language skills in order to get good jobs. Unemployment is a serious problem in our part of India, and competition for work is fierce. Our hope is that the English-language school will connect us with more youth and demonstrate to the community that we care about the problems they face every day.
In addition, Jonathan and Karen will be in Thailand at our AFM Office on the campus of Mission College two hours outside of Bangkok from October 20 thru November 20. They will be writing a series of Bible lessons in the Nepali language that we will use in our first phase of evangelism. The Nepali culture is primarily an oral one, and important lessons and information is often communicated through stories. Rather than the usual topical/analytical Bible-study approach, Jonathan and Karen will be crafting an extensive set of Bible stories that teach scriptural truths through a narrative/inductive approach. We want to spread Bible stories that people will easily remember and share with others.
Please continue to pray for our team as we work towards opening the new language school and dive into evangelism. It's a daunting task, and we need your prayers.

Jared & Tonya Wright