Things over here have escalated now with new search teams out for current survivors of latest major earthquake 7.4 magnitude. I am OK and our entire team of 46 is OK!!!! Just arrived back in Kathmandu from remote village of Thandidanda towards Mt. Everest where 28 of us had traveled. It is strange to see people have moved into the streets & courtyards in Kathmandu setting up tents not to go back into houses or buildings. We experienced the 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Dhulikhel where several buildings nearby me collapsed & with partial mountain avalanches. Lots of people died. We heard a hospital in Kathmandu collapsed. I got on open ground & could barely stand as the whole earth shook violently for about a minute and a half. Quite scary!!! We had a 6.3 aftershock ~ 20 minutes later and another 6.3 magnitude at 3 AM this morning as we were sleeping out under a tarp in this small village, Thandidanda, where ~ 50 people of 32 families live. It is near Kolanti near Bhumlu way up on the mountain top barely accessable.
We did run a medical clinic there this morning where we saw over 300 patients who had not been seen by any disaster teams since the earthquake 2 weeks ago! They were overjoyed to see us! Continued thanks for thoughts & prayers for protection to all over here. On shaky ground in Nepal, markToday, our CBN Humanitarian & Disaster Relief Team did run a medical clinic up in the high hills of the village of Thandidanda where we saw over 300 patients who had not been seen by any disaster teams since the earthquake 2 weeks ago! This time I was honored to work beside 2 Israeli doctors and 1 from Indonesia along with nurses/techs from Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, India & Nepal. Notice that I am one of only a few Americans representing our entire group (of over 40) & am wearing a North Carolina baseball cap representing not only the USA but our great state of North Carolina!?! Also notice my Tarheel lapel worn on my vest in one of the closeup pictures! And thanks, Chick Jacobs, for the nice article in the Fayetteville Observer, as I represent you all in Fayetteville/Cumberland County, too! Victor Emmanuel , who is on our team, is also posting great photos on Facebook. Also attached pictures of our sleeping tarp/tent converted to a medical clinic including the Israeli contingent, my desk with a bed beside where I performed minor surgery, myself with a woman who had just lost her home in yesterday’s 7.4 earthquake but she survived!, the food distribution program, the unbelievable mountains of Nepal, and jumping for joy to avoid the next aftershock!?!?

Continued thanks for thoughts & prayers for protection & mercy to all over here. Still on shaky ground in Nepal (but as some of you commented, “with a firm foundation”), mark

Today, our CBN Humanitarian & Disaster Relief Team was deployed west of Kathmandu running a medical clinic in the village of Sitapaila. I saw 65 patients today while working beside doctors from Indonesia & Israel who were seeing similar numbers. Our 2nd medical team was placed in another village. We drove by medical base camp setups in Kathmandu from multiple countries including Japan & China (Incredible coming together of nations)! Of course, another 4+ magnitude earthquake took place early this morning! Although knowing they come daily, it still does not diminish these quivers’ psychological impact on me & the Nepalese people.
Tomorrow, our CBN International team ventures further east out to the far reaches of the Kavrepalanchok District towards Mt. Everest. I have not seen the mountain yet due to cloudy weather conditions and smog conditions in and around Kathmandu. We will set up our tent/tarp camp, cook by the campfire like the people we will be serving and run medical relief clinics from there before returning mid-week to base camp in Lalitpur just south of Kathmandu. We will be taking a revolutionary Air Mobile Rescuer water purification unit producing 25 gallons/hour of pure water and eventually dropping them off to the unreached disaster areas.
So you will not hear from me for a few days during this outreach. Your thoughts & prayers for safety & healing are always welcome & appreciated by all of the international volunteers assisting in this massive relief effort (especially me)! Reporting on the ground in Nepal, mark

I received my medical disaster response team identity card this morning from the Nepal Ministry of Health and was in the field within hours. We were deployed east of Kathmandu in the Kavrepalanchowk district village of Bonepa running a medical clinic. Of course, a 4.2 magnitude earthquake took place this afternoon with its epicenter in that very Kavrepalanchowk district while we were there! These are very disturbing quivers that go beyond the feeling one receives when the Fort Bragg guns rattle your windows back home!?! Over 160 aftershocks above four Richter scale so far have been recorded in Nepal since the major 7.9 earthquake on April 25. We have already seen how this repetitive daily action takes it’s toll on the morale and psyche of the Nepalese, who desperately want to move forward. The quake & it’s aftermath have affected 8 million physically & all of Nepal’s 28 million people pyschologically now with over 7,700 deaths. At 2 weeks out, there are still unreached areas, shelter is wanting and physical & psychological rehabilitation has begun. The United Nations estimates that at least 3 million need tents, water, food and medicines over the next three months. Over 1/2 million houses have been damaged or destroyed. This process will take years after this initial humanitarian & disaster relief effort in progress. I continue to be emotionally impacted by this devastation thrust upon an already poverty stricken people. I also appreciate all of the support and encouragement from each of you all around the world. On the ground in Nepal (after daily 4+ magnitude aftershocks!?!), m2md

I sit here typing hearing the roosters crow and dogs barking in the streets as I realize, last night, I woke up to a four+ magnitude earthquake officially recorded which was felt at 2.19 am last night with Sindhupalchowk epicenter near Kathmandu! It was almost like someone was grabbing me while asleep. I set up in a panic not knowing what had happened, didn’t even acknowledge what it later was confirmed to be, and went back to sleep. Today others commented that their beds shook waking them up!? And I am staying on the 4th floor of my building! It now is a little bit un-nerving.
http://therisingnepal.org.np/news/3344
I went to church this AM at Sundar Dhaka, the church ministering to ex-lepers, paraplegics, widows, & the sick and poverty stricken, in fellowship for 2 and 1/2 hours…hugging and ministering to these outcasts. They are even more in need due to the earthquake impact.
I am realizing more & more with daily confirmations that this is where I need to be, both in my life & theirs. On the ground in Nepal (after the 4+ magnitude aftershock last night!?!), m2md

I just landed in Kathmandu, Nepal 9 hours ago into a whirlwind of activity! Jason, your were right about the landing!?! I have met with the Operation Blessing International/CBN team including Israeli/Indian/Malaysian docs, as well as teams from Italy and Samaritan’s Purse, Mass General Hospital Boston, Nebraska, & Indiana from the States. I am currently based at the Theological College pictured here until govt. passes & assignments are made. While there is destruction in Kathmandu, most of the devastation is in the countryside villages/towns. On the ground in Nepal (thankfully), m2md