Jumla is located in an isolated area of northwest Nepal. It is a five-day walk to the nearest road. Throughout most of its history Nepal itself has been isolated and largely inaccessible. It is a small country locked between India and China with eight of the ten tallest mountains in the world. Nepal is the world's only Hindu kingdom and Christian mission work is difficult.
Projects are largely limited to medical and developmental work.
Open evangelism has been strictly forbidden. The UMN began in 1954 with the establishment of medical work. It now includes more than 400 people sent by a number of Christian supporting agencies around the world. She became fluent in Nepali, the offical language of Nepal, as a Peace Corps worker there from 1977 1980. Subsequently, she worked as a health and nutrition specialist for the county extension service in Cortland, New York, and as a nurse at the Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis until her missionary appointment to Nepal in 1986.