The girls: first day in Bangladesh :)
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
I love America!
I MADE IT! :)
Here I am sitting in beautiful Hawaii at my favorite coffee shop, The Coffee Bean. I am confused at what to think but have a sense of relief that I made it through the hardest 2 months of my life I am sure. I have so many different emotions I don't even know how to express them all. I will just start by telling you all what I struggled with during my last week.
During the hour and a half bus rides to the slums each day I am taken back by what I see. The swarms of people are all around. Rick-shaw drivers, taxi's, cars, busses, shopkeepers, business men, women with their children, and the beggers that weave in and out of the chaotic mess. I sat each morning staring into empty eyes. Each gaze that met mine was at times too much to handle. I know I can not help everyone but all I could give was a smile but even that I was advised not to do. A blonde white girl is very rare in Bangladesh. I did not see one the whole two months! I sat there and just thought about Gods love and got upset. I compared my life to what i was seeing and it made me question where God was in Bangladesh. People should not have to crawl on busses with no legs, broken bones, blindness, deformities, or anything as sickening as I saw begging for money. It broke my heart to look past each hurting soul. Money does not ultimately help them and I was left to picture each image that is still freshly engraved in my mind. This is when the questions began, Where are you God? Do you not see them? Why do I have so much and they are begging for money thats not even close to being worth one dollar? I was honestly upset and had tears welling up in my eyes. I was left to my thoughts for the last few days of ministry. My last night in Bangladesh God revealed to me something that helped me understand finally. My feeling of helplessness in such a large place put me in a spot of giving up and thats where God showed me that He sent Jesus, ONE man to save the whole world. What a task! All Jesus could do was be Himself and that changed the world forever. He simply walked out who He was and hearts were transformed. I realized then that all I have to do is be who God calls me to be. I will do my part and know that God is taking care of the rest.
Its weird to think my outreach and journey through DTS is coming to a close but i know this is just the beginning of a great life! I have been changed forever from this time and my heart is even larger now. God has placed a love for people in me and now I am praying for direction in how to carry that out. So many need just a little attention and someone to show them they matter. Gods love is far deeper and greater than mine but if I can show someone a glimpse then perhaps that will spring them into the arms that will carry them through each season of their life.
I am so excited to come back to COLORADO and share pictures, videos, and stories with you all. I will be back mid february! For now, I am going to enjoy my last days with the life long friends I have made and saok up some Hawaii sun <3
Love you all!
Here I am sitting in beautiful Hawaii at my favorite coffee shop, The Coffee Bean. I am confused at what to think but have a sense of relief that I made it through the hardest 2 months of my life I am sure. I have so many different emotions I don't even know how to express them all. I will just start by telling you all what I struggled with during my last week.
During the hour and a half bus rides to the slums each day I am taken back by what I see. The swarms of people are all around. Rick-shaw drivers, taxi's, cars, busses, shopkeepers, business men, women with their children, and the beggers that weave in and out of the chaotic mess. I sat each morning staring into empty eyes. Each gaze that met mine was at times too much to handle. I know I can not help everyone but all I could give was a smile but even that I was advised not to do. A blonde white girl is very rare in Bangladesh. I did not see one the whole two months! I sat there and just thought about Gods love and got upset. I compared my life to what i was seeing and it made me question where God was in Bangladesh. People should not have to crawl on busses with no legs, broken bones, blindness, deformities, or anything as sickening as I saw begging for money. It broke my heart to look past each hurting soul. Money does not ultimately help them and I was left to picture each image that is still freshly engraved in my mind. This is when the questions began, Where are you God? Do you not see them? Why do I have so much and they are begging for money thats not even close to being worth one dollar? I was honestly upset and had tears welling up in my eyes. I was left to my thoughts for the last few days of ministry. My last night in Bangladesh God revealed to me something that helped me understand finally. My feeling of helplessness in such a large place put me in a spot of giving up and thats where God showed me that He sent Jesus, ONE man to save the whole world. What a task! All Jesus could do was be Himself and that changed the world forever. He simply walked out who He was and hearts were transformed. I realized then that all I have to do is be who God calls me to be. I will do my part and know that God is taking care of the rest.
Its weird to think my outreach and journey through DTS is coming to a close but i know this is just the beginning of a great life! I have been changed forever from this time and my heart is even larger now. God has placed a love for people in me and now I am praying for direction in how to carry that out. So many need just a little attention and someone to show them they matter. Gods love is far deeper and greater than mine but if I can show someone a glimpse then perhaps that will spring them into the arms that will carry them through each season of their life.
I am so excited to come back to COLORADO and share pictures, videos, and stories with you all. I will be back mid february! For now, I am going to enjoy my last days with the life long friends I have made and saok up some Hawaii sun <3
Love you all!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Final Days in Bangladesh
Hi everyone
We have finished our outreach in Rajshahi. We stayed on a YWAM base and helped out with the chores and visiting people in the village. I shared my testimony at a Sunday school. I told them about how volleyball was such a big part of my life. They were very interested and when I told them about my team and our winning streak, one guy started clapping for me. HaHa! That made me smile. The base staff here are wonderful and such joyful people. Our whole team got very sick for a few days, which was not very pleasant, but we got better and made the best of our short time there.
Our train ride to Dhaka was nice. We had our own room, which was carpeted and had fans and a radio and was clean!! Definitely was nicer than anything we have been on in a while. Nine of us crowded into the room, but we are used to being in each others space by now:) We just lay on each other and figure it out...no use in complaining. I really believe our our team has gotten along great! Thank goodness! We got to Dhaka and we had Nobian there waiting...He was our translator about a month ago. He is a really fun and nice guy. He is from Bangladesh. He got us taxi's and i yi yi these taxis wouldn't pass any sort of inspection in the U.S., that's for sure! By now, though, anything goes. I don't get nervous anymore. You just go with the flow.
We arrived at our destination and it's amazing! We're staying at a YWAM couple's aparment. It's clean, smells good, no rats, comfy beds, real toilets, annnd Americans to talk to:) It couldn't get any better...well, that's what I thought anyway. The 21st we had our first day of ministry, which was in the slums. Talk about heart breaking. WOW! I can't get over it, but just a smile is a minstry here, too. I helped in a kids school. I led songs with Jason and he told the story of Noah's ark. They had never heard the story. Nobian was our translator. We then did house visits and I prayed for a woman who was losing her sight and was really sad because her daughter had left. Then Jason and I went and sat in the Drs. office, which is in a little room with a mat on the floor. The Dr. is a missionary from New Zealand and has been here for 14 years. It was so interesting. People just come in and out and she prescribes the medicine most needed out of all the problems, because they can't afford all the medicine necessary. I got to sit and watch her examine some of them and then I played with some of the kids. The girls braided my hair and I gave one of them the butterfly clip I had in my hair. When I was walking away from the school area, one girl came running after me and grabbed my hand and pulled me down so she could put earrings in my ears. It was so sweet and it just blew me away. This girl has nothing and wanted to give me some earrings!!
So after ministry we got back on the bus and headed back to the apartment. When we got there we walked to a coffee shop. It was so nice. It was nicer than Starbucks. How does that work?!! They sat us and took our orders. We got a chocolate waffle with ice cream, a waffle with strawberries and all of us got frapaccinos!!HaHa! We were like, ' Oh we have to!' It tasted so amazing. We just had to splurge. So life was really great up to that point and then we got back to the apartment and guess what was for dinner....SPAGHETTI!!! It tasted wonderful. We haven't had anything that good in months! What a glorious day!!!
I know this is long, but I wanted to catch everyone up on what I've been doing. I miss everyone and look forward to catching up with you!
Until next time
Ames
(posted by Mom)
We have finished our outreach in Rajshahi. We stayed on a YWAM base and helped out with the chores and visiting people in the village. I shared my testimony at a Sunday school. I told them about how volleyball was such a big part of my life. They were very interested and when I told them about my team and our winning streak, one guy started clapping for me. HaHa! That made me smile. The base staff here are wonderful and such joyful people. Our whole team got very sick for a few days, which was not very pleasant, but we got better and made the best of our short time there.
Our train ride to Dhaka was nice. We had our own room, which was carpeted and had fans and a radio and was clean!! Definitely was nicer than anything we have been on in a while. Nine of us crowded into the room, but we are used to being in each others space by now:) We just lay on each other and figure it out...no use in complaining. I really believe our our team has gotten along great! Thank goodness! We got to Dhaka and we had Nobian there waiting...He was our translator about a month ago. He is a really fun and nice guy. He is from Bangladesh. He got us taxi's and i yi yi these taxis wouldn't pass any sort of inspection in the U.S., that's for sure! By now, though, anything goes. I don't get nervous anymore. You just go with the flow.
We arrived at our destination and it's amazing! We're staying at a YWAM couple's aparment. It's clean, smells good, no rats, comfy beds, real toilets, annnd Americans to talk to:) It couldn't get any better...well, that's what I thought anyway. The 21st we had our first day of ministry, which was in the slums. Talk about heart breaking. WOW! I can't get over it, but just a smile is a minstry here, too. I helped in a kids school. I led songs with Jason and he told the story of Noah's ark. They had never heard the story. Nobian was our translator. We then did house visits and I prayed for a woman who was losing her sight and was really sad because her daughter had left. Then Jason and I went and sat in the Drs. office, which is in a little room with a mat on the floor. The Dr. is a missionary from New Zealand and has been here for 14 years. It was so interesting. People just come in and out and she prescribes the medicine most needed out of all the problems, because they can't afford all the medicine necessary. I got to sit and watch her examine some of them and then I played with some of the kids. The girls braided my hair and I gave one of them the butterfly clip I had in my hair. When I was walking away from the school area, one girl came running after me and grabbed my hand and pulled me down so she could put earrings in my ears. It was so sweet and it just blew me away. This girl has nothing and wanted to give me some earrings!!
So after ministry we got back on the bus and headed back to the apartment. When we got there we walked to a coffee shop. It was so nice. It was nicer than Starbucks. How does that work?!! They sat us and took our orders. We got a chocolate waffle with ice cream, a waffle with strawberries and all of us got frapaccinos!!HaHa! We were like, ' Oh we have to!' It tasted so amazing. We just had to splurge. So life was really great up to that point and then we got back to the apartment and guess what was for dinner....SPAGHETTI!!! It tasted wonderful. We haven't had anything that good in months! What a glorious day!!!
I know this is long, but I wanted to catch everyone up on what I've been doing. I miss everyone and look forward to catching up with you!
Until next time
Ames
(posted by Mom)
Friday, January 2, 2009
Leaving Dinajpur
Happy New Year everyone!!
We are leaving Dinajpur and taking a 1 hour bus ride and then a 5 to 6 hour train ride heading to Rajshahi. We all can't believe we are already a month into our outreach and have only one month left here! We have had a good last week of ministry. We visited villages-some were Christian and others Hindu or Muslim. Just a side note-the day after Christmas I got sick and it was not fun!! We were told it would happen and it did. I took a day off from doing house visits and just slept and read and watched some movies on an ipod. But I am feeling much better now!!
A few days ago we separated as a group. Some of our team went to a wedding and some stayed on base. I stayed and got to preach and it was awwwesome!! I spoke on Jonah and trusting God even when we have to jump into the waves (problems) of our lives. It's about God redeeming us even when we deliberately go against His first call on our life. He turns it around and still does a great work while speaking to us in places we don't think would make sense (a belly of a fish OR Bangladesh! haha). I really enjoyed talking about that. After the 4 of us who stayed on base preached, we had a time of prayer and asking the Holy Spirit to really come and show up for these people. We called that day "encounter", by the way. It was amazing and all of the people were thanking us so much because they had never seen or known God like that. I know they needed that, too! What a time it was!!
We all appreciate prayers for sickness and just reaching the people God puts around us. They are all so hungry!!
We are sad to leave this place because everyone here has become like family to us. We have 2 weeks in the next place and then 2 weeks in Dhaka. We will go from there to Thailand and then back to HAWAII! That part of the world seems sooo far away from here.
Until next time
Love,
Ames
(posted by Mom)
We are leaving Dinajpur and taking a 1 hour bus ride and then a 5 to 6 hour train ride heading to Rajshahi. We all can't believe we are already a month into our outreach and have only one month left here! We have had a good last week of ministry. We visited villages-some were Christian and others Hindu or Muslim. Just a side note-the day after Christmas I got sick and it was not fun!! We were told it would happen and it did. I took a day off from doing house visits and just slept and read and watched some movies on an ipod. But I am feeling much better now!!
A few days ago we separated as a group. Some of our team went to a wedding and some stayed on base. I stayed and got to preach and it was awwwesome!! I spoke on Jonah and trusting God even when we have to jump into the waves (problems) of our lives. It's about God redeeming us even when we deliberately go against His first call on our life. He turns it around and still does a great work while speaking to us in places we don't think would make sense (a belly of a fish OR Bangladesh! haha). I really enjoyed talking about that. After the 4 of us who stayed on base preached, we had a time of prayer and asking the Holy Spirit to really come and show up for these people. We called that day "encounter", by the way. It was amazing and all of the people were thanking us so much because they had never seen or known God like that. I know they needed that, too! What a time it was!!
We all appreciate prayers for sickness and just reaching the people God puts around us. They are all so hungry!!
We are sad to leave this place because everyone here has become like family to us. We have 2 weeks in the next place and then 2 weeks in Dhaka. We will go from there to Thailand and then back to HAWAII! That part of the world seems sooo far away from here.
Until next time
Love,
Ames
(posted by Mom)
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Reaching out in Bangladesh
I am currently in Brigong (sp?) which is outside of Dinajpor. We are staying at the church compound which is actually a Compassion International base. There are about 200 kids who come here daily, all of them are full of smiles and wanting attention! As soon as they see us walk out of the house, they start running and screaming, "Auntie!" I don't know what it is about kids calling us that, but that is also what kids called us (the girls!) in Hawaii, too! The house we are staying in is nice and the women who cook for us are so sweet!. We have the same meal everyday. It usually consists of potatoes, rotee(tortilla type things), coffee, jelly, and eggs for breakfast and lunch is the same thing, but with some type of meat (goat, lamb, cow, or chicken) and for supper we usually get potatoes, rice, meat, jelly, and rotee. Ay yi yi!! Ha Ha! The other night they surprised us with crepes, ice cream, and french fries. The most unhealthy meal ever, but all of us were like, 'Oh My gosh!! ' It was exciting!
Our ministry is going well. Three days a week we take a van ride for about an hour or two to different villages and we also went to another Compassion base. One time when we showed up to a village there was a marching band to greet us. We danced the whole way into the village!! We have tea and snacks and sing. We preach and do skits and have prayer. I have preached one time and will preach again on Monday. I have talked on 'finding Gods love in your pain.' It went well and I liked it. The groups we speak to range from 20 to 250 people. When I spoke it was in a Christian community, but we have spoken to Hindu and Muslim communities, too. We also minister to children, women, and youth. The people here are all so hospitable and genuine. They will do anything to make us feel comfortable. We do get a lot of stares and it gets old, but I guess they never see white people.
I have gotten used to the poverty now, but when I go through the pictures we have taken I just think of how unreal it is! It looks like the pictures in the magazines of the people who need help. Little kids holding babies, no diapers, dirty faces and hands, bare feet, men and women and sometimes children working in fields. Once you've seen one village you've seen them all!
I am doing pretty well. I am sorry I will be missing Christmas, but God planned for me to be here for Christmas. My team is getting along well. Some days are more difficult, but I guess thats a given with 9 people in a foreign country. A lot of us have been sick with colds though. We are not used to this chilly weather. It's not freezing, but we didn't bring warm clothes and we always wear flip flops. I have not been sick though. I would appreciate prayers for just missing home and just being able to encourage the people here. I can't imagine living the way they do.
Please pray for all of us. We need your prayers!
Love,
Ames
(posted by Mom)
Our ministry is going well. Three days a week we take a van ride for about an hour or two to different villages and we also went to another Compassion base. One time when we showed up to a village there was a marching band to greet us. We danced the whole way into the village!! We have tea and snacks and sing. We preach and do skits and have prayer. I have preached one time and will preach again on Monday. I have talked on 'finding Gods love in your pain.' It went well and I liked it. The groups we speak to range from 20 to 250 people. When I spoke it was in a Christian community, but we have spoken to Hindu and Muslim communities, too. We also minister to children, women, and youth. The people here are all so hospitable and genuine. They will do anything to make us feel comfortable. We do get a lot of stares and it gets old, but I guess they never see white people.
I have gotten used to the poverty now, but when I go through the pictures we have taken I just think of how unreal it is! It looks like the pictures in the magazines of the people who need help. Little kids holding babies, no diapers, dirty faces and hands, bare feet, men and women and sometimes children working in fields. Once you've seen one village you've seen them all!
I am doing pretty well. I am sorry I will be missing Christmas, but God planned for me to be here for Christmas. My team is getting along well. Some days are more difficult, but I guess thats a given with 9 people in a foreign country. A lot of us have been sick with colds though. We are not used to this chilly weather. It's not freezing, but we didn't bring warm clothes and we always wear flip flops. I have not been sick though. I would appreciate prayers for just missing home and just being able to encourage the people here. I can't imagine living the way they do.
Please pray for all of us. We need your prayers!
Love,
Ames
(posted by Mom)
Sunday, December 7, 2008
HAVE ARRIVED IN BANGLADESH
Where do I even begin to tell you all what I feel and see here in Bangladesh?!! I am currently in Dhaka, but I leave tomorrow to go up north to begin our ministry. Right now there is a festival going on called "Eid." It involves the sacrificing of cows and goats for the peoples sins. Tomorrow is the day that this will take place, so I will be seeing a lot of blood!! Yesterday we had breakfast in our hotel and then we were able to leave the building. We had not seen anything yet because we arrived at 2 in the morning the night before. As soon as we stepped out, I was overwhelmed by the dirt and the stares from the people. The sounds of horns were everywhere and no one stops for anything! People were asking for money and we were told not to look at them. I am happy to be here though. This is short and vague, but I have to get going. I know God is going to do big things through us, but I would love to have your prayers. I see the beauty in the people and Gods love for them. I will try and write again, but it may be hard to find a place to get on a computer. Please remember me in your prayers!
Miss you all
Ames
Miss you all
Ames
Friday, December 5, 2008
Bangladesh Here I Come!!
Hello Everyone!
I am in Chaing Mai Thailand right now! I am loving it. What a beautiful place and culture. I have loved the food and the people I have gotten to know the past couple of days. I leave today for Bangladesh. We fly out of here and into Bangkok. We arrive in Bangladesh about 2 in the morning. I am so excited to see the ways God is going to work! I don't know what to expect when we get there but I know that the internet will be a rare thing. I will try to update you all as much as I can.
My prayer is that I will adjust quickly to the culture (or as much as i can!) I want to show Gods love to the people and give them hope. I just want to be used where God needs me. I know I can't save anyone and I won't be anyones hero but I know that God has such big plans for me as well as my team.
Thank you again for all the love and support with this adventure I am on!
I am so blessed to have all of you in my life.
<3
I am in Chaing Mai Thailand right now! I am loving it. What a beautiful place and culture. I have loved the food and the people I have gotten to know the past couple of days. I leave today for Bangladesh. We fly out of here and into Bangkok. We arrive in Bangladesh about 2 in the morning. I am so excited to see the ways God is going to work! I don't know what to expect when we get there but I know that the internet will be a rare thing. I will try to update you all as much as I can.
My prayer is that I will adjust quickly to the culture (or as much as i can!) I want to show Gods love to the people and give them hope. I just want to be used where God needs me. I know I can't save anyone and I won't be anyones hero but I know that God has such big plans for me as well as my team.
Thank you again for all the love and support with this adventure I am on!
I am so blessed to have all of you in my life.
<3
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