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)