October 19th- A Few Days of "Firsts" - Bangladesh

October 19, 2012                  

Bangladesh – A Few Days of “Firsts”

Eddye Davis and I left Myanmar on Thursday around noon, flying to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and then on to Dhaka, Bangladesh for the first Children of Promise visit in that country.  The sponsorship program is new, having just opened in June of 2012.  This was a trip not to check on the children’s progress, but to make sure all is in order to begin caring for the growing number of children soon to be receiving care.

Shikha Biswas and her husband, Tapan Borman (national leader of the Church of God in Bangladesh), met us at the Dhaka airport.  By the time we retrieved our luggage, it was about 2:00 a.m.  We loaded everything into a rented van, and took off across the dark night, beginning another long journey to the far northwest corner of the country where the first two sponsorship sites are located.  After driving eight hours through the night, battling for space on a two-lane road crowded with hundreds of overloaded trucks, we arrived at a hotel, where we left our belongings, and continued driving for another hour and a half to our first site, set between rice fields and fish farms.  The families of the children are part of a house church that meets in their settlement.

This was a visit of firsts.

This was the first time the committee, director, and I have worked together in person.  The committee, under Shikha’s leadership, has been working hard to organize and put into place all the details necessary to begin providing benefits for the children.  I’m happy to say that this is a very fine committee of eight women from across the spectrum of the Church of God in Bangladesh.  They are sharp, committed, organized, and thoughtful.  I was so impressed with their desire to do things well, to make sure that the children would be cared for in the best way possible.  And – they love to get the best deal when shopping.  So, they will carefully make sure the sponsors’ donations are used to go as far as possible for the benefit of the children.

This was the first time to see first-hand the living conditions and situations in which the children live that are awaiting sponsorship.  This proved to be especially eye-opening.  The first children selected for sponsorship are from the caste group known as the “untouchables.”  In Bangladesh culture, they are at the bottom of the social ladder.  They do not mingle with those in higher castes; they are often not allowed to use public facilities, drinking fountains, restrooms, etc.  There is little hope of ever living more than a subsistence existence at the very lowest level – except for two things:  the hope that knowing Christ and his power brings – and the hope of an education. 

There are 21 families living huddled together in a group of interconnected mud houses.  Privacy is not something to be enjoyed; cooking facilities are open fires in the walkway between the small dwellings.  They share a public restroom (a hole in the ground surrounded by makeshift walls of mat and plastic).  They do have a public well with a pump.  A few of the homes had actual beds (no mattresses that I remember); most slept on a wooden platform – all the family members on one bed.  Roofs were made of tin sheets tied down by wire.

As we pulled up to the settlement, the waiting children and their parents were sitting on the ground under a tarp, anticipating our arrival.  It was clear that some of the children had not seen many people different from themselves.  The stares were long and penetrating.  But it was easy to bring about smiles with big ones of our own.

This was also the first time to talk with the children personally.  As we interviewed the children individually, it was clear that their exposure to the outside world was limited; not surprisingly, they had difficulty answering some of the questions like what they would like to do when they grew up, or what had happened in their lives that had been significant.  Some had trouble with some of the basic information like their age.  Education is so sorely needed, as is encouragement, support, love, and affirmation.

As we usually do in settings like this all over the world, we shared the message of salvation using the salvation bracelets made by Mildred Maxfield of Longview, Washington.  Mildred has made over 90,000 of these bracelets to be shared with children and their families around the world.  It is an integral part of our program.  Mildred celebrated her 93^rd birthday during this trip. ( Happy birthday, Mom!)

I am so excited that this vibrant and energetic committee stands poised to work lovingly with these children.  All we need is sponsors – people who will reach their hands and hearts to this first group of children who desperately need assistance.