Her name is Laina

The little girl on the left is Laina. She is 9 years old and she too comes from a very strong Hindu family. In fact, during the 15 day Christian “boot” camp we were running her father decided that he was not thrilled his daughter was attending. He decided to get the village involved and they held a 48 hour Hindu festival right in the middle of the camp. Not like we could hear the music from a distance and it was a little creepy, I mean smack dab in the middle of the campground where we ate and played…literally music blaring all through the night so this village could worship the goddess of wisdom. All put together by Laina’s father. Not only was he upset that she was attending, he also is a raging alcoholic (along with her grandmother), and chose to come down to the camp at night completely trashed where the children slept and would walk around screaming and yelling out for her. We would sometimes have a time of sharing where the kids could talk about prayer requests and things that are going on in the camp, and on more than a few occasions Laina would get up in front of the 100 other youth and share that her father and grandmother were drunks and asked if we could please pray for them. I know she loved the camp but what I think she loved even more was being away from home for 2 weeks. Not having to deal with drunken family members. Not having to be yelled at. She could be a kid. She could laugh and sing and learn dances. Laina raised her hand on one of the last nights saying that she had made a first time commitment to follow Jesus that week. I know as I sit and listen to the rain thinking about this precious girl that I get to go home to a safe place where I am loved and appreciated. Where no matter what religion I choose or don’t choose to practice, I am respected. I can’t say that Laina has that same freedom. This little girl stole my heart.

I will never forget...

This is Chetan. He’s the kind of guy who you meet and he just clings right to you. He doesn’t have many friends. At first glance he seems like a normal kid. You watch him worship the Lord and you would think that his parents must be very spiritual people. When he worships he sings [yells] at the top of his lungs and he prays with a passion that many people (including myself), could learn from. But there is a story behind that smile that was unfolded to me over the past few weeks that is hard to forget. Chetan comes from a very conservative Hindu family. He is the youngest of 3 boys and about 2 years ago he came home from school to find his mom had packed up and left. His parents had been divorced for a few years and his father was living on the other side of town with not much contact. Chetan was forced out onto the streets until a friend of his from a strong Christian family took him in. He lived with them until he was able to find his father and stepmother. In the process of living with this family Chetan went to church and experienced great movements by the Holy Spirit. In this time he became a Christian… the story goes that he finally found his father and stepmother and moved in with them. He was eager to tell them about Jesus and the new things he had been learning while attending church. His family was not happy and upon hearing these things demanded that he stop attending church with his friend and her family. Chetan refused. That’s when his step-mom started beating and torturing him. At this point a usually talkative and thorough young boy starts to try and change the subject only saying “please pray for my family to know Jesus”. No bitterness. No anger. Only a broken heart for his lost family who for years beat and tortured their 14 yr old son for the faith that he refuses to give up on. He moved out last year to live with that Christian friend and her family. If you watch him worship you would never know his brutal past, or what he went through to get to where he is today, but if you look in his eyes you can see the hurt and the scars from what it has cost him to love and follow Christ. I think he experiences a deep and very real intimacy with Jesus. I will never forget Chetan.

What we're reading

People are always asking us what we are reading so, I thought i would do a blog on a few of the books we have either read, or are reading right now...hope you enjoy!

"Everyday Justice" By Julie Clawson.

"The Justice Project" by Brian McLaren
"Creating a World without Poverty" by Muhammed Yunus
"The Poor will be Glad" by Peter Greer and Phil Smith

As you can see many of the books we read are focused on Poverty, Justice, and our brothers and sisters overseas. Reading books like these expand our minds and open us up for the possibility of a new world. A better life for everyone. Being in developing Nations while reading these books is very challenging but dreaming with each other and a very creative determined God is exciting. I encourage you to pick up any or all of these books!!

I wake up to the call to prayer. ½ the population of the United States crammed into a country the size of Wisconsin. People are everywhere. Beautiful faces but broken hearts. Hopelessness is the overwhelming feeling you get when you gaze into their eyes. I want to look at them; stare, gasp even when the man with crippled hands reaches out to me. Maybe he will make 40 Taka, 20cents. How do you reveal a God of hope, love, and joy to the millions of Bangladeshi’s who everyday are just trying to survive? I want to ask about the slavery that happens here…am I too scared? Maybe I’m scared of the truth. “This is the real deal”, Justin whispers to me as we walk down the crowded streets. I want to grab his hand but have to resist. Even as a married couple we are not allowed to display any type of affection in public. Instead I walk a step behind him avoiding eye contact with any male older than me. I want to understand. The western context in which I was brought up in holds me back from engaging at a deeper level. I want to scream. I want to cry. I want to hold the old woman and laugh with the children. Instead I walk silently with my head facing the ground, careful of where I’m stepping. Garbage everywhere. Babies lying on the sidewalk, I don’t know if they are dead or alive. A single tear rolls down my cheek…I can still hear the call to prayer. This is the real deal...

Bangladesh at a glance

Just a little taste of what we are experiencing in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This place is unlike anything i have ever seen. More to come.

To India and Bangladesh we go!!

So we are officially leaving TODAY for outreach. We will be in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Sunday Dec. 13 and spending a little over 3 weeks there before heading up to Darjeeling, India where we will spend the rest of our time doing ministry. I won't spoil all the details just yet because we just sent out an old school paper newsletter that ya'll will get by mail in the next week or so.

Our team is healthy and ready to go. They have been through three months of lecturing and now have the opportunity to flesh out everything they have learned. Please pray for the health and protection of our team as water-borne disease and malaria can be easily picked up in areas we are going to...we are asking God to give us a supernatural tolerance for this stuff!

Also be praying that God will use our team in incredible ways and that we will be a blessing, not a burden to our contacts.

We will try and update ya'll as much as possible but as you can imagine internet connectivity is about as reliable and available as clean water up in the villages we will be staying in.
So with that said, God bless, we love you all.

Take a look at these good lookin' kids!

Say hello to our outreach team! From left to right;

Kyle (USA), Spencer (CAN), Bekah (USA), Kale (USA), Justin, Sa Rah (Korea), Oana (GER), Dylan (CAN), Hanna (NOR), Kelly, and Mario (USA).