Bangladesh

Wow Bangladesh was a trip! You think you're more or less prepared for anything and then ...WHAM... you're not. My heart was broken over the poverty and heaviness of the Islamic culture. There were some more prominent changes that needed to be made to be culturally appropriate which took me a bit outside my comfort zone. From the way we dressed as women to not interacting with men in public (which includes high fives, hugs or grabbing an arm while dodging traffic of a male team member) to the fact that white people are a rare sight so you are constantly being stared at. But people are people wherever you go, sometimes you want to punch the creepy guy on the bus but then the simplest smile of a child warms your heart and the rest of it doesn't matter anymore.

We were there for two ministry days. One day I went to a slum ministry that they help with. They have a study hall room for kids to do homework, a small clinic and a pre-school. Needless to say I loved it! I love kids because kids love to laugh, I love to laugh and laughter knows no language barrier. I've also heard it's the best medicine but I suppose that could be debated. Then another day we did a prayer walk in Dhaka because there was a big Muslim pilgrimage that took place over the weekend. An estimated 5 million people attended last year and more were expected this year. It was an unbelievable sight!