Bangladesh is always an adventure. I needed to visit two children's homes and one village where we have a sponsorship program and a meeting with children of pastors/evangelists from many areas of the country who are under our sponsorship. Children in the photo are in the tribal "hill tracts" area. It is high in altitude, far to travel, far from city and civilization. No American would question the term if I called it "remote mountains," but Asians call them "hills" if there are no snow caps. Each of these children is from a difficult life situation with extreme poverty as only one aspect of it. It is doubtful that any one of them even heard the name of Jesus before coming to the home. Missionary work of any kind is strictly prohibited. There is a difficult permit process even for me to make the visit. But we can support and encourage Bangla believers as they work with these people. One little children's home is there, with 30+ children learning of the Savior and preparing to return as witnesses to their own people. The ministry of a children's home is so much more than just feeding and caring for the orphan. I must drive for hours over some of the roughest road conditions that there is to reach this home. Then walking for a while, crossing the Sangu River... things were dry going in, but the rain poured on the way out. We must pass several check points before a certain time on the way out, so it was not possible to wait for the rain to stop. The slick mud underfoot was just as difficult as what was coming from the sky. There was no choice but to sit and slide down the mud embankment, which was at least 30 feet. When I stepped into the river to rinse off the mud, the current was stronger than it looked. It "took" me and I was on my way down river, making my way slowly across without the boat-- and with the rain still beating down. I was already soaked anyway. If you are a sponsor of an LFH child, know that your new photo and progress report is hard won.
