Bangladesh? Say wha?!

So peeps...

I'm going to BANGLADESH this summer.  For six weeks.  And I leave in less than 5 days.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!

What prompted this?!?!

Back history...

Leipzig English Church Weekend Away.  Wonderful time of fellowship with my brothers and sisters, and learning from the Word under Rev. Stephen Wookey, a visiting Anglican minister.  In one of the break times, Rev. Wookey gave me his contact information and mentioned the LAMB Hospital in Bangladesh to me because I was pre-med.

Thus, I began a series of email exchanges, seeing if I could do some medical volunteering there, maybe help out in the school they also run.  The hospital was also non-denominational missions organization, which encouraged me to go.  Turned out they really needed help at the school, so I'm going over to help support the school however I can, teaching different classes, reading with children, and helping put on skits for the end of the year. Additionally, I will also be shadowing some physicians in their work at the hospital, and hopefully asking them some about medical ethics implementation in rural, international settings.  We'll see all that God has in store!

The people in the region I will be in are split about 50:50 Muslim and Hindu, so it will be interesting presenting Bible lessons to a group with split perspectives in a school setting.  From what I can tell, discussing faith is done in more careful ways in this context, as the school is also responsible for other parts of their education, like science and English.  Pray that I will be culturally sensitive, and would be able to bless the children by showing them who Jesus is through all that I say and do.

My level of preparedness for all of this?  Let's go with about 2 or 3 on the 1 to 10 scale.  Lots of packing to be done, and I'd like to be able to at least have down some key phrases in Bengali (do you know how difficult it is to get material on learning one of the top 10 languages spoken in the world? very =P).  Also, even though I've been home for more than a week from university, I haven't sat down and really meditated on the Word as much as I'd like to prepare my heart for this venture.  Everything from family crises to medical school applications have been vying for my attention, though I know that should put me all the more on my knees.  Pray that God would still me in preparation for this trip, that He would fill me to pour out to others on this trip, and that His presence would purify my heart to serve with a sincere heart.

Shaving my frohawk will also be a step in the right direction:

I will post again after I spend some more time seeking God/in prayer regarding the trip (intend on visiting a Catholic retreat center in my area to stop and seek God for a day).  I love you all a ton, and will keep you updated as much as I can during my time in Bangladesh!

Peace in Christ,
MJW