We have been looking forward to this annual event hosted by the native members of Bangladesh. This year it is taking place in Rajshahi(Raj, “Rog” for short) this city it a beautiful city, 7 hr drive north of us, known for its cleanliness! We hear that It continues to win the award for the cleanest city in Bangladesh✨
We were able to hit the road by 10 til 7:00. And wow. What. A. Trip. It rained the entire 7 hrs😱 save a rare few minutes when we turned the windshield wipers off. Up thru Jashore, Kaligonj, Jenaidah, H o u r s of RoUgH roads and a few especially treacherous, “hold your breath moments”😳 the worst part was a stretch of brick road that was very much deteriorated, deep ruts filled with water. The only possible way thru was to try to straddle the deep, water filled ruts and hope that we would stay on top! When we’re about halfway across a couple trucks meet us. We end up nose to nose with a truck on the only passable spot!?! It ends up plowing past us. Another spot Lonnie makes a “run for it” at a spot where we ended up straddling a high spot and hoped for the best as the rough points of bricks rattled the underside of the van😳 will everything be ok down there? One place we had to also navigate the bumper of a truck that did not have a good success story and was at a very rakish angle on the side of the road. We waited precariously while a trackhoe that was working on the road, knocking the high spots down with his bucket, got out of our way. And another spot when it was mud and the van lost traction, but regained, and we made it across! As Lonnie said, “ Only by the grace of God!” And then we passed a kilometer? of LOADED trucks waiting for road repair to try to make it across!
Right around noon we crossed the Padma Bridge. An impressive bridge and sight of the Russian Nuclear Plant in the town of Ruppur on the other side! Very amazing to all sudden be seeing other white people, blonde hair and blue eyes! 👀 Here we met up with Doyle’s from Gopalganj for lunch at a Russian cafe. The other diners were all Russian. They looked like people from our home countries and we tried talking to them but English or Bangla only got blank looks from them! It felt so strange that we couldn’t communicate with them!
After a lunch of pepper steak and potatoes we followed Doyle’s. They knew of a place to go down to the river. We soon attracted the local villagers answering all the usual questions of where we’re from and how many children… the river was impressive tho! It was W I D E and on the other side was India!! Before long the rain started again and even with umbrellas we all got soaked🌧️
Another hour or so found us at our destination, Hotel X
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This country has not ceased to amaze me how you can step from the depths of 3rd world into a modern atmosphere with all the conveniences🤯😍 I hear that they call themselves a “Developing Country”. We did not complain😉 after getting settled in our rooms. We 3 families met down in the restaurant on the ground floor for a little somethin to tide the children over til the 8:00? supper after the evening mtg. Then a 6 min drive over to Caritas Bhaban where the Fellowship took place over the next couple days
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1st time meeting some of the members. Bolai & Elizabeth from Kaligonj… this couple looks to be in their 50s at least.. Elizabeth reminds me of many petite built, neatly “put together”, older Mennonite ladies that we have back on the North American continent😌 glasses, and a shari that always looked very neat and becoming…
Then there was Michael and Monica from there in Rajshahi. They have a converted daughter 20? yr old range that’s studying very hard for a nurses degree. Michael has had a change of heart and is a pleasant person to be around…Would have been quite wealthy in the past, but has had some health issues and is currently still trying to mend from a broken leg that they had to do surgery on, getting around on crutches. He speaks English very well and did a good job organizing this Fellowship😊 They also have a younger teenage or preteen dau. named Annamika.
We gathered in a mtg hall there on the grounds that 1st evening. Did some singing and listened to a couple brethren share inspirations. Walked over to the dining hall for supper. The dining hall building also had a smaller room with a couch and chairs making it a nice place for a smaller group to visit or the children to play at times. Then everybody headed to their places of rest. The native families stayed in the sleeping quarters on the premises.
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