Fri Jan 23 Day of Worship

 Today is a Hindu festival celebrating/worshipping the goddess of education. Therefore only 5 children showed up at our 1st S.S. And at Chakrakhali we waited around for awhile, visited with the lady of house and then went home. 

Wed Jan 21

 After breakfast, I got Dipti started on lunch, us ladies spent some time with on the roof while laundry was taken care of up there. Then the whole crew of us went for a walk in the village leaving the men at home playing carrom while the babies slept.

Dipti cooked us up a Bangla feast: rice, chicken curry, dim(egg) curry, dhal(lentils), and Shobji(stir fried veggies)

After lunch the company packed up and we all went to the river to spend some time in the sand by the water. The river was fuller than normal with more boats and some bigger cruise boats that were creating some pretty good sized waves. A beautiful afternoon with rice threshing going on across the road and the men got to help a Bangali who drove his vehicle too far into the deep sand. The 3 white men lifted the front of the vehicle while they backed out.

Then it was goodbyes and once more just our little crew that made our way back to a house that felt a little sad and empty. 

We are happy to have our field secretary’s visit to look forward to tho!

Tues Jan 20 overnight guests

 Spent the day getting ready for overnight guests. Bedding washed and line dried, a couple desserts and supper made. Our Dhaka couple brought their visiting family thru. Brian’s brother Tyler Friesen and wife Shayla from Roblin, Manitoba. It was special that they shared them with us😌 and it was fun to make connections. Tyler was in the unit with Al Bergeron from our cong. and Shayla would have been at 2 of the same weddings we attended, one in Ronan, as that was her home cong and one in Mt Pleasant, where she taught…

Sat Jan 17 Dristidan Eye Hosp. 23rd Ann. Celebration

 We left the house at 11:00 to get to the Dristidan Eye Hospital in Bagerhat by 12:00. We were invited for a celebration and lunch along with Doyle’s from Gopalgonj . Doyle’s had vehicle trouble so arrived 45 min later. But we started by gathering in their comfortable conference room… conference table with rolling office chairs all the way around, a nice sitting area with low leather couch and chairs, glass topped coffee table, a bathroom off one corner and a tiny kitchenette off the other corner with a glass sliding door. The little kitchenette was perfect for a servant to prepare cha. 1st fruit plates were brought out with carefully arranged guava, apple slices, mandarin segments, and grapes. Then tea was served in clear glass cup n saucers. 

Next was a tour of the eye hospital where exams and surgeries are done, the wards upstairs where the patients stay over night, the little room where surgery instruments are sterilized, and the kitchen, Very 3rd  world! with the typical mud ovens except these are on a built up to Bangali counter height where they cook huge pots of rice, etc. This is the hospital that our CSI program does eye camps with once a month at different locations and funds the eye care of patients that need it.

At the exam room, they asked if anybody needed an exam.  Jaira and Doyle’s 8 yr. Amaryllis got exams. Jaira came away with an updated prescription for choshma (glasses). We plan to take care of that on our next trip into Dhaka.

Next we were escorted to their little assembly room for the program celebrating 23 years. I believe it was a grandson 12 years old sang a song then it was time for the 2 CSI representatives to give little speeches as we have been working with them from their beginning in 2003. 1st Doyle shared with them in Bangla and then Lonnie started off with “ Ami dukkito. Bangla jani na” (I am sorry. I don’t know Bangla) receiving a round of applause from the crowd 🙃 and then gave his speech in English. Picture taking throughout the ceremony… CSI representatives receiving flower bouquets (red roses, pink gladiolus, and baby’s breath). Then the founder was supposed to cut the cake. But alas, he is an old man with dementia and the crowd got quite the laughs over him🫣 I really felt sorry for him and felt like he was past the point of being the center of attention at a formal ceremony. At one point, he pulls his Muslim prayer hat off so his by sitter can scratch his head for him, and then he needs to spit and tissues are hastily grabbed for but no, he thinks he needs to spit into something so a bucket is brought! Finally with joint effort a cake knife is put into his hand and is guided to perform the ceremonial task and then it was a bit of a fiasco getting him to eat the pc of cake🤦🏼‍♀️ his 8 yr old granddaughter was up there having the giggles over the whole scenario!

Then it was time for lunch. They took our crew up to a private room where they served us a Feast!!

Bottle of water and coke by each place

Rice

A little fried minced beef patty 😋 just bigger than an Oreo

Round slabs of cooked eggplant 

Dim (egg) curry, chicken curry, mutton curry, fish and beef

Came around with a fresh plate, Lime slices/carrot slices with hot peppers

For dessert : meeshti balls and little cups of doy (yogurt)

Now it was time for the rest of the crowd to eat.. they went out back to a “party tent” while we went to the front of the hospital, just inside the main gate and found some sunshine to sit in. The teachers and Maddie played badminton and all the littles had a high o’ time playing in a sand pile and running around the building.

Next on the agenda was a Pita contest in the party tent out back. There were 4 different groups competing. One group all had matching bright yellow sharis☺️ Pitas are a special winter food here. They come in all shapes n sizes.. We asked Kobid and Shomid one time how many different kinds there are. They didn’t know, maybe thousands! Anyway, I gave Jaira the task of counting how many different kinds were here this afternoon. She came up with 75-77!! Some of the shapes for this event were: rose, pumpkin, leaf, eye (since this was taking place at the Eye Hospital)

More Badminton and carrom yet before parting ways

Fri Jan 16 Day of worship

 Gentry and I made it to S.S. this morning 😅🤗 and it was lovely to be able to join the children sitting cross legged on the mats😊(earlier this year going to S.S. here I was largely pg..) there was a nice crowd of children this morning, mostly girls this time!… The majority in the last months has been boys!?…

We got a call saying our 2nd S.S. in Chakrakhali was canceled so we enjoyed a leisure end, letting the children finish coloring their pictures in their own time and handing out a balloon to each as they left.

We also received the exciting news that our fellow mission family in Gopalgonj has decided to stay for another term🤩

We decided to use the rest of the morning to go look up Dipti (our maid) and see about going to her father’s home. She’s been telling me how his health is so poorly. So I’ve been wanting to go visit him as it sounds like his time on this side of eternity is drawing to a close… we took Kobid (our interpreter brother) along with us also. Going by rickshaw van, we arrived at Dipti’s, she was out on her walkway with a couple buckets of water, doing some laundry. I was glad Lonnie could see where she lives(the last time we were here he wasn’t along). Dipti said she was afraid/surprised when she saw us arrive! But yes, she would go with us to her father’s home. 

As we rode along, Dipti and I just behind the rickshawala(driver) Lonnie and Kobid sitting on the back, Miss Christina and the girls on the 2nd van behind us, it’s a Be-u-ti-ful morning in the fresh air and sunshine… this feeling of complete satisfaction washed over me, my heart was full, one of those moments in time where everything just feels right in my little world😌

When we got back out to the main road, we met up with her 2 boys in front of a dokan. My 1st time seeing her younger son😊.. she sent their keys home with her younger son as she had locked everything up when we left. We went down an even more broken up narrow brick path to where Dipti grew up. We walked the last of the way in as the road had broken away into the pukar and was too narrow for a rickshaw van. A large rice straw stack to our right as we made our way into the compound. The buildings were built up with mud and we had to step up 3 rather high dried mud steps to get into the main house where her dad was sitting on what we would think of as a porch area that runs along the front of the house. but that is his “bedroom”. his wood bed with just a thin blanket on it fits perfectly in the one end. Her dad was sitting there at the foot of the bed, his back against the “wall”(just wooden slats)… just skin and bones.. the family was all around as he doesn’t seem to have much time left. It was really neat to meet Dipti’s sister, brother, nieces… 1 niece is expecting her 2nd? child in 2 months and really took a shine to Gentry, holding him, talking to him, making him smile😊 we walked out of the yard so Dipti could point her sister’s house out to us, across the way.. her husband left her some time ago and she survives by working for others as a maid. Before we left, we all gathered around the foot of the father’s bed including the van drivers, Annslie was on the bed also with a one of Dipti’s great nieces playing with balloons as the little girl had just turned 5. We sang several Sunday School songs, gave time for prayer requests.. there were several..

… for Dipti’s husband as he works as a van driver earning a living for his family… the fare is meager.

… for Dipti’s brother’s wife as she has paralysis in her legs/left side.. a beautiful girl but can’t get down out of the house without help as she doesn’t have feeling in her leg

… for the sick father with numbered days..

As we were making our final goodbyes Dipti’s father tells us “God sent you” 🤍 We told him we were happy to come and the most important thing, is to be at peace with God

Back at the main road, we parted ways with Kobid and Dipti there in Chakrakhali. And journeyed the rest of the way home, getting dropped off at our gate.

Made some slaw to go with our pulled pork sandwiches.

Nap time for Annslie 

The big girls cleaned up the kitchen then played outside, climbing a tree and playing in the dirt with some broken pcs of pottery… some things they haven’t grown out of yet😌

And then it was 3:30. Time to get ready for church and Lewis arrived with his whole family, parking his easy bike inside our gate. Finally got to meet his married daughter Rosie (from his previous marriage) and her husband and 1yr old son.

Shunil(our night guard) was standing by our church gate with Shanto and Espondant when we arrived, he must’ve seen us earlier today? He wondered where we’d gone in Chakrakhali. I stayed and visited with him a bit outside there watching a man catching fish by hand there. The harvested rice paddy was full of tiny little fish (onek choto mach) I asked Shunil,” where all the fish come from?” He says, “jani na(I don’t know)” also maybe when it rains God puts them there.?. 

Church was full today and full of distractions🙃 Rahat and his little friends were coming and going and talking/playing right outside til Kobid called ‘em down. The 1yr old and Annslie did their share of distractions also.. At prayer request time, something to take note of, the beggar man did Not get up and plead for help.. recently he went to the doctor and got medicine so he is feeling better but after church he was telling the men how he needed help with therapy so Lonnie proceeded to tell him how he could do his own therapy…

There was a large political gathering on the school grounds there. Onek lok(many people) on rows of red plastic chair. In front, a stage set up with a string of men and the loudspeakers enabling All to be able to hear. Behind, a whole “parking lot” of motorcycles.

Back at the house, Rosie and Purnima came in for the wash room and a drink. Espondant found a rip stick and when everybody else left we visited with Shanto and Espondant on the front porch for a bit yet. Rhidoy got a job in Dhaka, so him and Pinky are up there living in with their cousins and Rhidoy is doing some type of quality control at a garment factory. They are actually in Savar which is just north west of Dhaka.. Shanto shared how Bangali culture is different than American, His oldest son is 26 and brought his wife in to the family home and his next son is 19? And works only 2,3 days a month. So, it is up to Shanto to provide for his family of 6, it is taxing to him especially when work is slow.. thus Rhidoy going to Dhaka for work came about.

After they left, we headed for Bhatiaghata Bazaar to see if we could find a little food. We stepped into a little cafe for a couple plates of little fried snack food that Tulshi introduced to us, something he says, his brother Vishnu really likes. It’s hard to describe and I don’t know the name of it, but it’s a flat fried pastry cut in 2” strips with just a bit of yellow flavorful mash inside that you eat with an orange colored sauce 😅 it’s good 

We walked thru the bazaar a bit getting a few veggies but we just couldn’t stand anywhere for more than a minute as the crowd would start gathering. Right at our elbows, asking if Gentry was tonda(cold), etc… Lonnie was ready to get out of there! Says, when he’s by himself, he just doesn’t get that kind of attention! It’s just easiest for him to shop by himself, but we like to get out and see the things he tells us about too 😏

Thurs. Jan. 15 • 11 months in Bangladesh!

 We have just about reached our 1 year mark!?! Incredible. I do believe this has been one of the fastest years yet! It doesn’t seem real that it’s been nearly a year already! But when we did a video call with my sis n law, we could definitely tell that a whole year had passed and the children were a year older..

Some things were pressing, so Lonnie and I made a trip into Khulna City, letting the teacher and girls know we probably wouldn’t be back for lunch. They would have to just heat rice and dhal up for lunch. 

They told us later,  they’d taken their lunch up to the roof… Spring appears to have arrived:) 

Another note on Spring’s arrival, we’ve been hearing the chorus of frogs when we go to bed at night, just outside our bedroom.. 3 ft away on the other side of concrete compound wall is a pukar(pond). It sounds like home and the nightly chorus of frogs in our ponds there 😌

We picked Miss Christina’s 3 pc kameeze set up from the tailor, Safe N Save and Day-7 for groceries, Baby Plus-wow! What a little jewel of a store! Right here in New Market:) Found some baby items I was looking for And came home with a smaller stroller!… they had a bigger, prettier, etc stroller that I really loved but practicality won and we brought the smaller one home that will pack much nicer into a gari(vehicle) when we want to use it away from home.. made a stop for another geyser(water heater) and supply lines so our company* coming in the next couple weeks can have warm showers and we’ve been wanting to get that done so our teacher can enjoy a warm shower all the way thru too;).. in the summer, it’s not a problem, the sun heats the water in the tank on the roof very nicely and can actually get it too hot!

*company: our field secretary, Daryl and Brenda Toews, Bloomfield, IA, finally got tickets booked! They are arriving in BD this coming Thurs🤗 

And our Dhaka family has family from Roblin, MB visiting and they’re bringing them down this next week😊

Wed. Jan. 14

 Lonnie’s sister Tina sent rennet and a Brazilian cheese recipe with a family from their cong that visited over Christmas. Our guard, Tulshi rounded up the milk for us over 2 days and today Lonnie made a half batch trial recipe. 1 gal of raw milk made 1 lb of cheese. It was a success😋

We also made a 13 lb batch of sausage. Btw, if you ever wonder about all our sausage making… We share it with the other 2 families on the field. We buy as much boneless skinless pork every Tues. that they’ll sell us. And then every other week we make up however much we were able to get a hold of. This week we were able to buy 5 kg so we kept 2 chunks to make pulled pork with.

Fresh cheese and crackers for supper with apples and peanut butter

Mon. Jan. 12

 Lonnie met with Shomid brother over lunch hour. And got back just as we finished singing at the end of music class.

The days are warming up a bit🤗 The worst of the winter seems to be behind us.

It was warm enough that we were ready to go to the river again after school. This gem of a spot is like a giant sandbox, complete with a sand slide. The light gray sand bank is perfect for digging holes to hide out in. 

Stopped at the Batiaghata Bazaar on our way home for doy(yogurt they make in clay bowls) and fruit.

Sun. Jan. 11

 I had Dipti make more ruti/tortillas after her normal morning cleaning. She wanted to know if she should make 5 or 100😅 I told her we needed more than 5! But she’d be here All afternoon if she was to make a hundred! She made 20 or so and we enjoyed some of them for our chicken fajita lunch

After school Jaira and I went for a bike ride. 

Then we all went to Bissho road for fuska and chatpoti, we also tried the nachos from the new Chinese dokan. The nachos were different, but good. No cheese involved here, but bits of chicken and ketchup and an orange colored sauce drizzled over the stack which was stacked pyramid style on a round plate. The chips were not On The Border tortilla chips, but they were thin and crispy and did not have a bad flavor. I’m thinking we need to get back there and ask them about buying just a bag of chips from them to make our own Mexican style nachos.

Sat. Jan. 10

 After French toast breakfast, we went into Khulna City. Shwapno’s for groceries, then to the tailor to pick up my 1st kameeze set.. I was very happy with the job done🤗 and Christina dropped off fabric and measurements for another kameeze set. Dominos for lunch, where we visited with another man that knew Brandon! … definitely the former missionary that we hear about the most when we’re in Khulna City.. this acquaintance had talked to Brandon a couple times at a roadside cafe where Brandon had brought his family. He is a Christian in hiding, his family is Muslim. He was dining today at Dominos with his sister who “is knowing Christianity but has not taken baptism”. His sister’s husband and family live in New York? She is working on paper work to go too but it is taking a long time.

Fri. Jan. 9 Day of Worship

  Lonnie figured out how to get laughs out of his little boy🥹 he’s got some ticklish spots.

Before the afternoon service, Lonnie and I went for a bike ride thru the village😊.

A nice attendance with Gopalgonj brother Ripon also as he has been here helping Shanto again with an electrical job. Liton brother brought his nephew Mikal(class 6) again😊

After church, Shanto’s children were headed to New Mkt to meet with Pinky’s sister. Shanto and Shotti had stayed home to attend a Thanksgiving service in their community.. after a neighbors house had caught fire and nearly burned.

We invited Kobid, Ripon, Liton and his nephew in for cha. and chanachur and Christina’s coffee cake that was left from breakfast. Mikal enjoyed trying out some of the toys here and playing with the Legos. Kobid couldn’t stay long but Liton and Mikal played a couple rounds of Carrom with Lonnie.

Thurs. Jan. 8

 Thanks to my husband installing the 2nd water heater yesterday, we can now enjoy a hot shower all the way thru.🤗🤗 Nothing like a hot shower on a cold, damp, Bangali morning!.. these winter days..jacket, leggings, and socks are worn all day long in the house.. we do have several space heaters we use in our bedroom at night, in the classroom during the day, and for drying clothes. But we have mainly 2 spacious levels of high ceilings and tile floors, and windows and doors that aren’t sealed..  

Today it actually warmed up beautifully outside but was still cold inside..

A run to Khulna City for groceries, getting home at noon. Miss Christina and the girls were in the kitchen, when we got home, mixing up cornbread muffins to go with the leftover Chili soup that Christina had made Tues. eve 

Music class was started after vacation. So Lonnie and I go up and help sing after their lesson.

Update on Gentry: 

He’s 2 1/2 months 

A happy baby that is sociably impressed with those he lives with.. giving smiles on demand (or even when he is just laying in his car seat focusing on the ceiling fan above him🙃) that light up his whole face complete with the Koehn scalp move😅 talks in gurgles with little happy screeches added recently😊

His bigger sisters and daddy take care of him Lots and the little sister does as much as she can, always wishing she was allowed more. Stationed in front of his car seat, she can keep up a steady one-sided dialogue. “Hello big boy! You want me, don’t you. Hi! ,…..”

He’s to the stage of wanting to sit. No Bumbo(baby seat) here, but we prop him up with a Boppy pillow at his play gym or put a folded blanket behind him in his car seat to sit him up

He has just learned to roll from his back to his belly also

Mon. Jan. 5

Lonnie got up early and went for dim and ruti for our breakfast

 A cold day, low 51 high 65. Just a bit warmer in the house. 

A good day for baking 👩🏼‍🍳 loaf bread, choc chip cookies, and I tried out homemade English Muffins

Several loads of laundry

Lonnie went on a walk after lunch. Miss Christina and the girls spent the afternoon, after school, going on bike rides till sunset/the bike chain broke. Lonnie took it right away to the bike repair shop up the road where Tulshi had another one of the bikes getting repaired.

Roast beef sandwiches on French bread for supper and then pb&j’s.

Toddler-isms:

This last week when she was trying to be convinced to go to sleep in her bed one night. She’d had several rounds of spankings, when between sobs, “Actually, I need you to rock me.”💔

And one morning, before we got up, I was feeding the baby and Lonnie was laying there, catching up on his phone. Toddler brings her blanket and stands by the bed sweetly asking, “Is there a spot for me?” (in our bed)

Sun. Jan. 4

 Back to school schedule. It’s hard but good to have to get up in time to have breakfast on the table by 7:30.

Dipti didn’t arrive till 11:30! Her explanation was that there was a mela. Which is similar to a fair with food booths and fun things to do and buy. 

She took care of Gentry while we ate our lunch of leftover New Year’s Eve supper.

Tulshi discovered a nail in the tire while washing the van so Lonnie took it in to Khulna City to get it taken care of. They took the wheel off and then told him it would be 2 hours😳. He took an easy bike to the chiropractor(who was not in) and ended up having quite a conversation with the driver. They sat by the side of the road and the driver climbed in the back seat with Lonnie and proceeded to visit, with the help of Google translate. “What can you tell me about Jesus Christ?… my family is Muslim but they treat me terribly. I am living in a hotel in Phutala….”

When Lonnie got the bill for the tire repair, he hoped they had done something!? It was 150 Taka/$1 USD🧐

We are to the season where I was beginning to wonder if it was even possible to dry laundry!?! 🧺 We are in Dry Season, as in there is no rain. But, we are having foggy mornings, chilly days, and very damp air!.. It makes us think coastal weather and when we are out driving I sometimes get the feeling that just around the corner we’ll see the ocean! 🌊 😅…A fan blowing on my wet laundry never did dry it even if the fans ran all day and night for several days😧 tried putting a couple space heaters next to my racks of laundry and Finally, DRY laundry!🤗

✨Christmas Vacation ✨

 Fri. 

We took our candy bags to the 2 Sunday Schools. 

The girls helped me make a batch of salsa for our Tacos for lunch. The bikes were pulled out, the badminton net set up, 

At the 4:00 service Shotti told me, “It’s Pinky’s birthday today!”. So Shanto's were invited after church for tea. Candles in a few Christmas Stars (fruit jelly on a star shaped pastry made by Miss Aleigha, a tradition of her family) and we sang Happy Birthday. They couldn’t stay long..

Sat. 

We ran into Khulna City for Christmas goody making supplies.

Miss Christina stubbed her toes pretty badly while racing Jaira on bikes.. the chain came off and her foot slipped off the pedal slamming into the path😣

Miss Aleigha made peanut butter balls😋

We went to the river and spent an hour or so playing in the sand. It was pretty chilly and we hadn’t brought our jackets, but playing behind/below the sand bank it was a bit of a windbreaker. Miss Aleigha and Lonnie each dug a hole in the side of the sand bank large enough to crawl into! 

Back at home I fried ruti/tortillas to go with hot hamburger dip.

Sun.

 Brian and Kaylee and their 2 little boys(Dhaka family from Roblin, MB) arrived in time for a BBQ Chicken Thighs and loaf bread pulled fresh out of the oven supper, to spend the week with us💛

Mon. 

We took our guests to see our local zoo. The lion was out this time so was neat to see him but when he walked it appeared like he had arthritis or something😏. And always, it’s a bit of a battle to not feel like we are part of the zoo exhibit… our fellow missionary finally confronted the 2 men that were following quite closely and videoing… letting them know that where we come from, that is disrespectful…and later telling some others that would cost them 100 Taka (something I imagine most missionaries here try on these folks, except when they gladly reach for their wallet it’s almost worse🙄) The highlight of the zoo this time was probably the baby monkeys that were small enough to get through a hole in their cage and were scampering around along the top of the walkway fence jumping onto the men’s shoulders🐒 

To Domino’s for a pizza lunch.

Tues.

To Boro Bazaar to shop. Taking an impromptu boat ride on the Rupsa River there. Seeing the other side of the river.. a jungle village where folks were bathing on the river’s edge, building of an elite yacht for Sundarbon tours was in progress, and observing as a mother took the shirt off her young son and he proceeded to splash water on the riverbank and enjoy a mud slide with no worries of getting any clothes dirty🫣 An absolute gorgeous day for such an outing. Definitely a highlight for me. Kacchi Dine on the way home for some deliciously flavored rice and goat meat 😋

Wed. Christmas Eve.

Dipti cooked Bangla fare for our lunch. 

The last day of Aleigha’s stay with us. Lonnie, Brian, Miss Christina, and Jaira went with to meet Doyle and his visiting brother in law. And the late night badminton tournaments came to a halt also😅 We Really enjoyed her time with us. 

While they were gone, Kaylee, Maddie, and I started making gingerbread houses. We hot glued Energy Biscuits together to make the houses. Then decorated with the assortment of candy we’d been able to find… no candy canes involved here..

6:00 we were invited to Shanto’s for pita. 3 different kinds were served. One was very similar to a crepe rolled up with a light brown lightly sweetened firm-ish pudding inside, the 2nd was in the shape of a turnover with a coconut/molasses filling, and the 3rd was like a dumpling, shaped like a turnover in a sweet milk sauce. The latter being our favorite..

Thurs. Christmas Day

To our Tala outpost.

At Zero Point we had dim n ruti breakfast and picked up Kobid bro. Down the road a piece we picked up Lewis bro., his wife, and daughter. Along the way we stopped so Lewis’s could give a gift they’d brought along for one of their relatives. Then on to Harun and Joyanti’s for lunch and a service. It was special to meet their 19 yr old son Dipto who was home for 3 days. He works at a pharmacy dokan in Dhaka. 

Our Christmas Day lunch was certainly not like any from our past life! We sat on woven mats, on a dirt floor, eating Very spicy chicken curry (the feet were in there too 🙃), matchstick potatoes, bhorta made of greens… with our hands..

We left soon after our service was over. Brian had started feeling sick…

Fri. Dec. 26

Brian still did not feel well today, so stayed home while we went to Sunday School. Kaylee, the littles and I opted to stay home while the rest went on to Chakrakhali S.S.

We had our special meal for lunch. Brians had brought beef tenderloin from Dhaka and we grilled our own filet mignon, baked potato, and lettuce salad. 😋😋😋Certainly the best steak since crossing the ocean!

Kobid and Shomid were the only ones coming to church so we told them to just come to our place. We gathered in the living room for a service and sang in English out of the Christian Hymnal!😍 these brethren remembered singing and learning these songs with David back when they were living in Dhaka and made song selections.

Kaylee and I both ended up in the “nursery”(our spare bedroom)with our little boys🥰

A special service, with each of the brethren sharing a bit

Carrom was played for the rest of the evening and heated up Bangla kabar (food) with leftover filet mignon seared in butter was served before the 2 brethren went home.

Then we got out the Christian Hymnals again and had some music practice, singing notes and timing🎶

Sat. Dec.27

After breakfast, Brian’s loaded up and headed back to Dhaka

Sun. Dec.28

4:30 we went to Bobby and Rosie’s. Another translator that our missionaries used to use and still do on occasion. Rosie works in a local bank and helps us with legal matters concerning the bank also. They have a flat in an apt building here in Khulna City. It was decked out for Christmas complete with a large Christmas tree in the corner of their living room. Their one son was there with his wife and her parents, sister, and niece. Their daughter is living in Ottowa. We were served a smorgasbord of food and the girls and I enjoyed visiting with the son’s wife and in-laws including the very friendly and talkative 17 yr old niece. while the men visited in the living room. We left at 7:00 when their next set of guests was scheduled to arrive.

Tues. Dec. 30

Ground and mixed up another 15#  batch of sausage.

Miss Christina made some yummy sloppy joes for supper with fresh 30 minute rolls.

Wed. Dec. 31 New Year’s Eve

Made a run into Khulna City. Hitting 5 grocery stores. 4 of them being different Scwapnos.😅Our normal grocery store-Safe n Save was closed due to the 3 days of mourning issued by the government due to the death of a former? political leader. I was in search of a couple last minute ingredients for our New eve celebration.

Came home to lunch cooked by Dipti🤗

Then got busy making supper and Lonnie made another trip for a new faucet for the main bathroom sink and got it installed. Then walked up to a dokan for sara sak (greens). 

Doyle’s from Gopalgonj and their company, Krystal’s sister Tam and husband Tim and their 3 boys, Kaden, Jed, and Bentley ages ranging from 14-8 yrs old, From Vanderhoof, BC, arrived at 4:30. They went for a walk in the village yet before dark. They brought a fun Christmas bag from Lonnie’s sister Tina who’s from their same cong.🥰

We had our traditional southern New Year’s Eve supper of “black eyed” peas (chick peas in this country) and sausage over rice with cornbread and greens with hot pepper vinegar. 

After supper, Doyle’s and Tim’s went for a quick visit to Shanto’s leaving some of their children with us to play. 

The teachers cleaned up the kitchen

And I got the donut dough going. 

At the stroke of midnight we called the teachers and children in, sang Happy Birthday to Miss Aleigha(she is now 21 years old🤗), and then passed copies around of my latest favorite song 🎶 All My Springs Are In Thee 🎶. And just like that the evening was over!😩 Was not nearly enough time.. 

✨Happy 2026✨

Thurs. Jan. 1

For the record, 1st time that we didn’t have breakfast before our maid arrived 😅 

Breakfast didn’t happen till after she was done and gone!😅.. fried potatoes, sausage scrambled eggs and leftover donuts

Fri. Jan. 2

At the 4:00 service, Liton brought his nephew Mikal (class 6) and otherwise, it was Kobid, Shanto, Shotti, Espondant, and the beggar man. Shotti was havin a headache and Rhidoy and Pinky had stayed home with their headaches🤕

I finally took the chance to play a little badminton with my family 🏸 then popped popcorn.

Sat. Jan. 3

Last day of this lovely vacation, thanks to those in Bangladesh that made it something to look back on with fond memories😌

After breakfast of Quick Fried Apple Granola, scrambled eggs, and sausage patties, we went shopping in Khulna City.

Safe N Save, Top Ten https://maps.app.goo.gl/w7uY96GHipTdKhaVA?g_st=ipc where they told us we were their 1st foreigner customers, which is not even true, but anyway, brought us all little cups of hot coffee with sugar and milk in them while we got our fabric cut. The same man said he had seen me at Schwapnos last month, also mentioning that I’d paid cash for my groceries🤔.

 On to Aarongs, which was successful🤗

Dominos for lunch and the girls wanted the cheese on cheese pizza again that Brian’s had introduced to us last week. 

Back at the van, the tailor was now open. So I was able to leave my 1st 3 pc kameeze set and measurements with him🥻

After we got home Lonnie took rickshaw van to pay Liton a visit per his request yesterday. He was not at his dokan or house, but the relatives at his house convinced him to stay for pitas and wanted him to stay for supper yet too.

Thurs. Dec. 18 Christmas Program at Gopalgonj

 Brian’s had come down from Dhaka last night already and Doyle’s invited us for breakfast also. We had arranged to have 2 rickshaw vans at our place at 7:00. Well, only 1 came, but we all managed to get on, Plus our cold bag and personal items…we’re 6 people + infant on a 4’x6’ area.. 

After breakfast, the school children practiced program one last time, the men had CSI mtg, and us ladies went outside with the littles. When the school children were done they brought chairs out and we played a couple rounds of musical chairs in the yard.

Shima cooked us a yummy Bangla lunch

Naps for the littles, visiting, spike ball, the teachers and school children played outside, Krystal Kaylee n I went for a walk thru the village and out past fields of tomatoes, etc., graveyard, and crematorium,…

5:00 the children and teachers gave their program, “If Christ had never come”, which is quite real in this country where Christianity is such a small percent. Krystal pulled out candy bags that they had put together. That was special🥰  Then we had our snacky supper that we all had contributed a sweet and savory dish to.

Miss Aleigha had copied off a nice selection of Christmas songs so we gathered and started singing, then decided to go carol for some of the neighbors. One of the places was the girls’ orphanage which proved quite entertaining and special as they had lights strung everywhere and an arbor made of lights down one stretch of the walk. It a was fun to sing as we walked thru and all the girls came out as we sang Joy To The World. Their leader? played his drum along with our singing. Then told us they had been planning to carol for Doyle’s tomorrow night and saying we beat them to it. But come with them, and we were led to an outdoor stage and instructed to join hands in a circle. Then singing and dancing commenced, Bangali style, with cymbals and drum.🥁

 It was special to carol for one of their Christian neighbors also. As we walked up the narrow foot path, a lighted star cast its cheerful glow, a sign that this was a Christian residence.. a typical, humble, village abode.. 

With our hearts full, we brought Miss Aleigha home with us to spend the week💛