Starting time 9:00
Bro. Kobid does the translating.
S.S. here ended when Trevor’s left last Aug. So we didn’t know what to expect!?… a large group? nobody?or just a few? It turned out to be the latter. 10 children to be exact. Just Chaigharia S.S. to get us introduced to the event.
Nobody was there at 9:00 so Kobid went searching and I decided to go on a walk with Annslie. We didn’t get very far at all because Annslie is Very attracted to all animals and wants to pet or hold them depending on the animal. So, we met a woman herding her cows thru the village and Annslie was sure she needed to pet those cows! But the mama cow with calf, in the lead, shook her head at her. So, the woman herding, picked Annslie up (Annslie is still very shy, sometimes scared, of most of these Bengalis) but this woman had her in her arms before she had time to think, and let her pet the cow. Wasn’t long before there was a baby kitty at one of the dokans. And Annslie was ready to go catch it! She was So Happy to hold it and those at the dokan said to take it. Back to the church building where eventually the daddy snuck the kitty out the door and let it go! Pretty sure it wouldn’t last long at our house.
Two 13 yr old girls did show up (1 of the girl’s name was Miriam) and we got out the David The Shepherd Boy pictures and the crayons. Our 3 girls and these 2 sat down on mats on the floor and started coloring. Then a 14 yr old and 3 preschool? age arrived and joined in the coloring. We sang 3 songs out of the little S.S. songbooks and Lonnie pulled out the picture card and story. Later a couple more pairs of children joined us at intervals and got their picture and colors and found places on the mats.
Walked home and made bbq meatballs, mashed potatoes, and pulled out frozen green peas for lunch.
Church service at 4:00
Shomid was in Dhaka, Liton was late… So Annslie and I hung out with one of the boys that came to church last Fri., a boy that was in S.S. this morning, and another of their friends. Their names are so hard to get and pronounce often😏 They were sitting on the low tiled wall that encircles an old, holy tree.. that looks like it would be perfect for climbing, but is forbidden. This spot is a popular spot, old men take naps here, as was the case today. And this is where the rickshaw “vans”(3-wheeled bikes with a flat bed for transporting people and goods) wait for passengers. Anyways, the attraction for us today was this 8-9? yr old boy was sitting there with his pretty pigeon so of course Annslie wanted to pet it!… beautiful purple and green feathers around its neck.. After awhile Jaira came over also and we decided to go play on the slide on the school grounds there.. it’s an old metal slide, quite tall and steep! But Annslie seems to have no fear… so I took up post at the bottom to catch her so she wouldn’t land in the mud at the bottom. And always, others gather… an old lady that wondered about eye camp, after a bit some school age boys slowly got closer…playing on a brick wall.. then monkeying around on the slide steps…and then a couple of them went down the slide… not nearly as confidently as the little white 2 yr old😅, an upper 20s man wondering what country I came from and where I took Bangla classes, how old the ”choto meye“ (little girl), and would’ve kept up a steady stream but Lonnie whistled to come.
Just sat in a circle with Kobid, Liton, and our older, sickly regular attendee (I wish I could get his name, but so far, it’s just sounds that I can’t nail down letters to🤔) Kobid had an opening, Lonnie shared some thoughts and we sang and prayed. Maddie commented that she preferred this service over the regular ones🤷🏼♀️
We walked up the way a bit to a dokan for mangos and kacha morich peppers. At one point, a 50-60? yr old lady stopped and sang us a little song 🎶 about some lady that had 3 girls, that needed to get married,..?😅 And always, this village is like a petting zoo, and Annslie an opportunist… goats..surely she’ll be able to catch a chicken this time!
Back home we had popcorn, hot dogs, and mangos.
