Arrived in Dhaka

Well, I am now in Dhaka, Bangladesh!

I left the states Tuesday last week and arrived in India on Wednesday. Neither of my trunks arrived with me. After 2 hours of talking with customs and Air India I was able to leave the airport with a piece of paper. I picked up some flowers and went to Amanda's coordinator's house (Amanda is my girlfriend serving a 2 year term in India.) After a bit Amanda arrived and it was a fun surprise! I spent a few days in another city with her and 5 other 2 year personnel. I had 3 changes of clothes, soap and my toothbrush! I bought some clothes and made it through the week ok. The average afternoon temperature ranged from 105 to 117 degrees Fahrenheit...THAT took some adjusting to. Sunday morning we had a nice service, and that evening we had about 12 Indians over to the house for dinner. I got to talk to Christians and Hindus and had some great conversations! Overall it was a great week!
This morning (Tuesday) I went to Delhi airport in India to retrieve my luggage and fly out to Bangladesh. It was a much longer process than it needed to be and once my bags were finally cleared by customs, I rushed back to departures and I arrived at my gate just as they were boarding the plane! 15 minutes later and I would still be in India. The Delhi airport failed at redeeming itself and I still hate it-refer to a January blog post.

I feel like I had some more barriers broken down while I was waiting to collect my baggage in Dhaka. A Muslim man wearing his full prayer suit--the white shirt that goes down to his ankles and prayer cap--was waiting on his luggage. He said something about the weather and we started talking. After discussing the weather, where we were from, how to fix the world's political problems, I told him I was interested in studying Islam; that I had recently purchased a Quran and wondered if he had a favorite book that I should start in. He recommended his 4 favorite. He asked if I wanted to become a Muslim--a very bold question. I said I was a follower of Jesus Christ, but enjoyed studying other religions and then we discussed some of the differences between Islam and Christianity. When our bags came, he then gave me his email and told me to drop him a line, that he would love to talk further about these things. I really like Muslims, and God is giving me a growing love for them.

So now that I'm in Bangladesh it's time to get to work! Tomorrow I meet with the new boss and we'll discuss the game plan for the next few weeks!

Much more to come!

Thanks for your prayers!