March - April 2025

 Excuse the lack of a post last month… things were busy and when it came time to write my inspiration was zilch. So much water has gone under the bridge. I looked at my calendar and saw an event we had had and thought surely that had been months and months ago and here it was only the second week in March. If that tells you anything how time is around here. Seems like we pack a lot of living into our days. 

Shania turned 2 on April 2.  I think that explains her overall disposition and temperament lately. For sure since her four eye teeth are all slowly painfully making their appearances one at a time. I will say having a 2 year old girl is quite different than how I remeber Layton being at 2. He just took everything apart and destroyed whatever was in his path. Shania is so emotional but considering who her mother is... She loves for me to read books to her now! Any book with Thomas, cats or dogs, or airplanes is her favorite. She is actually sitting still through the whole book now instead of tolerating one page and then wanting to jump down and go play. She is quite obsessed with the the salt container on the table. Almost every day she climbs up there and eats salt. Seems awful to me. I’ve started giving her Gatorade everyday to see if she was lacking in sodium but the ordeal continues so I think it’s more of a fun thing to sneak and do when mama isn’t looking. Often when she sees me come around the corner she quick grabs the napkins to cover up the salt that she’s spilled.😄 She loves to on walks in the stroller and swing in her swing. She begs for “Scootie” so I put her in the carrier and we zip away on the Scootie for a ride outside of PinkCity. She wears the cutest little pair of pink sunglasses when we are on the Scootie because of all the dust and the guards just get so tickled over seeing her. At bedtime she wants “baby.” Took us awhile to figure out what she meant and here she wanted to be held Like a baby and rocked. 🤭 her thumb and blanket are her sole companions. if she happens to drop her blanket somewhere there is alot of tears and looking for “key key.” Even when we go outside she drags it along the street with her. Needless to say I’m always on the lookout to sneak it away for a good wash job.

Layton is eagerly counting the days until his 8th birthday! He is finished with first grade and Shana is doing several months worth of work for him in 2nd grade that he has plenty of time to get over his lag before he goes to school at home. He is so enthused with his school work. He keeps hoping that soon he will learn how to write in cursive. He is getting to be quite a speedy reader. Still blows my mind how much children learn in first grade. Layton has been loving audio books still. Listens to them for hours every afternoon while he plays legos or anything. If anyone has good recommendations for audiobooks for boys his age let me know! 

I’m sure you’ve all heard by now that Carl was able to find replacements for us in March! Brian and Kaylee Friesen from Roblin. He is a nephew to Ron Friesen that had revivals here! They have a 2 year old boy and a newborn baby boy. Then if that wasn’t enough excitement Darrell got two teachers! The Golpagang teacher is Aleigha Froese from Grandview and Khulna’s teacher is Christina Yoder from Henderson TN. the next morning the excitement in this country was next level. Bangladesh doesn’t always fair too well at those placement meetings so to have all this info of all these new people coming wasn’t something else to comprehend. Carl and Judith handed their field secretary responsibility to Chris and Sondra Koehn from New Plymouth! Looking forward to them possibly visiting this summer. Jared has been working on getting paperwork going for all the new arrivals! Sounds like Brian’s will come middle of July. We are hoping that means we can go home end of September. No dates are set in stone for our departure yet cuz blessed are the flexible. We are looking forward to going home but where unprepared for the emotions that come with indeed finding out we would be able to go home. When we told our friends here, Nathon said “who is going to make cabbage salad and chocolate cake for me?” I said “I’ll  tell Kaylee to make it for you!” He said “but you will be gone though!” Josna and Miriam both said they thought surely we would stay for five years. Josna was in the kitchen crying after Jared made the announcement in church. We would have liked to stayed another term but Layton is getting a little old for city life. It’s quite a feeling to look forward to going home but at the same time when this life in Pink City is over it’s done. So some days we are excited to go home and other days there’s also a lot anxiety and worry about it too. 

Some highlights from the past two months…

☂️going to Rajshahi to see Michael and Monica. Spent a day and half with them. Michael’s elderly mother passed away a few weeks ago. She was such a wrinkled stooped over old lady. Michael always said “her ears don’t work but she can see a very long ways.” The day after her passing Michael slipped and fell in the bathroom and broke his leg in three different places. He had an operation to fix it and a plaster was put on. Jared has been calling him frequently to keep tabs on him. Currently he spends his days in bed. At home he would be getting physical therapy and doing strengthening exercises. He’s a big man so hoping he’s not too weak by the time the dr tell him he can get up. The one evening we were there, several of their friends came. It was such a joy to see them have fun and chatter with their friends. Everyone piled on the bed where Michael was laying and chattered away! Jared had a service with them. I say Jared because I was in the “back 40” during said service because Shania would not stop hollering about wanting to see Monica’s goat and ducks.😂 We gave financial assistance to the wife of one of the men that was Michael’s friends. She got an infected C-section incision. They are Muslim but were very friendly. They were so so thankful for the money Jared gave them. The next morning we all headed to Michael’s again for breakfast. We got there and were welcomed with the sound of some real gastrointestinal distress. Monica was laying on the bed sick as can be. It appeared as though she had a migraine. I felt so bad for her. Marcie and Anamika bustled around making dim and ruti and matchstick potatoes. We ate and then had a quick prayer for health with them all. Hugged Monica good bye and left. The girls seemed to be quite taken up with caring for their parents and we didn’t want to be a bother. Then we started home. Started being the key word. Usually from Rajshahi to Dhaka is smooth sailing. However we were once again reminded that we live in Bangladesh. We got into Dhaka no problem and then we encountered protest after protest after protest. Sat for two hours watching them parade right beside our van. Jared thought we must have seen at least 20,000 people march by. They were all holding signs about stopping the war in Gaza, and of course they had their sticks. They were chanting “Allah akbar” and other things we couldn’t understand. Took us 2 hours to drive 2 km. Took us 9 hours to get home instead of 5! We got home and everyone hit the bathroom and then we all ate whatever we could find in the fridge. We couldn’t stop for lunch since the traffic was so bad so ate all the crackers and snacks we had along in the van for lunch.😂 Once we got on the expressway the road felt quite bare and open after being smooshed between buses and whatnot for four hours. When one is in a jam for so long you start to notice things you wouldn’t otherwise. We were stopped beside a bus and Jared noticed that out of almost every window there was a “souvenir” down the side of the bus. I will leave you to guess what that was. Decided that didn’t speak well of the drivers driving.😂 When the traffic is stopped like that there is often lots of men and boys coming through selling bags of popcorn, peanuts, chips and cold water. 

☂️ On Eid we invited Josna Sumita and Nathon to come for supper for something to do. Josna had hinted that maybe they could come over since there wasn’t any patients at the clinic. Nathon said he was hungry for cake so we told them to all come! Supper was at 6:30. I made Stromboli, cabbage salad, chocolate cake and icecream. Well Josna and Sumita showed up at 4:30. They came in the door and promptly started cleaning. Then when they were done with the dishes they wanted to go up to the roof and they wanted to clean the roof.😞 I was not happy. I know my house is not spotless but we live here believe it or not. Finally I got them distracted and we went outside on a long walk around pink city and looked at the Eid celebrations. Nathon showed up at 6 with his two nieces in tow. All three of them somehow managed to fit on his motorcycle.😂 one was 17 and one was 21. It was fun to have them join the crowd and I was sure glad I had made so much Stromboli’s. Lonnie’s came too so we had a house full. The evening was full of lots of good laughs. 

☂️ Life has been fairy settled lately. Probably the most settled it’s been for quite some time, which feels very good. I’m glad for the children’s sake we can have some semblance of routine and order. Lonnies are still in Dhaka with us, which we quite enjoy trotting back and forth! Annslie comes for the morning five days a week while her mom and dad do language class and study. It’s been so good for Shania to have someone to play with! They have their moments but overall it goes very well. 

☂️ Easter Sunday we had Lonnies come for supper. Was hungry for American Sunday Lunch so that’s what we had! Lanette made roast and the best gravy ever! I could have eaten just the gravy and been a happy little duck. She made butter horns. Layton clearly has not eaten such in many years and kept saying “can you pass the croissants?”😂 I noted that every “croissant” that he inhaled, he had poked a hole in it and stuffed it with roast beef. I told him uncle Phillip and I used to do that but we filled it up with jam. Shana and I made green bean casserole, baked apples, creampuffs with chocolate pudding, and mashed potatoes. It was delightful, but man not used to such gourmet food. Hardly had to eat the next day. Lanette and Lonnie had painted a bunch of eggs and so the children had so much fun hiding them over and over the rest of the evening which allowed us adults to have peaceful conversation!😆 

☂️ Lonnie’s went to Khulna for a week with Doyle’s the beginning of April. Layton thought school was awfully quiet and dull without the girls. Everyday he wondered if they were coming back into Dhaka because he was getting tired of 2 person tag just him and Shana. 10 steps seems to be the favorite game at the Dhaka Mennonite School. Shania kept looking out the window hollering “ANNSIE!” 

☂️Kurt and Janey Nightengale and their family (Mackie Idaho) stopped in Bangladesh for several weeks. They have been filling in at at a post in India for the past 6 months. Unfortunately they received word that they would need to leave in 2 weeks due to visa issues. The decision was made to close that post down. So they hustled and in 2 weeks had the house emptied out, vehicles sold, 3 million tracts taken care of etc. Sounded like nothing but an act of God with how smoothly it all went for them. They spent most of their time in Bangladesh going to Rajshahi (where they were many years ago when they were here as missionaries). They stopped at all the other posts as well. They spent several days in Dhaka with us too. We really enjoyed it! They can still talk Bangla lickety split. 

☂️Bangla New Year was enjoyable. I don’t remember it at all from last year, but I think it’s because that’s right when we were moving the guesthouse maybe? Anyways… once again Pink City did not fail to disappoint! They set up their big party tent, banners and flags all over. New Year’s Eve they had all sorts of food vendors in the tent. So you can imagine where Shana and I were.😂 Now we are in the year 1432. 

Anyways, I do believe I have rattled on long enough… here’s some delicious things that Shana and I have been cooking lately. We are going to starve when that girl leaves I tell you. 

Easy Beef Enchilada Recipe (Make Ahead & Tips) - Carlsbad Cravings  (the enchilada sauce that is linked in this recipe is delicious!!) we can’t buy it canned here and I think I will make this from now on. 

Taco Bell Chalupa Supreme Copycat Recipe

Barbacoa Beef Recipe {Slow Cooker} - Cooking Classy

https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/herbed-garlic-butter-naan/

https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/butter-chicken/

February 2025

 February is almost over! It has been a really enjoyable month. Much more relaxing than January. Of course we had our real life moments where we tell ourselves “only in Bangladesh.” Like when the air quality remains steadily on the top of “world’s worst air” list.🤢 I think the clean Kansas air will burn our lungs.😂 the smog has been really bad the past month. Sometimes I wonder if I should even hang my clothes outside to dry with the bad air and dry season dust. But I do anyways because like my brother says “we don’t die that easy.” We’ve been in Dhaka all month and it feels so good to catch up on things and get back into a routine that lasts longer than a few days. Although I will say after being gone so much in December and January it takes some getting used to being home all the time. 

Lonnie and Lanette Koehn and their three girls from Lobelville arrived February 15! We are so glad to have them here with us. Plum tickled would probably be a better description.😊 They have been working through jet lag and started in on language class. Paninna is teaching their class. So far their class hasn’t been on a real schedule because Paninna’s brother Gorge is getting married  March 1 and once the wedding is over than they will have class 5 days a week. It’s given them time to sleep, rest and get their senses in order. Which if anyone has ever been to the mission, sometimes it takes awhile to do such after arriving. Madison and Jaira and Annslie come over and spend the morning with us if their parents have language class on Saturdays, otherwise Annslie just comes during the week for all morning. It’s been so so good for my children to have other kids to play with. For sure Shania! She’s been the only pepper in the pot for far too long. Her and Annslie are 3 days apart in age. It’s been fun talking to another mom that has a wide age gap between children. Bless Lonnie’s hearts they are the first couple to spend two months here in Pink City since we moved. So there’s been a few kinks to work out at the guesthouse. Of course things decide to break right when they come. Toilets don’t flush, showers don’t work properly and then the generator switch blew one night during a rain storm then the power blinks and blinks. Guess they are getting a crash course in Bangladesh life. They haven’t asked to fly back home yet so they will be good solid stock to have around. In April we are looking forward to taking them to Khulna and showing them the place where they will be staying! 🥰One evening Doyle’s and Lonnie’s came over for supper and we had a “get to know you” evening. It’s been along time since we had one of those. It is really fun to be three couples again. Feels like a more rounded out group! It’s been such fun taking them shopping and showing them places. It’s my favorite thing about being the Dhaka couple is we get to host the new missionaries and any company that comes through. Doyle’s parents flew in the last week of this month and they are planning to stay for almost a month I think. Doyles brother Victor flew in a few weeks ago so he has been here awhile already. 

Clinic is busy as usual! Had a big girl come in for rhinoplasty. One day 7 cleft lip babies came. Jared met Dr Thaddeus May from the states one Friday when we were in UniMart. He is here doing some sort of research at the hospital where we take the children for their vaccines. Very friendly fellow!! Him and Jared message each other every so often, and he’s sent several cleft lip/palate babies to our clinic. He was very enthused about our program. It is indeed a small world, found out he is from Texas but he grew up in Kansas City. he went to Eastern Mennonite University. He wondered where we had went to college at and we told him Hesston College! Both of those colleges are like “sister colleges.” He said his friends went to Hesston! It’s rather humorous when we meet up with fellow Americans at UniMart, it’s so enjoyable visiting. Can hardly talk fast enough. 

Shania is her usual boisterous bimbo self. Her and Annslie are learning to play nice together which can be quite a chore for two toddlers. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have twins and now I’m finding out.😂 She has definitely started talking more since Annslie came! Now she says “mom” when she needs something.l instead of just whining. She wants to spend every minute of the day outside. She loves to walk along the median and pick flowers. The pink city maintenance men have noticed this and if they are out working along the road when Shania and I come by, they stop and pick a flower and give it to her. Of course she is all grins which is just what they are hoping for! Shania would eat all day if I let her. Anything… pretzels, Cookies, tomatoes, apples. The other day someone had dropped crumbs on the floor and I noticed her going around carefully picking them all up and eating them. Good for the immunity. She is starting to get quite vocal about somethings. If things are in a disarray in the house or outside she says “MESS.”😂 Hard to believe she is almost two. She has gotten so tall the past weeks. Went to Farmgate and got more fabric for some more dresses. Thought I had had the tailor put a generous hem in her last group of dresses but next time I will need to do it abit more! When Annslie comes over we spend a lot of time outside walking up and down the streets. I get asked if they are twins. They both have blonde hair and are the same height. Annslie has big brown eyes and Shania has big blue eyes. 👀 

Layton is LOVING school with Lonnie’s two older girls. Shana did two days of school with just Madison and Jaira. She wanted to kinda get a feel for how they learned and where they were in their books. Layton could hardly stand it. He said “I bet they are having so much fun with Shana.”😆 I quickly reminded him that after two days his turn to go back to school with Shana would come too. He is really into audio books lately. Spends hours listening to them. His latest favorite was “Charlie and the Chocolare Factory.” Never mind that Shana had just read it to him for story hour. Now he is working his way through Laura Ingalls Wilder books. One day he said “mom, panthers aren’t alive anymore are they?” I smiled, because I had that exact same fear after reading those books as a child. Layton has been doing so good with reading out aloud. Been doing our best to have him read us a story in the evenings. Just proud as punch over everything he is learning in school. Him and his friends continuing to make a lot of unholy racket and do strange activities in the afternoon. The latest is using their water guns and trying to squirt the neighbors two ankle biter dogs through the fence. Sometimes I tell them to stop and sometimes I don’t. They are very annoying dogs at times😂 One day Ritou brought over light up swords and Layton and him literally spent 3 hours riding up and down the streets on their bikes pretending to be guards. Layton has tried to tell Madison and Jaira all about his future dairy he is going to have with half angus cows. They aren’t quite as enthused as he is. Haha! Layton really likes the games they play at recess. I told him this is a good taste of what Kansas school will be like. 

The weather has been so gorgeous lately. I send the children out to play and I take a walk every chance we get. Feels like we shouldn’t waste this nice weather. I tell Layton that in a few weeks playing outside won’t even be an option when it gets hot. I’ve been getting up at 6:30 and going and taking a walk and it’s still chilly that early. The other ladies that are out walking are all bundled up in their shawls and burkas and here I am in my short sleeve dress and my flips. 

Shana got her security clearance! Which means she can get her work permit. Jared submitted her application right after the government fell here. He wonders if the reason it went through so fast is because there was probably no foreigners submitting applications since most of them left the country. Not one word has been heard about Jared and Doyle’s visas. So for now at least Shana and Lonnie are legal here. Jared is getting Lonnie’s name added to all the accounts and papers before his visitor visa expires so that way it cuts back on some of the problems we have been having. 

Well ok enough blabbing… Thanks for all the messages you all send. They are always very much enjoyed! Sounds like in March they will be looking for our replacements. We aren’t getting our hopes up because there are always so many ASAP needs and not enough names. “God knows” is what I tell myself when the unknown wants to make me feel insecure. Shana plans on teaching Layton some second grade before she leaves in case we need to stay longer. 

January 2025

 January 1: we didn’t stay up late and watch the new years end. Shania and I have been sick with colds so decided to hit the hay early. This is our first year in Pink City over New Years so we weren’t sure what sort of racket would occur. We were quite surprised! There were some fireworks but it was quiet enough that most of the family slept right through them! The ones that did happen were off and on for maybe 30 minutes. At Farmgate it was a deafening roar for 2 hours! We had such fun the past two New Years Eves watching the New Year in on our Siza Court roof but this year we didn’t feel the vibe.😂 Jared got up at 5:15 am and dropped Ron and Darla off at the train station and they headed for Rajshahi. Layton and Shana had school like usual. 

January 2: Jared and Layton headed off for the airport at 9 am to pick up Darrell and Brenda. They are here for revivals with Ron’s. It was so foggy that their plane had to circle the airport 7-8 times. Brenda said they were sitting in window seats by the wing and they couldn’t even see the wing! The airport was packed. Jared had quite some trouble with finding a parking spot. The lots were full and so was the parking garage. After he finally got them picked up he hustled them to Hotel Shuktara for some much needed sleep. Shana and I got enthused about making Mexican food for lunch, so we stayed busy with that this morning. Made enough for the freezer too. Around 4:30, Jared Shana and Layton once again headed for the airport to pick up Neil and Ang and their family (Shana’s family)!🥰 This time of the day the airport was emptier and parking wasn’t such a problem. They got back to pink city around 5:30 or so. Darrell’s got an Uber and showed up at 6 and we all headed off for supper at one of our favorite restaurants here in Bashundara. It’s the one on the 13th story with amazing roof top views of Dhaka. We got there and noticed they were sitting up for a celebration of sorts. Sure enough they were having a 3 day wedding celebration. That was really disappointing! Shana and her family went to a coffee shop for supper and Darrells and us went to Herfeys. After supper we took Darrells back to Farmgate where their beds were calling them. I always feel sorry for people their first few days here. I remeber that feeling all too well. A half drugged zombie like state of extreme fatigue. Neil’s came over after we got home for awhile and that was fun! I noticed Layton was being really quiet even though Lisa had sent him all sorts of fun surprises with Neil’s and wondered if he was getting sick. Sure enough at bedtime he got quite a fever. 

January 3: It was quite a night. When Layton runs a fever, he has bad night terrors. So I pretty much have to sleep right beside him so he can relax. Does anyone else’s children have that? It’s almost like he is delirious. Last time he didn’t even know how to find the bathroom. Worries me, but as soon as his fever goes down he is Normal again. I kept him on a religious Tylenol and Ibuprofen schedule and that helped immensely. Jared and Nathon hired a driver for Neil’s. He showed up and Jared made sure Neil’s got on their way. Later afternoon Jared and Darrell went to Danmondi to have a visit with Shurov. He finally has a job now! Teaching English classes at a nursing school. The visit seemed to go ok. He doesn’t plan to come to revivals. He acts like he wants to come to church and he doesn’t even have to work on Fridays but he never shows up. The children and I didn’t go to the visit. Layton couldn’t bear the thought of leaving the house. Darrell’s came for supper in the evening and we had an enjoyable visit and time. It’s fascinating hearing about their past travels to China and wherever they have all been. 

January 4: Jared got up early and took Darrell’s to meet Doyle at the Padma bridge. Traffic was amazing and he was there and back by 10. The driver came and shuttled Neil’s around again. They got back to our house around noon. I hired Lucky to come cook a full Bangla spread for them. Chicken curry, egg curry, vegetables, dal and rice! She was quite enthused to cook again. 😀 Took it easy in the afternoon and then in the evening, the driver came back and us, Neil’s and Nathon headed to Farmhouse Burger. After a big lunch like that no one was super hungry but we ate anyway cuz that’s what we do for fun here. It took 1.5 hours to get to the restaurant but we had great laughs and conversation! Shanas family and siblings reminds me a lot of mine. A lot of loud and chaos😂 

January 5: Jared opened clinic back up. He said Miriam was walking around real slow and Jon could hardly talk because of a bad cold! The rest of us took it real easy all day too. We were wore out. Who knows why? Neil’s flew out in the afternoon. Shana came home exhausted. I told her to go straight to bed! The poor dear didn’t even want food. When she doesn’t want food I know she’s tired! The evening was very quiet. The kids and I took a walk along the river, and Jared huddled under two quilts with his jacket on and shook with the chills for awhile. Ever since he got dengue he randomly gets these weird chills now and then but the pass and then he’s totally fine again. These tropical illnesses are very bizarre. 

January 6: worked on things around the house and packed for revivals. Anytime we leave to go anywhere here, we pack at least half the house. Pillows, blankets, and sheets for everyone in the family, towels, washcloths, toilet paper, the medicine cabinet, snacks, water bottles and PB and J and bread, books and toys to entertain the kids. It’s quite an ordeal. Since October we have packed up and went somewhere 8 times.😂 

January 7:  Left the house around 9:30 and stopped and picked Josna and Sumita up from the clinic. Got to Golpagang around 2 I think. Doyle’s rented the entire Anonda Guesthouse in Golpaganj for revivals. It is very nice. All the members, all the missionaries and the ministers are staying here. Some rooms had 3-4 beds in them so the singles stayed in those. Josna and Sumita thought the rooms were “onek sundor!” So that says a lot. The guesthouse had a huge chapel too, and the kitchen was up on the roof! This guesthouse is quite new. Some of it was finished in 2023 and some in 2024. It was so so nice to have everything in one building. Last revivals we were in the Nazarene church right behind this guesthouse. There’s ponds in front of and beside the church with no fences up, so either you are on the sidewalk or you are in the pond. With small children you can imagine how a mother’s nerves handled that situation. The rest of the afternoon people slowly arrived. They were all very enthused about the rooms and staying together. Ripon hired some amazing cooks. Anyways, it would not be a revival in Bangladesh without abit of drama. A gentleman had asked Doyle if he could invite some friends to the revival. Doyle said “5 but no more.” Welllllll my friends…… 40 showed up. Most were small children. Expecting food and nights lodging. There was no room! Doyle did find places for some to stay, and then he had the cooks use the supper food to make them all lunch and Ripon went and bought new groceries for supper. However, by the next morning they had all left. So not sure if they thought we were giving out free things or what??? 

January 8: Had breakfast at 8:30. The cooks made kichuri and boiled eggs. Church started at 9:30. Doyle kept things on schedule which is quite a feat to accomplish in this country. Bobby from Kulna came to interpret. He is so amusing to watch. Very animated! Sometimes we all sit and giggle at him, you just can’t help it! After the service, everyone went up to the roof for cha. Jared bought 300 cha cups and by the looks of things we should have bought at least 300 more. A lot of Shotti’s family came, Hridoy and Pinky came, our expelled brother Lewis from Kulna came, and other random community people. The men were worried that people were going to catch wind of our revival and just show up at meal time. So Jared had bought stickers for everyone that was at the church service to put on, that way if you stayed for a service you could eat. But they ended up not needing to implement it. The guards at the door were careful. We did have to turn a few away the one evening that we had a council meeting. 

January 10: Had communion this morning! That was really special. Josna hugged me hard afterwards and said “Didi I am so happy!!” It made me almost cry. Shotti hugged me for a long time and told me something about missing Lisa. Layton had so many questions about revivals. Last time we had them he was 5 years old so he couldn’t remember all the details tha happened at such an event. He called communion “that bread and bucket meeting.” I tried to explain to him before the service about how the bread was a symbol of Jesus’ body and the grape juice was a symbol of His blood. He wondered “why can’t they drink red Gatorade instead of grape juice?” I was grappling with how to explain that and he said “well I suppose they drink grape juice because that’s how it’s always been done.” I said “yes exactly.”😂 He seemed to understand that it was a service to remeber how Jesus died for our sins. I told him that once a person gives their heart to God and is baptized then they can participate but until then they just sit and listen to the service. Half way through the service he poked me and said “bread and grape juice would sure make a good snack right about now.”😂 he was fascinated at how Jared and Doyle filled up the basins with water for feet washing hence the “bucket” name he gave the service. The communion service had quite a crowd. All the memebers sat up front and the rest sat more towards the back. During the prayer for the grape juice quite a few walked out but looked they just left for some cha. The cooks made some amazing goat curry, pilau, sobji, and pyash for lunch. We stuffed ourselves full. And friends, that completed our 10th meal of rice in a row. We packed up our van up after lunch and headed back for Dhaka. We dropped Josna and Sumita off and got back to Pink City around 6:30. It felt so good to be home. 😍 Overall, The revival was encouraging. Not all the members came, but a majority. Michael was reaccepted, Hridoy and pinky  are wanting to become members, and our expelled brother Lewis shows interest in returning. Michael’s daughter Marcie came as well! She hasn’t been to any revivals or fellowships since we came. One humorous thing was Doyle asked Bobby (the interpreter) if he wanted to have a visit with Ron and Darrell. He said “no brother! If I need to visit I will talk with you. Darrell and Ron they have machine guns straight from Heaven.”😂 

January 11, Darrell’s had a driver bring them back into Dhaka mid afternoon. They got so sick at the start of revivals. I felt bad for them! Plus they have three other countries to visit when they leave here. They looked a little better and not so washed out! Ron’s came back by bus later afternoon. In the evening Nathon and Ron’s came for snacks and coffee. Nathon wanted to hear about revivals. He was grieved he couldn’t come but he had used up his holidays over Christmas to work on his new house. It was hilarious listening to Nathon and Ron’s talk about their early years together.😂 Darrells went and did their own thing, they like to be out on the city when they are here. Brenda was in search of her favorite dessert she likes here. 

January 12: Shana and Layton started school back up again. They are having school here at our house this week since the guesthouse is full. They just do it up in our bedroom. We take our foldable table up there and it works great! Spent the morning doing mom things and playing catchup. Jared had clinic. He came home and said Miriam broke her arm two weeks ago! She was walking down the street and fell somehow. We’ve been so busy we haven’t talked to her much since clinic has been closed. She had a drs appointment so Jared and Dr Elizabeth ran the show themselves. 45 patients. Jared came home quite tickled with how well it went. He said a year ago he never would have been able to do it without Miriam but his Bangla has improved enough that they managed fine!! Layton’s friends came over mid afternoon. If we are home, They usually show up around 4. They make a fearsome racket. But I have decided this is normal boy behavior? Some one clue me in. Anyways, they got a long piece of rope and tied it between two trees, and tried to make a huge slingshot. They tied a basket in the middle and that was supposed to be the holder for things to go in. I think at least 3-4 boys were all trying to figure it out at once. Kinda look like there was maybe one brain between them all.😂 Nathon came over in the midst of the hub bub and found the situation quite hilarious! He came and cooked supper for us and Ron’s. He made his amazing beef, kichuri and tomato Tok. He put Jared Shaka and I all to work, chopping up vegetables, washing rice and dal. It was so much fun all cooking and talking together! One of those things I will always remember. Of course we had to discuss Amish😂 Shana tells Nathon that if he wants to marry an Amish girl he has to grow an Amish beard and have at least 10 children and he is now reconsidering🤣 Ron’s came for supper, and more fun and laughs was had! It was SO enjoyable. The food turned out excellent. 

January 13: Jared had clinic, and Shana and Layton had school. It feels good to have some semblance of order in our

Life again though it may be short lasting. The girls at the clinic wanted to cook a meal for Ron’s and us. Shania has been having bad diarrhea ever since revivals so Shana and I and the children stayed home and Jared ate with them when he was done with the patients. I was kinda relieved we couldn’t go because I was peopled Out. When Shania took her morning nap I sat on the couch and did not do one blessed thing for 1.5 hours. I eventually scraped myself off the couch and my soul felt renewed and ready to host and be with people again. Started up laundry and life continued on. Jared took Ron’s to the airport at 3. Came home and rested and had supper. At 9:30 Doyle’s and Bruce’s arrived at the guesthouse. At 10:15, we trotted back to the guesthouse and told Darrells bye and Jared headed back to the airport to drop Darrells off. 

January 16: Doyle’s and Bruce’s came over late afternoon so that we could tell Bruce’s good bye! It’s sad to see them leave, we so enjoyed being with them for the three months they were here! They took such good care of the Kulna house and got some things fixed even. 😊 Spent the day getting ready for Jared’s parents coming tomorrow! Later afternoon I looked outside and here the guard had a guy with his hands tied behind his back and a rope around his neck. 10 other men were escorting him down the street. No idea what he did or what happened. Jared came hope a short while later and said they had tied the guy to the pole by gate up front. Not sure if it was a case of public shaming or what. 

January 17: Bruce’s made it through immigration. An angel definitely went before and prepared the way with their visa problems. Jared’s parents flew in around 9. We found a spot in the parking garage and eagerly waited by the gate. Layton was certain they would never come. While we waited we noticed a flight that had come in from Madina. Hundreds of Muslim people came through the crowd with their white boxes that had holy water bottles in them! Wonder if it really is special water or if it is just tap water and someone is making a killing off of it.😂 

Folks in law eventually came. Jared had hired the same guy we always hire to help them through the snarl in the airport! We packed them up and headed for Pink City! 

Well here is where I quit writing.😬 Anyways… we’ve been doing lots of fun things with Jared’s parents. 😍Went to Golpagang and Khulna, Farmgate to get Wayne a suit and some Sunday shirts, showed them Badhundara, ate at our favorite restaurants, rode the metro, went to clinic several days, Jamuna Future park, etc. One night they offered to watch the kids so Jared and I could go on a date night. That was very nice! Jared’s mom has been keeping a detailed trip report so if you have more questions about they did message her and ask for her chat link.😊 I meant to do a better job detailing what we have all done but time got away from me and I figured being with them was more important then always writing every day!!! The children are very much loving all the attention they are getting, it will be a sad day when when papa and Grammy leave. Layton has already told me that he is NOT going to the airport. I said “well dear hopefully in 6-9 months we will be home for good then and we won’t have to say all these good byes.” 

Some funny things from Layton: “I wish you were like Brock’s mom. When Lisa says “we will see” Brock says that always means “yes” but when you say it it’s always a “no.” 

“Life was sure a lot more peaceful when there was just three of us instead of 5.” 

“You know my ears can hear things a lot better than yours! Yours are old but mine are newer so they work better.” 

“There is no way Santa is real because if he really was real, he would burn his bootie when he went down the chimney.”

Shania has really started talking. She says a lot of words. It amazes me that she is talking so young because Layton didn’t talk until he was 3. She isn’t even 2 yet. She is showing some interest in potty training so got her a potty seat and hope to tackle that next month. She wants to always wear shoes all the time, even to bed. As soon as I give her a bath and put on her Jammie’s she goes and gets her sandals and wants them right back on. Shana bought her a pair of purple butterfly wings that strap onto your back like a back pack and she wears those things a lot. Any thing dress up she LOVES. It brings me such joy to see her little girl antics. If she finds any hair clips or hair bows laying around she wants me to put them in her hair even if she already has several in. Everything is either “pretty” or “so soft.” She may be girlie and like girlie things but man alive can she stand her ground.😬 She can go from being happy and cute to absolute tears of madness and grief in no time at all. But then, what woman isn’t like that? 

December 2024

A lot of normal living but we had some interesting activity. Tried to have school on as much of a normal routine and schedule as we could. Jared closed clinic down December 10. Dr Elizabeth was taking her family to the Maldives so closed it a-bit earlier than usual. 

December 14: This evening was our CSI Christmas supper. We hosted it at the clinic. Seems to make the most sense to have it there because everyone other than us and Nathon live within walking distance of the clinic. I wasn’t sure what the menu should be this year. A few weeks prior Jon told Jared that “it’s too much work for Brianna to cook and haul the food clear from pink city. Pizza is fine.” We caught the hint and ran with it.😂 10 large pizzas from the Hut and a fix and mix bowl of cabbage salad and a cookie sheet of chocolate cake. I tell you there was hardly any left!!! It became a bit of a competition between Miriam’s boys and Nathon who could eat the most pizza. The winner was one of Miriam’s boys who had 11 pieces in total. The three participants all looked rather miserable. Haha! Even the ladies had 4-5 pieces a piece! After the meal they all wanted to sing Christmas songs so we did. Well I should say the Bengalis did and Jared and Shana and I tried to keep up and sing along. 😂 At one point Shana and I just lost it and died laughing! They sang a whole bunch out of our church songbooks that we didn’t even know. At one point they said “now you three need to sing one like in America, you know like with all those voices.” Well Shana and I are not singers so Jared said “you all sing and then we will try and do voices.” Well they sang so fast and off tune that it was rather hopeless.😂 Miriam’s husband was the self appointed song leader and boy did he give it his all. He is a strange cookie let me tell you. Jared says he only needs to be around him about once a year. Anyways… It was really enjoyable. Several messaged Jared afterwards and said how much they enjoyed it so that was really special! Gave Josna and Sumita and Miriam their CSI Christmas gifts. We gave them jackets or sweaters and then Josna and Sumita got back packs and Miriam got a new purse since hers looks quite worn. Josna and Sumita are always asking me for bags and luggage when they need to go on a trip and I get a little weary of it. So they were pleased with their backpacks. I was so pleased with my clever idea on what to get them, however my joy was very short lived. The sweater and jackets were a total flop. They all told me to take them back and get different sizes and different colors. I had got Josna and Sumita jean jackets cuz every time I wear mine they carry on so about how beautiful it is. I got Miriam a beautiful Lacey grey sweater but she said she wanted pink or green.😂 I was so frustrated. I had asked them what they wanted and they wouldn’t say so I struck out on my own. When they had all their complaints about their sweater and jackets, I just gave them money and told them to buy their own gift because I knew what would happen if I did try to return their jackets and sweater back to the Dokan and try to exchange them. They would have kept complaining and it never would have been quite right so I said “this is enough.”  Last year I bought them all kameezes since that’s tradition here, but none of them ever sewed any of them. So we wrote in our books that clothing is not a good gift idea.  Anyways… I’m glad it’s the last time we have to deal with that.😂 I gave Lucky a sweater and then gave her girls the rejected Jean jackets and she was so grateful and thankful! Her eyes just shone and her girls were so enthused about the jackets, they even wore them to the Christmas supper! 

December 16: Victory Day! We weren’t quite sure what to expect this year for victory day. It’s like the 4th of July in the States. Since the protests back in July and August we weren’t sure if it would be celebrated or not since the interim government has gotten rid of some national holidays here. This one was celebrated in big style plus the “victory” of getting Sheik Hasina out of the country was thrown in the celebration as well. The “Liberation War” it’s called. Anyways, Pink City maintenance men and groundskeeping men were hard at work for a whole week before the celebrations. They repainted all the black and white strips on the curbs and medians, trimmed the bushes, planted winter flowers, put up a huge tent, set up 26 little food vendor tents along the street, hanging up Bangladesh flags, stringing lights up on both sides of the street, hanging up more banners and flags etc! It was quite entertaining to watch at times. We bought tickets to attend the food vendors. The 16th and 17th after 4 pm, they had pitas, fuska, chapoti, cha, tandoori chicken, naan, lots of different sweets, other rice dishes, etc. Bothe evenings Shana and I made multiple rounds to all the food booths.😂 we will leave it at that. Haha! The food booths were all ran by Pink City ladies and families or maids so that was neat. Met some more of our neighbors. It was loud the one evening until almost midnight… loud music, fireworks, etc. We just had the children sleep in our bedroom cuz there was no way they could sleep with all that ruckus going on. It was kinda a sad day when all the decorations and tents got taken down! It was such a neat community feel. 

December 18; Shana and Josna and Sumita all boarded the bus at 7:30 and headed to Dineagpur. Josna and Sumita have been dropping broad hints ever since we came about going to their village with them at some point. Jared told them we could this winter, since it’s our last winter here. Anyways… they got to Josna and Sumita houses around 2:30 or so. Shana messaged me and said “this is the real experience.” I didn’t know if that was good or bad. 😂

December 19: Jared and I and the children left the house by 7 and headed for Dineagepur. I’m not going to lie, I did not want to go no more than nothing. But everyone else in the house was enthused about going so I decided I better get my big girl panties on whether I wanted to or not. The roads there were excellent! We didn’t have any jams the whole way there. Got there around 2:00. Was so interesting to see their village. Sumita had a lot of family living in her house. Shana spent night there. The poor dear had quite the experiences at night with friend mouse that kept making its appearance. Sumita house is much older and it’s not in very good shape. Josna’s house is only 10 years old and you can tell it is in immaculate condition. Her family takes meticulous care of what they own! Both houses have tin roofs and are made from mud and brick. Once a week they give the houses a fresh coating of mud/manure mixture. We stayed at Josna’s house. Sumita’s house is so small. People just sleep on thin prayer mats on the floor. Not really privacy for anyone. Josna’s house had three big bedrooms. In their courtyard they had stalls for the animals. One for the bull, one for the sheep, one for the cows and calves, etc. Josna had both an outdoor and an indoor kitchen. We took so many blankets and pillows along!  Was glad we did because the bed was basically just wood and cardboard with a thin mattress on it. We put a soft blanket down and it wasn’t bad at all!! Both children slept in bed with Jared and I so we stayed cozy warm. The next day we took Sumita and several family members and Josna along to Sumita’s sisters place for lunch. Maybe an hour drive. It was rather humorous, because when we got there I noticed her brother in law was wearing Jared’s old pants, one of the children had on Layton’s old shirt, and another child was wearing Layton’s old sandals, and one of her nieces was wearing Whitney’s old dresses and Josna was wearing Lisa’s old sandals.😄 it is nice to know that when we give them our old clothes that they give them away! Anyways, lunch preparation was still underway when we got there so they took us on a walk. Walked through a forest that had “normal” trees in it! Jared said it reminded him of Colorado. We were maybe a mile or two from the India border. Walked back and Shana and Layton handed out some of their Christmas goodie bags that they made. After lunch we headed back to Josna and Sumitas houses. Spent the evening at Josna’s house, being with her family. Once again they cooked up a feast!!! Fish and duck this time. They did Muscovy duck and that stuff tastes excellent. I wasn’t so sure about it but it was delicious. Muscovy tastes more like roast beef than the other types of ducks we have eaten. This actually had some meat on the bones and wasn’t all blubber. The next morning we got up early and left at 6 am. Jared had paperwork to do and we needed to check on the clinic to keep the robbers away. Got back into Dhaka at 11:30! Our house felt like pure luxury after being in the depths of the village! Our area rug, our couch, our filtered water, and best of all our TOILETS. (If you know you know.) 

December 25: lots have messaged and wondered what we did for Christmas, so here’s a report😃 The children could hardly wait to open their presents. They were both quite tickled with what Santa brought them! We left at 9 and headed to the zoo. It was the perfect day for the zoo. Cool enough that we didn’t break a sweat once. Spent a couple hours there. The monkeys were going crazy. Shania was not a fan of them. She loved the lions and tigers though… she kept meowing and growling at them! Came home and rested for a while and then we dressed up and went to the Woodfire Grill Steakhouse. It’s an American steakhouse and more on the pricey side. We only go there for special occasions. Anyways, it’s up on the 14th floor so the views of Dhaka were beyond impressive!!!!!! What surprised us the most, was we walked into the restaurant there was a Christmas tree, and there was Christmas music playing. “Angels we have heard on high, this little light of mine, oh holy night, joy to the world…” The workers were all wearing Santa hats and there were other Christmas themed things around. I know this doesn’t sound like anything because this is extremely normal to Americans but in this Muslim dominated country, to walk in on all that joy and hear real English songs about Jesus birth was almost too much. I wanted to cry. It felt like home, felt familiar and felt like it was normal to be a Christian. Shana said it felt so much like home that she felt like she should stop at Walmart on the way home.😂 if only… anyways, after we paid our bill we discovered the meat was all on sale. So mind you all 5 of us ate for less than.$50. Probably couldn’t do that at home. 

December 26: Checked on the clinic and Jared went to the bank. He was quite stressed about his bank issue. It’s such a mess trying to get things accomplished at the bank when none of us here have a visa. Anyways him and I said some prayers and he was able to accomplish what he needed to do and it didn’t cause any account problems. We stuck our noses in the wind for Kulna! Got there around 4:30. We had a fun Christmas supper At Bruce’s. Bruce had went to some pig farm aways away and found a farmer that would sell him a ham from a young pig. Mavis brined it for three days. It was delivious!!!! It was a little More chewy than the ham at home but we didn’t care one speck. the kids just devoured it! She had the kulna house all decorated for Christmas. Greenery and ribbon, little lights, candles. They are taking such good care of the house. Bruce doesn’t let much grass grow under his feet. 

December 27: Went to Hridoy and Pinky’s wedding today in Kulna. Hridoy is our member Shanto’s oldest boy. Hridoy is not a member so this is why the wedding was more of the traditional Christian/catholic service. We all piled on Rick Shaw vans. Jared said it was his o ly chance to say he went to a wedding on a rickshaw!😂This morning they had the “guy holud” which is kinda like our “night before” supper. It has its own sets of traditions. Typically they have it the evening before the wedding but this time they had it the morning of the wedding. When we got there at 9:30 We all crowded into Shanto’s house when we got there and shanto prayed over pinky and Hridoy who weee sitting cross legged on the floor. Some ladies that were all decked out in their gold and red were gathering things that were on the floor around Hridoy and Pinky. Shanto wanted Krystle and I To help. In fact he had us come up to the front of the crowd during the prayer. 😮Krystle and I had to carry pots down to some pooker with two other ladies. The rest of the guests followed. The one lady carried a board with a little oil pot that had fire in it and we all had to walk behind her. We filled the pots with holy water and then walked back to Shanto’s. We were told we could participate in this particular tradition since we were married women. I wanted Shana to get involved too but they said she had to just watch since she was single. Then the married ladies had to stand around the lady that was crushing the seasonings and touch her arm while she crushed the one seed pod thing. Hridoy and Pinky were sitting cross legged on top of a table Then one by one everyone rubbed the seasoning mixture on Hridoy and pinky’s faces and fed them tiny bites of fruit or sweet pudding. When it was my turn I had to ask Hridoy how to do it. Hridoy kept looking at me and laughing. Pinky looked tired. After that was over, Shanto and his boys jumped in the poker for a quick bath to wash off all the stuff of their arms and faces. people are changed their clothes into their saris. Shana watched them get the bride ready. They had a religious service. Pinky is catholic so a catholic pastor married them. Afterwards they served a huge meal of rice, vegetables, dal, fish and goat curry. Really good. Shania was mad because she was starving hungry but it was so spicy that she sat there huffing and puffy and crying with her tongue sticking out. 😜 that girl isn’t afraid to show her emotions. We left the wedding right after lunch. They said the celebration was over other than their photographer was going to do pictures down by the river yet. I felt bad what a mess there was for shanto to clean up. People had spent night in the old church and in their house. There were back packs everywhere! They had served kichuri to everyone for breakfast. Shotti had to pen up her ducks because they had just set the leftover bhat in a bowl on the ground and all of a sudden we saw the ducks just going crazy with eating the leftover kichuri.😂 

December 28: Shana and the children took a bunch of gift bags out behind the kulna house and walked down that trail and handed out 14 of them to little kids they saw. One mom showed up at the gate  and was mad that her child didn’t get one. Bruce yelled outside “sesh!” (Finished) After we left kulna we went to Nathon’s parent’s house for cha. Nathon wanted to show us his house that him and his dad are building. It looks like it will be a really nice. It’s Duplex style which means two stories. He said in 2 months the framework, walls and roof should be done. It’s going to have two bedrooms upstairs and two downstairs I think. I had given him some sugar cookies the last time he was at our house to give to his ma because last year I made her some and she loved them. 🩷 When we got there she told me that she had hid them so no one else in the house could eat them. 😂 Nathon thought Shana should try driving his dad’s scootie so she did. Nathon’s ma just laughed and laughed and said she would never try such a thing. Nathon told her that Brianna had a scootie in Dhaka and that American women aren’t afraid like Bengali women.😂 it was good to see Nathon again. We miss that guy when we don’t see him for a week or two! 

December 31: Well well here it is the end of the month already. Ron and Darla Friesen flew in today. He is one of our revival

Ministers. Jared got them from the airport and then they came for lunch. Did cinnamon rolls and taco soup. Shania has been fevering off and on the last day or two so I was very glad for Shana’s help!