Beginning to get excited...

I think it has been awhile since I was actually excited to be in the states. Not because of the people. I love my friends and family in the states and I miss them a lot when I am not there... but home for me is in Europe. And you know when you miss home... yeah.. that is what it feels like when I am in the states.

 This time.. I am beginning to get excited!  I am looking forward to fun food places, great hiking opportunities, fantastic camping possibilities and all with people I love. Maybe I will get to go white-water rafting...maybe I will get to go to the coast and hang out...maybe I will get to bike ride along one of the rivers...Maybe I will get to see the Rose Festival in person for the first time in years.

There are so many fun things to do in the Portland area.

I pray that people will respond to the call God puts on them to partner with me in the ministry that He has called me to so I can move to Rome soon. I look forward to how God will orchestrate the whole thing.

I wonder where God will take me in the states to find more ministry partners. Where are the people whom God wants to increase their passion for Europe and their faith in Him?

And what great things will I be blessed to experience?

I arrive in Portland the 11th of May.

Bangladesh

Some sights and sounds from my recent trip.

Six days is not a very long time to see a new country and culture but we experienced a lot in those 6 days. Many children in rural villages learning to read and write. Many women in these same villages learning to read and write. Crowded streets... they say that you can never be alone in Bangladesh. Beauty amongst the dirt and pollution.

 

learning to write numbers in English and Bengali. 

 

some of the amazing staff who work in the rural areas of Bangladesh to help the people. 

 

A building project....hundreds of bamboo pieces holding up the recently poured roof

 Rice fields as far as the eye can see... in the rural areas of northern Bangladesh

Fresh green coconut juice anyone?

The ever crowded and busy streets of urban Bangladesh

Nicole and I in our traditional clothing with some new dear sisters in the Lord.

The most stunning flowers I have ever seen. I was mesmerized by the detail of these!

Some rural women learning to read and write... and because we were there... the whole village came to see. For many of the villages...we were the first foreigners they had ever seen!