Cultural Stuff

Rickshaws, three-wheeled motor cars, flipped light switches, little hoses next to latrines, squatty potties, cabotas (men’s skirts)…Bangladesh is a very different country from the United States.

The power goes out fairly often considering it rarely goes out in the US. I was talking with a man on the bus yesterday who does not have internet where he lives in Bangladesh, 20 kilometers east of Dhaka, the capitol city.



Many of the buses run on natural gas, which keeps the pollution down. The traffic on roads is very fluid. It’s less like a road and more like a river. Drivers can drive on any side of the road (generally the left side) as long as no one else is there. Where there are lines, they don’t mean much. There are bicycles everywhere carrying people, goods, etc. They share the road with cars, which from what I’ve seen, dangerous.

The country was once East Pakistan, but in 1949 it fought for independence and became Bangladesh. It used to be all together with India and West Pakistan, but because of religious issues between Muslims and Hindus the British government created the separate countries of India and West and East Pakistan. So Bangladesh is mostly Muslim while most of India is Hindu.

Since I’ve learned a descent amount of Spanish, from hearing Bengali, I have recognized some similarities, which surprises me.

“What?” – in Spanish: Que? - in Bengali: Qui?
“Shirt” – in Spanish: camiseta - in Bengali: camis
“Key” – in Spanish: llave - in Bengali: llavi

I’ve only learned a few words and phrases that have come in handy in my time here. Even my Hindi has come in handy because it’s close to Bengali.

The man who I spoke to on the bus the other day explained the cultural custom of choosing a wife in Bangladesh where the families negotiate before marriage. It is best to have a matchmaker bring the families together and suggest marriage. There is a dowry as well that the family with the daughter must give to the family with the son.

Customs such as using the only the right hand and not touching peoples’ head is normal. People will take off their shoes when entering another person’s home. Sandals are normal footwear, even for businessmen (one of my favorite parts of this culture), though they often wear shoes as well. It is not uncommon for men to hold hands, which I don’t mind either. I’m actually very comfortable with that. I also like the music; and the food...mmmmm, yummy.

Flight to Bangladesh

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"Patience and perseverance are two words that should be intimately connected in our lives. Together they are a peaceful understanding that God is with us and He is Love." - journal March 25, 2009

I've already learned a good deal simply as I begin this year of travel. This one-year journey that has intersected with my journey of learning to listen to and follow God's "voice" is only a small piece of my mysterious life.

I was thinking about how I was leaving everything familiar behind. I've thought of the people who I left back at home, but there's more to it. I was reminded that this is not home. 1 Peter came to my mind when the author talks about living as strangers here. Understanding this gives me more peace in leaving everything that feels like "home" for this year.

Breaking From Tradition

I can honestly say that this New Years was possibly one of the best New Years I ever had. Amid all the laughter and dancing, weed and beer, I felt closer to God than I had for the past week (how's that for an attention grabber : ).

While I was there, a something sparked in my mind. I thought to myself, "This is probably where Jesus would have been." I remembered that during his life, some of the "religious people" of his time called him a drunkard when he walked down the street not because he was drunk, but because it was drunkards, prostitutes, and tax collectors, the rejected ones of society (rich and poor) who he spent a lot, if not most, of his time with. I remembered that at one point a "religious ruler" confronted Jesus about the people he touched, ate with, and loved wondering why Jesus was not eating and carrying on with the Pharisees who devoted their life to living perfectly for "God" having, for instance, memorized the entire Old Testament among other things. In response Jesus basically said, "Like a doctor, I did not come for the healthy, but the sick." Looking at his life one can see that he came for those who have needs and are willing to admit it.

Earlier that week I read that God listened to all music (rap, reggae, rock, gospel, folk, country...)...and He didn't focus on the words people said. The author pointed out that He sees everyone's heart behind every word, and His love goes deep for each one. I think this can probably be applied to everything external a person says or does.

While I was there I saw people with the eyes of Jesus rather than the eyes of a "religious ruler." I saw everyone in the auditorium as beautiful. I could feel His love for every individual.

to be with us

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I have been learning so much about how God wants to be with us in who we are as we are. He will sometimes change our circumstances, but He longs so much more for us to know and believe and trust that He wants to be with us completely in who we are, how we are, as we are. He wants to be with us in our fear, our brokenness, our addictions, our joy, our laughter, our dancing, our singing. He wants to be with us. We are loved as we are, in our anger, frustration, sadness, loneliness, helplessness, etc. And it is God who is strong when we are weak, and this doesn't mean that He makes us feel strong necessarily.

He may not take our struggles away, but what is it we really want? Yes, we want someone to sweep in and get rid of our struggles, insecurities, mistakes, and take care of our problems but even more so don't we want someone to tell us we are loved as we are and to be with us in our weakness? His strength in our weakness means that He does not change. Our worrying, fears, hiding, mistakes, hate...won't cause Him to worry. His love is firm, strong, real...it's staying. He will wait, He will be, He will love because that is who He is.

Like most times when God is really drawing me to Himself in powerful ways I have also been attacked hard at one point. The evil one has been noticing God's work in me lately and has been trying to destroy what God is doing as quickly as he can. I can say that last week I had the worst week I've had since I've been at OMS International. It's hard to face these things while living alone. I have felt very weak and have needed people.

God will help us grow, but He will not fix everything. What we need is not to have all the struggles swept away, but to be able to allow ourselves to rest in Him in our struggles (instead of focusing on them and letting them overwhelm us, which I admit is impossible for me to do sometimes without the help of others). Our struggles (or as 1 Peter puts it, our trials and James, our tests) strengthen and teach us. They prove and strengthen our faith, though the pain is unbearable sometimes.

I can stop seeking Jesus when it gets hard and still have joy without him (and I have done this in my actions). But without him my joy will never be complete, which has been proven to me over and over again.

Moving to Contentment - 3

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What is true blessing? I think many people within the consumerist mindset skew blessing.

I believe it is the gift of not needing to find our identity in looking better or having better things rather than receiving a raise on our job.

I believe it is the freedom from feeling you need more money, food, friends...freedom from fear that Jesus is leading you in a direction that seems “downhill” or on a thinner, less walked, harder road rather than the fact that there was a sale today and you saved a few bucks (when you, like me, might already have a ton more than most of the rest of the population in the world).

I believe it is the freedom to doing the simple, “little” things like knowing, loving, and serving people in their brokenness rather than...I think you get the idea.

Our focus should not be on “the things of the world,” but on confidence and contentment with God and what His kingdom brings.

Paul considered everything (a good name, stable income, respect, being accepted by the culture or religious system...) as loss compared to knowing Christ.

May They Be One - 2

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Jesus' final prayer was that believers would be “one”.

So I ask “How do we as people separate ourselves from each other? Do we help the weak, the struggling...with our being, not just our money/resources? Do we let charity keep us feeling good and at a distance?

Do we live in the pattern of this world (worried about what we have/don't have, who knows us and how, if people like us, if we look good...) or are we transformed by the renewing of our mind (truly seeking first the kingdom of God (rather than our own) and trusting that what we need will be provided (Matthew 6:25-34) – and I don't think what we need necessarily means a nice house, nice clothes, safe neighborhood...what some might call the "American dream"). Who is missing love? Who is missing food? Who is being pushed under the rug by society?

I ask and hear Jesus asking me, "If you're holding on, are you willing to let go?"

Disturbing the Religious Side of Society - 1

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these thoughts have been rolling in my mind for some time. this past sunday they distracted me during the sermon, so i roughly scratched them onto a few pieces of paper...here's the beginning...

I used to write "seeking to be His hands and feet" at the end of e-mails I sent people ("His" referring to Jesus). Now I write "learning to be His hands and feet" because I started to actually think about Jesus' hands and feet, where they walked, what they did, what they were willing to do. I started to think about how he lived and what he said, and how he said it to whoever he said it to. I am learning this because while I have the knowledge, it means nothing if I don't live it...so currently God is beginning to teach me what it means to live it, and it is a hard lesson.

So I asked myself "how did Jesus live? " I came to the conclusion that he befriended the outcasts. He loved and defended people who most in society didn't love or defend (and so i ask "who might that be in my or your neighborhood, town, city..."). He touched the "untouchables".

He spoke truth, the honest truth, which disturbed the society he was raised in, especially the overpowering religious part of the society. This makes me wonder what he would say (or have me or maybe even you say) about or to the religious part of our society today...which I can't write without also saying that I think we need to be careful we don't carry our own agenda with our words.

sidenote: You and I need to express Jesus' message, which he spoke with the help of the Father, not our own. And people need honesty, not hate. And even if you do have things to say, you need to consider that there is a time to speak and a time to listen (James 1:19), a time to do something and a time to wait. We need to seek the Lord in speaking. And in speaking, we need humility. None of us should consider ourselves better than others (Philippians 2:3)...but recognize that we are flawed as well, and God is in love with everyone else as much as He is in any individual.

James says that "religion" acceptable to God is that people would take care of "orphans and widows" and keep themselves from being "polluted" by the world (I believe this has less to do with things like smoking, drinking, swearing – the things some religious circles talk about as evil – and more about how we do things and who we are in doing what we do whether we're having a beer, talking about the day, playing a sport, or at work).

I feel there is more to life than "church". There is being the hands and feet of Jesus...together. There is being the Body, ready to speak truth in love, willing to wash dirty feet (John 13:1, 12-15), and learning to let go of our lives in order to truly live.