27
Feb, 2009
Adventures in India & Bangladesh
by: Revolutionary Life
Dear Revolutionaries,
The Burning Gats from a Boat in the Ganges River
After our ministry was done in India, we headed to Varanasi. Varanasi is known to be the one of the holiest cities of Hinduism. We only spent a day and a half there, just enough time to see the Ganges, before heading to Bangladesh. We had an odd feeling when witnessing the burning gats (which is where they burn the body of someone who’s just died, and then place their ashes in the Ganges). At first it felt like another funeral, but then we realized it was much more than that. Many people flock to Varanasi, and many other dream of being cremated there, in hope of a better chance at a good after life. We, however, realize just how lost and wrong they are, and the reality of seeing how many people are dying a day in that one area hit us hard. All these people are dying, not knowing Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and are so lost in a religion that doesn’t help or save them. In death there is no confidence of a better place? This was really hard reality to swallow.
Darlene on a Boat in the Ganges
VARANASI to KOLKATTA (Calcutta):
The next day we packed up, headed to the train station, and boarded our last overnight train in India, to Calcutta. Once there , the next day, a nice Muslim man helped us get our bus ticket booked all the way to the border of Bangladesh. Before leaving, we tried to get some cash out from the ATM’s, but no luck. None of them would take our Master Card (always carry visa debit cards!). However, our ticket was already booked, so we took the bus ride all the way to the border. From there we were headed to a border town called Jessore, in hope that there would be a place we’d be able to get cash out. We got there late in the night, after dealing with the rough transition through the border into yet another country. There was a whole new language barrier, and new currency, and a whole new level of chaos. All of these things were a bit overwhelming to deal with so late in the night, and in the process our bus abandoned us. Praise God we found a public bus heading to Jessore. By this time it’s like 9pm, and the number one rule in bangladesh is not to ride the busses at night. The country has way more than normal the amount of head on collisions. Most at night,involving busses.
Once in Jessore we crash at an NGO guesthouse, then the next day, we moved into town and to our horror we find out that none of the ATM’s would take our card. By this time we had about $30 to make it all the way to Dhaka on. We spend about $20 of it on our bus tickets to Dhaka, and about $8 of it on food and lodging that night. We had about a 110 taka left (little less than $2 to make it all the way to Dhaka!). It cost 40 taka to get to our bus. 50 taka for a small lunch. That left us with only 20 taka (like 30cents).
Dustan on the Streets of Jessore
Once we got to Dhaka, things did not get better. With many ATM’s on every corner here, we thought surely our problems were solved. However, ATM after ATM didn’t work or want to take our card. It was now pushing 10:30pm at night. We had no money to stay anywhere, and not even enough to pay for a rickshaw, but the Lord provided a super nice gentleman, who gave us 20 taka to help us get a ride. We had no choice, we had to find one of the hotels that would take card. So with the extra 20 taka our friend gave us, we had enough to get to a mid range hotel called Hotel Victory. Hotel Victory was like no other place we’ve stayed at so far on our trip. About a 4 star hotel, marble floors, elevators, continental breakfast; this was where the “RICH” stayed. It was about $40 for one night, which was a huge deal for us considering we budget at about $5-$7 a night in most places. $10-12 on the high end, but we had to do what we had to do. They swiped our card, and it went through; Thank God! The night was now over. We could relax, take a “Real” hot RUNNING warm shower, and sleep in a soft down comforter bed. We felt like dirty kids in someone’s nice house! But it was sure a relief after our hard few days of traveling and fasting to stretch our cash out. We had a menu from the restaurant in our room. and, oh yes, we ordered room service. That night we enjoyed a grilled chicken meal w/french fries, cokes, and fried chicken. more food than we’d eaten in almost 3 days. 
Our Rickshaw. We went around town twice before we found the bus.
The next day we were able to get cash out after Dustan went inside one of the banks. For whatever reason the ATM’s just didn’t like our card. We got our cash, (PRAISE GOD!) and we booked it out of Hotel Victory and headed down to Leprosy Mission Guesthouse (a christian organization that offers guesthouse service to missionary’s).
The very next day is when all of the chaos broke out in the central part of Dhaka (near Hotel Victory where we were the day before). A riot started amongst the border patrol guards concerning pay-raises and mistreatment from the regular military. Thousands of them took over the military barracks, they were keeping anyone from coming and going, and took hostages. Things got pretty scary for the people here. The rioting spread over night across the country to many of the other cities and surrounding areas. In one night the entire country had slipped onto the edge of choas. Many innocent people were hurt. Tanks were deployed into downtown Dhaka, as the prime minister prepared the military to take necessary action. Soon the opposition in Dhaka surrendered. They handed in their weapons and the military took back the camp. Once inside they recovered, after two days, almost 100 dead bodies; most army officers.
Military preparing to fight the BDR in Dhaka
We believe the Lord has helped stop this from becoming a potentionally worse than already bloody battle. However our ministry plans have been cancelled. It won’t be safe for us to go to any of the villages or to take some of the street kids and their families to a local theme park. We had some great ministry ideas and plans going with a local minister here, but now he agrees telling us there is just now way we can do any of it right now. So, it seems our purpose in being in Bangladesh at this time, has strictly been to pray for the people here. We can’t do any ministry at the present, so we’re booking it to Thailand tomorrow evening where we’ll be able to connect with our missionary friends there and preapre for the next leg of our journey. We will base out of Thailand to plan and prepare, and also to aid some ministries that we desire to partner with. Within about a month’s time we’ll head into Burma, and then on to China.
We’re still feeling a bit bummed about Bangladesh. We really have a heart for the people here. The people here are some of the most helpful people we’ve come across in our eight month journey. They genuinely love to help and take care of ya, so naturally there a bit concerned about us being here at the present. We’ll just have to plan on a 2nd trip when things settle down.
Keep praying for the people in Bangladesh! We have a strong desire to come back here. despite everything, we’ve made a good contact with a ministry here for the future!
Will keep yall posted as we continue…
Living the Revolutionary Life,
Darlene & (Dustan)
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08
Feb, 2009
Journey Commentary: Delhi, India
by: Revolutionary Life
Popularity: 3% [?]