I'm packed, ready and I really can't believe I am going to Bangladesh in just a few hours!
I have no idea what to expect! Seriously! All I know is that I am flying from LAX to Hong Kong and from Hong Kong to Dhaka (the capital of Bangladesh)...from there all is unknown.
I am nervous...it has been a long time since I have headed half-way around the world and not had a clue as to what to expect when I arrived. But at the same time I am so excited!
So just in case your wondering why I am going to Bangladesh (I know, I know...everyone still thinks I am going to Thailand tomorrow because that is where I always go)...well, this year I was the Graduate Assistant in the Office of World Missions at Azusa Pacific University. Somehow they thought I would be the best candidate to work on developing a brand new program called Global Relief. The goal of this program is to provide for humanitarian aid needs globally by engaging the APU community and working alongside the Global Church.
A student at APU grew up in Bangladesh and his parents still live and work there (for a prominent non-profit that I probably shouldn't publish here just in case random officials read this!!...no joke!!). Well, when Cyclone Sidr hit in November this student and I had a conversation and the idea came up that we could do some sort of relief effort for the victims. This idea turned into a full-fledged semester long, campus wide fundraising campaign to build houses for those who no longer had one.
Throughout the semester we had almost every student life office on campus get involved (which is amazing!) and we raised over $6,000 (or approximately 10 houses) for the victims of Cyclone Sidr. The amount is not what I had hoped for, but I know it is just the beginning of a program that has the ability to change lives.
So what am I doing in Bangladesh? That is the question even I am asking...but I will have the answer very very soon (oh in about 48 hours when I arrive in this new foreign land). For sure we know that the supplies are on their way from Dhaka to the relief effort site...that was probably one of the most amazing emails I got...to know that the money was actually going to work on the other side of the world. While in Bangladesh we are more than likely going down to the relief site (with a team from APU...students that have been overseas for over a month) and hopefully getting to help do some construction. We are also more than likely going to do just about anything we are asked to do (which is very exciting) and meeting lots of people and sharing the TRUE reason we are there...to show some LOVE!!!
So yep, that's it! I will try and update you from Bangladesh and post some pictures...but just not too sure if I will even be able to get anywhere near somewhere that has internet access. But I will for sure post stuff when I get home!
I have no idea what to expect! Seriously! All I know is that I am flying from LAX to Hong Kong and from Hong Kong to Dhaka (the capital of Bangladesh)...from there all is unknown.
I am nervous...it has been a long time since I have headed half-way around the world and not had a clue as to what to expect when I arrived. But at the same time I am so excited!
So just in case your wondering why I am going to Bangladesh (I know, I know...everyone still thinks I am going to Thailand tomorrow because that is where I always go)...well, this year I was the Graduate Assistant in the Office of World Missions at Azusa Pacific University. Somehow they thought I would be the best candidate to work on developing a brand new program called Global Relief. The goal of this program is to provide for humanitarian aid needs globally by engaging the APU community and working alongside the Global Church.
A student at APU grew up in Bangladesh and his parents still live and work there (for a prominent non-profit that I probably shouldn't publish here just in case random officials read this!!...no joke!!). Well, when Cyclone Sidr hit in November this student and I had a conversation and the idea came up that we could do some sort of relief effort for the victims. This idea turned into a full-fledged semester long, campus wide fundraising campaign to build houses for those who no longer had one.
Throughout the semester we had almost every student life office on campus get involved (which is amazing!) and we raised over $6,000 (or approximately 10 houses) for the victims of Cyclone Sidr. The amount is not what I had hoped for, but I know it is just the beginning of a program that has the ability to change lives.
So what am I doing in Bangladesh? That is the question even I am asking...but I will have the answer very very soon (oh in about 48 hours when I arrive in this new foreign land). For sure we know that the supplies are on their way from Dhaka to the relief effort site...that was probably one of the most amazing emails I got...to know that the money was actually going to work on the other side of the world. While in Bangladesh we are more than likely going down to the relief site (with a team from APU...students that have been overseas for over a month) and hopefully getting to help do some construction. We are also more than likely going to do just about anything we are asked to do (which is very exciting) and meeting lots of people and sharing the TRUE reason we are there...to show some LOVE!!!
So yep, that's it! I will try and update you from Bangladesh and post some pictures...but just not too sure if I will even be able to get anywhere near somewhere that has internet access. But I will for sure post stuff when I get home!
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