Mission Report

We will be sharing our mission experiences on March 30 at the Whipple Creek SDA Church in Ridgefield WA @ 2:30 pm. For those of you who can't come, we have put together a video that summarizes what we did in Bangladesh.

Click here for video:    Bangladesh 2013




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     We are back safe and sound after a loooong trip home! We left Dhaka at 10:15 pm and after many hours and stops in Singapore, Korea, and San Fransisco, we finally arrived in Portland on Wednesday @ 2:45 pm. Many thanks to Jack and Eileen Cameron for bringing our truck to the airport for us! Currently we are resting and packing and trying to get back into the "normal" routine!  Thanks to all for your prayers - our time there was priceless! We will be posting pictures and the time of our mission report soon!

Hello Everyone - we're leaving today (Tues) and will be traveling into Dhaka.  We are leaving a day earlier than we had planned (just happened to check our ticket and found out we were scheduled to leave a day earlier than we had thought - so we're leaving in a bit of a flurry!)   Last night we had a special farewell with songs, prayer, and a video from our church family and friends.   As each child left the worship room, we handed them a glow stick and sent them into the courtyard.  Stacey and Kinzie (the SM) used a small bubble machine we brought to send off waves of bubbles from the rooftop into the courtyard while several people shone their lights on the bubbles as they descended  on the children in the night sky!   It was alot of fun and took quite a bit to calm the children down for bed!   Hugs and kisses and goodbyes and tears.   We're on our way to Dhaka - please keep us in your prayers as we travel and please don't forget to pray for the children and staff here at Bangla Hope!  Blessings to all -- the Philpott Family

We have been keeping very busy here this last week which is why there has been a delay in posting!!!   God is very good!  We've had lots of minor health issues, but inspite of that, we've been able to keep going and moving along with the many things there are to do all around!  

 In the mornings, the girls have been teaching classes in different classrooms.   They been learning many new things....how to deal with different teaching styles from the teachers in charge, grappling with how to handle the "more restless" children and have been challenged with keeping the classroom moving along with faster and slower learners.   In the afternoons we've headed out to another school..... "Sams" -- Seventh-day Adventist Maranatha Seminary.   There are two routes to get to the school.  One takes us through many windy roads, through towns, crowds, lots of traffic and on Tuesday - through the "cow market."   The alternate route takes 20 minutes but due to the roads, a swirl of dust engulfs the vehicle (the girls were in the back of the pickup) all the way, so we arrived covered with a thick coat of dust from head to toe!!!!   No one seems to mind however, they greeted us warmly every day and the children (kindergarten-grade 3) sang for us with great enthusiasm before our Vacation Bible School program.   The girls taught them new songs, told stories with felts and props, followed by a craft.  We  began our program with about 65 children (that is what we were told to plan on), by the end of the week, we had about 140 children.   Each day the Lord impressed us to pack more supplies and thankfully we never ran out!   We ended each program with a game, then joined hands in a large circle for prayer.  We were blessed so much.  

After the VBS program we raced back to the orphanage arriving around 5:45 which gave us about 10 minutes for "lunch" and then the girls presented an evangelistic series for evening worship @6pm, followed by Mike and I having worship talks with the caregivers each evening.   Needless to say, we were quite tired at the end of the day, but greatly blessed.

It is Friday evening here and we are thankful it is Sabbath.  Before worship on Friday night and on Sabbath morning, we get a trail of little boys up to our room dressed in shirt and tie, wanting the girls to put "jello" and "glue" in their hair (gel and hairspray), so they will look special for Sabbath.  The girls have had alot of fun styling their hair with jello and glue!  

Mike and Stacey are preparing the sermon for church tomorrow and the girls will sing a couple of songs.  Please keep them in your prayers as they are planning and preparing.

It is hard to believe we are leaving for home this week.   Time has gone by so quickly.  Our flight goes out here on Wednesday night - we are hoping to hire a driver and van and leave very early Wednesday morning for Dhaka.  The alternative is to leave Monday and spend a couple of nights in Dhaka  which we prefer not to do (we'd rather spend it here with the children).   We ask for prayers in our travels home and that our last few days here will be well spent, memorable and that Lord will bring children and staff into our path that we can encourage and uplift.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers, posts, texts and emails....we have been so encouraged and blessed by all the love and support you've given.  Happy Sabbath to everyone!

Sunday Evening, Feb. 3

We had a wonderful sunshiney Sabbath.   Enjoyed going to the Sabbath School with the children - they sit on mats in their bedrooms and sing with all their  might.   In the afternoon we walked into a local village and held a branch Sabbath School at the Gohara village school.   About 40 village children came to hear Mike and Stacey tell stories.  It was wonderful to see many other villagers and people passing by stop and listen as well.   Sabbath evening Mike and several other staff drove to the local Adventist Academy for a badminton tournament.  (badminton is the popular sport around here!)

Sunday was filled with preparing to head south and also playing group games with the children after lunch including gunny-sack races and red-rover.  We ended the day with worship as Norman Krause told the story of the 7th-day Ox.

In the last hour, we received an email update from the embassy in Dhaka advising U.S. citizens not to travel tomorrow due to protests.   After the staff met and reviewed current news etc., we were advised to delay our trip.  At this point we don't know if or when we'll go to the south.  We'll keep you posted and please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Hard to believe we've come to the end of another week.   Each day seems to fly by and we're sad at the end of each day to see another day in our time here gone.  

Happy Sabbath to everyone!   We are grateful to God  for bringing us safely to the end of this week and to another Sabbath day. 

 This week has been quite full.   The girls have been teaching math, science and whatever other classes they pass off to them on the spur of the moment (a good lesson in flexibility)!  The teachers have been quite happy to have help in the classroom and to be able to get things done or to run errands which they don't generally have time for.  There doesn't seem to be alot of "planning ahead" around here, so we just ask the Lord to help us be prepared for whatever comes our way during the day!! 

The girls have been doing all of the evening worships this week.   I wish we could transport each of you here to hear the children singing.  It is such a joyous time to see them singing with all their hearts (no microphones needed here)....and they know so many songs.   It has been a challenge for us to come up with new songs to teach them.  The girls taught them a song from the Truth for Youth Program called "Apple Red Happiness".   They sang it through with the children 4 times and they knew it perfectly.   The children learn amazingly fast.  It is fun hearing them singing the song all over the campus.

Mike has been providing alot of computer support while here as well as working remotely and keeping up with classes.  The biggest struggle has been the "slow" internet - a huge frustration!   Chris has been helping in the library, with activities for playtime with the toddlers, worships for the staff and art classes and whatever else she is asked to do.

The Islamic political party in expressing their anger over "something," declared a ban on all motorized travel in the country on Thurs. between 8 and 5pm.   Unfortunately, we were told, there is alot of unrest during these times and much violence.  Several staff from the orphanage were planning a trip to Dhaka on Thurs., but decided to delay until after 5pm.   In the end, they ended up not leaving until Friday @4am because even though they put a time on the strike, many vehicles were burned and alot of violence occured on Wed. prior to the ban and more was anticipated late into the evening on Thurs.  We heard a couple of hours ago that they had arrived in Dhaka safely  - praise the Lord.  Since we had planned a trip to town on Thurs also, we had to change our mode of transportation from a quick trip in the truck to walking about a mile into a local village where we caught a couple of rickshaws and rode the rest of the way.   We enjoyed our walk and little children all along the way enjoyed shaking the girls hands and saying "hello, how are you" as they walked by!    After picking up needed supplies, we took 4 students shopping for fabric (we brought 4th grade girls from Bangla Hope with us).   Each student picked out fabric for 2 everyday outfits and one Sabbath outfit.   This will be their wardrobe for the next 6 months.  

There are several temporary staff members here with us at the Orphanage - perhaps some of you know them:   Bonnie and Norman Krause - from Olympia WA.   She is a nurse and is tending to the medical needs here right now.   Norman has been repairing anything in sight and has been a tremendous blessing here.  They are spending two months here.   Bob Finkbiner - from Walla Walla has been working with the teachers of the 5th grade class and all the teachers in the village schools.   He has done workshops and helped in the program planning and curriculum decisions.   He leaves for home tonight.  He has been a great help here over the last two months.   Makenzie Thompson -- a student missionary from Walla Walla has been here since October.   She is from Meadow Glade area, so some of you may know her from CAA.   She has developed quite a bond with the children and has been a blessing here to the children and staff.   Many others have been coming and going over the last several months - a great help to the staff here and the children soak up all the love they can from those who come!  

We've had trouble uploading pictures again this time unfortunately.   We'll continue to try a few more times, but you may have to wait for our mission report to see all the cute pictures of the kids!  

Many blessings to each of you this Sabbath! 





 

Safe and Sound!

Hello Everyone!   We have arrived safely at the orphanage after three days of travel!   It has taken us a week to get internet access, so we are now thankful we can start posting on our blog!

A big thanks to Doug Smith for taking us VERY early in the morning to the airport.   We flew to San Francisco, onto Korea and to Singapore where we had a 19 hour layover.   We enjoyed spending the day looking around Singapore.  We arrived in Dhaka at 9pm Wednesday, and we are thankful that all 14 bags arrived with us!

We spent the first night in Dhaka at a dental clinic run by Bangla Hope.  Thursday morning we left at 6am for the orphanage.  We're very grateful for a safe 7 hour drive as the road conditions are horrendous and terribly unsafe.   We're all certain the angels in Bangladesh work overtime!   

On our arrival at Bangla Hope, we were greeted by dozens of kids and much noise! What a grand reunion it was to see them after being away a whole year!   The children insisted on carrying all of our belongings up to our room on the fourth floor.  It was fun watching six tiny girls carry a 50 lb bag up the stairs - giggling all the way! The principal came out of her apartment while all the children were making their way up to our accommodations and was very distressed by all the noise and commotion.....we gave her a big hug and told her to go back into her apartment and all would be quiet very soon!!!!

We have enjoyed reconnecting with all the staff and children and have been challenged in trying to recall all their names!!   Lindsay, Stacey and Kelly have been doing the evening worships and have also been teaching math classes each day.  Playing with the kids has been such fun....today we brought out a twenty-foot parachute for the kindergartener children---we wish you could have heard the squeals of delight as they ran underneath it, made waves, kept balls from rolling off, etc.  Even the staff came to join in the fun! 

We are thankful that we are in good health, and have made it safely to the orphanage.   Please join us in praying for the staff and children here at Bangla Hope.   The needs are very great and we continue to ask the Lord to use us to lift up someone each day and to make the love of Jesus real in the lives of those we come in contact with.