Another long day today. After breakfast we headed out to the ministry center at Naogoan, a little over 2 hours away. Once we arrived there we unloaded the ARK Shelter and began teaching some of the ministry staff how to erect it. I never seen the ARK Shelter being erected, so it was quite interesting. The entire process was video taped for training purposes so that others in Bangladesh would know how to set it up. This portable building can be used as a church, clinic, disaster headquarters, pastoral training center, JESUS Film theatre in the rainy season, CDCs, etc. After it was completely set up we had a time of dedication and prayer inside.
After some refreshments at the ministry center we drove another 20 minutes or so to another CDC. This CDC a year ago was meeting in a lean-to, but now thanks to New Life Community Church in Pismo Beach, California, they now have a nice new building in which to meet. The children presented us with floral necklaces and sang for us. The village leader was there and thanked the church for providing the opportunity for the children to be educated. We once again gave the children a couple of frisbees, and of course they seemed to really enjoy playing with them.
On the way back to the ministry center we were to stop at two other CDCs. The first one was in a small rural village and is housed in a building with woven walls and a metal roof. The children gave each of us floral bouquets and sang and danced for us. We only stayed for a few minutes in the school building and then headed back up the hill to our vehicles to head to the next stop. But…… that was not to be. The driver of one of our vehicles accidentally locked the keys inside the vehicle, so we were stranded. Our guide for the area headed into the nearest town to find a locksmith and bring him back to the vehicles. While we were waiting to be able to get in the vehicle the entire village, at least it seemed that way, gathered around us. Benches were brought out from roadside stands for us to sit on. I had a couple of frisbees with me, so I started throwing them back and forth with other team members. The villagers, especially the children, immediately joined in and we had quite the time throwing frisbees up and down the road. Some of the young women and girls gathered around the ladies in our group and a good time was had by all. After almost an hour it was decided to ferry our team back to the ministry center in the other vehicle. It took two trips to get everyone back to the center.
Once we were all back at the center we were served lunch. After lunch we sat around and visited while waiting for our other vehicle. Finally we received word that they had gotten in the vehicle and it was only a few minutes before it arrived at the center. After the driver had something to eat we headed back to the hotel. The entire ordeal with the vehicle took about three hours, so we did not get to go to the other CDC we had planned to visit.
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