News from the Shire

Our home/office nicknamed "The Shire" or "Alcatraz"

Wow! There has been a lot of water under the proverbial bridge since our last post. We almost cried when we saw 6 comments this morning in reaction to that last blog.  Thank you all for your prayers, your kind words of affirmation, and just news from people who are dear to us. You have no idea how much this means to us!

We particularly want to thank you for your prayers during the move to our new base in the rice fields of Court Bazar! This process was as hard as Phil anticipated it would be! In fact, we are still working some of the details out. Phil had been having regular contact to prepare things with the landlord in advance of the actual moving day (we knew we were really pushing him to get things done faster than he would have if we were not moving in). But the day that we showed up with all our office furniture and documents the workers were still living in our offices and there was still finishing work to be done! There was no turning back at that point, so we moved the furniture into the offices (knowing that it would be safe), stuffed all our documentation in a shop out front of our building (in which the landlord had been storing building supplies) locked the door, and prayed the Lord would take care of

More rice paddies around us

the rest! The next day the workers had moved out, and finishing was moving forward!

One of the minor details to be worked out was that, in the beginning, we had to use the jerry rigged electrical connection that was pulled from someone’s house, across the rice paddies on bamboo poles and into our building. The official electrical connection from the utility company had not yet been hooked up. And our generator had not yet been delivered. So we were a bit limited in electrical usage for a bit! But now the generator is online. We have received the electrical connection (though we still need to get more transformers to increase our capacity). And we are cooking with gas (literally and figuratively).

Honestly, the landlord has been very good at working with us. I am so thankful for Mr Nurul Absar’s cooperation. And I am thankful for your prayers. It is humbling to think of how those prayers have sustained us through decades of ministry around the world!

Phil has loved the challenges of the new job. Since he took over as Logs manager, there have been some failures, and there have been lots of successes. He always tells the team that they win or lose as a team. So they celebrate the wins, and correct the losses!

Christine’s work in nutrition - Funding remains a challenge for the nutrition programs. As the

Get the idea? - we are literally surrounded by rice

Rohingya refugee situation moves from the initial immediate emergency related to the huge influx of refugees to a transitional phase of semi-permanency the broader global interest has shifted to other more immediate crises. Partial funding has been received for continuing to run the 3 nutrition sites that provide support to children under 5 and PLWs (pregnant and lactating women). But the uncertainty of funding is causing us to strategize around all the different possibilities including looking at how to cut back on nonessential services.

The Rohingya face significant challenges these days. The government here has said that the Myanmar government has not put in place structures and provisions allowing the Rohingya to return. These stories tell more about this government’s plans in the face of that: https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/rohingya-crisis/2019/03/03/rohingya-relocation-to-bhasan-char-to-start-by-mid-april and https://www.thedailystar.net/rohingya-crisis/news/un-envoy-fears-new-crisis-rohingya-if-moved-bangladesh-island-1713532.

Prayer points:

• Pray for God’s good purposes for the Rohingya to be accomplished in all aspects of their lives so they can flourish materially, spiritually and emotionally. Also pray against the principalities and powers that would hold them hostage.
• Pray for funding for Medair’s programs in Bangladesh
• Praise for our move to what we, as Medair staff, call “The Shire” – a peaceful home in the middle of flourishing rice paddies