Update: Andy Mashas
April 5, 2010
The Adventure Continues…
Hello everyone and Happy Belated Easter!!!
Yes, I know it’s been awhile since my last email…and yes I’m already back in Bangladesh after experiencing a trip of a lifetime in Nepal. However, those of you who are closest to me know that a good internet connection has been quite the rare commodity. I haven’t had much contact with the Western world over the course of the last month but now is a good time to catch up and let you know about the amazing things the Convoy of Hope team got to do that in Nepal.
We arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal; a place that can only be understood when seen in person, but pictures and story telling will have to do for now. The plane ride between Dhaka, Bangladesh and Kathmandu, Nepal is only an hour but the two cultures could not be more worlds apart. Nepal has an interesting hybrid effect with Southern China and Northern India, as it’s wedged in between them. And with the culture clash, Nepal has an interesting mix of two of the world’s biggest religions: Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism, and they are quite different from each other in their own way. It’s interesting how Hinduism is a religion of thousands of gods and Buddhism technically does not have an identifiable deity. However, we got to explore several temples of both religions (as seen in some pictures) and we got to see Tibetan Buddhists worship and I got quite friendly with some Hindu Saddhus (as you can see).
Tibetan Buddhism has an essence about its presence, an odd array of colors and imagery and that is very interesting. However, some of the practices seem sad at times because they have to consistently rotate prayer wheels and send up prayer flags because the forgiveness for their bad karma is never fully known, it’s only hoped for, especially when determining their reincarnation at death. They also walked around one of the most sacred temples in Nepal, The Bhouda Stupa, over and over again to set their karma in the right direction. Being free in Christ under his saving and forgiving grace began to come into more of an understanding for me, for I saw what the “good works” he freed us from in full swing. There are plenty of Buddhist teachings that are relevant to the modern world, and similar to the teachings of Christ. However, at a certain point the similarities begin to quickly fade away. But there is something to be learned from his teachings to be sure.
The Hindu temple, the Pashnupati, is the most sacred in all of Nepal, sitting on the Holy Pashnupati river. I didn’t get to really learn too much about the Hindu teachings or practices. But I do know that what I saw during my time there was quite unsettling. The holy Pashnupati River sits in the middle of this big campus temple, filled with filth and dirt, and most disturbingly, ashes of their dead. It is required that the body must be cremated on a holy river for it to be fully sanctified and for their soul to escape their body. So while we were there were we saw several bodies being cremated, even the funeral of a small child. While we were there we unexpectedly saw the sacrifice of a goat when one of the Saddhus severed it’s head and dragged it up to the temple. I was only five feet away from it happening. I certainly wasn’t ready to see that and it’s still etched in my mind.
But now it’s time to get onto the projects themselves. We traveled two full days on the Nepal highway to the far west province (more than 14 hours total driving). While we were there we helped facilitate a week long training session for 24 pastors and church elders in disaster relief training held by the Nepali Red Cross. So now there are resources and education in terms of how to respond to disasters, and Nepal is prone to them, for these pastors and their respective communities.
While we were in the village of Dhangadi we got to do some disaster relief of our own. We met a certain people group that is literally hidden from the rest of the world. We met the beautiful faces of the Kamaiya people. The Kamaiya people are a displaced people group of former slaves that are literally refugees in their own country. Due to the Hindu caste system, these people were part of the lower caste and were literally slaves to many wealthy land owners for generations. After much international pressure, in 2002, Nepal decided to set them free. However, the landowners kicked them off their property and they were forgotten by their government. It wasn’t until two years later, and after more international pressure, the Nepali government put them in displaced villages in areas that are prone to disasters, like near large rivers that flood every year and cause mudslides to destroy their villages.
So we got to meet the Kamaiya people, these refugee former slaves right in their own country. Their villages are hidden from plain view, but once you get there their poverty is quite intense. It’s certainly like nothing I’ve ever seen before in my life. Their homes were mud-huts with roofs made out of hay and laundry lines in between the dirt roads and toughs for the animals. We got to see the room where a house fellowship meets (which was literally a dirt floor in a small crawl space). We got to interact with the people, entertain the children, and most importantly, got to put together an aid distribution outreach. We had a systematic outreach that distributed Dalbhat (rice and lentil soup, the traditional Nepali meal) oil and salt to last the people a whole month if used conservatively. We also gave them floor mats that are very practical and blankets for the families that have small children or babies for the winter. It was an amazing site to see God’s reaching hand to such a hurting people. I know I will pray everyday for the Kamaiya people, for they are beautiful in God’s site and He will not forget them, even if the rest of the world has.
Even though our time in Nepal is over I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is looking for God to put them into interesting, but rewarding situations. It can easily seem intimidating (although so can Bangladesh for that matter). The country left quite the impression on me. The church planting/growth movement in Nepal is one the fastest and more unprecedented in all of Asia. So watching some of God’s handiwork unfold was quite the humbling honor. But now we have a little more than a week left in Bangladesh before we head back to the States. And until then…
Blessings
–
Act Justly
Love Mercy
Walk Humbly
-Micah 6:8
March 13, 2010
Goodbye to Bangladesh, Nepal Awaits…
Hello Everyone,
A main thesis of both Christ’s teachings and Paul’s writings is the concept of overcoming evil with good. It does not need to be a difficult idea to grasp, but when put into practice can shine one’s light into places of complete darkness, for the dawn will come when the night seems the darkest. Evil can easily be living in slum conditions or being trapped in sex brothels. During my time in Bangladesh I’ve meet children who experience both as part of their daily lives, but God has put His followers into positions of liberation from those conditions, by using good to overcome such atrocious evils. I want to tell you stories of those children and the Bangladeshi Christians who heard the call to come to their rescue.
Back when the team did their training in Springfield, Mo (oh it seems so long ago) we watched a movie called “Born into Brothels” which is an excellent documentary about a woman who went into Calcutta, India to try and rescue children out of the sex brothels they are being raised in. The movie had a section where the woman used digital cameras to minister to the children. Well, we decided to take this idea and run with it. With that in mind I’ll talk about some of the other projects we worked on during our time in Bangladesh.
We worked at Uttams place, an outreach/ after school program that is dedicated to 12 girls from the local slum for 10 years. The girls range from 5-10 years old. At this place they get a clean shower, time to do their homework and simply more substantial education, nutritious food (since they don’t get it that often) all while trying to give a safe Christian atmosphere. While we’ve been there we decided to give the girls digital cameras and use them as a ministering tool. They loved them so much that the smiles on their faces were clear gifts from God. They are all such beautiful girls who deserve a better life than the slums can offer. There is such oppression in the slums, with the slum lords and the mafia “owning” slums, forcing the people to beg on the streets, and reaping all of the benefits. Uttam’s Place is an attempt to break that cycle of oppression, give the girls a sense of dignity, worth and individuality in the eyes of God. In a culture that truly devalues women in every way, the constant reinforcing messages conveying how special they are can go further than we realize. I feel honored just being with them for they have experienced things in their lives that I may never in my lifetime, and they are less than half my age. From the window of Uttam’s place is the actual slum where most of them live and I get to see first hand the conditions they must put up with each day.
On our follow up with Uttam’s Place in April we plan to take them to the zoo with their new cameras. Is this solving all of the problems in their lives? Not necessarily. However, we hope to set things in motion that will follow up for the rest of their lives. Their lives don’t need to be consumed by the filth of the slums. There is a better way to live, one of fulfillment and dignity. I know I will be praying for these girls every single day when I get back home.
We spent some time in a village called Kuhlna that served to be one of my personal highlights. We got to travel to Kuhlna via a sea plane that landed in the local river. I got to see the vast and BEAUTIFUL faith network in the Kuhlna area. They had so many ministries to the community all while trying to stay behind closed doors. I spent some time in a vaccination clinic to women and children that was for polio, measles, etc. They also had various feeding programs for the community. One of the more humbling things was spending time in various shelters for children rescued from sex brothels. There are absolutely no troubles in my life that can come close to comparing to what these children have gone through in their lives. At one point they were reduced to total soul destruction until God put the right people in the right place to rescue them. Just walking through the doors and holding the hands of the children was one of the most humbling experiences in my life. For that brief moment as I stared into that boy’s eyes and saw how he was glad that I even gave him attention, I clearly saw Jesus staring right back at me. I will never forget it as long as I live.
As I attended various church services in the Kuhlna area, huddled into small houses, sitting in circles of worship and liturgy together, ultimate fellowship and unity, and clear love for each other and purpose, it’s what I dream and understand to be the early church. It felt like the Acts church and subsequent decades, on the run from persecution, hidden from plain view, but a brewing fire of revolution of hope and love, virtue and truth, peace and understanding. In their worship and community they seek refuge in the cracks in the walls, spreading like a mustard seed while showing their communities Christ’s love. Their fire is unprecedented, for when the church is underground it is realized that they are reaching the same goal and purpose while under such persecution. I got to meet various pastors than make 1/4 of the beggars I meet on the street of Dhaka, some on 2 dollars a day. But yet they hear Christ calling them to be light in such a dark place. I know in their minds we were there to serve them, but they served me more than they realized.
At the moment the team has touched down in Nepal and we’ve been here about two days. The plane ride was only an hour long but we might as well be on a different planet. It’s such a beautiful place, one that combines the Hinduism of India and the Tibetan Bhuddism of Southern China. It’s a clash of culture like I’ve ever seen. But Nepal is for another email another time.
For now I just want you to know that I miss you all and can’t wait to see everyone again. While in Nepal we might experience some of the toughest parts of the trip, going into places rarely seen by Western eyes and personally living in conditions rarely seen by an affluent American. So goodbye for now and always Keep the Faith!
Blessings,
Brother Andrew
PS- the internet connection in the hostel I’m staying at in Kathmandu is not the best so it wouldn’t let me upload pictures. I’ll try to send those out as soon as a I get the chance!
March 3, 2010
We are to become like children to see the Kingdom...
No one said seeking the Kingdom of God would be an easy task, but seeing it poke its head through can be more rewarding than anything the world has to offer. The last two days alone here in Bangladesh gave a whirlwind of perspective and a fulfillment of every dollar raised for this trip. Without going into too much detail I spent the last two days having everything from a precious little boy who was rescued from a sex brothel cling to my arm to being the one chosen from my team to give a testimony to 500+ Bengali Christians (including the elders of the district council). One never knows what God will throw at you from day to day, and sometimes you’re never ready for it. But now, I shall move on…
The team spent the last week at a slice of heaven called the Home of Hope…an orphanage that is home to over 240 students, variety of ages from 4 to 16. To be quite honest, I don’t even know where to start when talking about my time there…
My team started the week on what felt like the brink of death. We all came down with the same stomach virus/bacteria which caused us to be bed ridden for several days. With this sickness in full swing we attempted to move into the Home of Hope. So, to be quite honest, I felt very homesick during my first two days at the Home simply because I had my own room, felt the burdening weight of loneliness upon me, and a desire to eat American cuisine. For it was quite clear that eating Bengali food would not be an option for any of us for quite some time.
The main project of the week became a rooftop garden that the school is going to use to provide food for the students. They hope to plant three on various roofs at the school and then some at the bible college that is currently under construction. The garden was the project that I was a co-leader on with regards to the people in my team. I was assigned to take the wheel with the specifics. First we had to lay down an outline of bricks (which were hauled up 5 flights of stairs by all of the students, even the young ones), then put together a good system of laying down the tarp, foundation of sand, smelly compost, soil mixed with cow manure…and finally the laying of the seeds. All of these materials were taken up five flights of stairs via a pulley system that we put together. I cannot say enough about the work ethic of these students. Many of them put our work ethic to shame. We were able to see this project concluded and planted the seeds the very last day we were there.
There are so many anecdotes I could share from the last week. I was able to develop some amazing relationships with the students, ones that I will never forget. They made every attempt to have us come into their lives, bring us into their worlds, and share fellowship with us. Every night my teammate Phil and I would put together devotions for a different floor (we quickly became a two-man variety show) where the students learned that I know how to play the guitar. Some of them, already well versed with musical talent, wanted to learn everything they could from me, even though they probably knew more than I did. Everyday they wanted to learn more and more, and soon threw me on bass various times throughout the week to play with their very talented worship band. I became quite the guitar hero for a few days as I was able to take one of my passions, music, and turn it into a ministering tool.
At one point I had to drive a bat (as in the animal) out of my room, learned how to play cricket, saw a hail storm that had thunder and lightening behind it, and taught a computer class on Microsoft Excel. None of these things were planned or expected even two minutes before they occurred. It gave for interesting spontaneity. Just living with the students made for the week to be one of the most rewarding in my lifetime. It was one that none of us will forget.
We will be returning to the Home later on in the trip, and the students made sure that they knew exactly the date and time we were returning. They tried to convince us that we were the best foreign team they’ve ever had, and many were in tears (as was our team) as we left. One of the students who I started what could be a life long bond with asked me if I would ever return to Bangladesh when I go back home to America. I told him that I wasn’t sure and he told me that if he never saw me in this life again, he would be waiting for the day we would meet again in Heaven.
I have attached some of my favorite pictures from throughout the week. There’s a picture of the rooftop garden we planted in its earliest stages, one of the students saying goodbye to us on the last day, one of the school building with the students coming out of it, the dormitory building, and some of the group of guys I bonded with that week.
Like always, keep my team, and the Home of Hope, in your prayers. We are venturing to Nepal soon where our work will be vastly different but hopefully still effective…
Blessings,
Andrew
–
Act Justly
Love Mercy
Walk Humbly
-Micah 6:8
February 16, 2010
They say when you reach India, you’ve made it to the end of the earth… …and when you fall off you land in Bangladesh.Where do I really begin when describing this country. I’m not really sure, but I’ll do my best. First I will say that this email will not include the projects we’re working on; that’s being saved for the next one. Instead I wanted to give you my impressions and images I’ve experienced by just being here for three days. This way you can have a context when I speak of the projects we’re going over. Oh and I won’t go over the the 50 hour traveling time we experienced with a million plane delays, exploring Frankfurt Germany, and almost not boarding the plane in Doha, Qatar…that’s for another day.
I’m still looking for a way to start my description of the country of Bangladesh with it’s sights and sounds, its dirt, devastation, destruction, desolation. When we got off the plane at the Dhaka airport, within two minutes we began to have a swarm of children who were begging for something to eat. Never have I felt my heart and soul sink to the lowest level imaginable in such quick-a-time. And to think we were only here for five minutes. They were shoeless, filthy…and hungry. But I had nothing to give them but a small piece of candy.
Driving through Bangladesh you see so many things, your head is pulled in so many directions that being able to process everything is a job in itself. There is no other word than pure chaos when describing the streets of Bangladesh. Garbage, smog, men urinating in the streets, shanty homeless tent villages streaming for miles, children sleeping under a bridge pass, and people, people, people…people. There are 14 million (twice the population of New York City) people in the city of Dhaka alone within the city limits of Scranton, Pa. Its the most densest country in the entire world. So needless to say it takes us 2 hours to drive only 10 miles. Think of any image you might have of a nuclear bomb going off and people trying to salvage anything they can…this is the country of Bangladesh.
When our car gets stuck in traffic we get swarmed with beggars who tap on the window. We are told not to look at them, to turn our backs on them because it can be dangerous for us and them if we give them anything. The first day there was a woman with leprosy on her face, a deformity one only sees in a television show back in the states, staring at me, catching my soul and dragging it down to the lowest level, as she begged and pleaded for something to eat. And all I could do was turn my back. St. Peter denied his Savior three times before the rooster crowed. I denied Him three times before the traffic light changed. A piece of window glass was all that was blocking my face and this woman’s, but that glass was a symbol of two worlds so vastly apart. I won’t elaborate on the beggar who glared at me with the only eye he had, or the woman with her naked baby.
We drive down the busy streets of Dhaka and I can see inside miles of sweatshops, people slaving away just to put food on their table…if they own a table. For all I know I’m watching someone making a shirt that I will buy in the mall when I get home. The prayer call wakes me up every morning around 5:30. I don’t feel like any words I can use will do this country the justice in description it deserves. Pictures can improve on that justice, but only the eyes and mind itself will bring about the most.
I don’t say all these things to discourage you, but to shine a light on a neglected nation and people…the truly forgotten part of planet earth. I also don’t want to look around the villages or devastation and think its so overwhelming or impossible…because God will not let me use the word impossible. But I am asking you to please pray for the people of Bangladesh. There are fewer nations on this planet who need it the most. It’s only day three for me here and I know the initial shock will wear off for me until I embrace it as the norm. And I know the work we’re doing truly is shining Christ’s light on a world so dark and desperate. I know I can’t save these people…only God can. I know I can’t bring them out of their situation…only God can.
I know this email is much longer than the previous ones but its the one that has hit home the hardest…this one is where the real world is being opened to me. So I ask that you pray for me, my team, our projects, and certainly the country of Bangladesh.
Blessings to you all,
Andrew
–
Act Justly
Love Mercy
Walk Humbly
-Micah 6:8
February 10, 2010
And if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry, and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the day. – Isaiah 58:10
Well hello to all,
This will be my last email during my training time in the US. For the last couple weeks I have learned what it means to live in an intentional Christian community as we’ve made conscious decisions to not only live as the one body of Christ but model the original Acts church, always making sure that everyone’s needs are met, all pulling their own weight to make sure the machine runs smoothly and constantly looking out for each other’s well being. It’s crazy to think that we all just met each other just two weeks ago for the first time.
During the last couple weeks I’ve learned of the inner workings of Convoy of Hope and the amazing things they do. Naturally, it’s been difficult because everyone is in constant motion due to the Haiti response but everyone has been so accommodating to educate us in the inner workings of the organization. They have a behemoth warehouse and a fleet of semi trucks that deliver food and supplies all over the country, to their community outreaches, and the various places that experience a natural disaster. The organization, as a whole, seems like a well oiled machine, a finely tuned instrument. It’s simply an amazing thing to witness.
Some of the highlights of the training time has been going to Project Rescue: an Assemblies of God organization that rescues women and children caught in the sex trafficking industry in places like India, Moldova and Nepal. They’re looking to open up offices in places like Bangladesh as well. We helped run Convoy’s Hands of Hope program the last couple Tuesdays which is a community initiative to volunteer on Tuesday nights in the warehouse. They usually get 75-100 participants, however, with Haiti they’ve had 350+ people come out to help in any way they can. The last two weeks we’ve bagged and boxed countless pallets of dehydrated milk from super-sacks. Along the way I’ve met some of the most amazing people who have been all over the world several times. They treat countries like we would treat certain cities. They can simply list dozens of countries they’ve been to that one can only dream about or see on television.
This past weekend we went to a retreat center called Discovery Ministries in the middle of the Ozark Mountains. It was a fantastic time. We did a lot of group initiatives, team building exercises and a whole day hike and camp-out in the middle of nowhere (but beautiful scenery which you can see in one of the pictures of waterfalls that was right next to my campsite/ oh and I don’t suggest camping out in 28 degree weather). We learned a lot of new skills and it was overall an amazing time.
Well, we ship out in two days, a 30 hour flight (with the time change a whole 42 hour excursion) is upon us. I’m looking forward to that I must say. I will say that I love you all and I certainly miss you all. I’m ready to get a few more stamps in my passport and see the world. I believe that’s it for now!
Blessings,
Andrew
Ps. Constant prayers are requested…
–
Act Justly
Love Mercy
Walk Humbly
-Micah 6:8
January 26, 2010
Hello Everyone!!!
This is my first official email being sent to you from my room in the intern house in Springfield Missouri. I was advised not to carry a blog over the free airwaves of the internet because we are going to a sensitive country. However, I can email you all this way instead. So this will be like a mini blog.
This past weekend we finally met up with everyone on our team. Everyone is from a different state and we hit almost all four corners of the country. We took a massive road trip (14-15 hours one way) from Springfield MO to Mobile, Alabama. Along the way we hit Memphis TN, Jackson MS, and we even stopped by Graceland. Then in Mobile we put together a Convoy of Hope outreach for the city. It was like nothing I had ever seen. There were over 10,000 people being served by 2,000 volunteers. There were free haircuts, free food, free groceries, free medical screenings, a massive kids zone (that took place on the football field where they are holding the Senior Bowl next Saturday), feet washing with free shoes, job coaching (including resume writing instruction, on site job interview coaching, etc.) all for the working poor of Mobile Alabama. It was a great site to see this city come together, serve together and simply enjoy the day.
These outreaches are the bread and butter of Convoy of Hope; the first one started when the CEO Hal Donaldson put some groceries in his pickup truck back in 1996 and delivered them to several hurting churches. Now, its become a massive event.
I’ve uploaded some pictures: a picture of the my team on the field (we’re all squinting because the sun was scorching right in our faces), a good wide shot of the kids zone from the press box, and the food services table where i spent most of the day putting together bags of hotdogs and chicken wings to be served to people.
All in all, it was a fantastic thing to see. They’re having one in Philadelphia in September so I’m glad they’re getting up to the east coast. Thanks everyone and the training for my term is officially about to begin tomorrow!!!
Blessings,
Andrew
–
Act Justly
Love Mercy
Walk Humbly
-Micah 6:8
