What do I say about today? Or more to the point, what do I leave out! It has been one of the most intense days of my life! Seeing God so clearly in the warmth of our welcomes, flowers, flowers, flowers, and especially the precious eyes and faces of beautiful little girls.

After a great night’s sleep (yeah!) we had a lovely breakfast at the hotel. Still on the high octane coffee to keep alert. We headed over to WV headquarters for Sunday devotions. Greeting staff, receiving our flowers, and just being in that place was enough. I was giving the morning devotion and had prepared it at home. God clearly stepped in. Earlier in the morning, I had wished I could take my shoes off as I spoke, as I really felt like I was standing on holy ground. But I didn’t want to make a scene. Well, as soon as we arrived, we were asked to take our shoes off! Seemingly a small grace, it it meant so much to me – encouragement when much needed. As often as I have spoken, nerves aren’t usually much of an issue but today I was really on edge. Some dear teammates were so supportive – yeah for the body of Christ!

The talk was fine and did what I’d hoped it would do. So grateful to God for always being there. As soon as devotions were over, I looked out into the hall, and there was this adorable little girl dressed in her prettiest peach dress (purchased new for the occasion! I am always so moved by how special this day is to the children and their families. So important that they use some of their very limited funds to dress their children beautifully) accompanied by her auntie dressed in full black burka. Her name is Sumaya. She is six and half years old and the youngest in her family with four older brothers! Attie can identify! She was shy but obviously wanted to be there and was so sweet. She has just been my kiddo for a couple of months so it was such a thrill to meet her so soon. We had over an hour together and it was such a joy to share information and get acquainted. Her auntie helped a great deal! I showed her pictures of my family. She shared a couple of drawings she had made for me. Then we opened the backpack of gifts I’d brought for her. We ended with her asking me if she could call me grandma! Easy answer to that!

After lunch, we traveled a little way outside of Dhaka to the Tongi project. World Vision has just started a new model for sponsorship. Instead of the sponsor choosing the child, the child chooses the sponsor! Interested sponsors send in a photo of themselves which is sent to the country which is taking part in the launch. Then a large gathering is held for children eligible for sponsorship and their parents. Each child then gets to choose a sponsor. I have been so excited about this new idea and had thought it would be wonderful to someday be a part of it, little knowing that the time was much closer than I’d thought AND I was actually going to be at the choosing! Just a couple of weeks before we left on this trip, we found out! Needless to say, we all signed up and sent our pictures in. So this is where we went after lunch.

It wasn’t a long drive, thankfully! We arrived and were immediately greeted by a row of darling girls waving multicolored tinsel wands and chanting – You are welcome! They were all dressed in their colorful best. A side note on color. All the women here wear the most beautiful saris or tunics. Reds and blues, purples and greens. Draped and wrapped – patterns and jewels. It is a banquet of colors and textures. And of course their beautiful brown skin sets these colors off so much better than our pale ones.

The little girls were followed by a row of women who gave us “crowns” of roses, a lei of marigolds, and a bouquet of flowers! If that wasn’t enough, handfuls of petals were tossed over us as we moved along. I will now expect welcomes like this all the time!

This gathering was in a very large decorated fabric pavilion and packed with excited adults and little girls. Today’s choosing was just for girls, and they were all age 2 – 6. Welcome speeches were given and some words of encouragement to the parents. Three little girls danced for us. And finally the choosing began. All of the pictures, including ours, were clothespin clipped to lines. One at a time, a little girl would come up and choose a picture. Because these little girls were so young, they didn’t ponder long. Each of us waited so expectantly to be chosen. One by one, we were.

My little one is named Jahan and is 4 years old. Her much older sister was with her. We had a few minutes together as the information was taken down. Jahan is not at all shy and seemed interested in everything. Her sister told me that Jahan will start school soon and the family has decided that she will be a doctor!

After watching the choosing a little longer, we headed over to the local WV office. Our children met us there. Then we had more time to visit and exchange gifts. We had earlier purchased some food items for them in addition to the things we brought from home. Two little girls on one day!

Jahan told me that she choose me because she likes me! My heart is full. Too soon, we had to say goodbye. Waves and hugs, last pictures, and we were on our way to the airport.

A short flight brought us to Jessore. Checked into another lovely hotel, had a late supper, and fell into bed. What a day!