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15 March 2002
Dearest Friends,
Little did we know when we sat down to our lunch of rice and
curry in Rajshahi on September 21, that in less than a month we
would be setting foot in America! It had been only 10 months since
our return from our last furlough. But, as we sat down to our
meal that day, we heard the first of what would become many anti-American
processions. Running upstairs to see what was happening on the
road behind our home, I caught a glimpse of a straw effigy of
George Bush being carried in the front of a multitude of men all
clad in white and wearing Muslim prayer hats, just out of Friday
prayers at the local mosque. The words of their chant evaded me,
but our Christian friends understood it: "Set them on fire!
Burn them!" As we received some e-mail messages from the
States that same day saying that U.S. bombing of Afghanistan appeared
imminent, we decided to shift to the capital city of Dhaka where
we would have access to an international airport if needed.
After weeks of living in a guesthouse under a state of high alert
and being warned by the U.S. embassy to maintain a low profile
and on certain days not to go out at all, we felt as though we
were under house arrest! While continuing Stewart’s home-schooling
and working on the reports for the various projects we advise,
we took hourly breaks to watch the CNN headlines.
After the Friday prayers on October 12, things came to a head.
In Tongi, a town just north of Dhaka, 8,000 people enraged by
the U.S. bombing took to the streets. In downtown Dhaka over 10,000
marched, burning American flags and effigies of George Bush. Back
in Rajshahi, a mob of about 900 converged to try and break into
the Christian Mission Hospital (CMH) grounds and the Christian
residential area half a mile away. Protesters threw bricks at
the homes of Christians and broke out the window of the British
nurse living in an apartment next to our home. With effort, the
local police managed to prevent the mob from entering these church
grounds.
Realizing that the U.S. bombings were to continue and the resultant
anger to rise, we decided to move back to the States for a while.
Les and I made an overnight trip to Rajshahi to gather up a few
essentials, as the indignant chants rose to "Catch a Christian
and cut him, one in the morning and one in the evening."
Indeed, the anger at Americans quickly broadened to include all
Christians, symbols of the West in the midst of a Muslim land.
As the country was already in turmoil following the national elections
on October 1, this additional insult of attacks on fellow Muslims
in Afghanistan threw the country into state of utter rage and
chaos. In rural villages all over the country, Islamic extremists
burned the thatched huts of Christians and Hindus, raped women,
and mutilated bodies. No one from the Christian community dared
to venture into the marketplace. The air was tense with anxiety
and fear. We took the earliest flight available back to the U.S.
Back in Louisiana, we settled the boys into schools within a
week of our arrival. Les and I completed continuing medical education
requirements for the year and spent a week each on silent retreats
in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. It was a time of great uncertainty
for us, not knowing if, or when, we would return to Bangladesh.
By January, the political situation in Bangladesh had cooled
down, and police were no longer needed to guard the hospital and
church in Rajshahi. So Les returned there in late January for
seven weeks to visit the hospital and community projects we advise
to keep the programs on track during our absence. To do this he
has been traveling throughout the country by plane, bus, train,
baby-taxi, and rickshaw. I have communicated with him daily by
e-mail when he is stationed near a telephone line, but on many
days that has not been possible. He’s due to be back this
weekend, and I’m more than ready for his return!
While Leslie is gone, I am using the time to nurture friendships
and focus on my inner life. I’m part of a group that practices
Lectio Divina, a prayerful reading of Scripture, and I am about
to complete a ten-week Alpha course. I’ve also taken the
opportunity to write a few things and to experiment with watercolors.
My primary role, however, has been as a mother.
Once Les returns, he and I will be traveling together to speak
in nine churches in six different states. Les will then go on
to speak at six more churches in six other states. While he’s
gone, I’ll speak at several schools in the area.
We are beginning to prepare to leave for Bangladesh again on
June 11. Although working in a Muslim country will perhaps never
again be as safe for us as it once was, we feel that the situation
in Bangladesh is no longer the threat that it was in October.
As our time here in America draws to a close, I see more clearly
what an unexpected gift it has been. Time not only with our extended
families and friends, but time with our own children that we would
not have had. Once we return to Bangladesh, both Everett (12th
grade) and Stewart (8th grade) will begin studying at the Woodstock
School, an international boarding school in northern India (near
the Himalayan mountains). Laura will be staying behind as she
continues her studies as an English major and sings in the renowned
Centenary College Choir.
The work Les is doing now in Bangladesh will make our reentry
in June much smoother. Likewise, these unanticipated eight months
together as a family will strengthen us as we are spread over
three countries and two continents come summer. Contrary to what
many think, the cost of mission work isn’t in the loss of
the comforts of the American lifestyle, it’s in the loss
of those one holds most dear, to faraway places.
Remember us in our time of transition. Remember how important
each of you are to us. Your presence in our lives makes all the
difference.
With gratitude,
Cynthia L. Morgan, MD, MPH
The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 152
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