Window on the World

From Randal Dick,
superintendent of missions

Bangladeshi members
in need of prayers

On Sunday, June 3, a bomb blast killed 10 people and injured others in a Christian church in Bangladesh. The bombing took place in the village of Baniarchar in the Gopalganj district—100 kilometers south of Dhaka.

It is becoming increasingly more of a challenge to live as a Christian there. Since only about one percent of the population is Christian, it can be stressful when the majority decide they do not like you. The photos that I include are sobering. However, we need to keep the problem in perspective and not negate the seriousness of it.

Christians are not being hunted down and killed as a rule in Bangladesh. The constitution guarantees freedom of religion. However, that is much easier to legislate than to enforce.

Outbreaks of violence are unpredictable. For instance, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon in 1969, some Christian churches (and Christians in them) were attacked by mobs because some Muslim clerics incited people to riot, telling them that while on the moon, they were urinating on holy ground (the moon).

So life goes on until something catalyzes unrest, at which time the Christians bear the brunt of the Muslim and Hindu anger.

John Biswas, director of the Bengali Evangelical Association, returned from Bangladesh bringing with him photos of the victims who were in the church that was bombed while he was there.

So few Christians are in Bangladesh that the distinction between denominations disappears in times like this. Christians all over Bangladesh rose up together to protest.

Our members there do not consider themselves detached from Bangladeshi society, rather they see the need to follow Jesus and live as part of their unbelieving community, just as he did. Our members, shown marching in protest in these photos, are taking an open stand. They need our ongoing prayers for their well being, and that the gospel might take root around them.

On a happier note, we sponsored two Bangladeshi women to go to the Philippines for livelihood training. The Filipino churches initiated a livelihood program about nine years ago to help less fortunate members increase their family income because the local church could not support an adequate member assistance fund. A small group of women got the program off the ground.

Eventually the program became successful and a number of widows and poor families were able to obtain their own home and support the church more generously.

Their main product line is handmade greeting cards. The paper is made from the waste material of rice. Several big companies have sought to buy their formula. Although they would not divulge it, they gave all they know to the Bangladesh church, passing along their blessings. By the way, these cards are available in the United States. They are great for personal use, and some congregations use them for fund-raising. Contact my assistant, Barbara Edwards, at barb.edwards@wcg.org or give her a call at 1-626-304-6041, and she will be happy to help you.

The church in the Philippines has gone from one of the most financially precarious to one of the most financially stable in the WCG.

Bangladesh is where the Philippine church was nine years ago. They need money to support the spread of the gospel. At the same time, they need to be as free from financial dependence on outside sources as possible. Yet, the average Bangladeshi wage earner is unable to give enough to make much difference.

Last year we devised a plan to send some people from Bangladesh to be mentored by the Filipino members in how to create a livelihood project. Two women, shown in these photos, have left their families behind and are currently in the Philippines.

They would appreciate our prayers that they might absorb as much as possible, and then successfully impart it to the people waiting at home. This will not be easy, because the Bangladeshi society is different from the Philippines.

The women will have to take this information and figure out how it can work in Bangladesh. We wish them and the project every blessing and success.

Do you see the photo of the family sitting in a lean-to on page 12? That’s their home—all they have, with no government programs to help them out. You can see the "kitchen" with utensils sitting outside the lean-to.

As they are able, John Biswas will take some of the funds that many of you have made available, and they will buy sheets of corrugated metal. Our members will form a work party and help the family (these people are not Christians) set corner poles and build an all-weather metal roof.

Some have asked when the WCG is going to sponsor a short-term mission. I’m interested in knowing what the interest would be for a mission project to Bangladesh.

I envision the project being for older teens and young adults, probably for two weeks. We would gather resources in the States to enable us to buy tin and fasteners.

The Bangladeshi members would identify the poorest of the poor (such as the ones in the photo). The U.S. team would arrive as a group, and together with our Bangladeshi members, build as many all-weather structures for the poor as we had materials and time to do. This would be hard but fulfilling work.

We could stop in Singapore or Thailand to meet members and see the sights. I would be interested to know if there is adequate serious interest in a project of this nature.

Please write to me at the Worldwide Church of God, Pasadena, California, 91123, send e-mail to Barb Edwards at barb.edwards@wcg.org or call her at 1-626-304-6041.

CHRISTIANS PROTEST—Christians in Sathsimulia
district of Barisal in Bangladesh protest in support of
Christians killed in bomb blast.

POOREST OF POOR—A non-Christian couple
with four children live in this hut. They need our
prayers and support for them to know and accept
the message of Jesus Christ.

CHRISTIANS KILLED—Some of the worshipers
killed by bomb planted during church service at
Baniarchar in the district of Gopalganj, Bangladesh.

SHOW OF SUPPORT—Christians protest
in Sathsimulia district of Barisal in Bangladesh.
[Photos by Robert Joy Biswas]

LIVELIHOOD TRAINING—Snigdha Biswas
(left) squeezes water from paper mold with
Marina Andrade, while (from left) Manju Bala
and Delta Ouano look on. [Photos by Nila Bangay]

BUNDLING—Manju Bala (left) and Snigdha
Biswas (second from right) bundle cogon grass
as Delta Ouano (second from left) shows how to
bundle grass, and Marina Andrade looks on.

PAPER MOLD—Snigdha Biswas (left)
watches as Marina Andrade shows how
to squeeze water out of paper mold.
At right is Delta Ouano.

For more information and a free newsletter please write to the Bengali Evangelical Association, P.O. Box 776, Bryn Mawr, California, 92317, or visit their website at www.wcg.org/bea

 

Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2001