Bangladesh: Making Disciples

"Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.' -Matthew 9:37-38

In Bangladesh, there is an evangelist named Andrew. He has seen great success; his ministry has baptized 749 Muslim converts,distributed more than 3,000 Bibles and New Testaments, and over 137,000 gospel tracts. But Andrew knew that these Muslim converts would face many dangers so he set up a safehouse for them. Christian converts from all over the country come to his safehouse, but not to find rest. The converts are taught discipleship from sunrise to sunset. After they finish the program, they are sent to another village where they are not previously known and that village becomes their new mission field. They leave one dangerous situation only to be trained to face even greater danger. Andrew himself has faced great persecution to provide this opportunity to Muslim converts. He has been arrested, beaten by Muslim radicals, and even attacked by assassins trying to collect the price on his head. Yet God has protected him and allowed him to continue his work. And the work is plentiful. As we pray for Bangladesh this month, lets remember to thank God for his workers. Who instead of seeking rest for themselves, have chosen to face the dangers of this world so that they might serve others. May we be inspired by their example.
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Bangladesh

Basic Info: Bangladesh is a country slightly smaller than Iowa between Burma and India, bordering the Bay of Bengal. Most of the country is situated on deltas of large rivers flowing from the Himalayas: the Ganges unites with the Jamuna (main channel of the Brahmaputra) and later joins the Meghna to eventually empty into the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh is a country frequently plagued by disaster. Almost half of this country consists of low-lying islands, most of them less than nine feet above sea level. This geography contributes to serious poverty and huge losses of life during the country's frequent floods and cyclones. Many people are landless and forced to live on and cultivate flood-prone land. Waterborne diseases are prevalent in surface water. Water pollution, especially of fishing areas, results from the use of commercial pesticides and ground water is contaminated by naturally occurring arsenic. Of the 158,570,535 (July 2011 est.) population, 28% is urban and 47.9% is literate. Bengali are 98%, and the other 2% includes tribal groups and non-Bengali Muslims. Bangla, also known as Bengali, is the official language but English is used as well. Bangladesh is a source and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. A significant share of Bangladesh's trafficking victims are men recruited for work overseas with fraudulent employment offers who are subsequently exploited under conditions of forced labor or debt bondage. Children are trafficked within Bangladesh for commercial sexual exploitation, bonded labor, and forced labor. Women and children from Bangladesh are also trafficked to India and Pakistan for sexual exploitation. While Bangladesh does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, it is making significant efforts to do so, including some progress in addressing sex trafficking.

Government: In the 16th century, Europeans started to set up trading posts in Bangladesh, but eventually the British took control of the area and it became part of British India. In 1947, West Pakistan and East Bengal (both primarily Muslim) separated from India (largely Hindu) and jointly became the new country of Pakistan. East Bengal became East Pakistan in 1955, but the awkward arrangement of a two-part country with its territorial units separated by 1,600 km left the Bengalis marginalized and dissatisfied. East Pakistan seceded from its union with West Pakistan in 1971 with the help of troops from India and was renamed Bangladesh. From 1975 until 1990, the country was under military rule. Democratic elections in 1991 brought the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to power. Recent elections, although generally fair, have been marked by violent demonstrations. A military-backed, emergency caretaker regime suspended parliamentary elections planned for January 2007 in an effort to reform the political system and root out corruption. In contrast to the strikes and violent street rallies that had marked Bangladeshi politics in previous years, the parliamentary elections finally held in late December 2008 were mostly peaceful and Sheikh Hasina Wajed was elected prime minister. The country is a parliamentary democracy and its constitution has been amended many times. The legal system is a mix of English common law and Islamic law. The Cabinet is selected by the prime minister and appointed by the president. The president is elected by the National Parliament for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); the next elections are in 2014. The National Parliament or Jatiya Sangsad has 300 seats (45 reserved for women) elected by popular vote.

Economy: The economy has grown 5-6% per year since 1996 despite political instability, poor infrastructure, corruption, insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Bangladesh remains a poor, overpopulated, and inefficiently-governed nation. Although more than half of GDP is generated through the service sector, 45% of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, with rice as the single-most-important product. About a third of this extremely poor country floods annually during the monsoon rainy season, hampering economic development. About 40% of the population is underemployed and many participants in the labor force work only a few hours a week, at low wages (40% of the population is below the poverty line). There is an extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Malaysia; workers' remittances were $10.9 billion in FY09/10 (2010 est.). The telephone system is inadequate for a modern country. Fixed-line teledensity remains only about 1 per 100 persons, but mobile-cellular telephone subscribership has been increasing rapidly and now exceeds 30 telephones per 100 persons. State-owned broadcaster (BTV) operates 1 terrestrial TV station, 3 radio networks, and about 10 local stations. There are 8 private satellite TV stations and 3 private radio stations also broadcasting. Foreign satellite TV stations are gaining audience share in the large cities and several international radio broadcasters are available. The International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial waters of Bangladesh remain a high risk for armed robbery against ships and attacks against vessels increased in 2010 for the second consecutive year.

Religion: Muslim 89.5%, Hindu 9.6%, other 0.9% (2004)
Islam is the official religion of Bangladesh. Other religious minorities, such as Hindus and Christians, may worship but face societal discrimination. The Vested and Non-resident Ordinance (formally called the Enemy Property Act) states that properties can be confiscated if the owner is considered an “enemy” to the state. This ordinance is often used to seize property from Christians and other religious minorities. However, the majority of discrimination against Christians comes from Muslims who threaten Christian work, deny them access to public water wells, beat them, threaten them in exchange for money, or destroy their rickshaws to eliminate their only source of income. In May 2008, a pastor’s 13-year-old daughter was abducted and gang-raped by five Muslim men intent on stopping his ministry in the area.

Info compiled from CIA World Fact Book “Bangladesh, www.persecution.net “Bangladesh”

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Bangladesh (A quick tour of its well known sites)


Undercover Christians: Bangladesh


Egypt/Bangladesh


Aaron School of Evangelism (Hear Christians singing "This is the Day that the Lord Has Made" in their native tongue and see them meet for training on evangelism. Copy and paste the address below into another browser to watch or type the title into youtube.)
http://youtu.be/Yq0y0dcsXHY

Limited Space Dhaka


Street Children in Bangladesh


Bangladesh Energy Crisis