Though both M. and I are not feeling good in health and have severe leg pain, we cannot simply sit at home and miss the fellowship with our believers. As we had visited our church members in different parts of the country while we were in the USA, we set out on a similar journey to visit church people in the North in Bangladesh from March 19-31. It was indeed a joyful and fruitful time for us. One of our team members accompanied us. We have lots of fun together. We sang songs, discussed God’s mercy in our lives, and shared the gospel with other people. Our church people were very much happy to see us. They prepared food and delicious snacks for us. We were very happy to show the Jesus film in two places. We are so thankful to Claudia for donating a Jesus film backpack with a mini video projector to us. We were able to screen the Jesus film in an outdoor setting and many people came to see it. I was overjoyed to have this opportunity to screen the Jesus film in an open field after many years. I saw people were eager to see the film. We pray that God would prepare the hearts of the people to respond to the gospel.

We also spent time with children and windows. We encouraged them to invest their talent, time, and treasure for the furtherance of the gospel. We have a big challenge to raise local leaders. We have seen that two of our northern churches do not have lay leaders. Please join us in prayer so that God can send appropriate leaders and pastors, especially to the northern part of Bangladesh. Jesus indeed says that harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. So, join us in praying to God to send many laborers to reach souls and for a plentiful harvest.

We also had a good time celebrating Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. We tried to focus on meditating on the sacrifice of Jesus and his mission to save the lost in this world. As you may know, I was leading two discipleship groups, but I was unable to do it because we were in the USA for several months. Thank God that I was able to start those two groups again. Our group members are very happy to have a Bible study as a team. We are now studying the book of Genesis.

Every year we conduct the Standing Strong Through the Storm (SSTS) training program with new believers. This training is for awareness, building, and preparation for the persecuted believers. We just finished (April 23-26) this training with 41 delegates from a different church in the southern part. Thank the Lord that he has chosen some very special young leaders to come and prepare them to practice their learnings at the local church.

Thank you very much for your faithful prayer and generosity. We feel very much encouraged when we know that someone is praying for us. Without you we are weak. May the Lord bless you and continue to help you join our prayer group to strengthen our believers in Bangladesh.

Regards,

A. and M. A.

Serving together in Bangladesh

The post A. and M. A. April 2024 Ministry Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Did you know that every single donation and prayer makes a difference for our missionaries and those they are helping? Our goal is to ignite hope one relationship at a time.

The following stories are shared by our Friends in Bangladesh and show how the lives of people like these women who attend the “Anannya Class”, were impacted by your support! 

J* grew up in a Roman Catholic family. She never read the Bible as a child and didn’t know how to pray well. She recently joined an “Anannya” class (women’s weekly Bible study group). Since joining and participating, Jenny has been reading the Bible and praying regularly. Her whole family now prays and reads the Bible in the evening, and she preaches at the Women’s Fellowship. J* is very thankful for God in her life and how he has changed her life.    L* grew up in a Christian family and thought she knew who Jesus was, she did not know much about him. Her daughter-in-law invited her to attend the “Anannya” class (women’s weekly Bible study group). L* was skeptical and thought she would know more about Jesus than her daughter-in-law since her daughter-in-law grew up as a Muslim. On the first day of the class, her daughter-in-law gave her books, notebooks, pens, Bibles, and a songbook; everything she needed. L* said, “Daughter-in-law, I don’t know how to read or write.” Then her daughter-in-law said, “You can do it all.” L* kept attending classes and slowly the lessons began to work in her heart. Even though L* is unable to read, she listens to all the class discussions and makes it a priority to come to class.   A* grew up in a Hindu family, following all the rituals of Hinduism. She came to know the Lord six months before she was married. The family she married into is Christian. A* did not know how to read or write but she would pray. She began to attend the “Anannya” class (women’s weekly Bible study group) and has been praying regularly and trying to memorize Bible verses. When one of her daughters was sick, she prayed for God to heal her, and he did. She is confident in the Lord and how he listens to her prayers.

The post A Story of Transformation from Bangladesh first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

The following story is shared by our Friends in Bangladesh and shows how a life was impacted by your support! If you would like to help make a difference in the lives of people like S*, here’s how:

S* is from a Muslim family and has been divorced twice. She now lives in a house with one of her children and earns a living by working in people’s homes. She bought a small piece of land with her earnings and built a small house to live in with her children.   One day a healthcare worker preached the Good News to S*. Later, a preacher explained the gospel to her in more detail and S* made a public testimony of baptism. She is a third-generation believer.   When God opened S*’s heart during the preaching of the gospel, she accepted Jesus as her savior but had not received the touch of the Holy Spirit. Then, she attended a women’s conference at the invitation of that same healthcare worker. During the spiritual revival meeting on the second night, she received the touch of the Holy Spirit and committed herself to sharing the testimony of her life with others. After returning from the conference, she is now attending worship service regularly, learning new worship songs, and started witnessing to the people of her area about what Jesus has done in her life.

The post A Story of Transformation from Bangladesh first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

The following story is shared by our Friends in Bangladesh and shows how one relationship was changed from your support.

Samiron was born and brought up in a Hindu family. He had worshipped idols since childhood, but he did not have peace in his mind. He believed in incarnation and he also learned in his childhood that avatars have come to protect the righteous and destroy sinners. All this information and knowledge terrified him and he began to believe that avatars would destroy him since he was not a righteous person.   One day a village church planter, Pastor Henry, came to visit his village and shared his testimony with Samiron. Henry also used to be an idol worshipper. His spiritual father changed his name from Hori (the name of an avatar) to Henry when he became a Christian.  Henry came to know that Hori the avatar came to destroy sinners, but Jesus came to save sinners. Samiron was amazed and moved by his life testimony. Henry invited him to come to the church. When Samiron came, Henry was preaching from John 3:16. When Samiron heard that “God so loved the world that he gave his only and one Son Jesus to die for our sin….” Samiron could not hold in his tears and he began to cry. He came to know that only Jesus can forgive his sins and provide eternal life. He also came to know that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Samiron offered his life to Jesus and accepted him as his personal Savior and the Lord. A great burden was removed from Samiron’s heart. He felt a great peace in his mind. He decided to follow Christ until his death. Now Samiron is a great evangelist and teacher. He shares his testimony with others. He has devoted himself to reading the bible and praying to God. His family members are not believers yet. He is praying that his parents would come to Christ someday

If you would like to help make a difference in the lives of people like Samiron, here’s how:

The post A Story of Transformation from Bangladesh first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

A. and M. A. | Serving in Bangladesh

 The Cost of Following Jesus

Jesus said in Luke 14:26,27, 33, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry their own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. … In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”

Jesus clearly mentioned three costs of following him: we must hate our families and ourselves (14:26), we must carry our own cross (14:27), and we must give up all our possessions (14:33).

If we truly want to follow Jesus Christ, we must consider the cost and put him above everything else. We know that salvation is absolutely free, but it costs us our very life. Sometimes some preachers talk about receiving all blessings if we belong to Christ. Our life will be full of joy, everything will be provided by God since God is Jehovah Jireh. He will protect us from all our enemies since he is our protector, he will heal us from all our diseases because he is the healer. All that is true. Nothing is wrong. God has promised us to be our protector, provider, and healer. But this is only one part of the coin. This is namely prosperity gospel. But this is not all the true picture of Christianity. Where there is no cross, there will never be a resurrection. Christ without cross has no meaning in Christianity.

Jesus is not forcing anyone to follow him. This is a personal choice. In Luke 14:26 Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me…” There is no obligation to follow him. But he is reminding us of the cost of following him. He said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” He further said, “And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Following Jesus means giving up everything.

In the country where we live, it is mostly impossible to live a life without pain after being Christian. Almost everyone who has accepted Christ and wants to follow Jesus must carry their own cross every day. Let me share a true, brief story of our ministry.

Fatima heard the gospel from Mafuza. She understood that only Jesus can offer her eternal life. She decided to follow Christ and took a public testimony of baptism. In the photo above, Mafuza is giving her the public testimony of baptism. There is no pond or river in this area. Therefore, Mafuza is pouring a bucket of tubewell water. Five other family members also decided to do the same. Mafuza gave everyone a bible so that they can read and grow in faith. After somedays following Jesus, another member of her family noticed that she is no more praying to Allah and does not follow Islamic rituals. They came to know that she became a follower of Christ. Physical torture was started by her family member. They stopped even giving food. But Fatima stood firm in the faith. She said, “Christianity is not very easy to practice. I have accepted Christ and cannot leave him. If God wills, my family will remain or else it will break up. I cannot stay at my house anymore. I must leave my home and need to go to Dhaka for my personal security. Pray that God would give me patience”. The persecution became so extreme that Fatima had to leave her husband, house, family, possessions, and job. I got the news that all the bibles that we offered them were taken away by her family member along with blankets that we gave her family. I do not know how long this situation will remain.

Questions for personal reflection:

How do you feel about Fatima’s faith in Christ? If you are in the same situation what would be your response? How would you handle the situation? Would you compromise or leave everything for following Christ?

Rev. A. A.

Click here to download the full prayer letter…

The post May 2022 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.