A. and M. A | Serving in Bangladesh

In the Bible, God has given signs to express His will. In Matthew 21:1-3, we find an account of one such event. “As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

Jesus sent two of his disciples to untie a donkey with her colt and bring them to him from someone else’s house for his triumphal entry to Jerusalem. It was a bit strange. We know that bringing someone else’s belongings without their permission is called theft. But here Jesus sent his disciples to do the work. It must have been risky. However, Jesus did not send them to steal; instead, he is displaying his divine knowledge and authority in this verse by instructing his disciples to bring a donkey and a colt for his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. He did not tell them to go from house to house to find a donkey. Instead, he gave a sign to his disciples to go to a particular home and find a donkey. This act symbolizes the fulfillment of the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9, where the King of Zion would come riding on a donkey, signifying humility and peace.  God, to this day, sometimes uses signs to indicate his will in our lives if we are seriously asking him with full trust and faith.

Our journey with the Evangelical Friends Mission was just such a divine sign. Following the divine sign, we left the Campus Crusade to join the Evangelical Friends Mission in July 2005. My wife, M., and I are extremely grateful to Dr. Chuck Mylander, who prayed to God for five years to start the Friends Ministry in Bangladesh through us. We started from zero. We started our newly planted Evangelical Friends Church in Bangladesh with only five people. It was on Sunday, July 3. These five people who attended the worship service were I, my wife, M., my elder son, S., my mother-in-law, R., and my sister-in-law, A. We used a room in our house as a church. This house was rented. It’s also the result of our prayer.

When we started the church ministry, we thought that since the majority of the people in our country are Muslims, we needed to leave the Christian area and live among the Muslims. So, we wanted to rent a house where we could live, worship on Sundays, and do church activities on other days of the week, such as Bible study, training, and a children’s ministry. Almost every day, we prayed and went out searching for a house, but we came back disappointed. We liked many houses, but many landlords refused to rent them to us because we were Christians. They said, “We don’t give rent to Christian families.” Again, few landlords are somewhat flexible. They wanted to give us the rent on their house, but they didn’t want us to do Christian worship and other church activities there. We were almost frustrated and planned to stop looking for a house in Muslim areas. I finally decided to make one last attempt. We prayed hard and asked for help to get a suitable house to stay in and do ministry.

That night, the Lord gave me a vision and a sign. I saw in a vision that we would find a house where we could live and worship God openly. The sign was that the landlord of the house would say to us, “I have a landline. You can use the phone if you want”. We didn’t have any land or cell phones back then.

The next morning, M. and I set out with our blue 50cc motorcycle to look for a house in a residential area inhabited by a Muslim majority. We searched for a house according to the sign given by the Lord. The Lord took us to the end of Road No. 1 of Phase 2 of Sonadanga Residential Area. It had a brick street and a quiet environment. I saw a To-let sign hanging on a house at the end of the lane. It was a two-story house. The landlord lives upstairs, and the ground floor will be rented. We climbed upstairs and pressed the button on the calling bell. The landlady opened the door. She asked us what we wanted. We said, “We’ve come to rent the house.” She let us sit in the drawing room. The landlord has two little sons and a little cute daughter. The landlord was a customs officer. He was a government employee. When he asked us who we were, we told him that we were Christians. We are looking for a home where we can live and run our church. We want to worship, sing, and pray to God with an open mind. He listened to us attentively and said, “We have no problem with you doing your religion”. He demanded a very minimum rent that was within our budget. But one thing was still ringing in my mind: whether it was a God-chosen house or not. I waited to be sure. The landlord’s wife had already brought us tea and snacks. At one point in the conversation, the landlord told us, “I have a landline at my home. If you take this house, you can use it as you wish.” As soon as I heard this, I was confirmed that this was the house that God had chosen for us. I thanked God in my heart. Without further talk, we advanced some money to rent that house. For 19 years, from July 2005 to November 2024, we lived in that house with dignity and continue to run our church.

There have been many other events in our lives that have revealed God’s mercy, protection, faithfulness, and guidance. Pray for us that we may serve this mighty and faithful God all through our lives on this globe. Blessed is the name of the Lord.

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The post June 2025 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

We published a songbook in 2024. It’s called “Aradhona Sangit,” meaning “Worship Songbook.” It’s not just a book of songs but contains references to scriptural events and guidelines for Christian ceremonies and festivals. This songbook was originally designed to be used as a guideline to build up a new believer. Another special feature of it is that it contains many of God’s promises and characters. This is done so that our new generation can know God better and grow in faith. For example, by reading Psalm 86:7-10, our new generation may know that there is no God like ours; our God answers our prayers, and no deeds of our God can be compared with others. Our God is great and does marvelous works. He is the only God. Thank you very much to those who donated to print this songbook.

This year has been very challenging in M.’s life. Throughout the year, she has dealt with one health problem after another. These included a major surgery and being hospitalized with dengue fever. But in each instance, we have had the opportunity to see the Lord’s wonderful hand and his love and faithfulness very closely. We are very much thankful to those who prayed and encouraged us continuously.

The short visit of our eldest son, S., in December is also a special blessing and a miracle. He got his plane ticket for half price, which was unbelievable. Also, our good friend donated a large part of his plane ticket.

I want to close this letter with a special Bible verse and a picture. It was mid-December. We were not very happy with our ministry results this year. Compared to other years, it was very disappointing, and I became frustrated. We are seriously lacking workers for harvesting. We were praying and waiting to listen to his voice and direction. At this point, Isaiah 11:1 caught my eye. It is written, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots, a Branch will bear fruit”. Although this prophecy speaks of the coming of the Redeemer, it brings me a new thought. We know that the stump is the bottom part of a tree left projecting from the ground after most of the trunk has fallen or been cut down.

Notice these two pictures. This is a picture of a plum tree. It didn’t bear much fruit for a few years. As a result, our pastor cut it up into stems (below left). This year, new branches have come out of it and bore a lot of fruit (below right). The tree flourished in a new way. It has helped me think in a new way and encouraged me to start working with new people in the New Year. The Lord is encouraging us to prepare young people this year so that we can start working with young people and teenagers next year. We need your prayers, encouragement, and financial partnership. Would you please earnestly pray with us so that God sends many of his workers in his ministry fields to harvest a hundred times in 2025?

We are very grateful for your sincere love and generosity. I hope you will continue to support our ministry this year, too, and tell others to be active partners as well. We sincerely thank and express our gratitude to you. God bless and guide you in every situation in your life.

Merry Christmas and a blessed, happy New Year 2025.

Regards,

A. and M. A.

The post A. and M.A. January 2025 Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

A. and M. A.| Serving in Bangladesh

Jeremiah 29:11 God says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Yes, his plan for us is always good. Sometimes, we do not understand when we go through different challenges.

Many times, we ask, Lord, what’s going on with me? Why is this happening? We often blame God. We always try to understand the situation with our logic, knowledge, and science. But God’s work is often not judged by logic or scientific principles. It requires faith and obedience to God’s word. We are disappointed when we judge God’s work with our limited eyes of knowledge but not with God’s eyes.

Sofia Corrie flew from Las Vegas to Bangladesh. This was her first visit to Asia and Bangladesh. She is 24. She was with us from July 9-22. She was working on her dissertation, which deals with understanding the needs of missionaries and exploring how missionaries experience trauma. We planned to visit some areas of our ministry as well as some historical sites. But God had a different plan. In the first week, we visited some churches in the southern part of Bangladesh. It was a very hot day, but we had a very good time with the church members.  On July 12, we learned that our prayer coordinator’s right hand was paralyzed, and his right leg was about to go numb. We cut short our ministry activities and returned to the hospital to see him, but we did not see him as he was in the CCU. His vocal cord was paralyzed, and he could not speak. The next day, he was taken to another hospital. Sophia has seen how the people of Bangladesh are deprived of proper healthcare. Hundreds of patients were on the floor just to get medical care. He was taken to his home three days later as his condition did not improve much. The doctor gave him no hope of recovery. In the meantime, student movements started all over the country. They were agitated about the job quota movement. We were stopped twice by protesters on the way, but God saved us, and we were able to reach our destination safely. The next day, we visited two churches.

On Friday, July 19, the situation was even worse. All internet connections had been shut down. No one was able to use Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp App, or email; ATMs were not working. People were completely cut off from the world. That night, a curfew was imposed, and ‘on-site shooting’ was ordered. Everyone was afraid to go out of the house. Many students and civilians were shot dead. We had to suspend all our activities. Our only thought was how to reach Sophia at Dhaka airport. We can’t go to Dhaka because of the curfew. My son reminded us of a domestic airport nearby. We went to the airport and asked for tickets. They recommend coming the next day. The next morning, we went to the airport, bought a ticket for her, and put her on the plane. I praise the Lord. Now, the second thought was how we could get back to our hometown. It was about a 12-hour drive. Curfew was active. The three of us held hands and prayed for his guidance and protection. We talked to an army officer. He gave road instructions and assured us that we could drive safely for at least two hours and talk to the officer at the next checkpoint to learn the situation in the next place. We returned to our hometown, and no one stopped us on the way. We were hungry, but the Lord provided the best food on the highway, where most of the food courts were closed. Everything was perfect, and we were well protected.

I hope Sofia can move forward in her dissertation and work towards being a beneficial therapist for missionaries. All praise be to God.

Download this month’s full prayer letter here…

The post September 2024 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Bangladesh is at a historic turning point. Weeks of anti-government protests have toppled its 16 years-long-serving arrogant prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, and an interim government was formed with Dr. Mohammad Yunus, a Nobel prize winner, as its Chief Advisor on August 8. At least 300 people have been killed amid the agitation. While students initially demanded the removal of a contentious quota in public jobs, the movement later began opposing the Hasina government as a whole.

Now, we are facing lots of challenges. The minority, mainly Hindu people, are being tortured; in some places, their houses and temples have been burnt. In some places, churches were also destroyed. They are in a panic. Many thousands of people attempted to flee to India, but they could not due to the strict watching of Indian border guards.

Now, looting, fighting, occupying houses, and burning houses are going on all around. Especially those who were ministers of the ruling party, flatterers, persons who got benefits from the ruling party, and the worst hatred and anger of the common people towards the police. Their houses are being looted and burnt. This interim government is committed to reforming the irregularities and corruption in various sectors of the country.

The interior government has assured the minority to protect and be a safeguard of them. In my observation, a very good team has been formed, and they are committed to reforming every corrupt sector of the country.

We want to see a corruption-less, peaceful, responsible, and accountable government that will create an environment for free and fair democratic elections in the future.

Updates About Our Ministry

We have to postpone our Youth Seminar, which was supposed to take place from August 7-9, due to the unrest situation in the country. We will reschedule the seminar soon. But as believers, we now see a huge opportunity to share the gospel in our country. We have started to visit our neighbors, friends, and oppressed people in our community. We are planning together how we can serve and care for those people and show the love of Jesus to them. Our dream is to see Friends Churches in all 64 districts in our country. Our team members are very active in sharing the good news in this crisis moment. We are encouraging our people that Hindu people have India to flee, Muslims have Saudi Arabia to flee, but we Christians do not need to flee. God lives within us. Where God is, we are loved, protected, and cared for.

Updates About M.

When M.’s health condition deteriorated gradually from the beginning of this year, we consulted a doctor. She underwent a series of tests, which revealed that M.’s uterus had enlarged, and she was very anemic. So, one bag of blood was given on an emergency basis. The doctor told her about the uterus surgery. Then, we consulted with another gynecologist. She asked her to do a few more tests to get an accurate diagnosis. The ultrasound report shows a bulky uterus with five fibroids. It also shows a calcified intramural (31x27mm) fibroid on an anterior wall, an intramural (32×30 mm) fibroid on the posterior wall, a calcified intramural (24x23mm) fibroid on the posterior wall, a calcified sub-serous (36x32mm) fibroid on the anterior wall, and a submucous (8x7mm) fibroid on the anterior wall. The doctor decided to perform surgery on August 19.

Please pray for a safe surgery and quick recovery. Also, pray that the Lord leads this interior government to reform this country and punish all criminals.

Thanks for your love and fervent prayer. May the Lord bless you all.

Regards,
A. and M. A.
Serving together in Bangladesh

The post A. and M. A: Updates about Our Country first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Psalm 89:1 says, “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations”. Yes, we want to declare the mercies of the Lord in our lives and ministry. We are so thankful to the Lord that he brought us to the USA for our deputation ministry. We have experienced many blessings from the Lord through his people, teachings, guidance, instructions, and new direction from the Lord for the ministry. We have also received many encouragements, good care, strong prayer support, good fellowship, delicious food, family fellowship, home care, special treats, and many more from God’s people. May the Lord bless each one of them.

We are safe back in our country Bangladesh as of February 3, 2024. E. and I are doing fine. M. is still having severe pain in her body mainly on the right side of her leg and back. I think it is the reaction to the high dose of antibiotic that the eye doctor prescribed for her before laser surgery. The doctor told her that it might take two to three months to return to normal.

After taking the medicine, it caused her body to swell, and it has taken a while for the swelling to come down. This causes her some pain. She couldn’t cook for a month and a half so we all ate at M.’s mother’s house. She still can’t move easily and cook properly. I also have severe pain in my right leg. Doctors gave injections twice in America, but nothing worked. Pray that we can have good health to do ministry.

We wished much that we could come back from America and thank and praise God together with everyone on our team. God gave us that opportunity and we are thankful for that. We were all able to meet at a training center in Jessore for this fellowship gathering from February 29 to March 2. We had a very successful time.

We are also thankful to Mrs. Claudia Gehele from California for donating four Wi-Fi boxes to show the Jesus Film. This Wi-Fi box is mainly for restricted public places to share the gospel through the Jesus Film and other bible related videos in the Bengali language. We have distributed those to our team for an experiment. Pray that our team members would be very creative, courageous, and prudent to use those wifi boxes properly and that many non-believers will come to know Jesus through the Jesus Film ministry.

March 15 was a historical day in the life of the Evangelical Friends Church in Bangladesh in the southern part. All our churches together in this region organized a revival meeting at Kannada Evangelical Friends Church. We’re relaxed and delighted to see that the local church team is organizing this revival meeting. Our prayer coordinator, pastor Ajit Biswas, was the main motivator. He teamed up with local pastors, lay pastors, lay leaders, and young people from the host church. More than 100 people along with twenty children attended this one-day revival meeting. M. and I spoke in two sessions. I spoke about the role of a member of the church and M. on the topic ‘There is no alternative than to pray’. It was awesome. In the afternoon pastor Ajit Biswas spoke about prayer and encouraged church members to come forward to help the church. Rekha was the MC for the whole day. She did very well. She organized the worship team, and they sang some of the worship songs.

We dedicated our time in the afternoon to praying for the sick people. So, we arranged sitting differently. For those who need prayer, we asked them to come forward and the rest will go behind the row to join in praying as we are going to pray for the sick people specifically. We anointed the sick people with oil as instructed in the book of James. We asked the Lord to touch and heal these sick people so that they can see the power of our Lord and testify to others. It was an awesome time. When we started prayer, we saw instant healing. People started to see vision, signs, and wonders, some screamed, drifting with joy. I saw a vision that the gate of heaven was opened, and our mighty God sat on the throne and was looking to us. It seemed to me that he was telling us, “Go ahead, I am with you always, don’t worry”. One after another started to fall to the ground. Some of them instantly healed. One young girl saw a very bright man touch her and told her ‘Don’t worry, I have been taking your burden’. She was carrying a great burden for many years. After prayer, she testified that she felt that all her heavy loads had gone, and she now has a great peace of mind and is so happy. Many people came to be healed including children. We touched everyone and prayed for the healing in the name of Jesus. We experienced a very vivid presence of the Lord this afternoon. One lady came wearing an amulet. When one of our team members named Francis started to pray for her, he was attacked by the evil spirit, and his right hand was twisted. He told the woman to throw away the amulet and come for healing. Later she came forward and she was completely healed. Praise the Lord. Each one of us experiences the work of the Holy Spirit strongly. Most of the people saw the power of God and started to glorify God.

The meeting ended with thanksgiving and commitment. They want to do this kind of revival meeting for at least two days next year too with their own money. It was so amazing that all expenses were covered by our people, even a single coin was not given from outside. Our people contributed and organized this revival meeting. Praise the Lord.

The Lord is speaking to us over and over emphasizing church planting this year. Please pray as we are leaving to visit churches in the north for a week. Pray for our good health and strength to serve the people. There is a shortage of local leaders in some churches. Pray that God will provide suitable local leaders for the churches there. This year we want to be more dedicated to the Lord and work for the Lord. So, we need good health and workers. Pray that God will extend his hand of mercy upon us to provide many workers for his field.

We are so thankful to all our partners who are faithfully praying and giving for the furtherance of the kingdom of the Lord. Without your help, we cannot continue our ministry in Bangladesh. Your prayers, financial support, and spiritual support in the ministry of Bangladesh are highly valued and helpful. We are grateful to you. May God bless you all.

Regards,

A. and M. A.

Serving together in Bangladesh

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

This new year 2024 started with new hope, a bigger dream, self-confidence, and a commitment to be an obedient servant of the Lord. I was looking at myself and wondering “Who am I Lord, that you bless me? Who am I that you have poured out your infinite love for me? Who am I that you have shown endless mercy to me? I don’t deserve any of this.” Each day God has spoken to me through events, and circumstances, living in different homes, talking, and listening to different people. Everywhere I look, I feel him. This is a very interesting personal experience. On December 11, I was flying from California to Denver. Any journey is a blessing for me because this long period is the best time for me that I can have in private conversation with my Heavenly Father. I was thinking about the Lord and how to win more souls for him, especially how to bring the young people of my country to Jesus, and how to bring the good news of Christ to millions of Muslim students. I’m so insignificant. Can I do something? Suddenly, the Lord appeared to me. I saw a huge hand in sight. It’s impossible to describe how big it is. Then I saw that I was standing on that huge hand. I looked very small, very tiny. Then I saw him carry me over his hand carefully in different places and land me safely on the ground. Then that vision was over. I wondered what that could mean. I understand that the Lord is saying with certainty that he is carrying me in the palm of his hand. So, there is no reason to worry.

After the Summit in Houston on January 1, we headed straight to Richard and Sheila Campbell’s house in Austin. I met them after eight years. I got to talk a lot, share many memories, and received lot of love from them. On the 2nd, I returned to Matt’s house in Wichita and stayed until the 5th. This family became our own family. Lots of love, and lots of care. From there we went to Hugoton. Arden and Glenda Webb opened the house for us to stay. We are extremely grateful for their love and hospitality. We are very grateful to Bethel Friends Church for taking great care of my oldest son, S., sending food, and providing many necessary things at Barclay College. We hope that one day they will go to our country and see our ministry work. Thanks to Wilbur and Julie Kinser for sharing lunch. After lunch, we went to Gate Friends Church in Oklahoma. This is our first time visiting this church. Thanks to sister Kellie Badley for giving us a warm welcome into their home. We were very happy to speak at this church because many children came to the fellowship in the evening. We are thankful to Kelly for telling everyone about our arrival. She has a great heart for mission work, especially for young children. May the Lord bless her abundantly. We had to leave early in the morning because the weather forecast said there would be a blizzard that day. We didn’t know much about it, but we understood that it could be a terrible environment. Anyway, through the bad weather, we were able to drive back from Oklahoma directly to Brendan and Linda Steinacher’s house in Wichita. We’ve never had the opportunity to stay with this family before. I understood that my Lord has already selected many families for our utmost care, rest, and peaceful sleep. Moreover, what we do not see, the Lord already sees; what I can’t even imagine, he planned that a long time ago. Blessed is the name of the Lord. This is a wonderful family. They have a great love for the Lord. May the Lord bless them abundantly and use everyone in this family in different places in this land for his glory. On January 10, we had an evening talk at Rosehill Friends Church. This is another very important place for us. Thanks to Jeff and DeAnna Linville for their genuine love. They are our soul friends. A lot of adults came to church for evening fellowship, as well as a bunch of little ones. I challenged them to pray for the missionaries. We also took pictures them. Many have signed up as partners in our prayers. The next day, the family planned a special day for my birthday which was the day before. Brendan, Linda, and his sons cooked a variety of special dishes whose names were hard for me to remember. Matt Macy also brought grilled shrimp and homemade very special and very best ice cream. The Macy and Steinacher families celebrated my birthday together. We are very grateful for their love and care.

On January 13, we went to speak at Chandler Friends Church. Thanks, Pastor Josiah Brown for allowing us to speak at their church. We are very thankful to Earl and Cindy Rozell for hosting us so well in their home. I pray that God will keep everyone in the church well and many leaders be developed. While I was in the church, it started snowing. Everyone was wondering how I was going to drive back to Wichita. But the Lord is great. He escorted us safely to Wichita.

Our deputation ministry was almost at the end. Therefore, we wanted to have a vacation. We are very thankful to Matt Macy who arranged a solitary guest house for us. Our eldest son, S., also came to stay with us. He loves his brother very much and came here to spend time with his brother every day. S. had started a new job however it wasn’t able to work out. Instead he is going to go back to school and attend Wichita State University next fall. They were even able to give him some scholarships. Join us in praying for everything to work out as needed.

One of the biggest blessings of our vacation was a visit to Mexico. And it was possible because of Matt Macy and Mexican pastor Samuel. Matt did all the paperwork, solved the car problem, and sent us to Mexico. My son S. and I drove to Mexico. I had the opportunity to speak at two churches on Sunday, January 21. It was a wonderful time. The presence of many young people, especially in the church, has brought us great joy. One lady was testifying that she was praying for us holding our picture for many days without knowing anything about our visit. She was so surprised that the Lord brought her there physically. She was overjoyed. One young man testified that he got in touch with Jesus when I was praying for him in Bangla. May the Lord bless the Mexican church for his glory.

We returned on January 23. On January 27, we moved to Kansas City. Willow Creek Friends Church was our last church to visit. We are very much thankful to Charles and Kay Hansen for opening their house for us to stay in as they do always. On Sunday, January 28, we had the opportunity to share our ministry twice at the church. Eight people signed up to be our prayer partners. Praise the Lord. The most remarkable moment was when a lady came to talk to us about a word from the Lord she received. The word was that we had been commissioned by the Lord to continue fulfilling the Great Commission. But there will be many challenges we are going to face. Satan will bring many challenges to us, but the Lord has given us the key to authority over Satan and no one could close what the Lord has already opened for us. We are recommissioned and reconfirmed for the ministry by this word from God.

We are very much thankful to Matt Macy who invited many friends at his house to have a dinner fellowship and offer a prayer of blessing on January 29. We are very much blessed by their prayer of blessing. The prayer time was closed by Dr. Kevin Hoppock. He offered a prayer of blessing to both of our sons as well as to me and M. It was awesome.

We are very much thankful to all who stand beside us in your prayer and giving. Thank you very much for your partnership. We praise God that we are fully funded, and we have fulfilled our goal of increasing our prayer partners to 800. We give thanks to the Lord that He has helped us to finish the deputation ministry well. Praise God that the laser surgery on M.’s left eye was 80% done. Doctor could not do the rest because M. had severe nerve pain and the doctor had to stop the surgery. Pray for our safe travel back to our country on February 1. Pray also for S. to finish his study on cyber security at Wichita State University.

Regards,
A. and M. A.
Serving together in Bangladesh

Thank you so much for helping us become fully funded in recurring gifts and hitting our goal of 800 prayer partners!

The post A. and M. A Deputation Update: January 1-30 first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

We are thankful to God that he brought us back to the Denver area after thirteen years. We are also very much thankful to Christy and Patrick for hosting us in their house, taking us to some meeting places, and introducing us to church people.

On December 12, we met two groups. The first one is the AWANA children’s group. M. shared her ministry with children in Bangladesh. Then she allowed them to ask questions. We are amazed to hear their meaningful questions. They ask M. why she became a missionary and when. They kept asking many good questions. Finally, I asked them how many of them are dreaming of being a future missionary. I probably counted eight hands up. I pray that their dream will be fulfilled by the Lord Jesus in different ways. Our time was closed with their prayer.  

We are thankful to Cassi Coleman for allowing us to talk about our ministry in Bangladesh with the youth group at Denver Friends Church. M. spoke to them and invited them to ask questions. It was a good time with them. We saw some migrant children from Venezuela. Cassi was interpreting our talk to a man in the Spanish language. She was also using her cell phone for live Google translation for a mom and her kid in Spanish. I also shared a bit about how I encountered God. Cassi then led a Christmas lesson to them in a brilliant way. It was very encouraging to us.

The next day was a very joyful and memorable day for us with Cassi Coleman. She was in our country twice for about seven and a half months helping our ministry. She knows us very well. We enjoyed Nepali food at the Yak & Yeti restaurant. I had the opportunity to take a nap in her Ford RV and did some deputation ministry work at the desk in the car. In the evening, she brought us to a small bible study group of the Denver Friends. We are thankful to Phil and Kay Burgi for coordinating this group. We shared our ministry there and most of them asked questions. We thank the Lord that he also provided some partners from this group.

On December 15, we had the opportunity to meet Vicki and John at a coffee shop after a very long time. We remember that we stayed at their house once many years back and they took some of the beautiful mountain places. We shared many memories and told ministry updates. It was a real joy to see them face to face. In the evening Patrick and Christy took us to the Water World in Denver to show the Christmas lights. It was so colorful and beautiful. We enjoyed it a lot. Thanks, Patrick and Christy for your love, fellowship, prayer, and care.

We are thankful to Jim and Becky Towne for hosting us in their home, making our room warm, and cooking salmon fish, and shrimp which was a favorite for me and E. M. also loves salmon fish. We had the opportunity to speak about our ministry during the Sunday school hour and for a short time during the morning service at the First Friends Church in Colorado Springs. We had a good group of people who responded to our ministry very positively. Edwin also had an opportunity to be with a youth group in the evening. We had a short but memorable tour to see the “Garden of gods” on a sunny afternoon with Jim. It is an amazing work of God.

We came back to Wichita and stayed at David and Jennifer Wells’ home for our Christmas vacation. We appreciate their love, generosity, and respect for us. We had a very good family Christmas time with the Wells family. We are very much thankful to Dr. Kevin Hoppock for his great love for us. He became our family doctor. He checked our health for the second time to ensure that we were in good health. We are very much thankful to Matt and Carrie for their special Christmas treat of homemade, the very best ice cream, and Macy burgers on December 23. We had lots of fun and games at their house. We also are grateful to Jeff and Jann for inviting us on Christmas day to have a Christmas breakfast. The house was full of people. It seems to me that we are in a real church program. Thanks for their love and hospitality.

We had a good fellowship time with one of my professors at Fort Worth, Houston on the way to the Summit. We were so blessed with him and his wife. The Summit was awesome. I had the opportunity to share the testimony of my calling in the ministry. We tried to encourage young people to respond to the call of Jesus on mission. We were very much blessed to celebrate the 31st night together with my both son and other friends in Summit.

If we look back, we can see our lives are full of blessings that we do not deserve. We are thankful for all his mercy and kindness. Please pray for our last month of stay in the US. We will be back in our country on February 1. Pray for our health. M. needs to do laser surgery in the retina on her left eye on January 19. I am having some health issues that need to be done quickly. We need to finish our medical care before leaving the US. Pray that our health becomes smooth and strong. Also, pray for our meaningful vacation time together with family before returning home to our country. We give all glory to God as he is leading us in this country.

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. (Psalm 28:7)

Thank you very much for your faithful prayer and generosity. You are a great source of encouragement for us. May the Lord bless you

Regards,

A. and M. A.

Serving together in Bangladesh

You can support us through prayer and financial giving. We need and appreciate both so that we can reach 100% in both areas before heading back to Bangladesh. We currently have 765 prayer partners and have a goal of raising it to 800. If you know anyone who would like to pray for our ministry, please forward this form to them.

We are now fully funded in recurring ministry support needs if previous recurring financial partners continue! If you are a current monthly supporter, thank you. It is important to let EFM know that you plan to continue or increase your giving. We still have a need to raise $3,700 of $5,000 to help with one-time travel costs and upgrades to our devices for deputation.

If you are not currently giving, would you please prayerfully consider supporting our ministry in Bangladesh? There are four ways to partner with us:

• Online. Visit https://catalog.friendsmission.com/ama. You’ll be given the opportunity to indicate whether you are making a recurring or one-time gift.
• Credit Card. This may be given online (as stated above) or by calling the EFM office (303-421-8100) to give your information to a live person.
• Automatic Bank Transfer. Download the form here and email it to Debby McElroy (EFM Bookkeeper) at debby@friendsmission.com. Please note that ACH payments are processed on the 10th or 25th of the month.
• Check. Mail a check to EFM, P.O. Box 771139, Wichita, KS 67277. Make sure to mark your check “A. and M. A. Support” and note if you will be giving on a recurring basis (monthly, quarterly, etc.). Pay to the order of “EFM.”

The post A. and M. A. Deputation Ministry Update: December 12-31, 2023 first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

We are happy to meet Pastor Larry and Pastor Carlos at the Canyon Hills Church. Thanks for their love and prayer. We pray that the church will partner with us. We are also thankful to Mrs. Claudia Gehele at Canyon Hill Friends Church. We talked about the ongoing Jesus Film ministry in Bangladesh and showed some of JF showing pictures. She is very much excited to reach non-Christians in our country through the Jesus film. Pray that the Lord fulfills her desire. We convey our gratitude to our beloved pastor Bruce Butler for his great heart to win the lost and partner with us. We are grateful to Mr. Sung Kim and Teddy Omondi for their gracious love and for sacrificing their valuable time with us at Panini Kabob Grill house for lunch. Thanks for their encouragement and prayers.

We had a very fruitful and blessed day with the Riverview Church people in Bonsal, California. Thanks for their faithful prayer and giving for the last 23 years. We were honored by the mission board members through a Christmas dinner at Scenic Ranch. We express our gratefulness to Floyd who coordinated with board members. We also are thankful to pastor Mel, Don, and Carlos for their great contribution. We had the opportunity to share our ministry with the Adult Bible Group on Sunday morning and were introduced at both church services at 9:15 and 11 am. Edwin had the opportunity to share his experience with the youth group. It was encouraging to him and the group. Thank Melvyn and Sue Michaelian for inviting us to their house for a lunch fellowship with us. Thank you, Damian Helling, for calling us even though you were not able to meet with us at the church. Gregg, we are sorry that we met but could not talk. We are very thankful to Rob and Betty Keenan for taking us to the Bob Burton Theater on the Fallbrook High School campus to enjoy the Nutcracker ballet performance. The whole family and relatives were with us. We are very thankful to Randy and Rose Howard for hosting us in their house with much love and care. May the Lord bless them and be glorified through their lives. We ask mercy to Elise Paty for bringing us out and bringing us into the airport on time. May the Lord bless her new married life.

There I saw a handwritten statement on a whiteboard in a ranch: “Fear is a reaction; courage is a decision.” Our prayer to God is that he gives us the courage to face fear in all situations in our lives.

Thank you very much for your faithful prayer and generosity. May the Lord bless you.

Regards,

A. and M. A.

Serving together in Bangladesh

Below is our general schedule. If you would like to schedule an opportunity to see us while we are in your area, you can fill out this form or contact us at ama@friendsmission.com. You can also call our US cell phones at 316-304-8373 (Albert) or 316-308-2473 (Metali).

December 12-18 Colorado (Denver and Colorado Springs)

January 3-14: Kansas

You can support us through prayer and financial giving. We need and appreciate both so that we can reach 100% in both areas before heading back to Bangladesh. We currently have 762 prayer partners and have a goal of raising it to 800. If you know anyone who would like to pray for our ministry, please forward this form to them.

We are now fully funded in recurring ministry support needs if previous recurring financial partners continue! If you are a current monthly supporter, thank you. It is important to let EFM know that you plan to continue or increase your giving. We also have a need of $5,000 to help with one-time travel costs and upgrades to our devices for deputation.

If you are not currently giving, would you please prayerfully consider supporting our ministry in Bangladesh? There are four ways to partner with us:

• Online. Visit https://catalog.friendsmission.com/ama. You’ll be given the opportunity to indicate whether you are making a recurring or one-time gift.
• Credit Card. This may be given online (as stated above) or by calling the EFM office (303-421-8100) to give your information to a live person.
• Automatic Bank Transfer. Download the form here and email it to Debby McElroy (EFM Bookkeeper) at debby@friendsmission.com. Please note that ACH payments are processed on the 10th or 25th of the month.
• Check. Mail a check to EFM, P.O. Box 771139, Wichita, KS 67277. Make sure to mark your check “A. and M. A. Support” and note if you will be giving on a recurring basis (monthly, quarterly, etc.). Pay to the order of “EFM.”

The post Deputation Ministry Update: December 5-11, 2023 first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Jan Cammack became a great blessing to all of us, but especially to Edwin. Jan had completed her Ph. D on Organic Chemistry, and she helped E. a lot to understand chemical reactions and related lessons. She also demonstrated some chemical reactions that can be used as an objective lesson to share the gospel. It was awesome. She is very organized and a good planner. She became our GPS here in Oregon. We just simply follow her. We thank the Lord for her life and love for the Lord.

On November 4, me and E. went to the Chehalem Friends church in the morning to speak at the men’s breakfast. It was a good time with some very dedicated godly people. We thank God for that. In the afternoon, I had a good talk with Pastor Nike LeMonds of Forge Life in a coffee shop in Newberg. I have learned about his transformed life and passion for the lost. May the Lord use him mightily to bring many young people to Him who are living without Jesus.

Sunday, November 5 was a very special day for us. We had a morning speaking engagement at Newberg Friends Church combined with Sunday School classes. Dr. Chuck Mylander introduced us to a large group of people. We shared our ministry with them. We were introduced to the Sunday service. Joe Thouvenal delivered a gospel message entitled “He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand…” It was a very good sermon with several reflection questions. We gathered at a Potluck after service. We have a wonderful question-and-answer time with many people.

On November 7 we visited several waterfalls including Multnomah Fall and Bonneville Lock & Dam in Oregon for the whole day. It was awesome. It reminds me how beautifully God has made everything for us, and we should be very much grateful for all his blessings.

November 8 was the most important day for the EFM family because it was the day to discuss, seek direction from the Lord, and propose to select new ministry fields for sending missionary households in 2025. I have observed oneness in discussion and dedication in prayers. We celebrated the 60th Anniversary of EFM followed by a Banquet at Oregon Zoo. It was a time of honoring God and expressing our gratitude to the Lord and all who were involved in mission work. We had a wonderful dinner fellowship at Jan’s house with some godly men and women including B. and D. A. The next day morning we went to visit one of our long-time partners and friends at Mustard Seed Farm in Newberg. As we were about to leave the house, Hudson, the dog of Jan Cammack ran to Jan and started to plead to take him with us. He was pleading again and again. It seems to me that a son is pleading with his father something he likes. He was longing to go with his master. His expectation was very simple but very sincere. It reminds me that we have a faithful God who loves us and cares for us. We must long for his fellowship and our prayer should be very humble, simple, and sincere. Hudson opens me again about my intentional relationship with my heavenly Father.

We are so thankful to Jan Cammack and Marilyn Harmon for arranging a short vacation after a very busy week of ministry. We’re very grateful to Marilyn and her brother who graciously offered us their beach house to stay and provided different kinds of sea food to enjoy at beach house. We enjoyed the sunny beach and nature there. On the way back to Newberg, we visited Tillamook cheese factory and other nature. We saw a very old cedar tree “Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) which is estimated to be 800-1200 years old. We have a lot of fun and enjoy with nature and it remined us the song, “How Great Thou Art…When through the woods, and forest glades I wander, And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees. When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.”

Our last ministry in Newberg was with the youth group. M. cooked Bengali food that was all eaten by them. I think they loved it. E. helped the group make a ball with paper and an unused polyethene bag and played like cricket. It was fun. I shared some video clips that teach about our culture and country. Then I spoke about our ministry. Our time was closed by a group of prayers.

We’re very much thankful to Jan Cammack who was a guiding angel for us in our time in Oregon. She took good care of us, opened her house to stay, cooked for us, took every place where we needed to go, contacted people as many as she could, helped us to keep busy with the ministry and people and so on. We are very thankful to her love and generosity. May the Lord bless her richly.

As we have joy in our present deputation ministry here in the USA, we also have disappointment. But God is always good to us. Our next destination would be in Sequim, WA, Iowa and California area. Pray that the Lord provides at least one person in each place we share who will be willing to partner with us either by praying or giving.

Regards,

A. and M.A.

Serving together in Bangladesh

The post A. and M. A. Deputation Ministry Update: October 31-November 15, 2023 first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

We are also very much thankful to Dr. Dean Wiebracht and his wife Linda. He was my mission professor in my theological school in the Philippines. Linda was Metali’s team leader and taught her much about women’s ministry. Every time we came to the USA they used to meet with us. Last 2019, we stayed at their house at Cineber, WA. and they introduced us to his church people. Dr. Dean is sick, but he arranged a Zoom meeting to talk with us. We are very much thankful for their great love, faithful prayer, and financial support.

Drew Davenport, pastor of the Angleton Community Friends Church arranged a dinner party with some of his church members at Olive Garden Italian Restaurant. The next day we all, especially Edwin, played on a go cart. It was fun. On the 26th, the weather was not good. It was raining. But we ate a very special fish that day called halibut. Dennis caught fish from the Gulf of Alaska by hook. Eileen is a good cook I need to admit.

The 27th was a memorable day for E. He drove a go cart on a track with others and played video game at LeeRoy’s ESPORTS. October 28th was a fun and busy day for us. Shooting practice in the morning, car show in the afternoon, and dinner fellowship in the evening. We are very much thankful to Margarett Johnson who contacted us earlier for this dinner fellowship. I am very much thankful to Dennis for the shooting practice that reminded me again to be consistent for better results. Also, we watched three animal documentary films; one was about dogs, the second was about the eagle, and the third that I was touched by is “My Octopus Teacher.” It is a touching documentary about how a man can fall in love with an Octopus.

Sunday the 29th was also a busy day for us. We spoke at the Community Friends Church in Angleton in the morning. Thanks to all church member for their love, care, and partnership with us. A former missionary couple who worked in Bangladesh came to talk with us when they learned that we were there. They are from another church denomination from Dunberry. We had a very good potluck fellowship lunch and table talk with many people. We drove back to Pearland and took a little rest in the afternoon and then headed to attend a fellowship group at Bayshore Friends Church. I am very much thankful to Pastor Karl Newmann and mission coordinator Shirley McDaniel for their effort to arrange a fellowship with the committed church member within a very short time. We were very happy that many asked many questions to know better our ministry.

Thank you also for your love, prayer, and sharing. We took a rest on Monday and are now ready to move to the Oregon area. We will be in that area from November 1-13 and then we will move to Vancouver and Washington area. Please pray that our time with different church people and friends be fruitful.

Pray that the Lord open the hearts of many people to be our partner through prayer and giving to win billions of unreached people for Christ in Bangladesh

Regards,
A. and M.A.
Serving together in Bangladesh

The post AMA Deputation Update #4 first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.