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Although illegal, temple prostitution is still alive in parts of India, Christian worker says

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By Kate Taylor

KARNATAKA, India — Imagine living in a society in which you are judged by your station in life, determined by your birth, rather than by your individual worth or accomplishments. As a member of the lowest rung of society, you can barely keep food on the table for your wife and two daughters.

When your wife becomes ill after giving birth to a third daughter who, unlike the son you had hoped for, will be an unbearable financial burden, you have only one choice: You must dedicate your daughter to the goddess as a devadasis, a temple prostitute.

By dedicating your baby, you have given her a profession and a way to obtain food for her family. Perhaps the goddess will now show favor to your family, sparing your wife’s life and filling her womb with the long-awaited boy child. Your daughter’s sacrifice is small compared to your entire family’s alternative fate of starvation. If her body is the price the goddess asks, it must be paid.

In India, the devadasi (day-vah-dah-see) system, a Hindu practice of temple prostitution, has existed for more than 5,000 years, says David Dass, executive director of the India Gospel League. In the state of Karnataka, where he and his wife live, starving families dedicate hundreds of girls each year to the goddess Yellamma. The children are forced to begin a life of prostitution at age 11 or 12.

“From the very beginning, they’re being exploited as babies,” says Annette Romick, a humanitarian aid worker in India. “Then, when they hit maturity, their bodies are exploited by men. Even when their bodies are no longer desirable to men, they are still exploited and abused because that stigma is on them. They can never escape from it. It’s a trap that they’re stuck in; it’s a living hell that they’re experiencing.”

The word devadasi literally translates to “god’s female servant.” Parents usually choose to dedicate their daughters as infants to the goddess Yellamma, in hopes of gaining the goddess’ favor or easing a financial burden.

Once dedicated, a girl is considered to be married to the goddess and is never allowed to marry a man. When the girl reaches physical maturity, she is forced to begin her life as a prostitute.

“Since 1982, the devadasi system has been banned by the government of India and Karnataka,” says Joseph Paul, a Christian pastor ministering among devadasis. “But there are underground practices – nobody knows how they practice and how they dedicate.”

Because the devadasis practice has gone underground, the women work mostly from their homes, only visiting the temple to beg money from worshippers. Many of the prostitutes are trafficked to the red light districts of Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and other large cities.

“Our parents gave us birth and threw us on the street. Men come and use us, finish their job and go,” says Sugandha, a former devadasis receiving assistance from a non-governmental organization.

In the Hindu religion, devadasis have hope for a better life only through the cycle of rebirth. Few devadasis have ever heard the name of Jesus Christ who offers hope for this life and for eternity.

“Their lives have been ruined, and they feel like trash that’s just been used over and over again and just discarded,” Romick says. “They need to know the love of Christ and the only way that they’re going to have that is if we go and tell them.”

Devadasis come mainly from impoverished families of the untouchables class, the lowest rung of Hindu society. They are used and exploited by men. Sometimes they receive compensation for their services, sometimes not. A vulnerable population, the devadasis are susceptible to HIV, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

“Not only are they shunned because of their profession, but they’re shunned by society because of their status,” Romick says. “They’re the lowest of the low. They’re not even in the caste system – they’re outside the caste system.”

A number of human needs organizations are working to prevent the continuation of the underground devadasi system, but the practice is still widespread throughout India; estimates range from tens to hundreds of thousands of devadasis in the country.

A devadasis who discovers a relationship with Christ, Dass says, becomes a powerful witness in her community: a witness against the practice that enslaved her and for the Savior who set her free. “It’s like the woman at the well,” Dass explains. “Jesus asked questions and finally she realized, ‘Hey, here is the person whom I know that He is the Messiah.’ Then she goes out, calling other women and bringing them and telling, ‘Here is the answer for our problem.’”

Education and awareness are essential components to bring about the end of the devadasis system. Of the women themselves, Dass says, “Equip them, empower them, mentor them, train them, disciple them and put them back [in their communities] and you’ll see what the Lord does.”

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Caring for a beggar man opens doors to share the Gospel

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By Janae Herd

MUMBAI, India — It is not uncommon to see beggars at train stations in Mumbai. Often, they are individuals who are physically impaired. They will lay in the middle of the platform and rattle a tin can in which those passing by can drop rupee coins. Sometimes people give food and others give money. However, this day, when Bea Anther* saw the man laying on the platform, she could tell he was different.

He was about fourteen years old and lying in his own waste. People were rushing past him, avoiding stepping on him, but not paying any attention otherwise. Anther saw him and stopped. Frozen in place, she didn’t know what to do. She thought of Jesus’ words in Luke 10. Approaching the man, she bent down and asked him, “Aap ka naam kyaa hain?” Hindi for, “What is your name?” The young man’s response was “pani, pani.” He croaked out the Hindi word for “water.”

Anther bought three water bottles, a new set of clothes, soap, flowers, and two dosas (Indian food). With onlookers staring and taking pictures, she helped this man drink water. He was unable to sit up or grip the water bottle on his own.

Once he had gotten some water into his system, he regained a little strength. In the States, Anther worked in a hospital and that day, she went into “hospital mode.” She started bathing the man with the bottled water and soap.

Some passengers started helping her as they were waiting for their train. People kept asking, “Why are you doing this?” A worker from the railway station told her that this young man had been laying there for seven days. By the end of his bath, he was sitting up on his own, eating the dosa.

She said, “I am follower of Christ. I do this because I love and obey Christ.” She showed them in her pocket Bible where Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan. She caught the next train, saying a prayer.

The next week, Kavita,* our househelper, comes in with a newspaper in the local language. However, Hindi is the trade language of all of India and is what we speak. The front page news is of Anther cleaning up this man at the railway station.

Ever since we started seeing Kavita* (over a year ago) we have tried to tell her about Jesus. About His love. She had never wanted to listen and always replied, “Ganpati” to indicate that she follows the Hindu god Ganesh.

That day, however, she was interested. We had no idea what the article said about Anther, but Kavita was interested. She kept asking, “Why did you do this?” In broken Hindi, Anther told the story of the Good Samaritan. She told Kavita that it is only because of the love of Jesus that she helped this man. Kavita asked for a Bible. That day, she took home a Bible in her heart language. She has been reading it at night and also going to a prayer meeting somewhere near her home.

A few days ago, Anther and I went to the station where the young man had been laying. He was no longer there. We asked some men who have shops around the station and they told us that the man had gone away. We don’t know his name or where he went. But he went.

Please pray for Kavita to have understanding when she reads the Word and a desire to follow the living God, Jesus’ Father.

God is alive. He is working in the lives of His children.

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*Name changed.

Janae Herd is an IMB representative in South Asia.

FIRST PERSON: The whisper of God

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By Gene Yaussy

BANGLADESH — She sits next to me with virtually all her earthly possessions on her frail body. Her weak voice tells of a husband’s death, a son’s desertion, and a daughter’s distance. She has come to speak with the people who gave her hope.

She shares the atrocities of her life with calm resolve and acceptance. She has virtually no food and no means of providing for herself. The community she lives in offers her no help because she has denied their religion and believed in Jesus to save her from the death of her sin. This faith has brought her the security of a future with her Lord. Beyond her faith she has nothing. She is reduced to a few articles of clothing and a shelter for a home. She is more than 80 years old and knows that she will soon die. She could renounce her faith and be welcomed back into society, be reunited with her son, and receive proper care in the final years of her life.

She cannot read and has no Bible to go to for encouragement. She has only the simple faith that was taught to her many years ago by faithful servants of God. I imagine that as she sits in her home over the next months, as her food diminishes, her body weakens, and her life slips away that her Lord will whisper something in her ears that I will never hear because I have never trusted Him like this. She has something far more valuable than the money for food, clothing, anything. She has the whisper of God.

Tonight she will return to her village home. She will go there joyful that she has had one last opportunity to see her spiritual parents. The next time they are together will be in the glories of heaven. Now she will return to the shelter she calls home and wait. She will wait until the food is gone. She will wait because that is all she can do. She knows God’s promise of salvation and now without words she will testify to the community around her that her faith is more important to her than life itself.

Can you see her? Can you imagine the shelter where she is sleeping? Can you imagine the hunger pains and the sickness she will endure over the remaining months or years of her life? Now, can you imagine the comfort that our Lord is giving her? Every time someone derides her faith and scoffs at her condition God is there speaking to her with words that cannot be uttered. He is holding her with arms that cannot be seen. He is covering her better than any clothing and protecting her better than any home.

Her faith is strong because it is the only thing she has. Her testimony is strong because she values it more than life itself. Her legacy of faith will speak to generations. She will die with nothing except that which is everything. Tonight I will go to sleep to the sounds of my iPod but she may be listening to the chorus of the saints.

There are millions of people here in Bangladesh who have never had the opportunity to hear about this wonderful faith. Although IMB representatives Tom and Gloria Thurman served here for 35 years and saw this woman come to faith there are still more that need to hear. They would rather their names not mentioned here, but were it not for them I would not be here. It is my desire that through this story that you are moved to greater involvement in the lives of the peoples of Bangladesh. Today, please say a prayer for this woman, for the Thurmans, for me, and for the place God would have you serve in reaching the peoples of Bangladesh with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Can you hear God’s whisper?

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Gene Yaussy is an IMB representative in Bangladesh.

Fearfully and wonderfully made: Muslims in Bangladesh find value in God

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On the 13th floor of a Dhaka, Bangladesh, industrial high-rise, a factory manager keeps tabs on production as the day nears lunchtime. Bangladeshi garment makers produce designer branded clothing to export for consumers around the world.

By Caroline Anderson

DHAKA, Bangladesh–She’s 26 and has a 12 year-old daughter.

Married at eight years old, Ibriz Abaza * became a woman before I said goodbye to my Barbies.

Abaza never played with a Barbie. She didn’t have sleepovers at friends’ houses. She didn’t have time to giggle with pre-teen girlfriends over the cute boy in school. She was married before she ever thought boys were cute.

Abaza lost her innocence before she even went through puberty.

“How many years have you been married?” one of Abaza’s friends asks me as we sit around a dinner table after house church.

I tell them I’m not married. The fact that I’m in my mid-20s and unmarried is a novelty for many in Bangladesh.

Child marriage is still practiced in many areas of rural Bangladesh. According to the United Nations Bangladesh has a child marriage rate of 64 percent.

Abaza is one of the 64 percent.

Abaza left her village to work in a garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital city. She worked long hours to produce the clothes that are found on the shelves of major clothing stores in Europe and America.

Bangladesh is known for its two main exports: garments and people. Thousands of Bangladeshis work as migrant workers internationally.

Abaza tells me she has no husband now. She’s a single mom and is fighting to support her two children.

As she adjusts her head covering and tells me that she left her job at the garment factory. She now makes handmade purses that she sells in markets and to foreigners who visit Bangladesh.

Abaza, a Muslim, heard the Gospel through Kohinoor Madari,* a Muslim background believer who lives in Dhaka. Madari was challenged in a recent discipleship training conducted by IMB workers to write down the names of three people with whom she could share the Gospel.

“They were taught to share the Gospel and to share their testimonies,” Travis Strauder* said. Strauder and his wife Madison* work with Muslims and Muslim background believers in Dhaka. They are working with a national partner to host church planting and discipleship trainings.

“In three or four months, we’ve already seen 19 baptisms and we haven’t even gotten to the training on baptism yet,” Strauder said.

Madari is one of the growing numbers of Muslim background believers in this predominantly Muslim nation. The cost of turning from Islam is high. Many Muslim background believers are beaten and thrown out of their homes. Madari’s husband left her when he heard she became a Christian.

That didn’t stop her from believing and sharing her joy with others. Madari feels like she has value now. Most women in Bangladesh grow up hearing that their only value is to cook, clean and have babies. Most don’t have a choice when and to whom they get married.

Madari now knows she is fearfully and wonderfully made and is an important part of God’s Kingdom. She knows she is needed to tell others, like Abaza, about God.

Abaza hasn’t believed yet. She’s attended jamaat, a house church for Muslim background believers, and is open to hearing more about the Gospel from Madari.

Though Abaza will never get her childhood back, I pray that one day she’ll learn she is a precious child of God.

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*Name changed.

Caroline Anderson is a journeyman writer based in Southeast Asia.

Beggars in Bangladesh find food, Christ

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The center staff members visit the girls' mothers regularly to ask about the families' needs and pray with their mothers.

Baptist Press, Oct 12, 2011: http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=36324

BANGLADESH (BP) — Najia Khatun* knows what her life would be like without the Light of Hope Center in Bangladesh. She knows she would be hungry. She knows she would be uneducated. She knows she would be working long hours at a garment factory.

Najia knows — and she is grateful.

“Before there were a lot of problems in my family. There was no money for food,” 17-year-old Najia said. “Now I have a job, and I am able to help my family. I am the main breadwinner in my family.”

Najia and her 14-year-old sister, Amila Khatun,* began studying at the Light of Hope Center when it first opened in September 2006. Light of Hope continues in operation today with help from the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund.

Najia and Amila — like the other 12 girls who come to the center — live in a slum of tiny bamboo houses that have tin roofs and mud floors. While these seem to be only temporary homes set on swampland or along railroad tracks, the families do have landlords who expect rent money. Najia’s father comes and goes, taking money from the family but never contributing any. Their mother doesn’t work. One older sister is sick, and the other siblings have married and moved away. Najia and Amila are expected to bring home money, however they can get it.

Some of the girls at the center were raised by beggars to become beggars; others have mothers who work as prostitutes, a center staff worker said. But inside the Light of Hope Center, that world fades away. The girls eat a healthy breakfast, take showers, put on clean school uniforms, hear Bible teaching and sing Christian songs, and then begin their studies in the Bangla language, math, spelling, science, grammar and English. Before they leave to go to their places of work as paid apprentices or trainees, World Hunger Fund dollars feed the girls again — a hearty lunch of rice and lentils with vegetables, eggs, fish or meat.

“Experiencing even in a very small way the lifestyle of beggar families … just being around them on the street, almost makes you feel helpless, like there’s nothing you can even do for them,” said Isla Metzger,* who recently came from the Midwest to minister for six months at the Light of Hope Center. “But then I was reminded that these girls are from those circumstances and that this is something that can help them get out of that.”

Providing lasting help — the kind that will help cure hunger and prevent the cycle of poverty from proliferating — was exactly the goal of the two American Christian women who founded the center.

“I knew that just giving [beggars] money was not going to help the situation,” Southern Baptist Geri Hennerman* said. “I wanted to do something that was going to help them long-term. Sharing Christ with them is going to help them for eternity; but also to give them some skills and education, that will help them get jobs and provide for their families.”

Najia works as a Bangla tutor and hopes to become a translator. Amila has studied under a housekeeper, has learned to make jewelry, and currently attends a sewing class. Najia’s best friend, Lili Sabarna,* works as a nanny in an American family’s home.

A student enjoys a healthy lunch of rice, lentils and vegetables at the Light of Hope Center. The World Hunger Fund provides two meals a day for these girls, meals that they likely would not eat otherwise.

“For my family, they have given me a job, and my family is able to be helped by [gifts of] food or medicine,” Lili said. “I have learned how to read and write, school in general. I’ve learned about Jesus. I’ve become a believer. I don’t know who gave us that but…..”

Lili’s family is Hindu; Najia and Amila’s family is Muslim, as are the families of most of the girls. Several of the girls, including Lili, Najia and Amila, are now followers of Jesus Christ who are growing daily in their walk with Him, said Jane Wise,* the center’s director.

“Thank you so much for allowing God to provide through your giving,” Wise said. “It is allowing the girls to continue coming to the center.”

The Lord directed Hennerman to Zechariah 9:16-17a, as part of her vision for the center. It says “the LORD their God will save them…. They will sparkle in His land like jewels in a crown. How attractive and beautiful they will be!”

“Most people in the world would just see them as nothing, as trash, but I was seeing them as these precious jewels, basically that God was going to take and make them something,” Hennerman said. “We’ve just watched some of them come from little girls to become little women. And they are women who love the Lord and want to serve Him.”

Yes, Najia is grateful, for she knows well what life would be like if there were no Light of Hope Center.

“I would be at a garment factory. I would not know how to read or write. I would not know about Jesus,” she said. “I think that God directed [one of the founders] to my house because He knew that one day I would follow Him and decide to go His path for my life. I know that God placed this center here for me.”
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*Name changed. Goldie Frances is a writer in South Asia. www.bpnews.net. Used by permission.

Give to the World Hunger Fund

This is Bangladesh: A poem

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By Madison Strauder

Beautiful people with brown eyes and raven hair
Women adorned in a kaleidoscope of colors
Bangles and nose rings display their marriage, their heritage, their style
Little children’s stares and giggles as you look their way
This is Bangladesh

The brick breaker’s toil to feed a family
The rickshawallas daily rounds as he navigates the streets
A difficult life and a hard working spirit
Simple pleasure of a little baksheesh [tip] and a cup of tea during a break
This is Bangladesh

A down-to-earth life with little need for Western ways
Living off the land and managing with no power
Hospitality that goes beyond their means
Adoring their children and respecting their elders
This is Bangladesh

The desire to spread their wings and fly
Coupled with attachment and respect for their home
Passion and sacrifice for a nation
Pride and joy in their identity and language
This is Bangladesh

High rise buildings and bustling crowds
Quiet rice fields and the sound of children playing
Miles of rivers with overflowing ferries
Dhaka streets full of rickshaws ringing their bells
This is Bangladesh

Cricket, soccer and Dhallywood films
Biriyani, curry, dried fish and jackfruit
A market full of people bargaining for their goods
The joys of a celebration and the festivity of holidays
This is Bangladesh

A beautiful people loved by a Savior
160 million lost in their sins
He knows each one of them by name
He died for them, “Will you go tell them?”
This is His Bangladesh

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Madison Strauder is an IMB worker based in Dhaka, who is focused on ministry to Muslims.

This is a poem that God gave me one day as I was focusing on all the negative things about where He has placed us. He convicted my heart and reminded me of many of the wonderful aspects of Bangladesh. I pray that He will teach you a little about this country and call you to pray for her masses.

FIRST PERSON: Shadow of a legend

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Tom Thurman, who was an IMB representative in Bangladesh for 35 years, sits on the porch in the early hours of the morning with his Bible in hand. Everyday, he and his wife Gloria welcomed countless visitors to their home.

By Gene Yaussy

BANGLADESH — If you ask anyone where the “Thurman Shaheb (boss) Bus Stand” is located they will easily tell you because it is one of the busiest places in the area. Everyone knows the place by this name though many have forgotten or never knew the Thurman family that lived in Bangladesh for 35 years.

Tom and Gloria Thurman served and ministered to Bangladeshis with selfless love and devotion. Since leaving some 10 years ago they have continued to serve the people by encouraging young families to come give their lives to serve the people.

I watched Tom sitting on the porch in the early hours of the morning with his Bible in hand for a week as we stayed in his village home. Everyday they welcomed countless visitors to their home and participated in services at a local church they helped to establish many years before.

People from all walks of life and all faiths came to say thank you to their friends. They met young men who were able to attend college because they went without A/C to give more for education. They met children who were serving the Lord because Tom had led their father to faith. Gloria hugged the masses of women that were aided by her medical clinics and care.

Most who came would bow and touch their feet as a sign of respect and honor. We were covered in flower petals and tears everywhere we went. I have never seen such joy in the faces of people. Children were happy to meet the people they had only known from the stories their parents had shared.

What were the great things the Thurmans did for these people to make them so happy at their return?

They gave them Jesus.

They did not bring riches or ease of life. In fact for many to follow the faith of the Thurmans cost them everything. They lost homes, jobs, family, friends, everything.

Yet, they are here celebrating the return of the ones who brought them what was of greater value than anything this world can offer. The Thurmans will not leave their children much of an earthly inheritance when they pass from this life.

What they will leave is a legacy of faithfulness that will testify to the generations of the love of Jesus.

Their lives will not be written about in history books or magazine articles, but it is written where it counts, in the hearts of those they served. I pray God will allow me the opportunity to serve as faithfully as Tom and Gloria Thurman.

I pray that one day I will leave a legacy of faithfulness for the next generation to follow. I pray that my children will look out each day and see their father sitting faithfully with the word of God and seeking to give the gift of Jesus to all. That is the legacy the Thurmans seek to leave, the legacy of Jesus.

To God be the glory for all that he has done and is doing through the lives of Tom and Gloria Thurman.

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Gene Yaussy is an IMB representative in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh marks 40 years as a nation

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Meena Alom sells flowers to visitors at the national memorial of Bangladeshi independence outside Dhaka. In the fifty-four years since the end of British colonial rule, the Bangladeshi people have faced a struggle to retain their identity, first to retain Bangla as the national language and, forty years ago, to gain their independence from Pakistan.

NOTE: December 16, 2011 is Bangladesh’s Liberation Day, the 40th anniversary of their independence from Pakistan. Please remember to pray for the people of Bangladesh.

By Caroline Anderson

DHAKA, Bangladesh–A Bangladeshi man picks up his microphone and begins to sing. He’s a muezzin, a man appointed by the mosque to herald the call to prayer. Five times a day, devout Muslims unfurl their mats, face Mecca and pray to Allah.

As the call to prayer begins, it wafts around corners, over buildings and finally seeps into a nearby Baptist church building where men and women gather to worship God.

The pastor pauses at the podium, distracted momentarily by the call to prayer. He clasps the microphone and continues preaching from Psalms.

On the eve of the anniversary of their nation’s independence, Christians in Bangladesh say they have more to celebrate, like the inroads they are making into Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim communities in this predominantly Muslim nation.

This December, this nation of more than 158 million people will celebrate its 40th anniversary as a country. December 16 is known as Liberation Day and marks the date when Bangladesh (then called East Pakistan) won its independence from Pakistan in 1971.

Southern Baptist history in Bangladesh
The first Southern Baptists came to Bangladesh in 1957 by boat. Burt Galvin,* an IMB worker , has served in South Asia for the past 17 years.

Galvin said when the first Southern Baptists came to Bangladesh there were only 11 churches in a convention with doctrinal beliefs that aligned with Southern Baptists.

In the first 20 years of Southern Baptist work in Bangladesh, only five churches were added to their partner convention, said Galvin. And, in the 1970s, a new strategy developed for sharing the Gospel that led to a church planting movement among Hindus.

“Within 15 to 20 years, 200 churches were planted,“ Galvin said.

In the 1980s, a church planting movement started among Bangladesh’s tribal people groups. Around 200 churches started through this movement.

Today there are 475 churches in this convention that represent Hindu, Buddhist and some Muslim-background believers across the nation. This number continues to grow as IMB workers and national believers continue to share with an increasingly receptive audience.

“It gives me the goosebumps,” Jacci Aurora* said. Aurora and her husband serve in Bangladesh among Bangladesh’s tribal people groups. “We’re seeing the results from those who served in the past.”

Though significant strides have been made, Christians in Bangladesh account for well under one percent of the total population.

Most of the churches planted in the past 40 years are comprised of believers from Hindu or Buddhist backgrounds, Galvin said.

Muslims account for around 85 percent of Bangladesh’s population. Ministry among Muslims has taken off in the past 15 years.

Darryl Pogue,* an IMB worker estimates that since 1997 there have been more than 10,000 baptisms and 1,500 house churches started among Muslims in Bangladesh. Currently, there are six church planting movements among Muslims related to IMB workers and Southern Baptist volunteers.

While Christians comprise less than one-tenth of one percent of the Bangladeshi population, the national church possesses leaders committed to the task of reaching their nation with the Gospel. "You have to sacrifice something to get something better," said Hem Sarkar*, a national Christian and worship leader who is being sent by his church to seminary in the Philippines.

Bangladeshi believers come from various religious backgrounds
In the 40 years since independence, Muslim imams have become church planters, Buddhist tribal leaders discovered heaven is for real and Hindu priests set aside their gods for the one true God.

Jibril Zaman* a former imam, risked everything by sharing his testimony over a loudspeaker in his mosque. Thirty imams now call Jesus Lord because of Zaman. He’s received discipleship training from IMB workers and is putting it into practice.

Suraj Chakma,* partners with IMB workers to share the Gospel among the Chakmas, a Buddhist people group in Bangladesh. Suraj continues to share despite persecution from Buddhist monks in the area.

Mathura Boren Tripura* was the first person in his community of Tripura tribal people to believe. There are now 100 churches in his area. Among these tribes, there are second and third generation believers who are now sending out their own evangelists to share with other people groups.

Guarav Dutta,* a former Brahmin priest, has seen hundreds accept Christ through his witness. His vision is for 10 percent of Bangladesh’s population to be saved before he dies. He’s 58 years old.

A church planting movement among Muslims
Travis and Madison Strauder* are praying for a church planting movement among Muslims in Dhaka. The Strauders are IMB workers based in Dhaka and are focusing their ministry on Muslims.

Travis Strauder said historically many believers from the minority Hindu and Buddhist have been afraid to share with Muslims.

They are overcoming their fear, Strauder said. Believers from tribal people groups and from a Hindu background are stepping out of their comfort zone and sharing with their Muslim neighbors.

The Strauders are setting an example to follow in the church they attend. Most of the members of this church come from Christian families or from a Hindu background.

The church now does outreach in Muslim areas and are sharing the Gospel with Muslim neighbors.

Strauder partners with Qahir Hamad,* a Muslim background believer and house church pastor, to reach Muslims in Dhaka. Strauder and Hamad are in the midst of a discipleship and church planning training for the 35 members of his house church.

“We’ve already seen 19 baptisms,” Strauder said. “Nineteen might not sound like a big number, but it’s significant for us because we haven’t seen anything like that since we’ve been here.”

Strauder and Hamad’s desire is to see churches start in the homes of the 35 house church members.

This December, Strauder, Hamad and other Christians in the nation will look back on the last 40 years of ministry. They are also looking forward to the next 40 years.

“It’s a hard thing to picture, but I believe that without a doubt Bangladesh could be a completely different place in 40 years. God is doing some great things now, people are coming to faith, people are sharing their faith,” Strauder said.

“In 40 years, I don’t think that we are going to say that Bangladesh is less than one tenth of one percent Christian.”

Until that day, the call to prayer still sounds louder and Christians will remain a minority in the fourth-largest Muslim country in the world.

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*Name changed

Caroline Anderson is a journeyman writer based in Southeast Asia.

‘Aunty Biscuit’ shares Jesus in her South Asian neighborhood at Christmastime

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By Syd Malone*

In my neighborhood, the empty lots are home to transient construction workers and their families. They live in tents with plastic tarp covers. Most of their children do not go to school, but care for younger children.

Each morning and evening, as I walked my dog or walk to and from school, the kids run to greet me, calling out, “Aunty Biscuit!” It started out as them asking for a biscuit, but then, that’s just what they called me.

A national pastor in my neighborhood helped me speak with the children and their families. Together, we planned a Christmas outreach for their families. I rented a tent and flooring for a vacant lot. The pastor had a banner made, welcoming the construction workers to the Christmas Event. We had food packets prepared for each family member.

The school children from my small Christian school prepared gift bags for each of the children. For the families, my friends and I prepared blankets, soap, rice and a few spices for their gift bags. We sang special songs for the children and shared the Gospel with a flannel board.

Twenty-eight adults stood for Christ that day. Some of these, the pastor and I had already been sharing with and answering questions.

After the presentation, the guests remained seated as the pastor called out each family’s name. Volunteers passed out the gift bags and food. Our children passed out the bags to the kids. Some people came who hadn’t been invited. We asked that they wait until we had given the others their bags and food, and then we served them. Somehow, we had enough for all.

Just as we were finishing up, I noticed two well-dressed men taking photos of the foreigners and the sign. I asked the pastor what they were doing. We found out that a neighbor had contacted a conservative Hindu group.

The neighbor shook her finger at the pastor and I and verbally abused us, and told how I tried to convert the kids by giving them biscuits. She went on and on, but shut up when it was pointed out that she feeds the dogs the same biscuits I feed the poor children. She never thought to give biscuits to the kids.

Well, the pastor’s son showed up from a previous engagement, and just in time. The young men they had brought to beat us got out of the car with their sticks in hand but stopped short when they saw the son.

“Is this man your father?” they asked. When the son replied that indeed he was, the young men told the older men that they would not beat their friend’s father.

The pastor demanded to know why we couldn’t feed the poor as a part of our holiday celebration. Finally, they backed off, with the neighbor still shaking her finger at us, and we left.

Thankfully, we were able to completely finish our event. Later, the pastor and I visited each of the families as long as they were there.

One of the construction men — a father of three — was killed on the job just two weeks later. He received Christ that Christmas. After he died, we were able to share with the grieving widow and mother that he was in heaven because of his decision.

Seven months later, his fourth child was born. I gave him a Christian name. And, a new generation was claimed for Christ.

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*Name changed.

Thank you from Southern Baptist missionaries

Reply

Dear Southern Baptists:
Thank you for giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. It’s making a difference.

From: Southern Baptist missionaries all over South Asia

Dear Southern Baptists,
Because of your giving to Lottie Moon, I can recklessly pursue my calling of taking the Gospel to the nations, yet I do it with a constant security blanket because I never have to worry about where I’m going to lay my head at night, what would happen if I got sick or injured, or how I’m going to get from one place to another. All of it is taken care of, giving me the freedom to run hard and go to places where people have never heard the Good News of Jesus Christ. I know that sometimes it’s difficult to give when you can’t see the end result, but I’m thankful for Southern Baptists who faithfully give to Lottie Moon. Because of their generosity, I have been blessed with the amazing experience of being present at that moment when someone hears the name of Jesus for the very first time.

Sincerely,
Stefani Varner,* serving the people of Mumbai, India

 

Dear Southern Baptists,
Philippians 1:3,5 says I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
Thank you for seeing the need in this world and responding. You have maintained 6 missionaries in a state of 60 million people where less than 1/10 of 1 percent are believers. You have enabled us to hold 25 lay evangelism trainings in the past year for 1025 people. You have provided 100,000 tracts to be handed out in a land where God’s word is not readily available. You provided a retreat, allowing a group of missionaries to meet, pray together, worship together, and just generally refill our cups. We are so thankful for your giving.

Sincerely,
Roberta Kinder,* serving the people of India

 

Dear Southern Baptists,
We are so thankful for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering because it enables us to take the Gospel to places where it has never been. We are supported and kept on the field by the generous donations of believers in our local churches. If it were not for the LMCO many lost people would never hear about Jesus. In our country there are less than one percent believers in Jesus Christ. The rest of the 20 million people are lost. They worship a false idol that will never give them eternal life. How can they believe if they haven’t heard? How can they hear unless someone tells them? The LMCO gives us the honor of doing just that. To tell a lost and dying world of the saving Grace of Jesus Christ, so they will have the opportunity to put their faith and hope in Him.

Sincerely,
Vincent Chevalier,* serving the people of Sri Lanka

Dear Southern Baptists,
Thank you for your giving through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Because of your giving, we have been able to train people like M. She is faithfully taking the Gospel to an unreached and unengaged people group called the Pod. She has a group of 50, four of whom are baptized believers, with the rest being seekers. Her husband is not yet a believer. Then there is A, who is participating in a church planting training and has started a new group among another UUPG called the Sadgop. But there are many others involved in the training as well, who are working with other unreached people groups.

Sincerely,
Lonnie and Danette Tepper,* serving the people of Kolkata, India

 

Dear Southern Baptists,
Thank you for giving sacrificially. We are so grateful to God and to you for how generously you have given. Because of your gifts we are able live and share His love in a mega-city packed with millions of people who have never heard the gospel. We are also able to train and equip local believers and churches how to multiply the gospel. Thank you for your partnership in fulfilling the great commission.

Sincerely,
Keelie Rocks,* serving the people of Delhi, India
Dear Southern Baptists,
As you know, over the last few years the American economy has been struggling. You, however, have continued to give, and we thank you! Using funds provided by you, we have continued to train believers in Bihar, India to reach their own people and to plant healthy churches. As a result of the Lord moving in Bihar and your generous giving, we have seen 1604 professions of faith, 1053 baptisms, and 236 church starts in the last 3 years. Long considered one of the most difficult places to reach with the Gospel, this movement of God represents a 411% increase over the previous three years. Clearly, God is moving like never before in Bihar. Thank you so much for your generous support, without which we would not have been able to equip these local believers and church planters. We praise God and thank Him for the generosity of Southern Baptists, just like you, who have responded in obedience to help reach the ends of the earth.

Sincerely,
Elvin Trueb,* serving the people of India

 

Dear Southern Baptists,
Because of your gifts, I was able to teach 22 recent high caste Brahmin Hindu background believers who came for a day of scripture training and encouragement. We gave them Kannada books of doctrine, tracts in Kannada, and DVDs of the Jesus film in Kannada. Your steady gifts helped us provide those things for them and to fund this training. They will evangelize and influence the highest castes of Hindus. Those dear Brahmin friends were not pastors or church workers. They were mostly new believers who wanted to know the Bible and to know how to explain their faith to their high caste families and associates. Because you give through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the Cooperative Program, God is at work in South Asia.

Sincerely,
Donald McKinney,* serving the people of India
Dear Southern Baptists,
During this Thanksgiving season, there is so much for which we are thankful as we live in South Asia amidst material and spiritual poverty. Being part of IMB’s Master’s Program, we are thankful that our retirement years are being spent in active service for the Lord. Because Southern Baptists give so generously to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, we have been privileged to serve for almost 3 years. As support personnel (logistics coordinators and company guesthouse managers), we are helping shine the Light, piercing the darkness that overshadows the greatest concentration of lostness in the world! We thank God for prayerful financial support from America which makes our ministry possible!

Sincerely,
Grady & Josette Lindem,* serving the people of Bangladesh

—30—
*Name changed.