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Bangladesh remains one of the most strategic places geographically and ethnically for a Gospel movement. With a total population of 170,416,300 and 311 people groups of which 289 are unreached (meaning no exposure and most likely no access to the Gospel) much work must be done. As we know, God’s Plan culminates in reaching all the people groups of the world for His glory according to Matthew 24:14. Bangladesh is a field ripe for Harvest.
Bangladesh has the largest refugee camp in the world with over 1,000,000 people living in a 4,000 acre compound in Cox’s Bazaar Bangladesh, the Rohingya people have been called the most persecuted people in the world. With horrific living conditions and atrocities that are too long to list, these people are the definition of displaced and forgotten. Most tragic in this situation is that these people are almost exclusively Muslim with minimal, if any exposure to the Gospel. Thankfully there is hope for the Rohingya’s. God has a special way of using His messengers to turn this situation upside down for His glory. Will you join us in prayer over the next 2 weeks; that God will reveal His Plan to the existing church in Bangladesh and soften the hearts of the people to reach the Rohingya’s? According to Colossians 4:12 there was a man Epaphras known for his prayers for the church. He prayed that the church would “stand mature” and “fully assured in all the will of God”. The church in Bangladesh needs Epaphras’. Would you be an Epaphras? God has an amazing Plan to reach the world for Christ and to let all people groups see the truth of the Gospel. Please join us in prayer for this trip. Schedule: 11/1 - 11/2 — GPHC Training in capital city of Dhaka 11/3 - 11/5 — GPHC Training in Chittagong (pray specifically for our brother Barnoba who has a burden to translate God’s Plan for Young Disciples into Bengali). 11/6 – 11/7 — Training in Cox’s Bazaar (pray specifically for our brothers David and Rafik)
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Yesterday I wrote about our supreme example in Christ of the source of power and ability for accomplishing God’s work here among mankind. It was only through His close relationship with the Father that any of His work could be done.
Not only are we invited to have this same intimate relationship through the Lord Jesus, He makes a claim to the disciples, and therefore to us, that is hard to believe. ““Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). How could this be? The context of this verse is the promise Jesus made regarding the Holy Spirit. “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (14:16). This promise is important for us to grasp if we are to understand the “greater works” we will do if we “believe.” Our expectations will be very low if we are not expecting to participate in the works God wants us to do in the absence of Jesus. We have been left here on earth to carry on His work in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit. The “greater works” are possible because the Spirit is here indwelling those who belong to Jesus. For years I was told to read certain books by men who were respected in our church. Later in my career when I considered full-time ministry, I was encouraged to get a degree by attending a seminary. In fact, I knew men who were respected because of their knowledge of the Bible and ‘well-rounded’ education. Thankfully, the Lord had engraved a hunger for His Word that drove me from a young age to read through Scripture over and over. But there was something missing!
Let me explain it first by quoting the word of Jesus. “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all that He Himself is doing. And greater works than these will He show Him, so that you may marvel” (John 5:19–20). Having daily devotions is a fine habit to form, but even that can become a ritual that we boast in. Jesus freely admitted that He could do NOTHING without a close relationship with His Father, so close that He knew what His Father was doing. Sadly, many assume their education and position in the church are enough and place little emphasis on intimacy with the Lord. Do we think what we have is better than what Jesus had? Henry Blackaby says, “The key was learning to recognize where God was already working and then join Him.” I am learning to watch where God at work and enter into His work with His Spirit.  We bring you another report from one of our partners in S. E. Asia. In the next two weeks he will be conducting three more trainings with around 35 students in each group. The third training will be the 128th which he has done over the last five or six years. This is amazing, but not surprising. Early in our relationship with him, the principles of God’s Word laid hold of his heart with divine authority. From that beginning he has never stopped sharing what he learned from Scripture.
In this report he sent us, our Brother said, “I thank God that he opened the door for us to come to this place. GPHC began to expand in these provinces. For many years I went to the North and the Northwest, but I have not been to these provinces before.” What a faithful God we have. COVID shutdowns never stopped the work. Other restrictions and challenges only drove this dear Brother to find ways to continue the work. May we learn a lesson from this type of commitment to the Lord and His work. My morning readings have been in the First Book of Kings (15:1-8). Now that David and Solomon have died and Solomon’s sons are taking the role of leadership, we observe that following generations do not have the same relationship with the Lord their fathers had.
Most of the kings that reigned after Solomon (with few exceptions) did not follow the Lord. In spite of this fact, there is an interesting reference to David in verse 5; “David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” That is a short assessment of David that comes from the Lord and becomes a benchmark from which almost all other kings are measured. How would I be measured? I am so thankful God uses His only standard and that is Christ. One of our weaknesses is that we measure our performance by what we see others doing in ministry. Paul is totally against this. “We dare [not] classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding” (2 Corinthians 10:12). Jesus Christ was always the model Paul followed. So must we!! There is a dangerous trend among some to find ‘some good in all religions’ which has a direct affect on where and how the gospel is presented. We need to revisit portions of Scripture that make clear statements about the position persons without Jesus Christ are in. Consider these:
“Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18). “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12). These and many other emphatic verses help us understand with clarity of man’s position without Christ. My purpose in presenting these verses and truth is to awaken a deep passion in our hearts to present the true gospel in a way that promotes strong faith in those who hear and believe. Those who believe should have no doubt about what Jesus has done and the eternal security they have in Christ. This is inshakeable confidence!  Back on October 17th and 19th, I gave a report following the introduction of the Hindi God’s Plan for His Disciples in New Delhi. After leaving occasions like this, we often wait and wonder what God is going to do. I can assure you that there is no disappointment from this event. Here is their report.
“Here are a few training photos that we received recently from two of our associate leaders, Birender and Sudhir from Odisha. Our leaders are training and encouraging their next 2nd and 3rd level leaders to multiply this training among their coworkers and congregations. The banners are proving to be very helpful in these sessions.” Since I have been to this part of India and know first-hand the physical conditions and the spiritual battles and persecution these brothers and sisters face, it gives me great joy to hear of their progress in becoming faithful disciples who will disciple others (2 Timothy 2:1-2). I ask you to join us in prayer for them – that God will sustain and increase their faith and reward their faithfulness. For those who helped with the printing, we again say THANK YOU! (1 Kings 13:11-34). Most do not understand (including Christians) the importance of obedience to the words of Scripture given us by the Lord. Where we have the most problems and show our weakness, is when someone comes to us and tries to persuade us to do something contrary to what God has already told us through His Word. Often the persuasion is very plausible, particularly when the person tries to use their title or position to convince us against what we know is right.
In this case, the unnamed “man of God came” to Jeroboam with a message from the Lord. He faithfully delivered it just as the Lord had given it to him. Part of the instruction from the Lord was, “you shall neither eat bread nor drink water nor return by the way that you came” (13:9). Sadly, he allowed an “old prophet” to persuade him otherwise. How serious is this issue? From my reading this morning, disobedience could result in death. It could also be that the very work we did to follow God’s Word comes to nothing because of our disobedience in some small part of the instructions. I wonder if Jeroboam might have repented if the “man of God” had remained faithful to the instructions God gave him? Questions like this cannot be answered unless we first obey. Well before John Paton (missionary to the New Hebrides) was born, his parents dedicated him to foreign missions. As John grew up in a small three-room home with ten siblings, he listened to his father’s passion in prayer and watched him study his Bible. This put an imprint on John’s life.
As he allowed the Lord to guide him to a certain island, he found himself among cannibals. This presented dangers over and over until he reached a turning point; digging a 30 foot well to provide water for the natives. The stream of fresh water gained their respect and eventually their chief was led to Christ as Savior, then twelve more. As I read Paton’s story, two questions come to mind:
Your answers will tell a lot about your prayer life and devotion to the Lord. In the Belgian Congo, Central Africa, C. T. Studd was equipping locals to go out and evangelize tribes further afield within a few years. “My final instruction to them was, “If you don’t want to meet the devil during the day, meet Jesus before dawn, and preach the gospel. It is the rod the devil fears and hates.” They went out singing with joy.”
Though he suffered from poor health, there was one phrase that sustained him. “Only one life twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.” What is your formula for overcoming the wicked one? How are you sustained when trials come? |
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