June 2010 South Asia news: Emerging Missions

Pakistan | OM International

CHANGING THE FACE OF MISSION

In Bangladesh we have seen people change their minds and declaring their faith in the areas where we work. We have had many opportunities to reach people directly and indirectly for God, and build new believers’ groups from those who had formerly been from the national faith. We have also been able to help individuals come together in fellowship and worship, thus transforming lives and communities. We hope that this change of heart would affect the entire nation of Bangladesh!

A new discipleship and computer course will start on 1st June for approximately eight women. The programme will offer new believers coming from the majority faith the opportunity to gain spiritual maturity, and enable them to be spiritual teachers in their homes, communities and within the new believers’ groups. Men have much greater opportunities to receive such teaching or training than do women. We would like these women to return to their homes and communities, bringing God’s influence with them.

Sister M*, who runs the course, needs to return home to take care of her mother in August, when the course ends. We hope she will be able to develop good relationships with the women, and that God would watch over her mother, and give them a good time together when she arrives home.

Our second leadership team meeting takes place on 17th July; in addition, our church development consultancy group intends to meet on 18th July to pray and plan, as well as develop local leaders from the majority faith who made decisions for Jesus. We want to help local leaders become excited about how they too might invest in the lives of others with leadership potential. We hope that God will envision people for spiritual multiplication.

This month, we are holding a two day meeting for our associate workers who will then return to their own villages – hopefully well blessed, encouraged and full of spiritual food! There are also many new believers in the north of Bangladesh who hope to declare their faith publicly next month.

In Pakistan we invited 30 families to the Families camp but just 10 families came, due to busy schedules. We would like to have family camp again in December, when more people can come; however we only have finances for one per year, so we hope God will provide the resources needed to organize another camp this year.

This time four new couples came for first time. Sister AZ said, “I attended the camp for first time with lots of misconceptions which were cleared up during the teaching. I learned that I do not have to make decisions based on anyone else’s advice but my own.” When she returned home, her aunts visited and were angry at her change of heart, saying: “Now it is ritually unclean to eat and drink with you. No need for you to come to our house.” They beat her and went away. We hope that God will keep her safe and safeguard her faith.

One team regularly visits a village near the base, where they recently met a man who claims to be 100 years old! He told them that there used to be a Sikh temple in his village, where many families, including his own, worshipped. One day a priest came and made sign of cross on his forehead. From that day he believed he was saved. Team members shared with him the true meaning of new birth from the Bible, and he accepted Jesus as his personal saviour. Many others still do not know the truth.

At the new singles Bible studies taking place in one area, not only did one sister come to faith, but another in the same family, hearing her change of heart, asked if she too could have Jesus in her life! We rejoice at the new life in that family, and look forward to a new jamaat, or house fellowship, being established there before long.

The men’s summer outreach camps are well on track, with training from 11th-17th June, the outreach from 17th-23rd June, and the feedback times from 23rd-24th June. We hope that the participants and the teachers, those they will meet on outreach, and the pastors hosting them, will all have positive experiences.

The women’s outreach camp will take place from 7th-20th July: invitations are going out now, and we trust that the right people would apply, and many people would be blessed through it. We hope too that all the logistics will be arranged without difficulty.

Credit: OM International
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