March 27, 2000

Dear Friends,

Last week, the second week of Lent, I (Les) journeyed to the northern districts of Sherpur, Mymensingh, and Netrokona, along the Indian border, to visit three congregations of the Church of Bangladesh. The timing of my trip during Lent was appropriate because the whole event was an exercise in forsaking the relative comforts of my home in Rajshahi to spend six nights in an area where there is no electricity, no running water, no telephone, and not a soul who speaks English. The hardest part was getting there—ten hours by bus then two hours by rickshaw over rough, dirt roads. The last bus seemed more like a tin can on wheels; and although it had a normal capacity of 50 passengers, there were a least 150 on board, including those packed on the roof. I was lodged between the malodorous shoulder of one fellow and the bony hips of another, standing in the aisle, and we all shifted together as the bus teetered along the precarious road leading to the malarious hills of northern Bangladesh.

One of the purposes of my visit was in fact to look into the malaria problem affecting the church and the communities it serves in that area. I confirmed the results of an earlier study I had done showing that malaria is a big problem there. But this time I saw even more—that the whole area is neglected and outside the reach of many government services and other health agencies. While I was visiting homes in the village of Baromari, the villagers asked me to see a 5-year-old boy named Harodhon. By just looking at him and asking a few questions, I could tell that he was severely protein-calorie malnourished, he had vitamin B2 (riboflavin) deficiency, vitamin A deficiency (with impending blindness), intestinal worms, anemia, and chronic malaria. His mother had died of similar ailments a couple of years ago, and his father was busy trying to make ends meet by collecting and selling firewood from the forested hills in India. The neglect of Harodhon by his family compounded the underlying neglect by his society, and that burden was becoming too heavy for him to bear.

As I sat and held this young child in my arms, I sensed in him no anger or resentment that the world had given him so little and no bitterness that his mother was not there to love him. The weight of that deprivation pressed hard on his fragile body and tender soul, but he said nothing. This Lamb of God who was quietly bearing the sins of the world simply trusted me and let me hold him.

I treated Harodhon for his vitamin deficiencies and worms and arranged for follow-up care of his other problems, and by the end of my stay we were friends. With the help of a few jokes I even got him to smile in a group picture! I told him I would be back again to see him. Since I will be helping the Church of Bangladesh address the extensive malnutrition, malaria, and other health problems in Baromari, I will be returning there soon. I plan to take supplies to be able to identify and treat the many patients with malaria. During the rainy season malaria patients usually have to be carried on a stretcher three hours to the nearest government hospital.

Relating to people who suffer is the calling not only of missionaries but of all of us, because it is the key to salvation not only for needy people in remote places but for ourselves as well. By visiting those who are lonely, by being friends with those who are neglected, and by comforting those who sorrow, we ourselves are saved; because those experiences bring us into a direct and primary relationship with the suffering of Christ, the Lamb of God.

People everywhere long to be visited personally by the Compassionate One, and God wants to use each of us as his instruments of that compassion. I want to encourage you to renew that calling during this Lenten season and especially during Holy Week. The church offers a proper context in which to exercise that calling by providing opportunities to relate to those who suffer. Suitable opportunities for individuals may not always be easy to discern, and they are never easy to carry out; but they are what God wants us to do. Through those experiences, he wants to save us all.

On July 1st we will be coming to the United States for a six-month furlough, with the intention of returning to Bangladesh in January 2001. We hope to see many of you during that time.

All our love,

Leslie and Cynthia Morgan
Christian Mission Hospital
G.P.O. Box 25
Rajshahi 6000
Bangladesh