Dhaka, Bangladesh
Wednesday night, 17 October 2001

To the Churches and Friends we know and love:

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Last Friday after the noontime Muslim prayers about 10,000 people demonstrated in downtown Dhaka against the bombing in Afghanistan. In Rajshahi about 800 anti-American demonstrators rallied in front of the Church of Bangladesh mission campus and Christian Mission Hospital, and some of them threw bricks in the compound and at the staff nurses’ hostel next to our home, breaking some windows and damaging the gate of the Nursing Institute. Groups of demonstrators tried to enter the mission campus and were repelled by police; three policemen were injured. Demonstrators also threw bricks at the homes of members of our church in Rajshahi. The demonstrators were chanting, "Catch a Christian and cut him, one in the morning, one in the evening." The Christian Church has become a target of anti-American aggression by Muslims in Bangladesh, and our Christian brothers and sisters in Rajshahi fear further demonstrations.

We had hoped that the situation would not worsen, but it has. So we are planning to return to the United States until things improve. On Monday Cindy and I flew to Rajshahi to prepare our home for our departure and to gather up special things our children said they wanted to take back to the States, such as Stewart’s skateboard, Everett’s computer software CD’s, and Laura’s piano music. We also wanted time to speak with our friends in Rajshahi to assure them of our enduring fellowship and love. They understand and support our decision to depart at this time.

I am struggling to find some good in what is happening to us, but I don’t see it. So much of our family life and our work is being disrupted. On Monday night in Rajshahi as I was packing up things the electricity went out, and I was unable to do anything but just sit there in the dark and wonder how everything would turn out. I decided to check my e-mail with my laptop PC, and I got a note from a woman in Arkansas who didn’t know us but who had somehow heard about our situation. She said she believed God had a special purpose for us in all of this and that she was praying for us. Her note encouraged me a lot, and I trust that God is looking after us.

We have tickets to depart Bangladesh on Friday morning, and we hope to be in touch with you all in the U.S. Our address will be 236 Gladstone Blvd., Shreveport, Louisiana 71104, tel. 318-865-2745. We’ll keep this e-mail address.

All our love,

Les Morgan