October 26, 2006

Same Mission, New Jungle

Dear Friends,

Old-timers in Rajshahi have told me stories about the British period of India before 1947. Many of the buildings of that era still stand, including the house next to Christian Mission Hospital, where my family lived for the past 13 years. We are the latest in the lineage of foreign missionaries who have served in Rajshahi since the 1800s. A jungle of bamboo, coconut palms, and mango trees once surrounded the town, and tigers occasionally prowled along the perimeter. Missionaries of that period traveled by oxcart on long, muddy roads to establish many of the rural churches now in the Rajshahi area. They ministered to people through hospitals, schools, and orphanages, because demonstrating the kingdom of God to the world was an essential part of their witness.

early missionary efforts. One of those church denominations, the Church of Bangladesh, hosts Cindy and me and asks us to assist them in the ongoing missionary task of demonstrating the kingdom of God to the world.

Now, however, the church carries out that task in a new kind of jungle—not one of thick bamboo groves and hungry tigers, but one of rising religious fundamentalism, abuse of human rights, and urban slums. These characterize the new jungles of Christian mission in our time.

small medical clinics, using only the tools and medicines we can carry with us. Most of the children are mildly or moderately malnourished, but fortunately many are able to succeed in school as a result of CMCY’s after-school tutoring and enrichment programs. The projects also help mothers organize into savings groups and generate their own income with small business enterprises.

Through such ministries, the Church of Bangladesh is carrying on the mission task it inherited from foreign missionaries of old. The jungle has changed, but the mission is the same—to demonstrate the kingdom of God to the world. This task is an essential part of the church’s witness, because if people don’t see the kingdom of God in what we do, they will not believe it in what we say.

My hope is that as your missionary working with the Church of Bangladesh in the slums of Dhaka, I can help our generation do its part in demonstrating the kingdom of God to the world. Bringing that mission into the jungles of our time is essential, if we are to bear witness to the eternal truth of Jesus Christ.

Your brother,

Les

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 117