Assist and Goal

Three weeks ago we trained our fifth group of youth action teams. Twelve young people from the churches in Bangladesh came to the training centre in Dhaka. We provide four intensive days of training and preparation and then they go in two groups to join an experienced Pastor to do mission and church work for a week in a different part of Bangladesh. This time we sent them to new outreach areas, where they joined two of the couples who graduated last year from the Baptist Mission Training Centre.

The young people who come are generally talented and come with lots of experience of leading Sunday school and worship in church, however, it was a steep learning curve for them, thinking about how they would do drama, songs and testimonies for people who would be hearing about Jesus for the first time. Between them, they shared the good news with hundreds of children and adults spread across eight different mission fields.

We are really thankful for Barnabas's leadership of this work, and it was lovely as every day they sent us reports and photos of what they were doing. The young people came back tired, excited, stretched and with a strong desire to serve God in this way in their local area. Please give thanks with us for this, and continue to pray for this ministry.

Within all this activity, there is of course another story, as we say our "goodbyes". Having worked together as a team for so many years, our colleagues would prefer to keep things that way. A nicely organised file is not really what they want. Our skills have been complementary and our friendships have made our work joyful, so it feels hard to be the ones who are breaking this up. And it is hard to explain why we are leaving a place where we have enjoyed so much love and goodwill towards us. It seems we are dismantling more than our Dhaka home. So please keep praying for everyone in BBCS.

The second batch of Applied Mission Diploma trainees have now completed the first two block weeks. There are 20 people at the moment on the course, ready to take the two year journey of training and outreach work combined. It is a process of discernment during these early months as they test out their commitment and calling. When we talk about disciples making disciples it is great this year that one of last years graduates, who has just been commissioned as a Mission Pastor, has sent four new believers from his area to join the training programme because the work in his area is expanding quite quickly. Two weeks ago 13 new believers from the area came to Dhaka for baptism. We genuinely feel humbled and privileged to see glimpses of God at work in these profound ways.

Last week Louise and our colleague Shilpi were able to gather an expert team of Sunday school teachers together, and ran a "train the trainers" course with them. They have been able to give them resource packs, training plans and teaching practice, so that all the different courses Louise has done for the Sunday school teachers over the past four years can continue to be taught.

Also, over the past six weeks Pete and Barnabas have been up to Mymensingh twice. They have been running mission training sessions and "train the trainer" sessions with another Baptist convention who want to run the Diploma in Applied Mission.

So, undoubtedly the work will go on here at its usual high pace and we will spend the next 2 weeks eating, meeting, speaking, saying farewells and working against the clock to transfer files onto memory sticks and collating all our notes and plans for others to use if they wish. We will soon by sitting on our very long flights - possibly processing everything that we have experienced over the last 8 years and becoming more and more excited as we get closer to home.

Please keep us and our friends here in your prayers and thank you for your kind messages.

We look forward to meeting so many of you over the coming months, and sharing in a more reflective way about our time in Bangladesh and how God is at work.

Louise and Pete