From Minneapolis, USA

"We would do well to seek a new appreciation of the inarticulate many who make up the body of the Church. They do a large share of the praying and pay most of the bills. Without them not a preacher could carry on, not a Bible school function. They are the flesh and sinews of the missionary program. They are the private soldiers of the Lord who do most of the fighting and get fewest decorations. The big stars of the Church get a lot of their glory now; the plain Christians must wait until the Lord returns. There will be some surprises then."
A. W. Tozer as quoted in The Life of A. W. Tozer by James L. Snyder

While we probably wouldn't use the word 'soldier' today, the truth is still that the work is carried by the many who pray and pay for the work other missionaries and I have the privilege of doing.

I have been reminded of the many who pray and support the work at LAMB through six weeks of visiting USA and Canada. It has been refreshing and encouraging. You have taken me into your fellowships and families and reminded me that we are many who work together - under God.

I am indebted to all of you; Thank you.

Ruth and Boaz

The woman in the photo is closely following the hired hand who is gathering the rice from the field after harvest. It was evident that she was running to be right behind him in order to gather as much as she could.
When I asked another woman who had been with her in the field, she told me they could gather between six and seven 'se-er' close to as many pounds or three kilos of rice in a day.
I explained that there is a story about what she was doing in the 'Tourat', the Old Testament, and asked whether the labourers would ever leave any straws for them on purpose.
This 'Ruth' laughed at the idea, the owner of the field would be very upset if anybody did.
I guess what Boaz did in the Old Testament is still surprising today.

Visa

Praise God for a visa for 2010. Our dedicated staff at the office in the capital Dhaka finally got my visa for 2010 this Wednesday, 19 May. While this might sound backwards, the practical implications of this is that I am now free to leave Bangladesh again. While the application process was running I would have needed special permission to leave Bangladesh, now I can come and go - or at least go.
I have planned a home assignment from July through December this year. My family and I were looking forward to the first Christmas together in nine or ten years. My new visa expires on 26 December 2010. This leaves me with a choice to either return to Bangladesh before Christmas and apply from here, or risk not being able to return until another work permit and visa can be issued. Given this year's experience, that requires a little bit of faith and a great miracle by God.

Bangla New Year 1417

Happy New Year to all.
It is good to be able to celebrate the new year; it started with a storm that blew off roofs and killed four people in Bangladesh and over fifty in India according to media reports.
The storm blew down trees and all my mangoes but the roof stayed on my house.
During the day we celebrated with a procession, a fair and a cultural show.

Work Permit

I am grateful to all the staff in our Dhaka Office and the HR Department for the work they have put in to getting my work permit for 2010. Thanks to all of you. I am also grateful to the investigating officers who gave a good report on me and to the people handling the application.
Most of all I am thankful to God for providing in good time for me to apply for a visa so that I can leave on home assignment this summer.
God is faithful.

Hosanna

The Easter week is here and we have started celebrating Christ's victory over death. As the congregation walks around our village we sing, 'Hosanna, hosanna, the Kingdom of Peace has come.'
Every night throughout the week there will be worship services in the church and on Easter Sunday we end the celebration with a meal together; we don't end there, every Sunday we continue the same celebration of Christ the King.

Its a sin to kill a dog

The poppy was unable to move as it lay just across the path from the enclosed bathing area behind the hospital. The mother and twin poppy were nearby watching as it lay whining in pain.
I couldn't make myself kill the dog, not least because of the big brown eyes staring helplessly at me. As it was only a matter of time, I called our maintenance department; a group of good people doing low jobs, including those that are considered bad by some.
Mr H, a Muslim, came with me and saw the dog and agreed that it would die but said it is a sin to kill a living being.
I asked about the colleague who had done it in the past. Mr. H informed me that he had been unwilling to do so since one of the last dogs he had killed had come back to visit him in a dream.
Mr H called the medical director who is a Christian. To him it would be a sin to take medicine from people to put a poppy to rest.
Next came another doctor, this time a Hindu, who suggested we take the poppy somewhere else where it could die in peace, it was better that way than committing the sin of killing a living being.
Next came a foreign doctor who, though she is from a country where euthanasia is practiced, didn't herself support it and so was unable to assist.
Regardless of who we were, we were unable to kill the little dog.