Christmas 2013

Dear Friends,

Looking back at 2013 it is hard not to notice the blessings of a year in England – studying, of the opportunity to come back ‘home’ to Bangladesh, of my parents being able to visit amidst the political unrest and perhaps most of all the blessings of seeing so many former students who, while often facing big challenges are doing great.

It is the time between Christmas and New Year when focus, if it is good, is decidedly on relationships and remembrance. Remembering that Christ came with a not just a message of, but to establish a peace that is for all people is very relevant for us in Bangladesh at this time. The country is preparing for a change in government, but there is no agreement on how that change should happen. The main opposition party is not taking part in the elections scheduled for 5 January 2014 so there is no question as to who will win.

The last two months have been filled with strikes and road and transportation blockades so many days that it has been difficult to get essential resources for the hospital. It has also been difficult for patients to come to the hospital so much that the number of critically ill patient admissions have fallen by app 75%. Peace may literally mean the difference between life and death for some patients.

Others have died too; activists have had an affinity for setting vehicles on fire killing passengers and staff on-board. This has mostly been far from where I have been, but the other day when travelling in Thakurgaon my parents and I passed a group of riot police who were walking towards a fire on the road. It was encouraging to see how a number of people made sure an approaching truck did not proceed into potential danger. While not exactly messages of peace, the intent was clearly to save the driver in the truck.

My parents arrived during a few days of respite when a visiting UN peace negotiator was trying to help the parties find a peaceful solution to the impasse. This break in strikes and blockades allowed my parents to come, and it allowed the LAMB Board to meet.

It was encouraging to have the opportunity to sit in on the board meeting and listen to the reports from all the varied parts of LAMB’s work. To hear about how our Community Health and Development Department is working with the health authorities to run 414 clinics in two districts and to hear that many of them are increasingly independent of outside (our) help.

At the hospital our staff continues to work to offer medical care that is both appropriate and accessible, including to the poorest of the poor in our catchment area of perhaps 1.5 million people. Making decisions about what treatment not to offer in order to ensure the greatest benefit to the most people can be very difficult. Decisions about whom not to treat are very difficult, especially when some treatment is readily available elsewhere.

You can read more about LAMB and the work we do here: http://www.lambproject.org/

In church the most encouraging event was a farewell cum Christmas party. The spontaneous dancing and praise around the bon-fire afterwards was an encouraging testimony to the Spirit that is active in our fellowship. Do pray for the teen group as we enter another year; for God to be active in us and for the fire to spread amongst us.

 

The peace that we seek is often reflected in the children. These three are from the youngest generation in our* village near Thakurgaon. I don’t think they are unaffected by the turmoil around them, but perhaps the fact that they don’t understand it helps them live in their childish reality. To enter the Kingdom of God we must be like little children and live in a reality that supersedes the political reality of the adult world of worries around us.

Thank you once again for your prayers in another year,

* I call Kamarsenua my home village because our family had a house there in the early eighties.