Thanksgiving

Being part of the community at LAMB, seeing lives changed whether through medical services, development, education or through being part of the community at LAMB providing these services is a blessing for which we cannot adequately praise God.

I am thankful for the protection God is providing as answer to your prayers and ours; whether by angels unseen or by those in uniform sent by the authorities in Bangladesh.

I am thankful for colleagues and friends whether at and around LAMB or further away. The contribution of the people lifting us up in prayer is invaluable; the funds provided by individuals, organisations and governments are important too.

I am thankful for the children who fill the school with laughter and joy; the colleagues who pour out their hearts for students, patients and so many others; the neighbours who support and make us feel part of the community, not just at LAMB, but the whole area; the partners as well as the 'competition' (private and government). There are so many people with similar desires for all to have abundant Life, and we are privileged to be allowed to be one small contribution to towards people having fuller lives.

Tonight I heard of a man who for forty years had refused to bow to pressure to abandon his wife who needed a procedure to stop her incontinence, a problem which would have made her very difficult to share a house with, let alone a bed. Today she had her surgery, and we won't know the outcome for a while yet.

Imagine, to be part of God's answer to someones hope of forty years.

God must love the people here.

Cavities to fill

Dear Friends,

I have been back in Bangladesh for about six weeks, a dentist appointment in Dhaka is a mundane reason for leaving LAMB for a weekend and in many ways it feels like I am going where I haven’t gone before.

Since coming back after over two months in Denmark on the auspicious occasion of my parents’ fiftieth and my father’s eightieth – we like grand words like auspicious in Bangladesh even if they are not much in vogue elsewhere, least of all in Denmark where we speak Danish.

Shortly after returning to Bangladesh it lost its innocence again. First there was a case involving some of the people I love at LAMB, and then there were direct hits followed up by threats against foreigners.

We, or at least I, had lived in a pretend world of the privileged who are not going to experience sin and oppression. The events of the last six weeks feels like several consecutive deaths and if I am melodramatic, it is because to top it up, a good friend got mad at me, another tried to end her misery and we just fall way short of what is right.

I was listening to a version of Leonard Cohen’s famous ‘Hallelujah’ which was predicted to become the next favourite Christmas carol and all I could do was look at the expensive furniture in the café where the artist were performing thinking what the carpet could buy for some of the poorest people here.

There is little we can do, and yet, we are doing more than ever at LAMB. By January 2016 we expect to be around 1,500 staff at LAMB, all working to make positive changes in a place where so many long for something better but many live in fear; some in fear of diseases and poverty, some in fear of the changes we are trying to bring to alleviate those fearsome ills.

With the threat to foreigners in Bangladesh – we haven’t been threatened at LAMB since last year – we have been given the privilege of what it feels like to live in conditions that pale compared to that which is reality for so many of our brothers and sisters here, let alone for the people living in places where evil reign in public.

Today I had two former students in my office, they came for some financial help made possible by generous foreign donations. Last time they came, they asked if they needed to bow before me to show their gratitude – that is what they should do culturally, excepting that I am only the messenger. Today they talked about the challenges posed by classmates who question the girls’ Christian faith, except the ‘faith’ they question doesn’t look anything like what we believe. We talked about one of the best things about God – that He is our Father and that He loves each of us.

As I write this, I hear the car come to pick me up for my trip to Dhaka and a dentist’s appointment. There are cavities to fill – some can only be filled by love.

Thank you for your prayers and support in sharing That Love.

Christian

November 2015

Praising God for Heart Surgery

Anjan, Jerin, Oli and Badli

Saturday afternoon Anjan and Badli invited our entire community to participate in a thanksgiving service for Oli’s successful recovery from heart surgery.

The thanksgiving service was in the format we use at LAMB for our twice weekly prayer meetings in people’s homes. We started with a couple of worship songs, there was a ‘sermon’ and then prayer before snacks were served.

One difference was that Oli’s father, Anjan, narrated the events from when, two years ago, Oli had been diagnosed with a hole between two heart-chambers.

He focused on their worries as parents, including fears about her admission into Hebron School in India which was not stopped by this, about finding funding for the surgery – more than a year’s salary – and naturally mostly concerns for Oli’s life.

Anjan praised the medical teams, both at LAMB and in Dhaka and gave thanks for the funding from Korean Global Health. He narrated how, throughout their time at National Heart Foundation Hospital in Dhaka, more members of their extended family than they knew they had, visited and supported them. He also shared how the answers to their prayers for God’s presence and peace were evident in that Oli, as she was wheeled away into the operation theatre, waved goodbye with laughter in her voice and a smile on her face.

Anjan’s narration was followed by our church council chairman drawing parallels to how Jesus healed when he walked this earth. In doing so, he not only put Oli in good company but also firmly placed the honour with God.

The celebration finished with communal prayer and praise for Oli as well as prayer for other issues brought the people there.

How appropriate it was and how right it is to celebrate God's salvation the way Oli, her family and the over hundred guests who came did on a Saturday in October 2014.

LAMB Brochure

It is good to be reminded of the range and reach of LAMB's services to the poor. It is difficult to measure and count the difference we make in the lives of the poor. The brochure may only show our efforts but I hope you will be encouraged to continue being part of LAMB's work by reading the brochure available here.