In this series, those involved with CLC foreign missions profile one aspect of our overseas endeavors.
[Editor: Names of individuals and specific locations are withheld due to the increasing potential for persecution against Christians throughout Bangladesh.]
“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)
God promises that His Word will not return to Him without accomplishing that for which He sent it. About twenty-six years ago, God kept that promise as He sent His Word to northern Bangladesh through an evangelist from the big city of Dhaka. One man and his wife heard the Gospel and were led by the Holy Spirit to repent of their sins and to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! One more example of the fact that God keeps His promise!
Besides their two daughters, who were raised in the Christian faith, this man and his wife knew of no other Christians in their village or surrounding villages until they met Pastor M., founder of the Bangladesh Lutheran Church Mission (BLCM), who lives about 350 miles south. Pastor M. was doing evangelism work in this area at the recommendation of a friend. The Lord brought Pastor M. and this family together. Pastor M. began to make regular visits to the area to study the Word of God with the family. This fed, strengthened, and emboldened their faith and led them to spearhead BLCM evangelism efforts in the area.
Over the next few years, most in the area rejected God’s Word and His offer of salvation. But the promise of our Savior to bless the preaching and teaching of the Gospel kept Pastor M. and the farmer-turned-evangelist persistent in their efforts to carry out our Savior’s great commission. As Pastor M. was evangelizing area villages, he came across another family about three miles away. The other family had also heard and believed the Gospel from the same unknown evangelist from Dhaka many years ago. These two families live among roughly seventeen thousand people in the area but did not know about each other until they were introduced by Pastor M. about seven years ago.
The man, now a BLCM church deacon, is a farmer and businessman but also oversees the one congregation and three preachings stations in the northern part of Bangladesh. He is also one of the six men training with Pastor M. to become an ordained pastor. With Pastor M. making three or four visits annually, the BLCM currently serves about forty people in nine families and is reaching out to several Hindu and Muslim families interested in learning more about Jesus. But praise the Lord that this number recently increased rather dramatically, at least by our standards, as God continues to keep His promises!
I write this article just a few days after I had the privilege of visiting this area along with Pastor M. in January 2025. We visited the BLCM congregation, the preaching station at the second family’s home, and one other preaching station, along with the homes of three Hindu families and one Muslim family who have been receptive to hearing and learning the truths of God’s saving Word for the past few months. During the three-day visit to this northern BLCM district, the Lord made His faithfulness quite evident as nineteen adults, youth, children, and infants were baptized into Christ. We also had the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel to nearly two hundred and fifty individuals, most of whom are practicing Hindus and Muslims but who continue to eagerly hear and learn about the Savior.
Baptizing in Northern Bangladesh
Witnessing the Spirit at work in the hearts and lives of so many in such a dramatic way is humbling, knowing that I am so unworthy of such a privilege. But I can’t help but be thankful to the Lord, awestruck by God’s love and faithfulness, and reminded that I shouldn’t be surprised to witness the Lord at work in the hearts and lives of His children. Our loving God has told us of His desire for all to be saved and to come to know the truth. And He has revealed that the Gospel is His power for salvation. Knowing and believing these truths, along with His promise that His Word will accomplish His purpose, we are left only to praise and thank His holy name! God is faithful; He keeps His promises!
is a full-time visiting missionary for the Church of the Lutheran Confession.