Bangladesh Update #8

Well aside from Friday night this week has been pretty dull. But I'll start from the beginning of the week. As many of you may know there have be strikes going on in Bangladesh since since out second week here. This is annoying because it is 2 political parties fighting so the government pretty much just shuts down, which means transportation is very difficult. The strikes are usually 36 hours but they are always extended. In our case this week the strikes started Sunday and ended Friday night, which means ministry is a no go. We were able to do house visits to Christian homes in this area Monday and Tuesday morning, but as the rest of our ministry is outside this area we are unable to do it. Monday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday, and Thursday were spent in our apartment. We are all going a little stir crazy and love going out to grocery shopping as it means fresh air and sunlight. We have spent a lot of time in prayer for the strikes to end, we have a lot of worship, and are reading a lot of books. Friday we were able to get out and go to 2 church services, one in the morning and one in the evening. Unfortunately our leaders were sick in the morning as well as our translator. So the 6 of us students went to Church by ourselves, where we shared testimonies, songs, and a skit. It was fun to get out and do ministry, and by doing it without our leaders it felt like we were proving to ourselves that we can do it. We can take on a leadership role and do ministry with out someone "holding our hands" or telling us what to do. Of course we missed our leaders and are glad they are feeling better, but they can rest assured they have well prepared us for ministry. Both churches we went to were just church's consisting of 20-30 members. The evening church was the church our translators go to. I was originally going to be doing a teaching there, but they had another American going to speak so I will teach next Friday. It started out like a regular Bangladesh church service for us. We sit there on the floor not understanding the service at all, we have worship, then they ask us to come up. We introduce ourselves, we share a skit and then someone shares their testimony. The service went on with no problems, when the other American got up to teach he talked about how he liked our skit but we missed something. He then continued to share the gospel more in depth and then did an altar call, asking anyone who was not sure of their eternal destiny and wanted to make that choice to raise their hand. I had assumed that because of the small number of people there and the fact that it is a house church everyone there was a believer. God really opened my eyes as 3 ladies raised their hands, the speaker asked us girls to pray with these women (through a translator of course). Our team helped led 3 Bangladeshi women to Christ! I had the privilege of praying with one lady who was so sweet and grateful. It just shows how even when you don't see it God is working in people's hearts and how everything works out for his glory. It was God's working that I was not supposed to teach that night as I never would have thought to do an altar call. And it turned out that the guy who was speaking used to be a missionary in Bangladesh! 10 years ago him and his family had lived here for 3 years. After the service I went with our translator to talk again with the lady I prayed with. I shared John 1:12-13 with her and gave her my new bangle I had just bought the other day. I gave her the bangle so she will always remember that night, that on Friday February the 6th, 2015 at 6:15pm her life changed forever, and I am so happy I got to be a part of it! The more I think about this past week the more I appreciate what the Lord was doing. This trip we have seen very little fruit in our ministry, which can be frustrating and disheartening. And with bring stuck in the apartment this past week it has been hard for me to keep a good attitude all the time. But when I look back I can see that all the time we spent having worship & intercession and reading God was really giving my spirit rest and preparing my heart for Friday night. I learnt that just because you are in a planting season right now doesn't mean you always will be, and just because it doesn't feel like you're doing ministry doesn't mean your prayers are accomplishing nothing and God is moving. He is always preparing your heart and the hearts of the people you are going to meet! I will close this email off with asking that you will all join our team in praying that the strikes will end. We so desperately want to go out into this city and do the work God has set out before us. I also ask that you will pray for patience for our team in dealing with the strikes. Thank you all for your love and support. Melissa