In 2004, ten unreached people groups were targeted as reachable by Church of God World Missions and the General Assembly. One such group was the Bengali of Bangladesh. In this small country the size of Wisconsin, much less than one half of one percent of the population are Christians.
Four years ago, the Church of God had few inroads to the Bengali. However, God was already at work, bringing national Bengalis and compassionate Christians in America together.
The Church of God in the state of Virginia adopted the Bengali people and soon formed a relationship through multicultural congregations where Bengali families worshipped. One of these contacts was Rev. Salmon Bose. A prolific church planter and mentor of pastors, Rev. Bose began to study the teachings of the Church of God.
Due to the support of the state of Virginia and even California, a multi-purpose building was constructed on the outskirts of Dhaka, the capital. In January 2008, Douglas LeRoy, W. H. McLeod, Gary Tygart, Grady Murphy, Bob Collins and Virginia Administrative Bishop Michael Baker were present at a truly momentous occasion.
A three story structure, Faith Towers was dedicated to the work of the Lord for services, training and as the national offices. At the same time, 130 churches and 10,00 members joined the Church of God.
“We thank you,” said Rev. Bose, “with special thanks to the churches and pastors who have been supporting us. Please convey my thanks and gratitude. You are always welcome to visit us.
“I’m so happy to say we connected so that we can share the spiritual blessings and minister to one another. I need encouragement. I need a message. I’m always preaching, but I need somebody to preach to me. And so I am very happy that as a leader, I have other leaders who are there to support me, to stand with me.”
Please continue to support and pray for Bangladesh. The majority of ministers and members are former Muslims. They do suffer persecution and harassment.
Now is the time to believe for the salvation of the Bengali.
–Grady Murphy, Coordinator of Missions Communication