Pray for: Bangladesh

The cycle of poverty will continue unless fundamental changes occur. Bangladesh has few natural resources; around 25% of the population lives below the poverty line. The country sits on level ground beside the gigantic Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers, and floods and monsoon rains regularly devastate the nation. The political situation offers little hope, as it seems more focused on arguments between wealthy clans than on improvements for the people. Pray for long-term transformation in this land of desperate need.

Pray for leadership for the churches. Earlier movements brought thousands of people into the Church. But the lack of trained, godly leadership eventually left many believers with a weak and shallow faith. Poverty limits the number of full-time ministers and theological students, but churches also lack spiritually mature lay leaders. In Bangladesh, as in any nation, robust discipleship processes would go a long way to solving these challenges.

The Bengali, or Shaikh, people (240 million globally) remain the largest unreached people group in the world. Even 200 years after William Carey came as a missionary to the Bengali they still honour his memory, but a breakthrough for the gospel has not come. • Pray for Bengali Muslims. Many follow “folk” Islam (a blend of Sufi Islam, indigenous cultures, and Hinduism). Most have never heard the true gospel. Pray for the few Bengali believers to depend on God in their poverty, to be strong when faced with persecution, and to find community with followers of Christ from different backgrounds. • Pray for Bengali Hindus (201 Hindu groups, of which 188 are unreached), who face violence and persecution as a religious minority.