MISSION TRIP TO BANGLADESH

MISSION TRIP TO BANGLADESH (13 – 20 FEBRUARY2012)

We arrived in Dhaka at about local time 10pm plus (12 pm Malaysian time).

Dhaka has very heavy traffic and it is filled with people.  Malaysia as a nation has 28.5 million people while the city of Dhaka has almost 20 million people.  From the two photos, you can imagine how life is in the city of Dhaka.

Our van driver tells us that he lives 5km away from the city but it takes him 2 hours to reach home in the evening.  The roads are dirty and filled with dust.  It is very noisy  with the car honks blaring all the time.  Traffic is practically at a stand still at peak hours.

After a night in Dhaka we left for the village, Dharabashail early in the morning.  It was a journey of about 8 to 9 nine hours in a van not because of the long distance but rather it is because of the road conditions.  It is rough, bumpy roller coaster all the way, you have to stay alert all the way, it is like  tossing your body up and down all the way.  The only rest time was when we crossed a river on the barge something like our Penang ferry in the fifties.  The river crossing takes 45 minutes and that’s where we really get to sit down with our bottom staying put on our seats.

And toilets are scarce along the way, even at petrol stations when there is one, it is in the most deplorable state that one could ever imagine.  So team members drink sparingly, taking sips only to avoid having bursting bladders.  Praise the Lord, no one complained or grumbled, every one took it in stride.

We arrived in the village about 5’ o clock in the evening, and stayed in the village guest house.  

Pastor Timothy shared on 1 Kings 18:21 on how Elijah challenged the worshippers of Baal.  Believers of Jesus Christ had being given the power and authority in Jesus’ name to heal the sick and cast out demons for the sake of the gospel.  Miraculous healings took place on the first night and about 15 people responded to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior on the second night.  The deaf and dumb, asthma, back-pain, and those having breathing difficulties were healed.  A lady was also delivered from demon possessed of some 5 years.

Worship Service

Saturday is day of travelling back to the Dhaka city.  It is the same “rough sea boat ride” journey but we stopped to visit a orphanage/school for boys and had lunch at a girl’s orphanage.  We reach Dhaka city at atbout 8pm weaving through the traffic and after many “ohs” and “ahs”, we finally arrived at the rest house,  and after dinner all the team members retired for a early night.

Sunday morning was spent visiting  the AOG council office and school, a last minute walk around the street where the rest house is.  Church service was in the evening at 5pm after which we had our last dinner in Bangladesh and then proceeded straight to the airport.  It was midnight  flight and immediately upon boarding  all of us headed straight to dreamland even before the plane took off.  

[Submitted by Joy]

Overcoming greed

Money is not everything :-

Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. Proverbs 23:5

Jesus is my wealth:

This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches" Jeremiah 9:23

Be Careful

Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God... Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 8:11-14

The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.
You have power over your mind - not outside events
Your life is what your thoughs make it.

If money is your highest goal,
The thing you long to gain,
Its power will enslave your soul,
And cause your life much pain - D.De Haan

"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's." Exodus 20:17 [The last of the Ten Commandments]

THE BEST REMEDY FOR GREED IS GENEROSITY.

Real love - The LOVE of God

Every year without fail on February 14, the world takes delight in celebrating Valentine's Day - a day in which people celebrate and express love or feelings for each other. It is also the time to develop a sense of belonging and friendship.

To love and be loved by someone is the most beautiful and fulfillng experience.

True love knows no bounds and consists of great sacrifice and care. It also embraces compassion, kindness, respect and thoughtfulness.

Real love comes with a lot of responsibility, commitment, understanding, tolerance, acceptance and humility.

The word love appears in Scripture more than 500 times. The essence of the gospel is love, as we see in John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)

The Bible gives us some practical suggestions about becoming the person who demonstrates the love of Christ. We are to give preference to one another (Romans 12:10), edify one another (Romans 14:19), care for one another (1 Corinthians 12:25), serve one another (Galatians,comfort one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11) and pray for one another (James 5:16).

5:13), bear one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2), forgive one another (Colossians 3:13)

It is always better to give others a piece of our heart than a piece of our mind.

TO KNOW LOVE, OPEN YOUR HEART TO JESUS,.

TO SHOW LOVE, OPEN YOUR HEART TO OTHERS.

LOVE is an expression

LOVE IS AN EXPRESSION - My wife received this bouquet from a senior member, aged 80 years after a sharing this morning. She was sharing in a senior group gathering numbering about 70 people at a local church.

This gift is truly an expression of God's love, expressed through this uncle even before the world celebrated Valentine Day on the 14th of February.

To know that you are cared for by someone is one of life's greatest gifts - David Roper

Faith or Hope

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrew 11:1) KJV

There are two main ways in which faith differs from hope.

Firstly, hope is directed towards the future, but faith is established in the present. Hope is an attitude of expectancy concerning things that are yet to be, but faith is a substance - a confidence, something real and definite within us - that we possess here and now.

Secondly, hope is anchored in the realm of the mind; faith is anchored in the realm of the heart.
But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

Notice that faith - together with love - is found in the region of the breast, that is, the region of the heart.  But hope is pictured as a helmet, in the region of the head, or mind.  Thus, hope is a mental attitude of expectancy concerning the future, faith is a condition of the heart, producing within us here and now something so real that it can be described by the word substance.

[This excerpt is taken from Foundational Truths For Christian Living by Derek Prince]