A letter from Les Morgan in Bangladesh
Monday, 19 November 2012
The End of a Term
Dear Friends,
Tomorrow Cindy and I will depart Bangladesh for a six-month assignment to visit our supporting churches in the United States. We will base ourselves in northwest Arkansas, at our small cabin-home in rural Newton County. After three and a half years of living in Dhaka, one of the most densely populated and polluted cities in the world, we need some open space and clean air!
Mission Co-Worker Les Morgan helps the Church of Bangladesh develop its healing ministry at the grassroots level.
We are ending a challenging term of service that has nevertheless been one of the most fruitful since we began working in Bangladesh 22 years ago. At the beginning of this term we moved to Old Dhaka, on the south side of the city near the Buriganga River, to be close to St. Andrew’s Theological College and the Church of Bangladesh’s social development programs serving slums in this area.
The intensity of Old Dhaka has refined us like a fire, burning away any remaining misconceptions about our calling, clarifying the purpose of our ministry. It has forced us to focus on the fundamentals of Christian mission, primarily on the church’s healing ministry at the congregational and grassroots levels. At the theological college we taught a class on this subject and most recently began providing practical training in rural villages as well as in Dhaka. The Church of Bangladesh is now asking us to develop this course into a training module for clergy and laypersons throughout the church.
What I have learned most this term is that the ministry of healing is not possible without a solid spiritual foundation. There is too much suffering and injustice to take in without Christ at the center to bear the weight of it all.
In our visits to churches over the next six months we look forward to the opportunity to tell you more of what we have learned in Bangladesh and to bring you the good news of what we have seen and heard. Although we will not be able to visit all of our supporting churches, we hope to see many of you and to hear more of how God is leading the church in the U.S. into a deeper understanding of its ministry and mission.
May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Yours,
Les
Dr. Leslie Y. Morgan
The 2012 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 181
The 2013 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 193
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