A letter from Les Morgan serving in Bangladesh
January 26, 2015 - 2014: A Year of Service and Encouragement
Teach us, good Lord, to serve Thee as Thou deservest, to give and not to count the cost, to toil and not to ask for rest, to labor and not to seek any reward, save that of knowing that we do Thy will. (Adapted from the “Prayer for Generosity,” by Ignatius of Loyola)
Dear Friends,
The above prayer hangs on my wall just to the right of my desk in my office in Dhaka, Bangladesh, from where I write to you now a review of Cindy’s and my service as mission co-workers in 2014. During the year we continued to engage in and promote ministries of healing in the Church of Bangladesh, a partner church of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Throughout the year Ignatius’ "Prayer for Generosity" gave me much encouragement, because caring for the sick requires much labor, and the rewards are not always readily observable, if at all. God sustained us and at certain times and in special ways assured us that we were indeed doing what he wants us to do.
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Dulari Besra, right, helps mothers treat and prevent childhood malnutrition in rural northwest Bangladesh
As physicians we had many opportunities in 2014 to care for the sick—in small clinic settings and in home visits, in rural villages and in urban slums. These experiences—such as the time in a rural village I found a poor woman dying of severe anemia and helped her receive blood transfusions, and the time Cindy cared for a boy living on the street in Dhaka and suffering from severe skin infections—kept our ministry anchored in the reality of human suffering. Our encounters with the sick reinforced something we have always known and never doubted—that Christ has commissioned his Church to care for the needs of those who suffer, to work for their healing.
As long-term missionaries we serve to nurture the capacity of the Church of Bangladesh to carry out its own ministries of healing. In 2014 one way we did this was by helping the Church of Bangladesh Social Development Programme develop its community health and nutrition work in 15 areas of the country. In one rural area of 11 villages we helped establish a pilot program in which a community health worker helps groups of women address malnutrition and other health problems in their families. If the program works well, we will expand it to other areas in 2015.
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Jerin, who is malnourished, had a blast at a party hosted by the students of St. Andrew's Theological College in Dhaka
Cindy also led a training course for nursing students at Christian Mission Hospital in Rajshahi on the promotion and management of breastfeeding. When these students go on to serve as nurses in hospitals and clinics across the country, they will take with them extensive experience in managing breastfeeding problems, which will help thousands of infants in Bangladesh have a healthy start in life.
In 2014 we continued to reach out to the congregations of the Church of Bangladesh, which are located mainly in rural areas. We committed ourselves throughout the year to promoting the ministry of healing at this grassroots level. Healing, we believe, is a fundamental ministry of the Church, just as are the ministries of preaching and teaching, and every congregation is spiritually endowed by Christ to carry out this ministry. Our task has been to help pastors, lay leaders, and congregants at large to recognize, understand, and embrace the opportunity to minister to the sick and to address health problems not only in their parishes but also in their broader communities.
One way we promoted this ministry in 2014 was by making a trip each month to rural areas to accompany local church leaders in visiting the sick in their parishes and surrounding communities. This work brought us into close contact with Christian, Hindu, and Muslim families.
Another way we promoted the ministry of healing was to teach two courses at St. Andrew’s Theological College in Dhaka, which trains future pastors and lay leaders of the Church of Bangladesh. In a course on spiritual formation Cindy taught the students spiritual disciplines to help deepen their faith and prepare them spiritually to minister to the sick. I taught a course on the theological and practical aspects of the ministry of healing and for the students’ field experience brought them to the bedside of the sick and disabled in poor areas of Dhaka. My course not only builds students’ confidence in ministering to the sick but also teaches them to look at illness broadly so that they understand the root causes of disease and suffering. The goal is for the students to be able to help congregations care for the sick and suffering and address underlying causes of disease in their communities. These two aspects of healing go hand in hand.
After a year of visiting the sick and disabled in Muslim homes in the slums of Dhaka, our students decided to throw a party for all the children they had cared for during the year. So they set a date, reserved a room at the Church of Bangladesh Social Development Programme office in the area, decorated it with balloons and streamers, prepared a Bible reflection and a short drama based on a healing story in the gospels, collected materials for games, and invited the children and their mothers.
On the day of the party all the children came: Dighi, Ronni, and Symon, each with severe cerebral palsy; Mehedi, who is deaf and mute; Jonni, with a severe blood disorder; Lamisha and Jerin, both malnourished; Junayed, who is delayed in his speech development; and Sukhi, who is blind, deaf, mute, and hyperactive. The mothers as well as the children had dressed in their best clothes for the occasion. Each participated in the activities as best he or she could, and they all listened to and watched attentively the story of Jesus healing the sick. At the end, the students brought out small gifts, bottles of juice, and a big cake, which everyone shared with great joy.
In Bangladesh I do not often get to see so clearly the fruits of the work of Christ’s Church, but the ministry of my students to these sick and disabled Muslim children in the slums of Dhaka encouraged me deeply. As Ignatius’ prayer has done so often during my 26 years of mission service, my students’ work reminded me that the rewards of efficacy and impact are not the point; it is enough for us simply to know that by engaging in the ministry of healing, we do God’s will.
You, too, have encouraged us, and for this we are deeply grateful.
Grace and peace,
Leslie Y. Morgan
The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 232
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