If you’re new to Exploring with Jake, be sure to read the introduction.
What is it like to be a Christian in Bangladesh? That’s what we talked about in Sunday School this morning. It can mean many things. It can mean your family could kick you out. It can mean your church building is destroyed. It can mean you are attacked for your faith.
It can even mean you aren’t able to celebrate Christmas.
That’s what happened to a group of Christians in an area of Bangladesh called the hill tracts region in 2010. That is an area in the southeastern part of Bangladesh.
A group of people called the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF) doesn’t want the people of Bangladesh to be Christians. They told them they weren’t allowed to play music at their church to celebrate Christmas. They said they weren’t even allowed to worship God silently. And Christians at one church weren’t allowed to have a special dinner for the people, even though they had planned on feeding about 100 people for Christmas.
But the UPDF didn’t limit their threats to the Christians. They even threatened the villagers who weren’t Christians yet, that if they allowed the Christians to celebrate Christmas, they would be in trouble, too.
Can you imagine not being allowed to have church on Christmas? How would you feel if you weren’t allowed to go to church when you wanted to? What if someone told you that you weren’t even allowed to worship God silently?
Thankfully, no one can stop us from talking to God in prayer any time we want to. I want to remember to thank God for wanting me to pray and talk to Him anytime, anywhere.
“Dear God, please help the Christians in Bangladesh to be brave and worship You. Help them not to turn away. Please help them keep loving You and serving You no matter what. Thank You for always wanting me to pray and talk to You anytime, about anything, no matter what. And thank You that no one can stop me from praying. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
The facts of this story are based on a World Watch Monitor news article published on December 27, 2010.
For more great resources on Bangladesh, please visit the Voice of the Martyrs website Kids of Courage and download the free book Bold Believers of Bangladesh.
Exploring with Jake is not affiliated with the Voice of the Martyrs or Kids of Courage.
Read more of the Modern Witnesses series.
Enjoy more from the Exploring Jake series.
Leave a Reply