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Bangladesh Lutheran Church
and
Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh
The Bangladesh Lutheran
Church was launched in 1979 when Bengali-speaking members of the
Bangladesh Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church met in Saraswatipur. Since their
culture and language were quite different from the Santals, the Bengali desired
a church of their own. When officially organized in 1981, the BLC had 70
members, of whom 28 had Hindu backgrounds. Currently there are 2700 members in
110 congregations, grouped into seven circuits, all in the northwestern part of
the country. The church has been a member of the Lutheran World Federation since
1986. Pastors are trained at the Christian College of Theology in Dacca, and
other church leaders are enrolled in a program of theological education by
extension.
With support and assistance from
the Danish Santal Mission, the Bangladesh Lutheran Church carries out education
and ministry through Lutheran Social Service. There is a strong village primary
school program, two teacher training schools, and programs for vocational
training and adult leadership training. Scholarships enable students to attend
high school. The Danish Santal Mission also has an extensive outreach program
for the treatment of leprosy patients.
The primary mission outreach of the
ELCA in Bangladesh is through Lutheran
Health Care Bangladesh (LHCB), which operates in southern rural
Bangladesh. It serves 100,000 people in the area of Dumki in the Patuakhali
District. LCHB is dedicated to maternal and child health care, which includes
community development, preventative and curative health care, and education in
Dumki and other adjacent rural villages. LCHB is a cooperative effort of 23 ELCA
congregations, the Division for Global Mission of the ELCA, the World Mission
Prayer League, the Fairview Hospital Foundation, and Global Health Ministries.
Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh was
first proposed in 1992 in the context of ELCA Global Mission's focus on Islam. Construction at
the present site in Dumki was begun in 1995 and completed in 1997. Presently
there are three physicians and a staff of about sixty people including
twenty-five motivators -- young Muslim and Hindu women trained as village
outreach workers. They visit approximately 150 villages on a regular schedule
and serve a six-bed inpatient ward and a total of over one thousand patients per
month. In addition to doing health education, the motivators are involved in
literacy training and in organizing credit unions, co-ops, and latrine projects.
LCHB has received strong
commendations from the Bangladeshi Director General of Non Governmental
Organizations. LCHB has been asked to build additional sites, including a boat-
or barge-based community and health care facility on the extensive river and
canal system in southern Bangladesh, in order to accommodate villages that are
difficult to access by roads.
Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh is
a demonstration of what can happen when religious communities set their minds
and hearts toward communicating and building for the future. Since there is no
Christian community in the area being served, there has been serious effort
given to establishing relationships with the majority religious community. LHCB
provides an excellent model for establishing dialogue and witness in an Islamic
context.
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