This afternoon, at the monthly Wednesday service, we heard about 3 work camps in Bangladesh. Here are extracts from this.
The first work camp was in 2000, when a group from Scotland worked with a group of young Christians from the Church of Bangladesh and the local community in Bollovpur to build 2 basic houses with mud walls and tin roofs, for a young couple and an elderly widow in the village. In 2008, in another village, a second work camp was organised to help build a Church and paint a School.
The third work camp in 2015 saw a Scottish group engage in road building so that a community health centre could be built in a village away from the main tarred road.The road was made of soil and much hard physical labour by the group, 12 Christian young folk from across Bangladesh and the local villagers, was needed over a couple of weeks.
Each day of the work camp began and ended with prayers and the chorus of a new hymn was taught.
“I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together, those who follow Jesus all across the world, yes, we’re the church together.”
These work camps with everyone working together in a common cause, whether building a road, a house or a church, is a good parallel for this new stage in the life of our congregation.
“I am the church, we are the church, we are the church together.”
On Monday when a new ministry begins, all the work will not be done by Shahrukh – he will have a team around him – each and every member of this congregation – from babies through to those in their 90s.
We will be building on strong foundations, all of us working together and preparing for the new ministry – in the same way that God has been preparing Shahrukh for this new stage in his life.
And so we look forward in faith, in the knowledge that Christ is the sure foundation and together minister and people will be led by God to the new things he has prepared for us.’
