Brokeness

Tonight I felt my heart move. I went to a church service with some people I met last night and while there I met Jessie, a good friend of Rick and Chris who I'm staying with. He invited me over for dinner after the service and I really wanted to go home but felt that I should go meet this man's family and have dinner with them. A 24 year old Bengali named Suranjit is staying with them for a few days and I met him at the house. Suranjit spoke very broken English and was from some town in the South that I couldn't pronounce well. He wasn't too talkative so I didn't pay him much attention even though he was sitting next to me, and I chatted with Jessie and his wife. It occurred to me that I was being quite rude and that despite his limited English I should talk with him. Having seen him at church and knowing that he was staying with Jessie, I thought it a safe question to ask him if he was a Christian. He said that he was a Christian. I followed that question by asking him what his story was. The response to that question changed my evening, my trip to Asia, and probably my life.
He told me the town he lives in is mostly Hindu and that when he was a young boy his father became a Christian. He and the rest of his family of 5 became Christians and they were instantly outcasts in their town. It was dangerous for them to leave the house and they were constantly harassed and often hit and even beat up for converting to Christianity. He said that was in 1995 and now 15 years later there are 20 Christians in their town of 10,000. A few people have come to Christ but most of them left because of the persecution. He says that still are harassed and sometimes attacked. As Christians work is very scarce and sometimes he tutors, but it is not enough to sustain his family, but the Lord provides for their needs.
At missions conferences or through VOM I have heard countless stories of believers being persecuted for their faith; many of them more severe than the one I just described, and some unto death. But sitting on a couch with Suranjit, this dear brother, and hearing from his lips in his broken English, the story of God's grace in sharing His love with their family and the sustaining grace the Father has given them to endure physical, emotional, and economic persecution; this touched a very deep part of my heart. I was filled with great joy for the work of God in his life, filled with compassion for his hardships, filled with a desire to alleviate his sufferings, filled with humility for the many material blessings I have, and filled with sorrow for the 10,000 plus people in his town that are lost in darkness.
Suranjit invited me to come to his town and spend some time with his family. He held my arm and asked me to pray for him. He told me that he wants to share the love of Jesus Christ with the people of his town. In his church of 20 he is trying to start and outreach program but doesn't know how because there are so many people and it is dangerous. It probably won't work out for me to visit his town, but I would be honored to meet his family and the other 15 or so believers there. We swapped email addresses and we will keep in touch and I will continue to pray for him. Do join me in praying for Suranjit and the small family of believers in this town in southern Bangladesh. God's grace and love is at work, pray that it shines through these brothers and sisters and spreads to their Hindu town.