Crushing on Bangladesh

Please see the special note at the bottom of this email. Thank you.

Have you ever been to Bangladesh? Me neither. (If you have, then yay for you!) The nearest I’ve been is a brief visit to India’s West Bengal state and the amazing stories of friends.

I’ve also been treated warmly by Bengali migrants in Sicily:

A kind kebab shop owner wept as he shared the love and nostalgia he felt for his native language.

A young Bengali guy, the day before he moved to a new town and job, took an hour to sip tea and talk with my friend and me, even enduring our early, fumbling attempt to share deep things of God through the Creation to Christ story.

A Bengali woman, running a small, late-night convenience store with her twelve year old daughter, cheered and encouraged my co-worker and me at the end of a long, disappointing day.

Recently, to our great delight, my wife and I discovered a Netflix show called Nadiya’s Time to Eat and the brilliant British/Bengali woman behind it, Nadiya Hussain. Since appearing on the Great British Bake Off in 2015, this mom of three has gone on to write cookbooks, host TV shows and even bake a birthday cake for the Queen!

From my vantage point, she’s also serving as a wonderful example of a faithful Muslim Bengali woman in the main flow of British media. She’s winsome, successful and killer smart. (The UK is likely ahead of the US in this regard, but I’d love role models like this in my popular culture.)

But Britain is a long way from Bangladesh and most Bengalis are a long way from even knowing someone who’s following Jesus. According to Joshua Project, among dozens of  Bangladeshi people groups there are few or no Christians. Those groups add up to well over a hundred million people.

Beautiful, kind, designed-by-God people. Who will go live among them?
My friend, and fellow fan of all things Bangla, Jeannie Marie wrote a brilliant book called Across the Street and Around the World. On Sunday, May 31st (and for a few days following) you can get the Kindle version for just a $1.99! I’m going to do it. Will you join me?

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