Spring 2000

Week five

What's inside:

UPG information; project list; and God’s Heart for the Nations Bible study

Unreached People Group (UPG) focus: The Bengali Hindu of Southern Asia

The Bengalis are one of the largest people groups in the world. They are believed to be one of the first inhabitants of southern Asia. Most Bengali live either in Bangladesh (“land of the Bengali people”) or in West Bengal.

Many of the Bengali people are Muslim, but close to 40 percent are Hindu. Only about 2 percent are Christian. The term “Hindu” actually refers to the region around the Indus River, but it has come to describe a dominant Asian religion. A good Hindu tries to pay homage to his family, his caste, and to certain gods. While reverence towards the gods is essential, no particular god is more important than another, and there are thousands of different gods. The Hindu religion also promotes that a person’s soul is reincarnated multiple times.

Society is broken into four castes (or sections). Hierarchy and heredity order the castes. The Brahmans are at the top of the list, including priests and scholars. The Kshatriyas include the warriors and rulers. The third class is the Vaisya, which includes merchants and professionals. The fourth class is the Sudras, including laborers and servants. Below all of the classes are the Untouchables. Because of this caste system, there is very little hope for a brighter future in “this life.”

This hopelessness is furthered by an onslaught of ethnic wars and natural disasters, coupled with enormous overpopulation. Cyclones, droughts, famines, floods and war have caused enormous loss of life. Even without these complications, life is still hard as the Bengali survive on meager agricultural means. The streets are home to countless Bengali, and it is not uncommon to see people searching for scraps of food amongst the trash. 

Bangladesh is one of the most impoverished countries in the world.  We pray that individuals and teams will reach out to the Bengali by establishing water well systems, teaching nationals to test for water purification and helping with agriculture. Medical education is also desperately needed in this area torn by war and natural disasters. Hopefully a two-handed presentation of the gospel (meeting physical needs with one hand and spiritual with the other) will provide true hope to the Bengali people. 

Prayer Points:

• Pray that national Christians will provide a strong witness.
• Pray that the Bengali will desire to know the living God through a personal relationship with Christ.
• Pray that agricultural and medical teams will provide physical and spiritual hope to the Bengali.
• Pray that others would be called to plant churches in the region.

Project List for Central and Southern Asia

Bible study:

GOD’S HEART FOR THE NATIONS