Mission & Mercy Ministry Update - 2024, Issue 2
Table of Contents
Prayer Focus: The Unreached People of Bangladesh
Mission Highlight: A Vision Realized: Perspectives Class Begins
Opportunity: Prayer Walking* Our Neighborhoods
Upcoming UBC Mission Trips: Planning for 2024
Prayer Focus
The Unreached People of Bangladesh
During February we will focus our prayers on Bangladesh. It is located on the Bay of Bengal to the east of India. It is roughly the size of Alabama but has a population of ~172,173,000 compared to ~5 million in Alabama. The majority (88%/~150 million) of Bangladeshi are Bengali Muslims. Other religions that are active in the country are Hinduism (~13 million), Buddhism (~1 million), Christianity (0.5million), and others such as animism and tribal belief systems (~200,000).
The Joshua Project identifies 278 Unreached People Groups (UPG’s) of which 233 are considered Frontier Peoples which are a subset of Unreached with 0.1% or fewer Christian Adherents of any kind. Frontier people groups can be the hardest to reach, require sacrifice and prayer to reach.
UBC is excited about our new Missionary partnership that began last year in this country. Pastor and Mrs. R. who are 2nd generation believers (Muslim background) are working to reach the Bihari one of the many unreached people groups in Bangladesh. This past fall Glen Duerr, Tim West, and Jim Corbin visited them and shared their experience at a Bring Your Own Lunch (BYOL) gathering after the 2nd service on February 4, 2024.
According to the 2024 World Watch List by Open Door, Bangladesh is #26. “Daily life pressure fell for Christians in Bangladesh – but violence against Christians and Christian properties rose. Multiple reports of attacks against Christians, including children and women, were recorded during the 2024 World Watch List reporting period. The violent clashes in April 2023 resulted in the deaths of eight tribal Christians. The Christian minority, in general, continues to face discrimination, neglect and violence, and for converts from other faiths, this reality can be even more pronounced. During the campaign for January 2024 elections, Christians and other minorities have come under more pressure to conform to the surrounding culture.”
Prayers
Pray that more will GO to share the Good News of Jesus with these hard-to-reach frontier people in Bangladesh.
Ask the Holy Spirit to prepare the hearts of these people groups and remove the blinders from their eyes.
Pray for fresh hope and encouragement for those already working to reach these people.
Pray for the physical safety of our brothers and sisters in this country, especially for those sharing their faith.
Pray that the men of these URPG/Frontier Peoples will come to Jesus and lead their families to the LORD.
Pray that God would break your heart for the nearly 170 million lost souls in this country with such a large number of frontier URPGs, let us envision many of these people standing with us as God promises in Revelation 7.
Mission Highlight
A Vision Realized: Perspectives Class Begins
Last summer a few members of the Core mission team went through a two day intensive training course to begin a Perspectives Course here at UBC. Sharon Kerestes became the coordinator and we developed a team to hold Perspectives at the East Campus. The team consists of many from our Core mission team, and individuals from local churches nearby who have held their own Perspectives course in the past. Thankfully, and with God’s grace we have 20 + students. It is our prayer that many people and nations will be reached as the students learn to apply God’s word and commands more fully to reach the whole world with the Gospel.
The Core mission team with God’s help and with the help from the body of believers here at UBC are praying and serving to impact the unreached people of the world with the Gospel. We have experienced marked growth in missionaries we now support and hope for a continued vision to reach the World. If you want to learn more how to become a part of the Mission work here at UBC by prayer, support or are experiencing a call to enter the field; please drop by the MInistry table and talk to someone there at the entry of UBC main or write an email with the link below at the end of the update to Jim Corbin.
Opportunity
Prayer Walking Our Neighborhoods
Are you looking for an opportunity to get involved in the community, while spending time with your family, and getting a little exercise at the same time? Then join us on the first Saturday of each month for a prayer walk throughout the local neighborhoods around UBC!
Anyone who is interested (kids included!) will gather together in the lobby of UBC's main building at 10:30am. The group will pray together and then break out into smaller groups to walk a designated local neighborhood. The smaller groups will pray for the individuals within each home as they walk. Or if the opportunity arises, the groups can engage any individuals they may encounter. After about a half hour, the groups will reconvene at the church to debrief and share experiences.
We hope you will join us as we cover our neighborhoods with prayer and watch God work!
Please register for each month if you are able to attend to allow us to know who is coming and then notify you if plans change due to weather. Registration for March’s Prayer Walk can be found here:
https://ubc.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/2124581
For those interested, as a follow-up from the recent Multiply sermon series, there will be training on multiplying the gospel prior to prayer walking. This training will provide simple and reproducible tools to equip us to know who to engage with, tell our story, and to share the gospel as we live on mission in our daily activities. The training will start on Saturday, March 2 (9:00 - 10:30 AM). Sign-up for this training here:
Monthly Mission Quotes:
Don’t get impatient; remember how God dealt with you–with patience and with gentleness, but never water down the truth of God. Let it have its way and never apologize for it. Jesus said, “Go and make disciples,” not “make converts to your opinions.”
— Oswald Chambers (May 6th)
Upcoming Mission Trips
Planning for 2024
UBC has multiple mission trips available through 2024. There are local trips (prayer walking around the UBC neighborhoods), national (STUMIN is heading to Logan, Utah; Builders for Christ in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and other opportunities coming soon), and global. Some of the available trips are listed below. A full listing of trips may be found here. You may also reach out to Jim Corbin (jim.corbin@ubcbeavercreek.com) to get more details on any of the trips. If you do not see a trip to a place that is on your heart, please reach out. We would love the opportunity to hear and to help you find a trip.
Location/Date
Mar 14-24
Paraguay
Medical trip with ABWE, sharing God’s Love with the Gospel and medical care.
Contact:
Jeff Robinson: robinsonparaguay@gmail.com
May 9-19
Bangladesh
Teach English, help with computer skills, or work with children.
Contact:
Jim Corbin: jim.corbin@ubcbeavercreek.com
May 13-Aug 10
Builders For Christ
Come help the build in Eau Claire, Wisconsin (The Haven Church).
Contact: Dave Gneiser davegneiser@gmail.com
Jun 13-27
Uganda
Come help serve South Sudanese refugees as we share the gospel and start discipleship groups. More information may be found here.
Contacts to learn more:
Jim Corbin jim.corbin@ubcbeavercreek.com
Aldin Falfulovic aldin.fafulovic@ubcbeavercreek.com
To read past Mission Updates or to get more information about UBC on Mission, visit
https://www.ubcbeavercreek.com/mission-and-mercy-ministries.