Bangladesh (MNN) ― Monsoon-swollen rivers in Bangladesh burst their banks. The waters submerged thousands of villages, and much of the farmland is ruined.
Since the end of July, 39 of the country's 64 districts have been affected.
Non-Government Organization (NGO) reports show that nearly 2.5 million people have been marooned or displaced by floods in Bangladesh, most of them for the second time in just two months.
The Bangladesh Agriculture Ministry estimates crop damage to be $290 million, but infrastructure costs and damages are still being assessed. Just as the situation appeared to have stabilized and was improving somewhat, the region got hit with even more heavy rain.
Audio Scripture Ministries' Chad VandenBosch says ASM helped to establish a studio here in the late 80's and have been holding Scripture listening programs there ever since. ASM just trained studio technicians there when the disaster hit. The churches at Shatir Bani then became relief centers. "People would come from all over and visit the churches that they set up as distribution centers. And as part of those distributions, they would also distribute Scripture cassettes and other audio resources. So what I saw while I was there was that more people are actually coming to the church."
VandenBosch says the studio will be busy providing new Scripture cassettes to replace worn out tapes. Rather than the floods slowing down this work, they find themselves looking at a new network of churches.
"Listening groups have started, and they've been having Bible studies. In areas where they don't have enough dry land to get together, they would tie boats together. People would come from their houses and bring their boats or whatever they could float on, and they would tie them up together and listen to the Scriptures, and they would have a worship time."
Pray for the staff as they use the recording studio through radio and evaluate projects and equipment for the future. Pray for the lives of those in Bangladesh that will be touched by Scripture recordings from Shantir Bani.
