Pakistan/Bangladesh (MNN) – If you live in the United States, or even just the Western world, there are usually plenty of opportunities to attend Christian conferences yearly. Not to mention, when going to Christian conferences, normally there is little to no worries about being attacked for attending. However, this isn’t always the case in Pakistan or Bangladesh, but that’s why FMI is reaching out to national churches with their own Christian conference.
January Conferences Preparations
Pastor Yuda’s primary congregation, which meets in the northern region of Kalimantan (the island popularly called Borneo).
(Photo, caption courtesy FMI)
“We’re in final preparations for prepping seminar content for some conferences in Bangladesh and Pakistan in a few weeks. And, we’re excited for the conferences in these two countries that are so dark spiritually,” FMI’s Bruce Allen shares.
“Two of the larger Muslim dominate countries in the world, but where church planters are hard at work and sharing the Gospel. We’re seeing some fantastic results, so we’re looking forward to a great time.”
At these conferences, FMI helps train up pastors and key church leaders in evangelism that is culturally relevant. What does the culture have to with training, though?
Here’s how it works. Pakistan and Bangladesh, though both are in Asia and are Muslim dominate countries, are still different in their own respects. For example, if FMI were to hand out pamphlets to in Bangladesh with pictures of Pakistanis, it wouldn’t be as culturally relevant to the Bangladeshi. In fact, it could potentially be insulting.
For this reason, FMI is careful to make sure the ministry tailors their conferences to fit the needs of the churches both spiritually and culturally.
Teaching to Evangelize
Furthermore, FMI is helping train church leaders in its new evangelism tool called, Snapshot. Snapshot is an image-based evangelism tool which is used to help share the Gospel and God’s word with individuals who are illiterate.
(Photo courtesy FMI)
For example, in Pakistan, the literacy rate is roughly 50 percent. Additionally, the literacy rate among Christians, who make up less than 1 percent of the population, is at times even worse due to persecution and discrimination.
Yet, with the need to share the Gospel, pastors can’t be the only ones evangelizing. In fact, many pastors are yearning to have other members of their congregations join them in sharing the Gospel with their people.
“The church planters themselves and their families, when they come together for these conferences,” Allen shares, “they say this has been so helpful for us, is there a way that we can bring people from our congregations to these conferences to help multiply the trained personal for ministry and evangelism and things like that in our congregation so it’s not just the pastor doing the ministry.”
When it comes down to it, FMI’s goal with these pastors and their congregations isn’t to keep them dependent on FMI resources, but to help move them and guide them into becoming mature Christians and congregations. Furthermore, FMI hopes to also see these Christians become independent, too.
How to Help
So as January plays out, kids head back to school, and everyday life settles down from the holidays, will you pray for FMI’s travel and ministry in Pakistan and Bangladesh? Pray for both FMI’s and the national Christian’s protection.
Also, pray for those attending conferences to take away all they can from what they are taught and to be able to put into practice what they learn. Finally, pray for the conferences to go well, with no interruptions, and for the national pastors and church leaders to be encouraged by FMI and filled with a fresh passion for serving God.
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