Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a nation nestled in the northeastern corner of South Asia. It is encased in a land where ancient cultural richness coexists with desperate poverty and where the human spirit endures against odds that would break lesser nations. Crisscrossed by hundreds of rivers, this low-lying delta nation is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.

Each year, the monsoon rains that sustain the nation’s agricultural heartland also become its greatest enemy, flooding over one-third of the country and devastating communities that have barely recovered from the last disaster.

This constant battle with nature has forced most Bangladeshis to live on less than one dollar a day, driving children into labour and girls into early marriages, while multitudes migrate to overcrowded cities to work in garment factories with dangerously poor safety standards.

In 2024, Bangladesh was shaken by a political earthquake. Across the nation, student protests over government corruption and a controversial quota system which erupted into mass demonstrations that swept across all regions. The government’s brutal response of killing hundreds, possibly thousands of protesters only intensified the uprising.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country and an interim government was formed, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. Yet the power vacuum left in the wake of this upheaval created fertile ground for extremists.

Over 90% of Bangladesh’s population is Muslim, and in many ways, Islam is not merely a religion, it is a cultural identity, a community belonging, and social survival wrapped into one. The cost of following Jesus in Bangladesh is enormous. Christians can be beaten, imprisoned, and killed for their faith. Converts from Islam face the most devastating form of persecution which is rejection by family and displacement.

In their workplaces, Christian employees face harassment, discrimination, and professional sabotage from Muslim colleagues while Christian women face particular vulnerability, including sexual violence and forced displacement during periods of political unrest.

And yet, amid all this, God is at work. The Christian population, though just 1%, is growing, particularly among low-caste Hindus and formerly unreached tribal communities. Bangladeshi churches have made a powerful witness through relief work during floods and political crises, practically demonstrating the love of Christ in ways that are opening hearts.

Solar-powered audio Bibles are being distributed to communities where illiteracy makes traditional outreach impossible and indigenous Bengali believers are the primary carriers of the gospel, trained and mobilised to reach their own people in culturally sensitive and courageous ways.In this season of Ramadan, we believe that God is not finished with this nation. Many who have never heard the name of Jesus will receive light, dreams and visions.