Click here to access the updated country profile for Bangladesh, the world's eighth most populous nation inhabited by approximately 160 million people. No other sovereign nation in the world has as large of a population and only one Latter-day Saint congregation. Only one other country in the world has a larger population and no mission (Pakistan). The Church in Bangladesh has experienced essentially stagnant growth since the early 1990s when the first and only branch was organized in Dhaka. See below for the Future Prospects section of this article:
The lack of local leadership among the handful of Bangladeshi members in Dhaka continues to delay greater progress with the establishment of the Church. Additionally, no full-time missionaries have been assigned to the country, which appears out of concern of the Church’s legal status in the country and the influence of Islam on local culture. Given security and cultural concerns, only South Asian members appear likely to serve proselytizing missions in Bangladesh. Moreover, missionary activity would likely rely on member referral rather than traditional missionary finding tactics if full-time missionaries are assigned one day. The Church’s growth and progress in nearby Pakistan suggests similar results may be achieved in Bangladesh if the proper vision and consistent outreach is maintained that specifically focuses on the development of local leadership and helping greater numbers of young single adults serve full-time missions so one day there can be a native full-time missionary force capable of meeting local proselytism needs. Bangladeshi members who join the Church in other nations may return to their homeland and help build up the Church. A senior missionary couple from the India New Delhi Mission assisting with leadership development and humanitarian appears likely in the foreseeable future.
7 comments:
It is a very large country, with a tremendous influence on different philosophies, hopefully those baptized remain active in the gospel.
It is wonderful that they were announced a temple, no doubt there is much work to do
I think online proselytism could be a great tool to prepare the way for the Gospel in Bangladesh.
Valenzuela: are you referring to India?
Bangladesh is a populous but small country. With the uptick in radical Islamism there it does not seem a prime candidate for more missionary outreach. Still in India there are states with hundreds of millions of inhabitants and virtually no members. Utter Predesh has 200 million people and maybe one ward in it's very western extremity.
Uttar Pradesh is very close to New Delhi, where there is a decent base of members. I wonder what it would take to expand outward. Is there still quotas on numbers of U.S. or foreign missionaries in India?
Si, a la India
There are very strict limits on the number of foreign missionaries allows. The limits do not usually apply to those 9f Indian descent.
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