Partner with
Local Missionaries in Bangladesh

Map of Bangladesh

Population:

162 million

Evangelical population:

Unknown

People groups:

333

Unreached people groups:

301

10:40 window
Located in the 10/40 Window

Bangladesh

With more than 160 million inhabitants living in an area slightly smaller than Iowa, Bangladesh is one of the world’s most populous and densely populated countries. The South Asian country is bordered by India, Myanmar, and the Bay of Bengal.

Most of the country is comprised of plains situated on river deltas. The climate is hot and humid for most of the year with summer monsoons that cause devasting floods. Frequent droughts and cyclones also result in tremendous loss of life and property.

Bangladesh used to be part of Pakistan until a bitter civil war led to independence in 1971. The country declared Islam its official religion in 1988. Since then, the Bangladeshi government has taken the initiative to propagate Islam, providing financial assistance to mosques and organizing the training of imams. Today, 89% of the population is Muslim. 

Bangladesh is one of the world’s poorest countries, with nearly half of the population subsisting on less than one dollar per day. However, with the help of international development assistance, Bangladesh is making significant progress in economic growth, food production, and universal education. Almost half of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector. Garments are the backbone of Bangladesh’s industrial sector.

The Christian population comprises an extremely small percentage of the population, less than a fraction of 1%, and faces persecution from Muslim communities and radical Muslim groups. Multiple Islamic terrorist groups, including the Islamic State (ISIS), have networks in Bangladesh. Many Christians meet in underground house churches. Believers who belong to ethnic minorities face the highest levels persecution, like those from the Rohingya refugee population, nearly 1 million of whom live in Bangladesh. 

In the early 1800s, the English missionary William Carey ministered to the Bengali people and translated the New Testament into their language. Today, indigenous missionaries effectively continue the work of evangelism and discipleship. Christian Aid Mission assists multiple ministries that are working among the Bengali majority as well as many ethnic minority groups. Missionary support is their greatest need, along with funding for discipleship and training programs, which are desperately needed to ensure new believers are grounded in God’s Word.

These ministries are also engaged in compassionate outreach, including providing education to poor Muslim and Christian children, running feeding centers that provide nourishment to hundreds of children, and sheltering orphaned or abandoned children.  

Sources: Joshua Project, CIA World Factbook

Bangladeshi girl with head covering with other children behind her

How to Pray for Bangladesh

  • Pray that God would pour out His spirit on the people of Bangladesh to open blind eyes to the truth.
  • Pray that people battered by poverty and discrimination would be healed, strengthened and redeemed by Christ’s love.
  • Pray for protection and provision for brave believers and indigenous missionaries risking everything to share the hope of the gospel in this difficult mission field.

More stories from Bangladesh

Enable Gospel Efforts in Bangladesh

New Christians at a local ministry leader’s church are growing in their faith as they pray during worship every Sunday and lead their families in evening meetings at their homes. Workers are discipling fledgling Christians even as they visit new villages to distribute Bibles and begin forming relationships; over one six-month stretch, they proclaimed Christ to 1,200 people of other religions, and 12 churches were planted.

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Help Expand Christ’s Kingdom in Bangladesh

A follower of a local religion was unable to find peace, and when native missionaries shared the gospel with him, he listened carefully as they taught from the Bible. After much consideration, he put his faith in Christ. “I have left my old behavior and character, and I am saved now,” he said.

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Build Biblically Solid Churches in Bangladesh

Native Christian workers following up with people who accepted Christ during home visits later prayed and studied the Scripture with them and left them with Bibles. “They were very happy to get this special thing,” the ministry leader said.

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Christians in Bangladesh praying in a local store

Help Sow Gospel Seed in Bangladesh

Meeting people in marketplaces, shops and home visits, native Christian workers form friendships and share the gospel as they invest in the lives of others. Opportunities to tell people about Christ also arise as they distribute water and medicines and give free training in tailoring.

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Christian missionaries sitting outside on plastic stools and chairs read the Bible to a group of Bangledeshi woman and children

Equip Gospel Workers in Bangladesh

The interest that an ethnic group showed when a native Christian worker shared the gospel in their tribal tongue compelled him to return to their village several times. Each time they heard him speak, they wanted to know more, and after a few months many of them put their faith in Christ and were baptized.

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