Let's stand with us, and say yes need to be changed:

Let's stand with us, and say yes need to be changed:

Christianity arrived in what is now Bangladesh during the late 16th to early 17th century through the Portuguese traders and missionaries. Christians account for approximately 0.3% of the total population.[1] Christianity's first contact with the Indian subcontinent is attributed to Thomas the Apostle, who is said to have preached in Kerala. Although Jesuit priests were active at the Mughal courts in the 16th and 17th centuries, the first Roman Catholic settlements in Bangladesh appear to have been established by the Portuguese, coming from their center in Goa on the west coast of India. During the 16th century the Portuguese settled in the vicinity of Chittagong, where they were active in piracy and slavery. In the 17th century some Portuguese moved to Dhaka.

Serious Protestant missionary efforts began only in the first half of the 19th century. Baptist missionary activities beginning in 1816, the Anglican Oxford Mission, and others worked mainly among the tribal peoples of the Low Hills in the northern parts of Mymensingh and Sylhet. Many of the Christian churches, schools, and hospitals were initially set up to serve the European community. They subsequently became centers of missionary activities, particularly among the lower caste Hindus.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs provided assistance and support to the Christian institutions in the country. In the late 1980s, the government was not imposing any restrictions on the legitimate religious activities of the missions and the communities. Mission schools and hospitals were well attended and were used by members of all religions[citation needed]. The Christian community usually enjoyed better opportunities for education and a better standard of living. In the late 1980s, Christianity had about 600,000 adherents, mainly Roman Catholic, and their numbers were growing rapidly.

Early history

Renowned Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope of South Africa in 1498 and landed at Calicut (present Kozhikode of India) by discovering the sea-route to India. From 1500 onwards, the Portuguese established their power first in Cranganore, then to Cochin and Goa. With these traders and commercial opportunists, also came Franciscan, Dominican, Augustinian, and Jesuit missionaries to bring Indians to Christianity. From 1517 onwards, Portuguese traders from Goa were traversing the sea-route to Bengal but were not successful in establishing trading posts in this part of India. Only in 1537 were they allowed to settle and open customs houses at Satgaon (near Hooghly) in West Bengal and Chittagong. In 1577, Mughal emperor Akbar permitted the Portuguese to build permanent settlements and churches in Bengal. After the Portuguese intermarried with local women or converted native Bengali people, their descendants became the first generation of indigenous Christians in Bangladesh. Additional locals converted to Christianity from Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.

Timeline

In the 16th century, Portuguese traders brought Christianity to Bangladesh through the port of Chittagong, called the Porto Grande or the Great Port. The first church in Bangladesh was built in 1599 at Chandecan (also called Iswaripur or old Jessore) near Kaliganj in the Sundarbans of present Satkhira district.

• 1599: Father Francisco Fernandez went to Chandecan in October, and with permission of Maharaja Pratapaditya built a church and a rectory there. This new church, called the "Holy Name of Jesus", was officially dedicated on January 1, 1600, when the King himself was present at the ceremony[citation needed].
• 1600: The second church, called "Calvery United Methodist" was built in Chittagong on June 24 by Fathers Francisco Fernandez and Andre Boves with financial assistance from the King of Arakan[citation needed].
• 1601: At the invitation of Portuguese merchants, Dominican Fathers Gaspar da Assumpsao and Melchior da Luz went to Diang (Dianga), south-east of Chittagong on the Karnaphuli River, and built the third church (chapel) there. When the Arakanese attacked, the chapel was burnt down and missionaries were manhandled, after which the Dominicans left[citation needed].
• 1602: Francisco Fernandez tried to save some Portuguese children from the Arakanese who had made them slaves. The Arakanese were so enraged that they captured Fernandez, beat him and placed him in chains in a dark prison. He died there on November 14, 1602 becoming the first Christian martyr in the territory comprising present Bangladesh.
• 1608: Islam Khan, the Mughal Subedar of Bengal, made Dhaka—previously a mere military outpost—the capital of Bengal. This was followed by progress and prosperity in business attracting Portuguese, Dutch, French and English merchants.
• 1612: Portuguese Augustinian missionaries introduced Christianity in Dhaka.
• 1628: The same missionaries established a church, called the "Church of the Assumption", in the Narinda area of the city.
• 1695: The church of St. Nicholas of Tolentino was constructed at Nagori, 25 kilometres north-east of Dhaka.
• 1764: Portuguese missionaries built a church at Padrishibpur in Barisal district. Another Portuguese church was built at Hashnabad, 30 kilometres south-west of Dhaka, in 1777.

Roman Catholics

In 1682, there were 14,120 Roman Catholics in Bangladesh. As the Bangladeshi Muslims have Arabic and Persian surnames, so do the Portuguese-converted Catholics or Catholics of Portuguese blood have Portuguese surnames, such as Gomes, Rozario, D'Costa, Purification, Gonsalvez, Cruze, Daes, D’Silva, D’Souza etc.[citation needed]. To recognize Catholics by names, the missionaries used to give one Christian name and one of their surnames to the newly baptized person. Later Catholic missionaries from Great Britain, Ireland, France, USA, Canada, and Italy did not follow the Portuguese in naming the new Christians. They gave one Christian name but did not change the surname of the newly converted. Presently, the Catholic Church has six dioceses—Dhaka, Chittagong, Dinajpur, Khulna, Mymensingh, and Rajshahi—with a Catholic population of about 221,000, more than 70 parish churches, 200 priests, 50 brothers, 700 nuns, 1,000 catechists, and many educational, healthcare, and welfare institutions and organizations[citation needed].

Founded in 1949, Notre Dame College (Dhaka) has earned the reputation for being the best institution for higher secondary education in the country with the highest number of perfect GPA holders in national examination (H.S.C.).

Protestants

William Carey was a Protestant missionary who arrived at Serampore in West Bengal in 1793. This Englishman heralded the new missionary era in Bengal. Many Protestant organizations have since established themselves in the country:

• 1793: Baptist Missionary Society (British)
• 1805: Church Missionary Society (British)
• 1862: Council for World Mission (British Presbyterian)
• 1882: Australian Baptist Mission
• 1886: New Zealand Baptist Mission
• 1895: Oxford Mission (British Anglican)
• 1905: Churches of God (American)
• 1919: Seventh-day Adventists
• 1945: Assemblies of God
• 1956: Santal Mission (Lutheran)
• 1957: Bangladesh Mission of the Southern Baptist Convention American
• 1958: Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (American)
• 2007: Bangladesh Evangelical Church

After the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, there was a new influx of Protestant missionary societies into Bangladesh. Besides evangelism, these societies have also established and run various educational, healthcare, and welfare institutions. At present, the number of Protestants in Bangladesh is estimated to be around 150,000[citation needed].

Contributions

Christians contributed immensely in the field of Bengali literature. Portuguese missionary Fr. Manuel da Assumpsao wrote Kripar Shastrer Orthobhed, which was printed in 1743 in Lisbon, Portugal, in the Latin script. It was a catechism in the question-answer form. He also wrote a 40-page Bengali grammar book and a 529-page Bengali-Portuguese and Portuguese-Bengali dictionary, called Vocabulario em Idioma Bengulla-e-Portuguez, divided em duas Partes. Dom Antonio da Rozario, a local Hindu jomidar (squire) converted by the Portuguese, was successful in making mass conversions (20,000 to 30,000) among low-caste Hindus in the region north of Dhaka. He wrote Brahman-Roman Catholic Sambad, where a Roman Catholic dialogues with a Hindu Brahmin and attempts to show the superiority of Christianity over Hinduism.

William Carey translated and printed the Bible in Bengali, as well as writing many other books and a dictionary, called A Dictionary of the Bengali Language. He also helped develop Bengali type faces for printing and established Serampore Mission and College in addition to publishing newspapers and periodicals. His colleagues Dr. John Thomas, William Ward, Felix Carey (his son), John Pearson, and others also left their contributions in Bengali literature. Carey also developed the Bengal school system[citation needed]. Recently, two Catholic Italian Xaverian missionaries— Fathers Marino Rigon and Silvano Garello— have been translating many works of 1913 Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Jasimuddin and others into Italian. Their books have created an increasing interest of the Italians for Bengali literature and Bangladesh[citation needed].

Having worked in Bangladesh as a missionary since 1952, Father Richard William Timm, C.S.C. won the Ramon Magsaysay Award Peace and International Understanding, the Asian Nobel Prize, in 1987 in recognition of his work as biologist, combating parasitic worms, and relief efforts with Caritas (charity).[2]

The Churches in Bangladesh have worked in the fields of merciful activities such as education and medicare for all mainly the poor, underprivileged, and helpless. In a country where over 99% of the population is Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist, running such educational and welfare institutions and organizations under a Christian banner remains difficult[citation needed].

After the Bangladesh Liberation War, the missionaries sent by Mother Teresa were the first organizations to enter Bangladesh after 1971 to help the victims. Many of these missionaries have established offices in Bangladesh and still operate independently. These missionaries along with many other contribute actively during flood and various cyclones in the coastal region.

Though small in number, Bangladeshi Christians have made a significant contribution to Bangladesh since independence in 1971.

'Michael Madhusudan Dutt Michael Madhusudan Dutta (Bengali: মাইকেল মধুসূদন দত্ত ( Maikel Modhushudôn Dôtto (help·info)); 25 January 1824 – 29 June 1873) was a popular 19th-century Bengali poet and dramatist.[1] From an early age, Dutt aspired to be an Englishman in form and manner. Born to a Hindu landed-gentry family, he converted to Christianity as a young manItalic text, to the ire of his family, and adopted the first name Michael. In later life he regretted his attraction to England and the Occident. He wrote ardently of his homeland in his poems and sonnets from this period. Dutt is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets in Bengali literature and the father of the Bengali sonnet. He pioneered what came to be called amitrakshar chhanda (blank verse). Dutt died in Kolkata, India on 29 June 1873.[3]

• Patrick D'Rozario, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church of Bangladesh
• Poulinus D'Costa, former Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church of Bangladesh
• Michael D'Rozario, former Archbishop of Bangladesh
• Theotonius Amal Ganguly, former Archbishop of Bangladesh
• The music director Samar Das, led the creation of the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra ("Free Bengal Radio") during the Bangladesh Liberation War and orchestrated and notated the National Anthem of the new country, Tagore's "Amar Sonar Bangla", enabling it to be recorded and played by orchestras around the world.
• Barrister Cyril Shikder was a former ambassador of Bangladesh to Nepal.
• Michael Madhusudan Dutt, (1824–1873), born Modhushudon Dotto, was a famous 19th century Bengali poet and dramatist. He was born in the village Shaagordaari, Jessore District. Modhushudon was known as the father of the Bengali sonnet. Modhushudon converted to Christianity, taking the Christian name of Michael.
• Michael Shushil Odhikari (1924–97) was a social worker, former President of Bangladesh Baptist Shongho, and former NGO advisor to the Government of Bangladesh during the presidency of Lieutenant General Hossain Mohammad Ershad
• Samson Hossain Chowdhury, Chairman of Square (Bangladesh)
• Promode Mankin is the State Minister of Bangladesh. He was elected as the Member of Jatiyo Sangshad (3 terms) from Mymensingh 1 (Haluaghat Upazila). He belong to the indigenous group known as the Mandi or Garo.
• Andrew Kishore is a popular singer of modern songs and has had many hits as a playback artist in Bangladesh movies.
• Patrick D'Costa is a renowned journalist in Bangladesh. He was elected journalist leader of Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ), Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) and Crime Reporters Association of Bangladesh (CRAB). Bangladesh Red Crescent Society life member and Bangla Academy member Patrick D'Costa is now Senior Correspondent of My TV a Satellite Television of Bangladesh . Patrick D'Costa is the first Christian professional journalist in Bangladesh.

The main reason I collected these all history to explained to all of you about present situation:

# According to the History of Christianity in Bangladesh it all near about four century before the gospel entered to Bangladesh. In the present time the numbers of population in Bangladesh near about one hundred eighty millions. But Christianity is only 0.03% also most of is Roman Catholic.

What about others religion in Bangladesh??

Actually the thing is that, Bangladesh is a very fundamental Muslim country.

Islam is the largest religion of Bangladesh, the Muslim population is approximately 148.6 million, which is the fourth largest Muslim population in the world (after Indonesia, Pakistan and India), constituting 90.4% of the total population as of 2010.[1][2][3] Religion has always been a strong part of identity, but this has varied at different times. A survey in late 2003 confirmed that religion is the first choice by a citizen for self-identification; atheism is extremely rare.[4] Bangladesh is a secular state, however the United Nations has recognised the country as mainly moderate Muslim democratic country.[5]

Islam was introduced to Bengal during the Rashidun Caliphate in the 8th century,[6] mainly by the arrivals of Arab and Persian missionaries and merchants,[7] and conquests of the region. One of the notable Muslim saints was Shah Jalal. He arrived in the region of Sylhet in 1303 with many other disciples to preach the religion to the people.[8][9]

History:

• 1 History
  • 1.1 Hazrat Shah Jalal (R)
  • 1.2 Historic mosques
• 2 Role of Sufism
• 3 Traditions and sects
• 4 Muslim population by district
• 5 Status of religious freedom
• 6 Politicized Islam
• 7 See also
• 8 References
• 9 External links

Description about Bangladesh religious History:

Introduction: According to the history of religions in Bangladesh, we can easily understand that Before Islam entered to Bangladesh Christianity entered. As so long far each other these two religion to entered to Bangladesh. But now 90.04% are Muslim and only 0.03% are Christian. The question is Why the Christianity population is too lower?

Incorrect systems: Few of Bengali's actually for their cleaver's is the reason. Bangladesh is Development of the Supreme able country and most of peoples are non-educated. And Islamic leaders has been used their satanic wonders and peoples became very quickly but Christians leaders in Bangladesh did many mistakes that they only entered to missions for build their own site but they did not think about peoples. I can surly tell many names about these kind of falls missionaries of Bangladesh but I will not tell but I shall praying for them to come back to Lord as soon as possible. This is why the Christianity is very poor in Bangladesh but Our heavenly Father is the rich above all riches.

Wrong methods: With out education any society can not build or stand on a strong foundation. Just these has been happened and still happening.

Violent attitude: Most of Christian leaders have keeping violent attitude. Because all are willing to be leaders and willing to be principle, also every one thought he is he, this is why Christianity can not grown up in healthy. For example, recently one senior pastor he did not know English but he is very good servant and he had created about 20+ branch church but from His organization another senior pastor who is very good known English and he can speak and writing good in English but he did not serving in practical enough but he is most important because he is good in English and he can doing foreign delegations but who don't know English but His son can speak and writing English therefore they both father and son willing to join a international conference but the educated senior pastor tried to off them to go to World because these man are corrupt and greedy. Last 15 years he earned lots of money for himself by showed the good servants ministries fruited but when the truth is becoming in front then he tried to fried but he cant. Another example from my life that I am not enough educated, also I became a Christians from Muslim backgrounds but when I arranged a college student conference in April-2012 and from Taiwan my two friends came to cooperate with me since the seniors pastors and church leaders had started to quit me and my ministry, also they heard these conference 2nd part will be in December 2012 then they hired some of terrorist to killed me in Octobor-2012, no they were from Christians leaders not from another religion or fundamentalism. But Why? Why Christians Leaders had done? Because God blessed me and given me wisdom to serving continue here in Bangladesh for His kingdom. Praise God He choose me.

Formula to build strong foundations and faster growing healthy Christians:

1. In the present Gospel Movement Church (TCRWO) prepared 12 branch churches in Meherpur district in Bangladesh and they all became Christians from Muslim background. So we need to changed and come-out from traditional motivation and systems.

2. In several places of Meherpur District area we converted 160 peoples whom they had Muslims but after heard gospel they became Christians. But Need to be keep them with proper teaching.

3. Lots of time many missionaries had been to Bangladesh and went to many villages preaching the gospel with many of, many of became Christians but after accepted Jesus they don't know how to lead the life of a believer? Because after preaching no one did not backed to them to take care to be healthy. So need to be producing workers, I mean pastors for pasturing to new converted to be healthy Christians. And for producing pastors need to be start Bible seminary and it is very urgent.

4. After became Christian the new converted cut off from local villages societies also don't have any chance to get any job or labors to lead families. Because fundamentalism Muslim peoples shall close every doors until they get back to Muslims again. So need to be establish resource centers of Money.

5. God has open doors already, one of new converted from Meherpur already told to me that He willing to offering his land to build a prayer house, and a center of peace for his area. But we have not enough fund so we need to be raise money and need to be start from villages to villages the covered to a city then P/O then District. After completely a district we can takes supports from them to win another district for Lord. So should be covered first a district not every where. 

6. Finally I would like to through a invitation to come to us to cooperate with us to set up a strong foundation for the kingdom of God in Bangladesh.

Thanks:

God bless.

J.B.Moonna

Founder, Chairman, Executive Director

Gospel Movement Church (TCRWO)

18/07, Mujgunni residence

GPO-9000

Khulna, Bangladesh.

Cell: +880 1930 964195

Email: moonna999@gmail.com

Donate to set up strong foundation for the kingdom of God in Bangladesh:

Bank details:

Name of Bank: Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited

Name of Bank account: Gospel Movement Church (TCRWO)

Account numbers: 120.110.21911

Swift Code: DBBLBDDH105

Country: Bangladesh

Web: http://moonna999.wix.com/gospelmovementchurch

Blog: http://gmc-tcrwo.blogspot.com/

     

God bless all of us richly in Jesus Name Amen!!!