Family News From Dr. James Dobson

Family News From Dr. James Dobson August 2007

Once, again I like and support many of the things Dr. James Dobson stands for but if he goes against the Bible- I do not agree with him.

In his, August 2007 Newsletter he has a diary comment from Mr. Stuart Witt on the Iraqi war. R. Witt writes that on 7 February 2007, “1^st Lt. Jared Landaker, United States Marine Corps, hero, from Big Bear California, gave his life in service to his county.” I agree with Mr. Witt that Jared was a hero and sacrificed his life for his country.

But then Mr. Witt goes on to say “His death occurred at the same time as Anna Nicole Smith, a drug-using person with a 7^th-grade education of no pedigree…” She received national attention while Jared received none. I agree that Jared Landaker death was another number to the news, us and the president. However, that gives us no right to say that Anna was worthless and a nobody- she was a child of God.

IS that what JESUS would say about one of his children dying without knowing him? The Bible states:

Roman 3:22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, ^{Ro 3:23} for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ^{Ro 3:24} and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Mark 2:15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” ^{Mk 2:17} On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Mathew 7:1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

From the above three books three main themes jump out at all of us that call ourselves ‘Christians’:

1. We all sin and fall short of God- justified freely by his (Jesus) grace. Grace, is that a word us fundamental Christians understand?
2. Jesus did not come to call the righteous, but sinners- yes, you read it write Jesus calls sinners not righteous people.
3. Simple- do not judge others! It sounds like Dr. Dobson like many of us Christians was judging when he writes, “a drug-using person with a 7^th-grade education of no pedigree.” What does he mean by “no pedigree” what pedigree is he, what pedigree am I, what pedigree are you?

I am also, sorry that Mr. Witt and Dr. Dobson uses Jared’s death to state that we need to become a nation committed to winning the fight, and elect leaders with the spine to ask Americans to sacrifice in order to win (the war in Iraq).

I have said before this war and now during this war that this fighting in Iraq has nothing to do with stopping terrorist, in fact it makes more terrorist! I pray we have Christian in the USA they say the killing is enough and bring are American boys home!

My prayer will continues to be that Iraqis can live in peace and that our (USA) military personnel can come home. Like Dr. Dobson I believe that our men and women in uniform deserve our utmost respect but I disagree with him that they are putting their lives on the line in defense of our freedom. They are loosing their lives for President Bush’s war- full stop.

SIDE NOTE: Yes, I’m a pacifist as many of you know but I read an interesting devotional from Ligonier Ministries and Dr. R.C. Sproul:

Old Testament violence seems excessive to us, especially since the Lord does not give the new covenant church the right to conquer with the sword. We fight God’s holy war today with prayer and evangelism to make His enemies obey His rule willingly (2 Cor. 10:4; Eph. 6:10-20).

Our battle is not wholly different from old covenant holy war. Even then, foes like Rahab could be conquered spiritually and join our Father’s army as soldiers (Josh. 2; 6:22-25). Moreover, physical battles will not always be absent from our warfare like they are presently, for the Lord’s forces will cast His enemies forcibly into hell at His return (Matt. 13:36-43). Still, in this era of abounding grace in Christ, God sends us forth with the Gospel, not the sword.

Once, again there is that word grace, “abounding grace in Christ” Grace is what fundamental, conservative, liberal, neo, believing Christians need to understand!

Remember Ligonier Ministries and Dr. Sproul are not pacifist but they do know and study (systematically) the word of God.

Kevin’s Annual Report 06/07 Message

It has been a good year for Shohanabhuti Bangladesh Trust by God’s grace. We added 3,135 precious children over the last year for a total of 9,168 children in all the projects. In addition, we have 63 projects serving these precious children throughout 20 districts of Bangladesh. All the projects and SBT staffs are striving to help:

Bangladeshi Children: Touch Heaven and Change Earth

It continues to be my dream that Bangladeshi Children will be in the forefront of changing their world, nation, community, family and their life for the betterment of humankind.

This is my last Annual Report as I will be moving on to a regional role in Asia with Compassion International. As of 1 July 2007, SBT board hired Kajal Sengupta to lead SBT as the Country Director. I’m very happy that Kajal has joined the SBT family, on the next page is an introduction.

The hardest part about leading SBT over the last three years was when one of our children died. Thirteen children died during this time. Each was a fresh pain to my heart and a reminder that the work of SBT is very important for the children of Bangladesh. In memorial, I would like to list the names here of these precious children that have joined our Father in heaven:

Swapon, Jonny, Linkon, Hasan, Sanjoy, Bablu, Kakoli, Nithun, Bobita, Tonushri, Likshon, Rezumoni and Sumon.

I would like to personally say thank you to all project staff, SBT staff, and Board Members for their contributions over the past year. Without your hard work, support, and prayers it would not be possible to provide services to the precious children of Bangladesh. I would like to extend a special thank you to Sukamal Biswas, Albert Mridha, and Philip Adhikary in helping me in my role with SBT from the very beginning.

The pages of this report with their pictures and stories provide only a glimpse of the hope that SBT and its partners are trying to provide the children and their families that we serve. We invite you to prayerfully consider this report, and then join us in this calling of being an advocate for children throughout Bangladesh and the world!

Kevin C. Stout

Compassion International Representative

Introduction of the New Country Director

Dear Shohanabhuti (Compassion) Bangladesh Trust Family,

Greetings.

I praise God and am delighted to announce the appointment of Mr. Kajal K. Sengupta as the Country Director of Compassion Ministry in Bangladesh with effect from 01 July 2007. Please join me in welcoming Kajal and his wife – Eva, daughter – Grace and son – Isaac to SBT family. God is at work through Compassion in Bangladesh and I praise and thank God for bringing Kajal to provide leadership for our organization at a crucial juncture in our growth.

Kajal hails from the Chittagong areas of Bangladesh and comes to us in response to a calling on his life. His commitment for the poor, professionalism, and reputation he enjoys within the non-government organization’s community is an added advantage.

Kajal is coming from USAID, US Embassy, Dhaka as its Chief Financial Officer. Kajal has an MBA in Finance from East West University and an M.Com (Master of Commence) from Chittagong University. He has also participated in over a dozen professional trainings during the course of his career. May I covet your support for Kajal and our team of dedicated servants as they continue to serve faithfully in Bangladesh.

I would also want to place on record, our gratitude to Kevin Stout (out-going acting Country Director) for his contributions in building up our work in Bangladesh and ably leading the organization during the past three years.

Mathew George

Area Director, Compassion International South Asia

Grieving Friends

High-tide grief is not the time to speak solutions. (Women who have had miscarriages say the last thing they want to hear from a friend, “You can have another baby.”) When one is grieving, it is the time for friends to be silent, to hug, and to weep.*Dee Brestin

My Dad, Charles E. Stout always said, “You need to go to support a friend, family member or acquaintance when they are mourning a lost of a loved one. No matter how close that person is to you, you show support just by being there. You don’t need to say a thing but be there. Take your children; also, kids are part of life in birth, living and death.”

*Dee Brestin continues, the friends who comfort the most:

• Shows up.
• Write notes telling the person about how they liked/loved the person that past away.
• Personal note is better than a grocery store (canned) card.
• Talk about the person that died, don’t be afraid to talk about them- the person that is mourning hasn’t forgot that person, trust me.
• Pray for the person who lost the loved one.

In Bangladesh, the grieving process is always very close to you. People are sick or suffer at home, they die right in their own beds, and all the people of the community come by to pay their last respects. There are no retirement homes, nursing care, or a home for the aged. Grandparents are with their children and their grandchildren when they die.

Jesus is our prayer
And He is also the answer
To all our prayer

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Back in Bangladesh!

We left the USA via Dulles Airport in Washington D.C. on 4 Aug. Pastor Tim, once again and his trusty Ford Excursion took all 6 of us, plus 10 pieces of luggage, 5 carry-on and my Mom to the Airport. We had no trouble with check in or security and our flight left pretty much on time (7 hours). On the 5th we arrived in London and had a 5 hour lay-over. We had fish and chips for the boys and boarded the 11 hour flight for Dhaka in the afternoon. Once again, no problems- thank you Lord, usually something happens in London, Heathrow Airport. We arrived in Dhaka at 7 a.m. on the 6^th of Aug.

It was hot and humid when we left Pennsylvania but the boys all agreed that it was hotter and more humid in Bangladesh. The boys had a week to get over jet lag until school started. However, I had a meeting at 10 a.m. that first morning. Then on the second morning Kajal, the new Country Director that is replacing me, my boss Mathew George and I left for a 6 hour ride to northeast BD to visit three projects over two days. It is always amazing and rewarding to see the children at the projects. We had an excellent time visiting the children and project staff. One of the projects is in the town of Sylhet and the other two are in the middle of tea gardens. On the drive up to Sylhet we saw lots of water, about 66% of the country is under water right now but the flooding is not bad in Sylhet or in the part of Dhaka where we live.

There is plenty of water throughout BD but the major flooding is in the west and southwest. We have seven Compassion Projects effective. We are providing emergency relief of foodstuff and medicines/water purification tablets to all the children families.

The picture of the boys is from the first day of school, 13 Aug. It was a red-letter summer for Chase (second son), he is now taller than his mother. Charles (#1) is not far behind. However, Chad’s hair is shorter than his mother but not by much! The boys are all to be back at Grace International School. They miss the USA but love the school here. It was especially hard for Chad, Chase and I to come back to Bangladesh after a month in the states. I’m not sure why but it was definitely harder for me. It has to do with my mom, family and the quiet of rural Pennsylvania.

We had a good time on our home leave. We tried to stay close to mom and family in Lewisberry, PA. However, we did take to long trips. One to Cape Cod, Massachusetts and the other to North Carolina. We went to Cape Cod for our friends wedding, Jamin and Bridget. Jamin is the son of my management guru, Jim Alexander. We had never been to the Cape before and it was beautiful. The church they were married in dated from 1719! We even swam at the tip of the cape in cold clear ocean water. On the return we met up with my cousin Wendy’s family to take a two day tour of New York City. It was an adventure to see Empire State building, Time Square, Rockefeller Center, China town, ride on Staten Island Ferry, Ground Zero and walking around lower Manhattan.

In North Carolina, we visited BD friends of our that are on a one-year home leave. It was great to catch up with the Morrison family. They have three boys and two of them are the same ages as Chad and Chase. And by the way they ate Nita’s chicken curry I would say they miss Bangladesh very much!

The other pictures are from my project visits this August, already.

Children Learn What They Live

by Dorothy Law Neite

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.
If a child learns to feel shame, he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement he learns confidence
If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.
He a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world.