BWANEWS INBRIEF

BANGLADESH - CHURCH GROWTH IN BANGLADESH continued
The BBCF also reported rapid growth, as 28 new churches were planted between April and August 2009. Work among the Buddhistmajority
Chakma tribe in the Chittagong Hill tracts, numbering an estimated 600,000, is experiencing growth. Approximately 3,000 new
members among this minority and often-persecuted people group were baptized over the last five years. Dirbadon Chakma, one of the
10 newly ordained pastors, is the first from among the Chakma tribe to receive Christian ordination. A new team of leaders, headed
by president Tapan Chowdhury, a businessman and a member of the General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, was installed in a
ceremony presided over by Bonny Resu, BWA regional secretary for Asia and general secretary for the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation
(APBF). Resu, from India, and APBF President Wood-Ping Chu, from Hong Kong, were two of the guest speakers.
Also attending the conference were Samson Chowdhury, a former BWA vice president, Jason Das, former ABPF president, and Dennis
Dilip Datta, the 2008 recipient of the BWA Denton and Janice Lotz Human Rights Award.
PHOTOS: Jason Das of Bangladesh, the immediate past preident of APBF, preaching during the serive of ordination of 10 pastors.
Right, top: Wood-Ping Chu, president of the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation, assisted by an interpreter, addresses worshippers during
the mission conference in Bangladesh
Right, center: The 10 pastors waiting to be ordained
Right, bottom: Dirbadon Chakma, second from left, one of 10 pastors ordained during the mission conference with other delegates
from the Chittagong Hill tracts in Bangladesh
Bangladesh photos courtesy of Asia Pacific Baptist Federation
SOUTH AFRICA - BAPTISTS ON MISSION DURING SOCCER WORLD CUP
Baptists in South Africa used the FIFA World Cup as a mission opportunity. The World Cup is the most widely-viewed sporting event in
the world and was held between June 11 and July 11, 2010, in South Africa, the first African nation to host the prestigious tournament.
Activities planned by Baptists in South Africa included the screening of all matches in churches; witnessing at soccer stadiums; the
arrangement of special soccer tournaments, especially for youth and children; the publication of a special World Cup Challenge
newspaper; and the distribution of the South Africa flag with gospel messages.
One initiative was the Ignite Internship Program, a ministry of Eastside Community Church in Pretoria which aimed to create a team of
interns in order to partner with other churches during the soccer tournament; establish a soccer academy; and develop and implement
ministry opportunities to complement the soccer ministry.
The volunteers ran street soccer tourna-ments. Such events tend to draw crowds and thus create opportunities for the presentation of
the Gospel.
“With the prospect of hundreds of thousands of international visitors arriving for the FIFA Soccer World Cup in June 2010, the South
African church is uniquely placed to impact many for Christ,” the Eastside Community Church states. “Not only can the lives of
international visitors be touched, but also locals, particularly those who love ‘the beautiful game.’”
Baptists from the state of Virginia in the United States took a group of volunteers to South Africa to share in the Ignite Internship
Program. The volunteers helped to lead soccer clinics, pick-up games, and music and drama, and provided children’s ministry with a
soccer theme.
A team of approximately 180 Brazilian Baptist volunteers were in South Africa, led by pastor and missionary Marcos Grava, coordinator
of the Sports Missionary Program of the World Mission Board of the Brazilian Baptist Convention. The team of volunteers was part of
the Africa 2010 Connection Program, and was slated to work in the vicinity of several World Cup stadiums from June 2 to July 19.
The Africa Connection 2010 Program is a partnership between the World Mission Board and the Brazilian Coalition of Sports Ministry,
with the support of the Baptist Seminary of Theology in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Among the events and activities planned by the Brazilians were sporting events, personal evangelism and discipleship, Vacation Bible
School, music, dancing, seminars and crusade meetings in churches, children’s ministry, and medical and dental care. 9