Monday, February 11, 2002 9:51 AM

Dhaka Beth Myriam

Catarina sends the following report about the Dhaka Beth Myriam in Bangladesh. A collection of photos of the Beth Myriam can be viewed at: /banglaphot.html

Annual Report of the Beth Miriam in Dhaka

December 18th, 2001: 2nd Anniversary

Blessed be our God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, a gentle Father and the God of all consolations, Who comforts us and meets all our needs so that we can offer others, in their need, the consolation and help that we have received from God ourselves!

On December 18th, we celebrated the 2nd anniversary at the Beth Miriam with a Thanksgiving Holy Mass celebrated by Fr. “X” and Fr. Bernard Palma, in a festive atmosphere, as the whole place was decorated with Christmas ornaments and the traditional Christmas tree. After a very tasty dinner, the TLIG people that were present but also some Muslim friends, all gathered to sing Christmas carols and thank God for His Blessings.

We grasp at the opportunity to thank our loving God through Jesus Christ for all who have responded with so much love and generosity and have been providing the financial help that is needed to sustain the Beth Miriam in Dhaka. The contributors that support the feeding project are an English couple, the people attending the Banani Church in Dhaka and many others that are touched by the Divine Work God is doing for the needy.

Because of your love, the number of guests that are being served daily a warm meal has increased to 55. That is a 550% increase since the first day we opened the Beth Miriam. We continue to serve the same quality of food as in the beginning and the same quantity (twice as much as any of us will have for lunch as this is the only meal most of our guests receive daily). We also thank all those in Dhaka who have been donating dry food and especially warm clothing – as this winter was a bit longer and much colder for our poor guests that live in the slums or in empty train wagons.

It’s very touching for someone to see that the people who have been coming for lunch to the Beth Miriam almost since the beginning (December 1999), they look much healthier now and their babies and the children have grown and have gained some pounds! They are not anymore the skinny, almost atrophied children. They are full of energy and strength.

One of the Muslim women that has been coming for over a year for lunch, gave birth last October to a beautiful healthy baby girl and when she was asked how will she name her, she agreed to the proposed name: Miriam, to honour our Lady! (the mother and baby are featured on one of the photos mentioned above)

Since March 2001, the Beth Miriam hosts also a class for the children of the slums. The inspiration came during a serving time, when many children were coming to have lunch during school hours. When asked, they said that their parents couldn’t afford to send them even to the local public school. So, it was decided to provide them the basic education of reading and writing once a week with a local teacher, a lady from our TLIG prayer group. By now, there are 2 classes and the weekly hours have increased to 3! Every Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, from 4.00-5.00pm, 25 children, between 5-10 years of age, attend the classes. A snack is also being given to them at the end of every class. The school project is supported financially by the kind generosity of the UNWA of Bangladesh with whom we came in touch in May 2001. They have also offered their help for any of our guests or their children that might need any medical treatment.

Jesus has never stopped surprising us with people that show up wanting to donate money, dry food or clothing. Some days ago, the Managing Director of Novartis in Bangladesh, Mr. Gerhard Doege, a member also of the TLIG prayer group in Dhaka, wanted to contribute, for the children that come to the Beth Miriam, Ovaltine and milk powder. With his wife, they visited the Beth Miriam and handed to Shamol and Onima – the couple that takes care of the place – a big supply of his company’s products.

Besides the above activities, the Beth Miriam continues also to host every Wednesday evening at 6.30pm, one of the 4 True Life in God prayer groups in Dhaka that started back in November 2000. AMong the above activities that are taking place, the Beth Miriam is also the main meeting place of the “True Life in God Association of Bangladesh” – which was established on the 12th of December 2001 and it numbers about 30 active members from Dhaka city and the nearby villages – where we meet and discuss how to promote and spread the Divine Messages of Jesus to Vassula, to the rest of Bangladesh.

We have been also witnessing something that happens to people (lay or priests) who were not convinced or didn’t believe in the Messages but do visit the Beth Miriam: when it’s time for them to leave, they admit that if the Beth Miriam is a fruit of the Messages, then the Messages to Vassula can only be from God, because God is the only One Who can inspire you to love your neighbour in such a way!

After seeing all these fruitful activities taking place in the Beth Miriam, one cannot but admit that all this is the Divine Desire of God that came to life through His humble servant Vassula. She understood the Will of God for His poor people and materialized it, ignoring the obstacles that appear, encouraging the volunteers in the different countries where there are Beth Miriam functioning to help the needy in suffering places.

Filled with gratitude once more we thank everyone who has been supporting this project providing any kind of help, not only for the Beth Miriam in Dhaka, but for all the Beth Miriam around the world. May our loving God and Father bless each and everyone abundantly with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.

Praise is rightfully Yours, O God, for You are answering the prayers of the needy!

True Life in God Association of Bangladesh H#500, R#9, DOHS Baridhara,
Dhaka – 1212, Bangladesh
Email: [email protected]

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