FLOODING IN BANGLADESH
Dear Family and Friends,
On August 18th, I received the following email from our dear brother Rev. Thimkhup, Chairman of the Chittagong Hills Tyrannus and Lydia Halls in Bangladesh (successor to Pakshim). I give it to you in its entirety.
Dear Steve,
Greeting to you in Jesus’ precious name from Chittagong Hills Tyrannus and Lydia Hall, Bangladesh.
I do hope all Tyrannus and Lydia Hall are going well by the grace of God. We are also somehow doing well, but not in a very good situation in August 2-10, 2023 for flooding in our place, at the same time in our Tyrannus Hall and Kitchen also affected by flood.
So, I have sent some pictures during flooding in our hall for your kind information. The students who stayed in Tyrannus hall are all saved by the grace of God. After going down the water, the students go back to their rooms. Now everything is normal. I have just informed you about our situation that we faced in the beginning of this month. Please pray for us.
Thanking you
Thimkhup Buiting
Bangladesh
The first picture was taken the night of the flooding, before it reached its highest point. The following photos were taken after the water receded, leaving its high-water mark at Jeremia’s shoulder (CHTH Staff in doorway of upper right photo), which is above the head of Vanlalvuan’s head (CHLH Staff in doorway of lower left photo). The bottom right photo shows their proximity to the river that overflowed its banks. As you can see, their furniture is sprawled on the concrete pad in front of the Halls.
Though Rev. Thimkhup did not even hint at the financial costs of this flooding, their loss is clearly significant. If you would like to help them with new furniture, kitchen equipment, mattresses and whatever else they now need, TLH is taking up a collection to send to them. Until our new website is functional, the only way to send a gift to them is by sending a check made out to “Tyrannus and Lydia Halls” at PO Box 191, Wheaton, IL 60187 with “CHTH Flooding” in the memo line. Thank you for your help and your prayers for them.
In June, I wrote to you of the near impossible situation in Cluj, Romania:
The CTH Board is now considering closing it for the next academic year (October-June) if they can't find appropriate staff. Their situation is complicated by the fact that the CTH does not have adequate housing for a staff family or even a staff couple. This makes it especially difficult to find a quality CTH mentor. Please be in prayer for Cluj.
Well thank you for praying! Only a couple weeks after asking you to pray, the “near impossible” happened. Above, you see Sasa and Agnes, who have agreed to become the new staff couple at the Cluj Tyrannus Hall. Sasa was a natural leader in the CTH as a student in 2017. He has since finished his degree, married and now desires with Agnes to invest in discipleship with a new generation of young men. After discussions with the CTH Board, the decision was made to convert the top floor of the CTH into their apartment. So, remodeling is presently underway to enable them to be living on site next month! The extra bonus is that Sasa already has a good grasp of what a discipleship community among university guys involves. I look forward to working with Sasa and Agnes when I visit them later this fall.
For those familiar with Tyrannus and Lydia Halls as well as those who are new to TLH, you will be much encouraged by a newsletter that Vepu Pfuno, staff leader at the Dimapur Tyrannus Hall, sent out at the beginning of their academic year in June: https://1drv.ms/b/s!AtAq0FuxjXNrhc87qmb43QhBg06J7A?e=FoaptS. With lots of pictures, he concisely presents the history of the DTH and TLH, its aims and objectives, and the rules and regulations as well as admission criteria at the DTH. Don’t miss it! As a teaser, here are two photos taken from this newsletter: 1) Vepu and Kiwi who run the DTH ministry and 2) the wonderful men that oversee it.
Thank you all for your continued involvement in the “disciple-becoming of all nations” (Mt 28:19),
Steve