What Is the Opportunity?

Bengali is the seventh most-spoken language in the world, spoken by about 273 million people. The majority of those people live in Bangladesh, where it is the national language, but Bengali is also spoken by 106 million people in India and two million people living in Saudi Arabia.

Bangladesh is located in South Asia and is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Most other Bengali-speaking people live in the neighboring Indian state of West Bengal, well known for its capital Kolkata (Calcutta). This is the region in which the British missionary William Carey ministered and translated the Bible into Bengali.

Bangladesh is largely Muslim, whereas West Bengal is majority Hindu (like most other states in India).¹ Christians make up less than 1% of the population in both places.² The Joshua Project estimates that Bengali Muslims in Bangladesh are the largest unreached people group on earth.³

There is a level of religious freedom in Bangladesh, and churches are usually able to meet publicly, though converts from Islam can face considerable hostility from family members. In India, churches are likewise permitted to gather for worship, though Christian converts face ongoing opposition from Hindu nationalists. In light of these challenges, there is an urgent need to make faithful Christian resources available to Bengali-speaking people.

How Is Ligonier Meeting These Needs?

We strive to reach Bengali-speaking pastors, laypeople, and unbelievers from all walks of life through the following outreach efforts:

Web and Social Media

By God’s grace, the truth of the gospel is reaching Bengali-speaking people online. Ligonier’s dedicated Bengali website, together with our Facebook and Instagram pages, is providing ready access to trustworthy teaching. Our website contains historic Christian creeds and confessions.

The Ligonier Statement on Christology

Confusion abounds regarding Christology, the doctrine of Christ. As the church continues to grow, it is imperative that believers learn the truths of Scripture summarized in the great confessions of faith. We produced The Word Made Flesh: The Ligonier Statement on Christology to help Christians know what the church has historically taught and to provide clarity on the person and work of Jesus Christ. Our goal is to distribute this statement worldwide, and it has already been translated into numerous languages, including Bengali.

Books

Growing interest in Reformed theology has sparked an eagerness for more Christian discipleship resources from Dr. R.C. Sproul and Ligonier Ministries. Our plans include translating and distributing the following titles from the Crucial Questions series:

• Can I Be Sure I'm Saved? by R.C. Sproul
• Who Is the Holy Spirit? by R.C. Sproul
• What Is Faith? by R.C. Sproul
• What Is the Gospel? by R.C. Sproul

What Is Needed?

• Translating and publishing print and digital editions of five Crucial Questions titles — $42,998 USD
• Digital outreach — $15,392 USD (annually)

Funding needs reflect quoted estimates based on April 2024 foreign exchange rates and current translation fees.

How Do Your Gifts Help?

These are only a few of our many international projects underway. We ask you to prayerfully consider supporting these efforts through your financial gifts and prayers for the Bengali-speaking and global church. By God’s grace, your generosity enables the translation, printing, and distribution of trustworthy resources, providing countless opportunities to reach people with the truth of God’s Word. You can donate here.

Our policy is to apply gifts given toward a specific program. If we receive more contributions than can be wisely used for a given project, we apply these funds to meet other pressing needs in our outreach efforts. We are committed to stewarding all gifts wisely toward the goal of proclaiming the holiness of God to as many people as possible. Ligonier Ministries is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

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¹ See https://www.britannica.com/place/Bangladesh and [https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/09/21/religious-demography-of-indian-states-and-territories/] as at March 11, 2024

² See World Christian Encyclopedia and https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/09/21/religious-demography-of-indian-states-and-territories/ as at March 11, 2024

³ See https://joshuaproject.net/unreached/1 as at March 11, 2024