MY FIRST VISIT TO BANGLADESH WAS IN 1972.The desire had come a few years before, when the Annual Meeting of The Mother Church focused on the international field. Christian Scientists from all over the world spoke about how they'd been sharing Christian Science. It moved me, and I just knew I had to do something to help others. I had heard of the horrendous situation in Bangladesh (then known as East Pakistan), in which so many innocent people were slaughtered in a nation-wide genocide. So knowing, as I did, the wonders of Christian Science, I felt that the best solution would be to let them know of the God who is Love and does not permit such unjust suffering. I decided I wanted to share Mary Baker Eddy's book Science and Health with the people of East Pakistan.
Rather than join an organization, I found I could finance my own way. I realized that this would leave me free to share Christian Science as God would lead me. By the time of my visit, things had quieted down enough that I felt I would be safe.
The one-on-one contacts I made with people there were tremendous. If I felt a rapport with somebody, I would gently speak about the true nature of God and would offer them a copy of Science and Health. Every time I offered the book, it was accepted. They were so open to spiritual things. Through all the suffering they'd experienced, the ground was prepared for spirituality. I felt a river of spirituality flowing right through me the whole time I was there.
