“Can you tell me how LAMB Hospital came to be?” a reporter with a cameraman asked me in my office at LAMB a few years ago. Although he wasn’t a Christian, I believe the Holy Spirit inspired him to ask that question. The verse from 2 Timothy 4:4 came to mind, emphasizing the importance to “be ready, both in and out of season,” to share the Good News, even when there might be repercussions. The interview was to be broadcast as part of a communications campaign as LAMB became involved in a multi-million-dollar project aimed at strengthening health systems in the region of Northwest Bangladesh.
A boldness stirred within me as I began recounting with the reporter some of the written testimony of John Ottesen, the early visionary of LAMB. It was a story I had told to incoming LAMB workers after reading John’s testimony in 2017. Therefore, telling this story in Bangla was easier on camera than it might have been. I’ve always been captivated by the prophetic and how God uses it to prove his existence and bring people into the Truth. This story needed to be told, and in telling it, we would glorify the Lord who made it happen.
John Ottesen believed that, along with the Good News, the need for healthcare in Northwest Bangladesh was critical. He began sharing this need with praying communities in California. The following is what I communicated to the reporter.
One evening in the 1960s, a small group gathered in California to pray to God for Bangladesh. Jim Owen heard the words, “You will build a hospital in My Name.” He asked those near him if they had said anything, but they had not. Jim realized it was the Lord Almighty who had spoken to him. The Lutheran Aid to Medicine in Pakistan (LAMP) Committee was soon formed to pray and plan the effort (at the time, Bangladesh was East Pakistan). The LAMP Committee initially decided to call the medical ministry “Our Savior’s Hospital,” and blueprints were drawn up. When Bangladesh became a sovereign state in 1971, the LAMP Committee (signifying the light of Christ) became the Lutheran Aid to Medicine in Bangladesh (LAMB) Committee, signifying the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who takes away the sin of the world. I shared with the reporter that LAMB was established so that more people could be healed mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically, and that people could experience the love of Jesus Christ.
I could see the reporter’s eyes were quite wide, possibly struck by the audacity of my saying what I did on camera, but I believe he was also trying to understand what I was saying from his very different worldview.
John Ottesen wrote,
In retrospect, it seems to me that God in his sovereign way acted to bring help to those suffering people. I am convinced that God saw the great need of the people in Northwest Bangladesh and used Jim Owen to get the ball rolling to build the LAMB Hospital, which has brought physical healing as well as an eternal salvation to many people.
History of the LAMB Project, by John N. Ottesen. Unpublished.
WMPL assumed responsibility for LAMB in 1972, following its merger with the American Santal Mission, and continues to assume the enormous responsibility it is entrusted with.
I was privileged to be present at, and vividly recall as a nine-year-old missionary kid, the groundbreaking ceremony of LAMB Hospital in the mid-70s. It wasn’t until 40 years later that I realized its prophetic significance. LAMB is centered among one of the largest unreached population groups (Bengali Muslims) in the world. To this day, LAMB fulfills the purpose for which it was established 49 years ago and boldly fulfills WMPL’s purposes as well.
Millions of people have been impacted by the work of LAMB. Over the next year, as LAMB celebrates its 50th anniversary, many of those stories will be widely shared through various media.
Paul’s words in Colossians 1:27-29 provide the motivation we need to boldly proclaim the Good News through Christ in us, “Him we proclaim… that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” (ESV)
John Ottesen, who championed that passage, passed away years ago, but John’s wife, Lois, celebrated her 90th birthday in July. My wife, Lois, and I were able to attend and represent WMPL, reuniting with many Ottesen family members who have contributed greatly to LAMB and WMPL in the Lord’s service. May many more follow!