Larry and Sharon Smith have been missionaries in Bangladesh since 1979.
During a time of revival, God clearly called Larry to missions and
later to Bangladesh specifically. After agreeing on the call for their
lives, Larry & Sharon married on October 12, 1973. Their stateside
ministry was with two pastors in four churches: Grand Prairie, TX;
Panama City, FL; Lawrence & Topeka, KS. The Smiths have three
children Heather (5/25/75), Melissa (10/12/77), and Luke (5/8/78), two
sons-in-law and five grandchildren.
In Bangladesh the Smiths
established the following ministries: The Assemblies of God Bible
School, 60 primary church schools providing education and feeding for
over 7,000 children; the Home of Hope Children's Home for 240 children;
3 Home of Hope youth homes (a discipleship ministry for 450 youth); A media ministry on radio and satellite TV reaching a vast global
audience; A new ministry called Media Outreach which is for the new media: websites, internet, YouTube, GlobalReach (the site is www.globalreach.org can choose Bengali for Bengali speakers) They have also overseen the following building projects:
AG Evangelistic Center building annex ( a seven-storied building that
facilitates ministries of two churches, the headquarters for both the
Bangladesh Assemblies of God and the AG Mission as well as ministries
of each), eleven acres and six buildings for the 300 children and staff
of the Home of Hope, three youth homes, and over a hundred church/school buildings.
As
national and regional director for Global University, Larry has led
growth in the evangelism literature ministry. Over 100 books for
evangelism as well as Bible School training have been translated into
the Bengali language.
Sharon has been the principal of the
Assemblies of God School Dhaka for over twenty-five years where some
700 children study daily. She has also helped develop, lead, and teach
in the Christian Teachers Training Institute where teachers are trained
to teach in the Chrsitian schools throughout the Bangladesh Assemblies
of God.
Larry has a Master's degree in Missions and has authored
three books: Hope for the Hard Times, The Hope Generation and Faces of
the Future.
Along with plans to further develop the ministries they
have been involved with, the Smiths plan to re-locate and develop the
campus for the Assemblies of God Bible School. They will be building
to increase from 47 to hundreds in the future. They also plan
to continue building more churches and schools.
