Rejoice!

Sona walked up to the man passing by. She was desperate— but not for food. She wanted money to fuel her habit. Instead of giving her cash, the man pounded his fists into Sona’s body.

This wasn’t the first time Sona had endured such abuse. Her craving for drugs often left her at the mercy of strangers who saw her as a shameful woman.

Desperation Draws Invitation

Only a few years before, Sona had been an exemplary teenager, devoutly following her parents’ religion and always earning good grades in school.

Now, instead of making her parents proud, Sona filled them with sadness. No matter what they said or did, they couldn’t persuade Sona to stop taking drugs.

“We even kept her in a rehabilitation centre,” they recall, “but nothing changed her.”

As a young teenager, Sona had struggled with loneliness and began hanging out with girls in her neighbourhood—girls who were drug addicts. Gradually, Sona became one of them. When her parents learned about her problem, they tried talking to her, but their scolding only pushed her further away. She didn’t want to stay at home, so she spent many nights at friends’ homes or, worse, on the street.

Sona felt she couldn’t live without drugs. When she had no money to buy them, she began begging and stealing.

Eventually she realized her well‑meaning relatives and friends were right: She needed to stop taking drugs. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t quit. The lure of drugs clung too strongly as she remained in the company of addicted friends.

One day Sona happened to run into Suday, a Christian friend. Longing to help the young woman who was tearing her life to pieces, he asked her to go to church with him. Sona was ready to do whatever might help overcome her addiction, so she started accompanying Suday to church every week.

The Right Place

One week the pastor, Gospel for Asia missionary Ekakshara, got to meet Sona. When she told him about her life, Pastor Ekakshara encouraged her from God’s Word, telling her that even if everyone in the world hated her, Jesus loved her and had died for her.

“Sona, you have come to the right place,” he said. “Jesus is a life-giver, and He loves you so much. He is ready to give you a new life.”

Sona’s heart brimmed with hope as Pastor Ekakshara shared the words of 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

“I thought, No one loves me, and I am rejected and alone in this world,” Sona told Pastor Ekakshara. “But today I came to know that Someone is there to love me and care for me.”

At that moment, Sona welcomed Jesus into her life.

The Road to Freedom

Pastor Ekakshara prayed for her and, with his wife, began visiting her regularly. They counselled Sona and encouraged her with God’s Word.

“You are so precious and unique to God,” Pastor Ekakshara said, telling her God wanted to use her life for His glory.

Meanwhile, the whole congregation fasted and prayed for Sona’s deliverance from drug addiction. Through persistent prayers and counselling, Sona overcame her addiction, and God filled her life with peace.

Overjoyed by Sona’s transformation, her parents thanked Pastor Ekakshara for his love and care. They even got to watch Sona get married—something that could have been jeopardized in a society where drug addiction leaves a stigma.

Because of the compassion, faithful prayers and counselling of a national missionary and his wife, Sona is now a new creation in Christ and is married to a fellow believer, Suday.

God is using your generosity to touch thousands more people like Sona as you partner with national missionaries in Asia. Thank you for sharing Christ’s hope with those who were once desperate.

Smita immediately recognized the booklet two women handed her. Did these ladies have answers to her questions?

Smita had been searching for someone to tell her about the God who had changed her life, but she didn’t know where to look.

Healed but Wondering

Within a three-year span, Smita had needed three operations: a hysterectomy, kidney stone surgery and an appendectomy. These surgeries had left her in a state of constant pain, to the extent that she couldn’t care for her husband and two young sons. Every part of her body ached, and although she spent money buying medicine and offering sacrifices to her gods, her health didn’t improve—until the day a neighbour suggested she visit a nearby pastor. When Smita and her husband visited the pastor, he prayed for her.

Within a month, God healed Smita. But when she and her husband went to share this good news with the pastor, they couldn’t find him. The only thing they had that could tell them more about the Great Physician was some Christian literature the pastor had given them, including a booklet called “The Way to God.”

A Key to Answers

Staring at the booklet in her hands—the same one she had received from the pastor—she knew these women might be the key to finding out more about the God who’d healed her. Smita began opening up to them.

“I have a tract of the same kind at my home, and I have read that many times,” she said. “It was a great encouragement for me.”

Smita shared her story with the women, Raveena and Lekisha, unaware that Raveena had a similar story of desperation, hope and waiting.

Woman Finds Healing and Purpose

Raveena had also known the agonizing pain of an illness—and the crisis it could create in a family. At age 17, after giving birth to her daughter, Raveena was diagnosed with a chronic heart condition. Her family spent hours taking her to hospitals and large amounts of money on treatments. Meanwhile, Raveena’s husband left her for another woman, and she fell into a pit of despair.

Like Smita, the woman missionary had also found hope through the healing hands of God. One day, Raveena happened to hear a radio broadcast that shared how Jesus could heal any kind of disease. Her heart swelled with hope, and she joined with the radio broadcaster as he prayed for the sick, believing for her own healing. Then a burning sensation filled her entire body as God healed her—a fact later proven when she could get out of bed and work around the house.

But like Smita, Raveena didn’t have any way of knowing more about the Healer, Jesus.

It wasn’t until years later that Raveena met a GFA pastor and some believers who reached out to her and told her more about the God who had healed her body and would soon heal her soul.

After growing closer to Christ, she decided to spend three years at a GFA Bible college learning how to reach other women, like Smita, with the same love that had changed her life.

As Raveena neared the completion of her studies, she shared, “After graduation, I want to go and share my testimony with so many people. There are so many people just like me! They are in a broken condition. I just want to . . . encourage them through my testimony.”

So when Raveena and Smita met in the marketplace, God fulfilled both of their desires. Smita found someone who could tell her about Jesus, and Raveena got to encourage a woman in the same place she’d once been—a place of desperation for a deeper relationship with the One who had healed her.

Friendship Leads to New Life

Overjoyed to meet the women missionaries, Smita asked Raveena and Lekisha to come to her home. There, they spent time telling Smita more about Jesus and praying for her family.

Because Smita’s interest in the Lord continued to grow, Raveena and Lekisha regularly visited her, praying that she would come to know Jesus.

Now Smita, her husband and her children are following Him. They are growing closer to Christ as they join worship services with the local GFA congregation and as Raveena and Lekisha continue to encourage them in their spiritual journey.

Because God brought these two missionaries to answer Smita’s questions at the right time, an entire family is now worshipping Jesus. Thank you for partnering with women missionaries like Raveena and Lekisha. God is using you to help our sisters in Christ to fulfill their calling, sharing His love with their fellow women in a time of need.

To learn more about Raveena’s story, you can read the story “Prepared to Be a Powerful Witness” from the March 2013 issue of SEND! magazine (now known as GFA World) at gfa.ca/raveena.

Kavi doesn’t have mile-high ambitions. He wants to grow up to be a responsible man who provides well for his family and positively influences society. But this simple goal shows remarkable progress in the life of a child who was once an addict.

‘How many years have you been addicted?’

When Kavi was younger, he rebelled against his elders and disobeyed his parents. He often lied to them, saying he was going to school when he was actually going to roam about with friends.

While spending time with these friends, he chewed tobacco. Sometimes this boy, at only 8 years old, even drank alcohol.

It grieved Kavi’s parents that he wasn’t getting a proper education and his health was deteriorating. But they didn’t give up on him. When a Bridge of Hope centre opened in their village, they enrolled Kavi.

Soon, Kavi’s addictions became a concern to others, too. One day when Kavi was at Bridge of Hope, a staff member, Rohan, caught Kavi with tobacco in his mouth and pocket.

“How many years have you been addicted to this?” Rohan asked.

Rohan listened in shock as Kavi replied that he’d been using tobacco for years and that he sometimes drank alcohol. With deep concern for the boy, Rohan explained the dangers of these addictions, and he prayed for Kavi.

The other Bridge of Hope staff members joined Rohan in praying for Kavi each day. In addition, they visited Kavi and his family every week to pray for them and counsel them.

Then, one day, Kavi’s parents came to the centre full of joy to tell the staff Kavi had given up his addictions and was no longer skipping school!

Recovery and Freedom

Today, Kavi, 13, is a different young man. He practices good manners and obeys his parents, even helping his mother with household chores. As he recovers from years of chewing tobacco, his eyes are brighter, his teeth whiter.

What’s more, due to the changes in Kavi’s life, his family began attending the local church, and now they know Christ.

Because of your support, children like Kavi are finding new life and the freedom to dream—even if their dreams are simple ones. Thank you.

Owning a boat was an impossible dream for 30-year-old Kuldip. Even if he worked for a lifetime, he knew he could never afford one—he couldn’t even send his oldest daughter to school. He was happy just to rent a boat for a day, assuming he couldn’t find work elsewhere.

Kuldip, his wife and their three young children lived with his parents in a small fishing town. His family was not wealthy.

Since childhood, Kuldip had suffered from a debilitating urinary tract infection, needing frequent medical help to urinate. His parents had spent all their resources at doctors and temples, but nothing changed until Kuldip was 22. That’s when he met Gospel for Asia pastor Haatim.

Standing on the Rock

Pastor Haatim told Kuldip nothing was too difficult for the Lord Jesus and offered to pray for him. Within a few weeks, God completely healed the young man. From that day on, Kuldip and his parents trusted in Jesus alone. He married Sansha one year later and soon became a father—something doctors had told him wouldn’t happen

Kuldip’s skill as a fisherman helped provide for his growing family. He hired himself out to work with boat owners and typically made enough money to get by. But that all changed the day he fell off a boat and broke his leg, becoming bedridden for six weeks. Once again, Kuldip’s medical expenses strained the family’s meagre income.

Despite these challenges, Kuldip and his family trusted in Jesus, remembering nothing was too difficult for Him. They constantly prayed to the Lord, asking Him to bless and sustain them.

To their great joy, God provided Kuldip with a boat through Gospel for Asia.

New Life on the Waters

Now, instead of giving a portion of his catch to pay a boat owner, Kuldip can keep his earnings to provide for his family’s needs.

With the extra income provided through his new boat, Kuldip was able to enroll his oldest daughter in the first grade. He also plans to build a house of his own so he and his wife can move out of his parents’ home.

Thanks to the generous donations of GFA friends like you, Kuldip’s family can sail on smooth waters. Out of his gratitude, Kuldip gave an offering to the Lord from the first earnings of his new boat. He expressed his heartfelt appreciation and thanks to everyone who helped provide this gift for him, lifting his family from the pit of poverty.

I’m so excited to read stories like Kavi’s and Sona’s, stories of lives set free and completely transformed when humble brothers and sisters shared God’s love with them. These stories happened because the missionaries—and believers around the world like you—were interceding for God to touch lives.

When we pray, amazing things happen.

Often, as I’m recording a radio broadcast, I sit there knowing the broadcast will be aired sometime after I tape it. And I pray, “Lord, give me Your sense of what I am to say.” When He answers, He sometimes leads me to say things I wouldn’t think of, like, “My friend, you are on your way to commit suicide, and you have drugs in your pocket, but let me tell you: Jesus is your answer, not suicide. If you will, pray this prayer with me.” I have no clue how the Lord is going to end up using these words.

But later a letter will come, saying something like, “I was in the tea shop, and I had drugs in my pocket to go commit suicide that day, but I heard your radio program. It was like you were talking to me. I fell to my knees right there in the tea shop and trusted Christ.”

That example describes a true story that happened some time ago. Today, that man is actually serving with our ministry.

Miracles like this one—and like the ones in the stories of this issue of Harvest—came as answers to prayer. We, as followers of Christ, have been given the ability to bring real change to our generation. We might seem to be the minority, helpless and weak, but with God, we can influence the destiny of multiplied millions of people and nations.

When I read these stories, I know it’s because of the Lord’s grace that Kavi and Sona were able to find freedom after years of addiction. Thank you for your faithful prayers. As you continue on this journey with us, God is using you to lead many people to new life in Christ.