GFA World Newsletter

April 2016, Vol. 12, No. 3

Ekanga was worried about his wife.

Though Pallavini took local remedies for healing, nothing helped. Many of the so-called treatments only made her worse. For more than a year, her bleeding continued, leaving her weaker and weaker as the months drew on. Ekanga feared Pallavini would die.

To make matters worse, the family lived in a notoriously dangerous village—one populated by robbers, thieves and bloodthirsty men. Every month, villagers would hear a report of someone being killed and robbed by the people of Ekanga’s village.

Ekanga had good cause to be worried.

When They Met the Pastor

A few months before Ekanga’s wife became sick, he met Gospel for Asia supported pastor Jacob. Although Ekanga called himself a Christian, he and his wife hadn’t been living like it. As Pastor Jacob and Ekanga talked, Ekanga told him plainly he wanted to start going to church. In July, Ekanga started attending Pastor Jacob’s church in the nearby village, and by December, he moved the family to that village, further away from the danger of their previous town.

Pallavini, whose medical issues started the month before they moved, wasn’t happy with the idea of her husband going to church. But God was working in her heart, and a year later, she went with Ekanga to church.

“Now I understand that God still loves me and my family,” she shared in front of the congregation that day. “That’s why today we, as a family, came here and worshipped the Lord together with you all.”

At the end of her testimony, Pallavini asked the congregation to pray for her well-being.

Medical Camp Helps Bring Healing

The next day, the Women’s Fellowship team at Pastor Jacob’s church had planned a medical camp. Pallavini went with about 30 other women. They each received multivitamin tablets and learned a few basic things about health.

One week later, Pallavini could hardly contain her joy.

“Thank you for the medicine that you have given to me,” she said. “After taking those vitamin tablets, I feel better. I have started to feel hungry and eat more. The bleeding and pain have even gone from my body. From the day I took those vitamin tablets, I also could sleep well at night, without any pain.”

Praise God for moving in Ekanga’s and Pallavini’s lives! Their testimony is just one among many who have been touched and blessed through the ministries of Gospel for Asia, which you are part of through your prayers and donations. Thank you so much for standing with us to impact lives around the world.

Gospel for Asia-supported pastors pray for and encourage those who are sick. Many people like Mihirkiran are completely healed as a result!

Pastor Babala was a family man who had nine children. So when he happened to meet a man whose children were going hungry, compassion stirred his heart.

The man, Mihirkiran, had been working hard labour from morning to night to provide for his family until the excruciating effort took its toll on his body, leaving him sick, weak and unable to work. Mihirkiran’s wife had to care for their three young children and couldn’t help provide for the family. With the breadwinner sick, the family found themselves in desperate need.

Visiting Pastor Provides Rice

Gospel for Asia-supported pastor Babala visited Mihirkiran one day and learned of the family’s struggles. When the pastor and his wife came back the next day, they realized the family had no food to eat and their children were going hungry. Moved with compassion, Pastor Babala and his wife gave the family enough money to buy rice for their children. Mihirkiran was very happy for the help.

Surprised by God’s Answers

Over the next several days, Pastor Babala encouraged Mihirkiran and his family, sharing from the Word of God and praying for Mihirkiran’s healing. Before long, Mihirkiran’s health was completely restored! Surprised by this miracle, Mihirkiran and his wife came to understand Jesus as God, the One who died on a cross and heals the sick.

Today, Mihirkiran and his wife are learning more about the Jesus they love by attending the church Pastor Babala leads.

Thank You

Every day, Gospel for Asia-supported pastors like Babala reach out to those in their communities, actively sharing the love of Jesus with people, whether that means praying for them or helping provide a meal. God is making their ministry possible as people like you stand with them through prayer and financial support. Thank you.

New church buildings are inaugurated every year in South Asia through the prayers, support and generous donations of men and women like you. In this issue of Harvest, we want to share with you the stories behind five of these church buildings. We hope these snapshots give you a better understanding of all the Lord is doing and all you are part of. Thank you for your passion to see more people understand the great love of the Saviour.

When the Storm Came Through

The believers gathered in Danvir’s home—two families and their pastor. But as they worshipped God every week and told others about His goodness, more people came and crowded into the house. After a year, they built a temporary church building out of bamboo, praying all the while for a permanent one.

As they prayed, God answered through His servants around the world by providing the resources for these believers to build a church—and none too soon: Six months before the new building was complete, a storm destroyed their temporary one.

God brought a new church building just in time for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

A Grateful Farmer

Kallol, a farmer in South Asia, didn’t think it was possible for a beautiful building to be constructed in his village.

A Gospel for Asia-supported pastor had served in Kallol’s village for 12 years, ministering to the people in need. At first the congregation met in a small, rented home, but after seven years it had become crowded. They purchased a piece of land, but then they encountered some difficulties, which delayed the building. Five more years passed before Kallol witnessed the church completed.

“Thank God for the sponsors who have helped us to build this building for {% trans worshiping" %} the Lord,” Kallol said.

A Place for the Children

Many parents want their children to learn more about Jesus at Sunday school, and many children are eager to invite their friends with them, but when a growing congregation meets in a believer’s modest home, there often isn’t enough room for such lessons.

For seven years, that was the situation Gospel for Asia-supported church Vinil Cho and his congregation faced, that is, until they had a church building of their own.

"Now the children are very happy to come to church," Pastor Vinil shared.

When a congregation receives a church building, everyone is blessed—including the children.

Finding Room to Grow

At first, no one in town knew about Jesus, and no one wanted to. But then Sahas’ family came to understand His grace, and soon, two more families joined Sahas in his home for Sunday worship. Over time, more people came to know Jesus, but not everyone was willing to crowd into Sahas’ house. To solve the problem, the congregation built a shelter from mud, bamboo, tin and straw. They prayed for a permanent church building—especially after the shelter mysteriously burned down.

Praise God, today, almost 20 years after a Gospel for Asia-supported church first came to Sahas’ village, this growing congregation has a permanent place to worship the Lord.

Full Hearts, Leaky Roof

The believers in Gospel for Asia-supported pastor Taranga’s congregation loved the Lord very much—He filled their hearts with joy, peace and purpose. But that didn’t make the weeks and months of monsoon season under the leaky roof of a believer’s home pass by any faster, nor did it solve the problem of overheating in the summer. And when the roof would blow off in a strong wind, it needed to be repaired again and again.

So the believers prayed for more than six years, asking God to bless them with a permanent church building. Now 71 believers worship the Lord inside their own building—thanks in part to someone like you.

School was out. Children gathered. More than 200 youngsters filled the hall. Smiling adults in bright orange shirts wove their way through the crowds. Vacation Bible School was about to begin.

For one week, these joyful ones sang songs, made crafts and watched skits, puppet shows and videos, all to help them learn about what it means to be a “true friend.” The theme verse of the year’s VBS program was John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” Teachers prayed and hoped the children would be blessed by their time—a prayer God answered.

Learning About Friendship

Every day, after spending time together learning songs, stories and history, the children, ages 4–12, broke into small groups to make crafts and learn more important lessons from the Bible. Different days focused on different aspects of friendship, including helpfulness, joyfulness and faithfulness. In all this, the children learned how Jesus is the truest friend of all. “From this VBS, I learned that God is watching over me,” shared one boy named Anik. “So I don’t have to be afraid.”

Since that day, Anik has started living with the awareness that Jesus is with him always.

Be a True Friend

On the last day, parents gathered. Tables displayed the children’s crafts. Through songs and skits, the children shared what they had learned about friendship.

A local ministry leader addressed the crowd. He encouraged the parents and spoke to them about being good examples for their children to follow.

The children, some from Christian backgrounds and others from non-Christian backgrounds, walked away from the week with a greater sense of joy in their hearts. Many of them decided they wanted to be a better friend, and some became friends with Jesus, the truest Friend of all.

Many students, like Adya, are rescued from difficult situations when they are enrolled in Bridge of Hope.

Adya lost her father when she was a small child. Her mother, a Christian in name only, remarried and had two more children, only to be abandoned by her new husband shortly thereafter. Though Adya’s mother laboured from early morning to late night every day, she never earned quite enough to provide for the family. Adya and her siblings often went hungry.

Adya’s mother managed to send her to school from time to time, but Adya’s younger sister, Lalana, and brother, Gayan, spent most of their lives roaming the slums, collecting trash to recycle. That is, until they began attending a Gospel for Asia Bridge of Hope centre near their home.

Guiding Their Now-Clean Hands

Tarli, a social worker at Adya’s Bridge of Hope centre, remembers when young Adya first joined seven years before. The girl, then 8 years old, was scrawny and unclean. She and her siblings didn’t know how to bathe or comb their hair; they didn’t have enough clothing to cover their bodies; they hardly knew how to carry on a conversation.

The tutors and social workers patiently worked with Adya, Lalana and Gayan. The children didn’t know how to read or write, so the Bridge of Hope tutors helped each one individually, guiding their hands to help the children form letters. The centreprovided a daily meal, hygiene lessons, clothing and abundant doses of love. Under this care, it didn’t take long for the children to blossom.

“The life of Adya entirely transformed after she joined the Bridge of Hope centre,” Tarli reflects. “She looks beautiful now and has become an energetic student in our centre.”

No Longer Searching

Rather than scavenging for trash, Lalana and Gayan enjoy studying, and 15-year-old Adya has become one of the best students in her school. Her teachers and tutors are proud of her accomplishments, and her mother, after witnessing the transformation in her children’s lives, has come to understand that the Christ she once knew in name only is a Living Saviour who still changes lives today. The whole family has decided to embrace His love after experiencing it at the Bridge of Hope centre.

Thank you so much for standing with us to make stories like this possible. May the Lord bless you.

Many times in my life I have been overwhelmed by the circumstances around me. There’s always a hundred different things to do and little time to do them in. It’s easy to fall into anxiety.

Maybe you are in the same place, having started out on a great adventure with excitement and vision, but now you struggle to see any reason to persevere.

When I feel weak in my own abilities, I remember the Lord Himself is doing the fighting. All He looks for is a willing vessel through whom to work. It doesn’t matter how fragile that vessel might be, because the battle is the Lord’s and so is the victory. The narrow road will always be difficult, but the Son of God left His footprints on it, and at the end of the road, we will meet Him face-to-face.

The person who gives Christ his or her life will always face an uphill battle. Whether we are retired, a part-time employee, a company manager or serving in ministry, God has purpose in where He’s placed us. But we must remember that it is our greatest privilege to serve the Lord out of love. When we fail to understand this great truth, we serve Him with the wrong motives and lose our joy. With wrong motives, our service for Christ becomes a burden or even a guilt trip.

My friend, wherever you are, may I encourage you to keep going in all the Lord has called you to do? Your part in Gospel for Asia’s efforts is just one way the Lord is using your life, and you have already made a tremendous difference in the lives of people like Ekanga, Mihirkiran and Adya. But our journey is not yet done.

Let us once again return to loving the Lord above all, even our very lives. Then our service, our giving and our praying will turn from being a burden into the greatest privilege and joy we have on this earth.

“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” (James 1:12).