GFA World Newsletter

April 2018, Vol. 14, No. 3

Before Jesus Wells are drilled, people in many communities gather water from ponds and rivers because they have no access to a clean, safe water source. For Christians in Muralee’s village, their water sources were barred to them because of their faith in Christ—until a Jesus Well was drilled in their community.

It was April, and 200 people had gathered for what should have been a joyous celebration. The bride and bridegroom were dressed in their best, ready to start their new life together.

But there was a problem.

These men and women were Christians, and their pastor’s life had been threatened for wanting to worship Jesus with others.

Hostility and ostracism became pervasive, and on the day of the wedding, when the believers went to get water for the ceremony, they couldn’t. The other villagers had decided to ban the Christians from the village’s wells, though the wells were unreliable to begin with. But water was needed, and they had no other resource to fulfill this last-minute need.

Pastors Pray for Favour

GFA-supported pastor Bhuman and other GFA-supported pastors and believers attending the wedding gathered in the marriage house to ask God for help.

Fifteen minutes passed when Muralee, a man who lived in the village, heard about what was going on.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “I will supply water for you from my personal well for this entire program.”

With Muralee’s water well, the wedding went on, but the incident only highlighted a greater issue of water scarcity in the village. Pastor Bhuman began asking the Lord to provide a Jesus Well—a prayer he continued for three months.

What Water Can Do

Before the Jesus Well was drilled, many people in Muralee’s village gathered their water from ponds and rivers. During monsoon season, they collected rainwater from their roofs and stored it. This water would carry them through the inevitable dry season when ponds, rivers and wells frequently went dry, a situation that had only worsened through the previous five years.

But the Jesus Well solved their water problems! Within a week of the drilling, people who had been upset at the wedding came to understand more of Christ’s generous, loving heart. When they fell ill or struggled, they started asking Pastor Bhuman to pray for them, and God moved.

That’s how Pastor Bhuman and the believers learned about the plight of a man named Digambar.

Able to Walk Again

Digambar had started limping one day while walking home from his relatives’ house. His limp gradually grew in severity until he couldn’t even walk.

Pastor Bhuman and several believers went to Digambar’s house to pray for the paralyzed man. Their visits and prayers continued for nearly a month. And God answered! Digambar can walk again, and he doesn’t even need the help of a cane to do so. Experiencing this miracle, Digambar and his family have decided to walk with the One who enabled him to walk again.

We praise God for how He moved in so many lives through this Jesus Well and the faithful service of Pastor Bhuman. What started as an interrupted wedding led to the restoration of many hearts. Thank you for your part in making stories like this possible through your prayers and support!

Little 8-year-old Nalesh stepped into a whole new world when he entered the GFA-supported Bridge of Hope centre for the first time. New opportunities and a hopeful future met him as he learned under the care of the staff. He was so proud to be learning his studies well.

Nalesh was born into a poor family, a family most of society purposefully avoided and shunned. It was a difficult life, and his family couldn’t provide him with very much. But when Nalesh joined Bridge of Hope, the staff helped unearth special talents the boy held.

As the years passed, the staff provided for his needs and encouraged him to pursue higher education. Through their encouragement and support, that is exactly what Nalesh did. The centre also supported him in a three-month computer study. Because of all he had learned over the years of studying at the centre, he gained confidence to pursue higher education.

So Thankful to Bridge of Hope

Nalesh is very thankful to Bridge of Hope staff for all the opportunities that have been given to him to study and gain a quality education.

“I am very lucky that I got an opportunity to study in the Bridge of Hope centre,” Nalesh says. “It really transformed my life. The Bridge of Hope project centre provided all the material needs for my studies, and it helped me to develop my skills and equipped me with computer training.”

Nalesh is grateful for the guidance of his teachers and for the good nutritious food he was given. But the gratitude does not stop with Nalesh. Aaditi, Nalesh’s mother, is also blessed by all that Bridge of Hope did for her son.

“I thank all the staff and the founder of the Bridge of Hope project centre,” Aaditi says, “for caring for such children and making them self-confident for their further studies.”

Hopeful Future and Goals

Thank you for being part of changing the futures of little boys and girls, like Nalesh, through your prayers and support! Nalesh is now pursuing a course as a diesel mechanic—something he never could have done without Bridge of Hope and people like you.

God is using GFA-supported film ministry to show thousands of people His love and sacrifice for them. Over the years, many have come to embrace Christ as Lord after watching a film on Jesus’ life.

GFA-supported film ministry is making a huge impact in many villages and individual lives. For your encouragement, below are a few stories of God’s faithfulness through this area of ministry. Thank you for being part of these stories through your prayers and support.

Film Team Enables Two Believers to Go to Church

Ikshan and Panmoli left their hometown in search of work, and while they were away, they met the Living God. When they came home, however, they didn’t have anywhere to worship—that is, until a GFA-supported film team came to their area.

As people in these men’s village watched movies about the life of Jesus, God touched the hearts of eight other men and women. Ikshan and Panmoli, along with the other new believers, happily gathered to worship Jesus together every week, and it didn’t take long for more people to join them. Praise the Lord!

His Search for Peace Came to an End

Balan could feel a sense of calm enter his restless soul as he watched the film unfold. Christ giving up His life for mankind touched Balan’s heart so deeply, and he wanted to find out more. He had been restless in his heart for true peace. Maybe this was the answer?

He asked for prayer from one of the film team members. The next day, Balan decided to give his heart to the Lord who had given him peace—peace he had long been searching for.

Today, Balan and his family attend church faithfully and are growing deeper in love with Jesus every day.

A Troubled Life Is Now Forever Changed

Devapi left his troubled home one morning in search of work. His father took to the bottle far too often. There wasn’t a day that went by where there wasn’t quarreling and fighting within the walls of his home because of his father’s alcohol addiction.

But as Devapi walked through his village, he found something unexpected. Someone told him the latest news: A film was going to be shown that evening! With interest, Devapi attended the film show and grew attentive as he saw how greatly Jesus had suffered for him. The sacrifice and compassion of God drew him in.

Because of this film, Devapi now has new life in Christ! After discovering the story of the loving God, Devapi eagerly shares it with those he meets.

Committing Their Lives to Jesus—Again

A villager named Saju stood up among the crowd. After watching the film about Jesus, he was deeply moved.

“I am very happy that you have come all the way to our village with a real burden for our spiritual lives,” Saju told the film ministry team. “I had neglected the Word of God and neglected even worshipping Him. But from now on, I shall be serious in my personal relationship with Him, and I will do my best to overcome my habit of taking intoxicating things.”

The film team made it to Saju’s village—a village many refused to travel to because the roads were so terribly rugged. But God had a plan for this village and for the many believers living there who had grown stagnant in their faith. Through the showing of the film, they were encouraged to set their hearts afresh on the Living God. As a result, many gave their hearts fully to Christ.

These kind of stories happen daily. God is doing so much through your prayers and support. It is our hope at GFA that these small stories give you a window into what God is doing across the globe. Thank you for standing with us!

"We do not have mosquito nets, and during the night, many mosquitoes would bite us,” shares 22-year-old Babita, the eldest daughter in a family of six.

But worse than the itch of the bites were the diseases those mosquitoes carried. Babita lives in an area highly affected by malaria. Dozens of people died from the infectious parasite every year, and many others were weakened by the fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and intense abdominal and muscle pain it often causes.

Babita was familiar with the effects of malaria.

“In my family we had malaria sickness, and we had medicine and stayed in the hospital,” Babita recalls.

But tonight would be different. Tonight her family could sleep in peace.

A Village Riddled with Troubles

Malaria wasn’t the only problem in Babita’s village. No one in the village had bathrooms, and when monsoon season came, heavy rains flushed waste from the ground and left it in pools to grow diseases. From there, it would trickle down into the streams where villagers gathered water for their daily use. Such stagnant ponds provide perfect breeding grounds for swarms of mosquitoes.

When GFA-supported workers first arrived in the area, it didn’t take long for them to recognise simple changes that could radically transform this village—like providing mosquito nets.

World Malaria Day

On World Malaria Day, Babita didn’t go with her parents to work in the fields as she often did; instead, she stayed behind to attend a special event put on by GFA-supported workers. This was just one event of hundreds hosted throughout Asian villages and slums. Workers taught people about the parasite and instructed them in the proper use of mosquito nets—something they gave freely to needy families like Babita’s.

“I feel happy when I receive this mosquito net,” Babita shares. “I will take these mosquito nets home, and before my parents come in from the field, I will put them on the bed and give them a surprise.”

Such “surprises” are made possible by you. Thank you!

“Soon after the birth of my sister, family problems started between my parents,” Jaiman, a GFA-supported pastor, recalls. “My father had affairs with other women.”

Because of the escalating problems in the home, Jaiman’s mother put him in a Christian boarding school. Soon after, she left the family.

‘Who Is Real?’

When Jaiman was in fifth grade, his father pulled him out of school, putting an end to his education. After Jaiman turned 14, he left his father and worked in a hotel as a waiter for a time. Then, for more than a decade, he drifted around the nation.

“I wandered as a vagabond,” Jaiman says. “I was restless and had no peace in my heart.”

One day Jaiman asked a religious leader, “Who is the real god?” The priest told him the name of a god to worship, saying, “If you worship him, you will get peace.”

So Jaiman started worshipping that god, “but I still had no peace or happiness in my life; rather, I became more restless.”

When Jaiman was 27, he talked with a Christian pastor about who the real God was, and the pastor pointed him to Jesus as the One who can give real peace and joy.

“I prayed to Jesus and experienced a marvellous peace in my heart,” Jaiman shares.

Jaiman hungered for an even deeper relationship with Jesus, and soon, he wanted to start telling other people about Jesus, too.

When he was 30 years old, Jaiman became a GFA-supported missionary.

The God Who Heals

As Jaiman started interacting with people around him, he prayed for them in Jesus’ name—and Jesus started moving in miraculous ways.

“There was an old woman named Ariona,” he says. “She had been suffering with knee pain for 10 years. When we prayed for her, God healed her. Then she came to know the Lord.”

Soon, people in Ariona’s village heard about her healing and started coming for prayer. God healed their bodies and transformed their hearts, too.

Today, the man who once wandered aimlessly delights to point people to the God who gave him peace and purpose. Your prayers and support of GFA are part of stories like this that are happening every day. Thank you!

I am sure you and I both have felt unworthy of God’s love, especially when we seem to wander away from Him. But I want you to know there is hope. Our failures are no surprise to God. He knows, with greater understanding than we, the creation He made.

In the Bible, God left us the complete stories of spiritual giants through whom He worked—Moses, Elijah, David and many more—just as they were, flaws and all. He did not touch up the negatives or use Photoshop to present them in a better light. There was no cover-up.

In this issue of Harvest you read a story about the nominal Christian villager named Saju, who committed his life back to God after watching the film on the life of Christ. Because of the reminder of God’s deep love, he knew he could run back to the arms of His Father—they were open wide.

Do you remember that old hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”? This hymn was penned by a Methodist pastor named Robert Robinson in the 18th century. In his later years, Robinson wandered from the faith to pursue the pleasures of this world.

But one day, while he was travelling, a woman who sat next to him turned to the man she had never met and said, “I am reading something wonderful. What do you think about it?” And she read:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love.

Upon remembering the song, Robinson broke down. With tears he replied, “Madam, I am the poor, unhappy man who composed that hymn many years ago.” Through this encounter, Robinson was brought back to the outstretched arms of his loving God.

It is my prayer that when we find that we have lost our way and have wandered from our loving Father, we will not continue to run away, but will instead fall into the arms of our Lord, just like Robinson and Saju did.

May God’s grace and peace be with you.