GFA World Newsletter

January 2019, Vol. 15, No. 1

The 2018 flooding in Kerala brought sadness and destruction, yet in the wake of this disaster, many bonded together to help those in need. In these trying times the people of Kerala showed great resilience in the face of devastation. Funds from all over the world poured in, and many brothers and sisters in Christ walked the many refugee camps. Bringing food, water, hygiene items and medical supplies, these faithful workers shared help and healing with those affected by the floodwaters.

Relief for the Needy

Among those who took refuge in the camps were Sailesh and his family, who attend a church led by a GFA-supported pastor. When the rains came, Sailesh and his family were warned by their neighbour, whose house was already flooded. There was no time to quickly evacuate to higher ground.

Fortunately, Sailesh was able to contact a friend who was outside the flood zone. Sometime later, an army rescue team came to pick up the stranded family and take them to a nearby stadium, which was functioning as a relief camp for 300 people. They remained there for five days.

It was at this camp that Dr. K. P. Yohannan, founder of GFA, and a GFA-supported relief team handed out clothing, hygiene items and medical supplies.

GFA-supported workers provided food and water to those affected by the floods in Kerala, India.

Sailesh, among the many people helped, said, “We were so worried during the flood situation. It was a really difficult time in our life. We would have [been] washed away by the flood water. But by God’s grace, we were rescued and reached the nearby relief camp. ... We thank the Church for the help.”

A Birthday, Shared with All

Frontline relief work wasn’t the only thing believers did to help the flood victims. Believers across Asia joined together by participating in fundraisers and prayer meetings on behalf of those in need. One young boy saw fit to go further. Yuvaraj’s ninth birthday was on August 30, and his birthday party would have taken place a few days after the flood.

Hearing the plight of these people, the young boy decided not to have a party. Instead, the money he would have spent for his celebration went to those in need.

“I have my parents to celebrate my birthday,” Yuvaraj said, “but many children lost their parents in Kerala due to the heavy flood. Therefore, the expenses for clothes and cake, I would like to dedicate them for the suffering children in Kerala.”

Like Yuvaraj, many people have risen up and answered the call for help, both in Asia and around the world. Because of donations like yours, those affected by the 2018 floods in Kerala have experienced God’s love. Thank you!

Pranita looked at her discouraging surroundings. Crowded houses, wailing children and hopeless adults greeted her tired eyes. She and her family live in one of Asia’s largest slums.

Fallen on Hard Times

Pranita’s family had moved to this slum because her father, a construction labourer, had struggled to find work in their previous village. But after years in the slum, every day was still a struggle. Despite their woes, Pranita and her siblings were able to attend a local school, even though this put a financial strain on their parents.

Pranita and her younger siblings needed to perform well at school, and this pressure to excel ate away at Pranita. Her fears of failure grew so much that she could barely study.

Fears Alleviated

GFA-supported pastor Tuya ministered in Pranita’s slum. As he saw the impoverished children, compassion filled his heart, and he started a Sunday School. Pranita joined not long after.

Within months, a change took place in Pranita. Pastor Tuya told stories of a God who could give peace to the anxious and comfort the brokenhearted. Taking these truths to heart, Pranita confided in the pastor about the fears she had about school. Pastor Tuya and the believers encouraged and prayed for her. For the first time, Pranita began to feel at peace.

Blessing After Blessing

God had answered the faithful’s prayers for Pranita. But another difficulty arose. As soon as Pranita entered 11th grade, she had to walk to school. Walking a long distance alone was not a desirable situation, especially for a young woman. Pastor Tuya noticed this and decided to do something.

A few months later, the local church distributed gifts. Much to her surprise, Pranita heard her name called. She had been chosen to receive a brand-new bicycle.

Now, Pranita has no trouble getting to and from school. Her future is bright, thanks to the Lord’s compassion shown by Pastor Tuya and the believers.

Like Pranita’s family, millions around the world live in slums, but many have been touched by the love of pastors like Tuya. Stories like Pranita’s are made possible through believers, like you, who give to the ministry. Thank you!

Twelve-year-old Aijez had never set foot inside a school. He and his family lived in the slums. His father, Mukil, earned a living as a daily labourer, while Aijez and his siblings worked at a tire shop for additional income. Because the young boy worked to support his family, Aijez had no opportunity to attend school. Every day as he worked at the tire shop, he saw other children walking to school. All he could do was watch, unable to join them.

Destitution Abounding

Aijez, like many slum children, was caught in the vicious cycle of utter poverty. Because he could not go to school, his future held nothing but continued impoverishment. Day after day it stayed the same—toiling at the tire shop—and would have continued this way. However, some Sisters of Compassion, Gena and Meriel, started serving in his area. Surveying the slum, these sisters saw a very real need.

Gena and Meriel watched many children sitting and playing in the mud. They saw the destitution and hopelessness in their eyes. So these women went out, spreading word that they were holding literacy classes. At first, only a few families sent their children to the classes, unsure of the sisters’ intentions. But as trust was built over time, more and more children and mothers began to attend. But trust had not yet been established in Aijez’s family.

A Transformation

Aijez watched the children attend the classes, and he wished he could join them. One day, Aijez came across Gena and Meriel. When the sisters saw this dirty, unkempt boy, they saw something beyond his poverty; they saw his deep desire to learn.

The sisters invited him to the literacy classes. Aijez secretly began to attend the evening classes after his daily labour work. He knew his father, Mukil, wouldn’t approve, but Aijez yearned to learn. Every night, with pencil in hand, the eager boy began his education. Aijez soaked up everything the sisters taught.

After some days, Gena and Meriel, not wanting to go behind Mukil’s back, approached the man. They showed him Aijez’s desire to learn and asked him to send Aijez to the classes full-time. By the grace of God, Mukil agreed. When Aijez heard that he would attend the classes with his father’s blessing, he rejoiced and thanked the sisters wholeheartedly.

A God-given Chance

Aijez worked hard, both at class and at the tire shop. He knew this was an opportunity he could not waste. Seeing Aijez’s diligence in his studies, Mukil let Aijez’s mother and sister attend the classes as well.

In the span of six months, Aijez learned the alphabet both in his dialect and English; and is able to write and read numbers, too! Aijez can now attend a real school. No longer does he work at the tire shop but attends school full-time. After school, he still goes to the literacy class, soaking up the love and encouragement from the Sisters of Compassion.

“I am thankful to these sisters for their hard work,” Aijez shares. “If they had not come here, I would have never learned or [got] a chance to go [to] school. Today I am so happy that I am going to school along with other children and playing with them.”

Now, the mud and dirt are no longer Aijez’s future. He and his family can look to something higher than the ground around them. For them, the cycle of poverty is breaking.

Stories like Aijez’s are only possible because of donors and sponsors like you. Because of you, there are many families who will experience similar changes, through God’s ministers. Thank you, and God bless you!

Wind whipped through the plastic sheets, lifting them to the sky as they strained against the bamboo frame. Huddled inside the small, sparsely thatched structure, Kajri shielded herself from the sharp wind as her plastic walls waved above her head. The home wasn’t much, but at least she had one.

Kajri lives in a leprosy colony where most of the residents have small thatched homes just like hers. The people in her community earn a meagre living by begging or collecting scraps discarded by others to sell at the market.

Sisters of Compassion Bring Hope and Help

A bright moment breaks into these lives, so vastly altered by leprosy, when GFA-supported Sisters of Compassion come to visit. These five ladies visit the leprosy colony every day. They help with personal hygiene, clean and bandage wounds and tidy up the leprosy patients’ homes.

In Asia, the stigma of “uncleanness” persists in many leprosy colonies. The physical deformities created by the dreaded disease limit the options for manual labour, often the only work leprosy patients are deemed worthy of.

Seeing the impossibility of getting work as a leprosy patient, the Sisters of Compassion arranged for a distribution of income-generating gifts for this impoverished community. On the day of the distribution, the leprosy colony was suddenly filled with the sound of cows mooing, piglets squealing and goats bleating. These living gifts would provide milk to sell and offspring to raise, multiplying the initial gift.

Just What She Needed

GFA-supported workers provide compassionate care to those who have faced lasting effects from leprosy, like this woman and like Kajri.

Kajri, sitting among the crowd gathered, was too old and weak to care for a cow or goat. But God knew what Kajri needed, and animals were not the only gifts available. When her name was called and she approached the front of the crowd, a bundle of shiny tin roof panels was presented to her.

The Sisters of Compassion installed the tin sheets for her. Their gift spoke God’s powerful message to her heart—you are known, you are loved.

Now, under her newly built roof, Kajri no longer fears storms. She waits for the sisters’ daily visit, wanting to hear more about the God they serve.

“Oh, my God,” says Kajri, “bless these people who took much pain to build a house for a widow like me.”

Selvan stood before the other Bridge of Hope children holding a heavy induction cooker beneath his bright face. His mother was going to love this high-efficiency cook top, a vast improvement over her current cooking method. Scanning the faces before him, he couldn’t believe he had won third prize in the Colours of Hope artwork competition.

Through GFA’s Bridge of Hope Program, Selvan, like the boy pictured, has received opportunities never before possible.

When Selvan had joined the Bridge of Hope program six years before, he never volunteered to speak and avoided the other children. He was only there because his life had fallen apart—what did he have to be happy about? He was not interested in extra activities, such as sports, art or competitions, provided by Bridge of Hope.

Sadness Makes Its Home in Selvan’s Heart

Acquainted with tragedy at the tender age of 6, Selvan watched his family fall into darkness after the sudden paralysis and subsequent death of his father. At the time, Selvan’s mother was pregnant with his little sister, and the young widow had no way to support her family.

After three years of struggle, hope dawned for Selvan’s family when a Bridge of Hope centre opened in their community. Selvan was enrolled, and his mother was hired as a cook for the center—just what she needed to provide for her young children.

Light at the End of the Road

Despondency was Selvan’s constant companion in those days. He was unmotivated in school and at the centre. What was the point of trying, a life beyond disappointment? The staff at Bridge of Hope patiently walked with Selvan through his dark days and encouraged him to hope for restoration. Gradually, Selvan knew joy in life again. He participated in sports and competitions. He made new friends. Slowly, his sadness turned to anticipation.

Selvan was preparing to graduate from school when he won third prize in Colours of Hope, Bridge of Hope’s art contest. He proudly showed the crowd his prize and his prize-winning drawing: a carefully sketched scene of Jesus’ birth. His mother watched with joy in her eyes.

This young family, whose story began with loss, has grown to hope for good. Bridge of Hope has not only supported Selvan in his education, but also helped the whole family, once in the dark valley of death, to emerge on the other side, where hope reigns.

As we start the new year, it’s a good time to look back and thank the Lord for all He has done. This year, we are celebrating not only one year but 40 years of God’s faithfulness!

In 1979, GFA was born after the Lord burdened my heart for millions of people who had never heard about Him. From the beginning, we have always been motivated by God’s heart for people living in hopelessness.

Over the years, as brothers and sisters on the field shared God’s love, the Lord opened doors for entire communities to experience His compassion. Today, GFA has grown far beyond what it was in 1979. GFA-supported national workers are now involved in many ministries we never dreamed of back then, like distributing income-generating gifts, providing clean water and medical care, serving widows and helping 70,000 children receive an education through the Bridge of Hope program.

It’s exciting to read the stories in this newsletter about how God used these ministries to touch lives, like the young woman who got to attend school because she received a bicycle or the people who received much-needed food and supplies after floods destroyed their homes.

Even though GFA has grown in both size and vision since 1979, our heart remains the same: to bring lasting help, in Christ’s name, to people hungry to experience His grace.

We are changing the title of this newsletter from Harvest to Rejoice! The new name is perfect for this year of celebration. In each issue of Rejoice! this year, we will remember things God has done over the past 40 years by featuring one or two “milestones.” As the Israelites entered the promised land, they set up 12 stones from the Jordan River so future generations would hear about what God had done. In the same way, we want to look back on the special ways God has been faithful to us. Look for the stone symbol to read about these milestones.

I hope you are encouraged as you rejoice with us, knowing God has used all of us together to accomplish amazing things over 40 years—and in His mercy, He continues to use us! Thank you for being with us on this journey. As I often encourage our staff here at GFA, “The best is yet to come.”