GFA World Newsletter

December 2012, Vol. 8, No. 8

Slowly he realized there was truth to what the believers had been telling him. This Jesus really did love everyone enough to die for their sins.

In a family of 12, there are bound to be disagreements, but Sahar’s family could always come together on one thing: religion.

Sahar’s parents had raised their 10 children with a strong devotion to their gods. As Sahar grew older, he became a fierce defender of his faith, especially opposing those who followed Jesus.

He fought with everyone who tried to tell him about Jesus and had a whole supply of arguments to use against them—but he never imagined he’d have to use the arguments with his own family.

When Sahar found out that his mother and younger brother had decided to follow Christ, he became furious. He did all he could to change their minds, but his words were meaningless to them. Neither one even wavered, and Sahar’s anger grew.

Unable to control his feelings of rage and despair, he tried hanging himself from a tree, but one of his siblings rescued him in the nick of time.

A Second Betrayal

Defeated, Sahar let life settle to a livable tension, but soon his wife, Yamura, began talking about Jesus too. She didn’t mention the Jesus-followers often, but when she did, Sahar firmly warned her against mingling with them.

Soon, though, she began sneaking out of the house to attend prayer meetings and worship services, unbeknownst to Sahar.

One day, Sahar walked into a neighbor’s home and found Yamura actually praying with the very people he had warned her against.

Without a word, he dragged her out of the house and began beating her without mercy. Then, leaving her half dead, he stormed home.

Some believers from the prayer meeting followed Sahar. When they caught up with him, they saw him dangling from the same tree where he had previously tried to hang himself. Before he could breathe his last, they pulled him down from the tree.

He Truly Saw Jesus

For the next year, the believers continued to tell Sahar about Christ’s love, but he remained adamant that he wanted nothing to do with it. When they invited him to watch a movie about Jesus, though, he went, grudgingly.

At first, Sahar watched the film as unflinchingly as a rock, but he slowly realized there was truth to what the believers had been telling him. This Jesus really did love everyone enough to die for their sins.

As the crucifixion scene played, tears rolled down Sahar’s face. And when the members of the film team told the crowd how they could follow Jesus, Sahar, Yamura and their three children were first in line. Together, the family embraced Jesus wholeheartedly.

Now, Sahar has stopped fighting, and the anger that consumed him is gone. Instead, he and his wife share their experience of grace with all their neighbors. They long for everyone in the village to know Jesus as they do.

Pastor Sachh waited patiently. The ministry in this village had progressed slowly, and he longed to see a breakthrough in people’s hearts. Sachh knew God would be faithful to bring it to pass, but he had no way of knowing that the answer to his prayers was one house visit away.

A Breakthrough was Slow in Coming

Ever since his enrollment in a Gospel for Asia Bible college, Sachh had regularly fasted and prayed, desiring to serve among uneducated, impoverished people. God had even given him a vision of the village where his future ministry would begin.

The remote village to which he had been called was best reached by boat. The alternative? Crossing 10 mountain ranges. Pastor Sachh knew no one upon his arrival, so for six months he built relationships with the people. He also gave them literature about Jesus and tutored their children. His labors yielded no immediate fruit, but he persevered.

She Found the Cure to All of Her Problems

One day Sachh entered the home of Lavenia. This poor woman was suffering with severe stomach pain and couldn’t keep down food for longer than five minutes. Visiting hospitals and witch doctors caused her to spend a great deal of money, but they provided no cure.

Pastor Sachh recognized the God-given opportunity before him and prayed for Lavenia’s healing in the name of Jesus. The very next moment, she was completely healed! Lavenia could eat all kinds of food without fear of being unable to keep it down. Seeing this miracle, her family began gathering with Pastor Sachh to worship God. Slowly, others joined them.

Ministry Expands to the Surrounding Villages

Since then, Pastor Sachh has established a church in this village as well as three small fellowships in nearby villages. To continue sharing Christ’s love to the most unreached, Sachh has pioneered a boat outreach that ministers to surrounding people groups by distributing Gospel literature and sharing the Good News. Your prayers and support for missionaries like Sachh are bringing breakthroughs in villages throughout South Asia! Thank you for standing with our brothers and sisters as they labor faithfully for the glory of God.

The proprietor of a successful business, Nandak gave all the credit to his gods. There used to be little hope in Nandak’s life: his father had died when he was in the 10th grade, leaving Nandak’s mother alone to provide for her two sons.

Nandak dropped out of school and took upon himself the burden of providing for his mother and younger brother.

He got married and started a business selling furniture. This venture brought in enough money to meet all of the family’s needs. Attributing the success to their gods and goddesses, Nandak and his family worshiped them faithfully.

However, Nandak began spiraling down into a dark pit. He started spending time drinking with his friends. As this destructive habit grew worse, both Nandak’s wife and his mother pleaded with him to stop, but their words fell on deaf ears.

It was during this time that Prabhat, a Gospel for Asia-supported pastor, began taking a team of believers to share the Good News among unreached villages in the area. When Pastor Prabhat stopped by Nandak’s house, the young man wasn’t home. So Prabhat left a New Testament with Nandak’s wife and mother. When Nandak came home that evening, he noticed the Bible on the table. Not knowing what the book was about, however, he didn’t read it.

Sleepless Nights Cause Him to Read the Bible

A few days later, Nandak came down with a sickness that left him bedridden for days. Demons tormented him at night, robbing him completely of sleep. He went to a doctor and offered special sacrifices to the gods, but he didn’t get any better. Stuck in bed, Nandak picked up the New Testament left by Pastor Prabhat and began to read. The stories in the book of Matthew amazed him. Reading about the many healings of Jesus, Nandak was impressed by Jesus’ power, and he wanted Jesus to heal him too.

When news came that the pastor was back in his village, Nandak sent for him.

Pastor Prabhat was overjoyed to know that Nandak had been reading the Bible. He came and prayed for Nandak and challenged him to keep reading every day.

A Changed Life

This was not a problem for Nandak; he was learning so much. When he stopped worshiping the gods and goddesses of his traditional faith, the other villagers became upset. His mother and brother moved out, which saddened him. But Nandak noticed that the more he read the Bible, the better he felt. As Jesus began transforming his heart, he stopped drinking.

Within a month, people could see the positive changes in Nandak’s life. His wife decided to follow Jesus too. The couple invited Pastor Prabhat to their home to pray for them, and they also began hosting a weekly prayer meeting.

As the whole village heard about the prayer meetings and the power of Jesus to transform lives, people’s hearts began softening. Two more families decided to come pray, and they have since embraced the love of Jesus—along with Nandak’s mother and brother.

“I remember always trying to improve myself to earn love and respect from everyone around me,” Nandak says. “I started drinking alcohol. I thought I was so cool. But in reality, I was mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually unhealthy. I thought I was just partying and having fun, but I was really destroying myself.

I want to thank the Lord for the grace and mercy He showed in my life by sending His Word to my home through His servant.”

Thank you for sharing God’s Word with the people of South Asia! Through one New Testament, multiple families have found new life, and an entire unreached village has come to know about Jesus’ love.

Twelve-year-old Pachai didn’t speak or dress properly, and he suffered from poor health—most likely due to malnutrition.

As a laborer, Pachai’s father, Jacob, earned less than $2 a day, and he spent some of this income on alcohol and other addictive substances. Jacob’s meager earnings couldn’t provide for his five children, and most nights they went to bed with empty stomachs.

Because Jacob simply couldn’t afford to pay the school fees and supplies necessary for his children’s education, Pachai had an extremely slim chance of ever graduating from high school—until some Gospel for Asia Bridge of Hope staff members visited his family.

From Shy to Successful

Seeing the family’s situation, the Bridge of Hope staff invited Pachai to enroll in the local center.

At first, Pachai didn’t know how to communicate with the teachers and other children, or perform some of the tasks the teachers asked him to do. These challenges left him feeling timid and insecure.

Over time, however, he encountered his Creator’s love. One day, his teacher shared the story of Jesus, awakening Pachai’s desire to learn about Him. When the Bridge of Hope staff spoke of Christ, he listened attentively, and he read the Bible and prayed. Over time, he memorized more than 150 proverbs from the Bible! Each day, he told his family what he’d learned at the center.

Through Bridge of Hope, he also excelled in his academic studies and even completed a basic course in typing and computer skills. One year, he held the highest rank in his class.

A New Family—and a Bright Future

Thankful to Bridge of Hope for their son’s success, Pachai’s parents desired to hear about the One driving the program. As they met with staff members and began attending Bridge of Hope programs, they listened excitedly to the message of new life in Christ.

One day, Jacob had the chance to attend a Bridge of Hope parents’ meeting discussing the dangers of substance abuse. Afterward, he asked God to forgive him for his addictions, and he found freedom from their grasp.

Jacob and his wife continued learning about God’s will for them as parents. The family started reading the Bible, praying together daily and attending the local Gospel for Asiasupported church. Seeing this, some relatives even embraced Jesus’ love.

Through Bridge of Hope, Pachai and his family have experienced the transformation—and hope—found in Christ. Despite Pachai’s childhood poverty and insecurity, he graduated from high school and now studies engineering in college, achieving a goal he had set before completing Bridge of Hope. He thanks God for His grace and the assistance of Bridge of Hope, knowing they have allowed him to become the man he is today.

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heaven laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

If you carry any burden long enough, you will get tired. If you don’t agree with me, go to the gym and lift some weights. You can do it only so long before your muscles become weary.

But Christ told us, “My burden is light.”

It’s been 43-some years since I began this journey serving Christ, and I wish I could say, “Life is wonderful. I am on the top of the mountain. I have no discouragements, no problems. The yoke is easy and the burden is light.” I wish I could tell you this, but I can’t.

The yoke does not seem easy; the burden does not seem light. So how do we survive? That is the question.

I remind myself of this reality: Jesus said, “My yoke.” He’s not saying, “I’m going to create a yoke for you; you better carry it. I’ll give you a lot of blessings for it.” No. He said, “It’s Mine. My burden is light.”

The answer is simply this: It is His burden. It is His strength, power, grace and presence that make it possible for us to serve and follow Him.

I have carried many burdens in my life. But often they’re not His burdens. I created them. And, as a result, my life becomes more difficult and painful. In the end, the Lord says to me, “I didn’t do this. You created this.” Then all I can do is repent and listen to Him.

The most significant thing in this life is to know Him and understand Him and then do what He tells us to do. And in the end, even if life is full of struggles or agony, we can say, “It’s okay.” It won’t be without tears and pain, but our hearts will be filled with peace, not strife.

Many of our brothers and sisters on the field, too, like Daha and Sachh and Jaideep, experience loneliness, rejection and weariness. Your prayers and generosity are encouraging them as they continue to walk alongside Christ and learn to accept only His burdens. As we approach Christmas, I pray you may be filled with comfort knowing that because Christ humbled Himself and came down to earth, His grace, power and presence are available for our every need. Let us rest in His sufficiency.