Posts

How Do Bicycles Help Poor Families in Asia Achieve a Better Quality of Life?

Image
How worried would you be if your children had to walk two hours to and from school every morning and afternoon? Maybe you’d be concerned for their safety and well-being. That’s the case for many mothers and fathers in Asia. Shamita had no other choice but to send her 16-year-old daughter, Sudipti, on foot to a school located more than four miles away from their rural village. Though Shamita herself worked as an uneducated daily wage laborer, she wanted her daughter to go to school. Ever since Shamita’s husband died five years ago, life had been very difficult for her, and she struggled hard to care for her two children. Her only hope was that Sudipti’s education would make life better for them in the future. But Sudipti had to get up early in the morning to make it to school on time. There were times when she ended up being late for class because her legs hurt so badly from all the walking. Sudipti wished so much to have a bicycle to ride to school, but she knew her mother, being a wid...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sewing Machine Provides Dignity for Widow and Her Children

Image
Have you ever felt helpless? Rajasi, widow and mother of two, wanted to provide for her children, but she had no way to earn an income. She was completely dependent on her angered father-in-law for their future. There appeared to be little hope for Rajasi’s dreams for her precious children to come true. But Rajasi was not helpless. She readily used the only tool she had: prayer. Failing Kidneys, the Agony of Loss, and Blame Even though Rajasi was only a young woman of 25, sorrow and difficulties were no strangers to her. Though her and her sickly husband Mahasvin, found Jesus at just the right time, life did not grow easier when they decided to follow Christ. In anger, Mahasvin’s father turned against them and began to oppose them. But the words against them in anger did not stop them. Instead, Mahasvin and Rajasi grew strong in their faith. But Mahasvin’s health deteriorated quickly. His kidneys were failing. Rajasi listened closely as her dying husband shared his last requests with h...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ten Thousand Toilets Is Not Enough

Image
One of the first questions that real estate agents broach upon meeting a potential buyer or seller is “How many bathrooms do you need” or “… do you have,” as the case may be. As commonplace as that may be for most reading this article, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 4.5 billion people “either have no toilet at home or (have) one that doesn’t safely manage excreta.” Think for a moment. Let that number sink in. That is about 60% of the total global population. While Americans and most of the western world are flush with adequate, even fancy commodes and sanitary wastewater systems, nearly two-thirds of the people on this planet do not have access to the convenience of a proper toilet facility. It is estimated that nearly a billion of those with limited or no access to private or public toilet facilities practice open defecation. That is, they must find a place to go, whether it is in an open field, near a bush, along roadsides and railways, or in some corner away fr...
Post a Comment
Read more

God Showed Me I Can Wash Dishes Unto Him as an Act of Worship

Image
I never knew worship like what I experienced at GFA’s School of Discipleship (SD). Before coming to SD in 2015, I had a pretty small vision of what worship was. I saw it as only singing and maybe some instruments playing, and it had to be a certain way mainly on Sundays. During my time in SD, I learned a variety of ways to worship with the community at Gospel for Asia. Whether it’s singing, playing instruments, doing lawn work, preparing food, serving in campus work days, listening to others’ struggles, or cleaning up after roommates, I learning to bring Christ into everything. Brother KP often refers to a little booklet written by Brother Lawrence called “Practicing the Presence of God” and how important it is to invite God into everything and live your life for Him. Throughout my two years in the SD program, I learned that everything I do in my life can be an act of worship unto God. I could experience His presence not only in corporate times of worship, but also in private times, a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Remembering Uncle Bob

Image
Bob Mayo went to be with the Lord on December 18, 2017. He served faithfully at Gospel for Asia for the past 21 years, and his passing leaves a hole in many of our hearts. Known to many around GFA as “Uncle Bob,” he was marked by his gentleness, his humility and by how much he loved others. Robert Mayo | April 16, 1947 – December 18, 2017 He is preceded in death by his dear wife, Alice, who passed away just before Christmas five years ago. Throughout the years, Bob served in many aspects of Gospel for Asia’s ministry. He led the Missions Department and the Fulfillment Department at different times. He also served in Admissions in School of Discipleship, and taught several classes in the discipleship program. Most recently, he was a Ministry Partnerships representative. His hands have touched countless missionary profiles, linking them with sponsors around the world; he managed people and packages with both love and excellence; and he called, wrote letters to, prayed for and encouraged ...
Post a Comment
Read more

For a Missionary in Asia, These Gifts Will Dramatically Impact Everyday Life

Image
My favorite Christmas gift I have received is a small whisk, a little bigger than a pencil. My children bought it for me three years ago. It is perfect for whipping up a glaze for scones, which I make quite often. It is also useful for whisking just one egg for an egg wash. I love kitchen items as gifts because they are very useful but something I rarely splurge on for myself. They are a practical luxury. Do I need a pencil-sized whisk? Of course not. Do I use it often? You bet! Giving thoughtful gifts is a genuine act of love. A gift that someone would use all the time but would not buy themselves is the best kind. Fulfilling a need shows care. Many items in Gospel for Asia Christmas Gift Catalog are practical luxuries: They are gifts that our partners on the field often make do without, but such gifts can be an everyday blessing. Bible-college students studying in the Himalayan mountains received winter clothing packets. Many of these women are from poor backgrounds and came to Bib...
Post a Comment
Read more

Without One Christmas Decoration in Place, We’re Already Having a Good Christmas

Image
Almost every year for the last 14 years, I have offered a 24-hour Advent retreat of silence during the first week of December. Advent, on the liturgical calendar, is the beginning of the church year that follows the life of Christ for 12 months. This retreat felt like a perfect way to begin centering the minds of Christ-followers and provide a decent antidote, if taken, to protect against the consumerism, the commercialism and the secularism of the world that surrounds us. It’s easy to be sucked into all that, if we’re not careful. For me, the Advent retreat is always a gift of love. I generally come home after it ends, physically blasted from hauling and designing and interacting. Nothing in my home speaks of Christmas, and often, by early December here in Chicago, some early snow and dropping temperatures mean that the barrel by the mailbox, which I always decorate, including some message for passersby, will be frozen. This fall, corn shocks and wild grasses, dried allium heads and...
Post a Comment
Read more